Grey Highlands Secondary School
Encyclopedia
Grey Highlands Secondary School is a Grade 9-12 high school located in Flesherton, Ontario
, in rural Grey County. It was built in 1967 as part of a province-wide upgrade of educational facilities. Unlike typical rural high schools of the time that were designed only to graduate matriculation
students, it was envisioned as a multi-disciplinary facility for students of all educational paths. Originally designed for approximately 900 students, the building has been significantly expanded several times; approximately 1200 students now attend.
in order to modernize and centralize rural elementary and secondary schools. When it opened in September 1968, it became the central high school for students from three smaller district high schools, covering a collection area of approximately 195,000 hectares (750 square miles). Those smaller high schools were converted to elementary schools, which in turn replaced the many one- and two-room school houses that were still in operation until that time.
Up until that time, the curriculum and facilities in Ontario's rural high schools were designed solely for academic students destined for post-secondary education. Students needing a level of education necessary for the trades, business or a non-academic career inevitably dropped out of high school, limiting their future chances to find a career to match their personal abilities.
E. Murray Juffs, the first principal of Grey Highlands and the main driving force behind the design of the school, envisioned Grey Highlands as a multi-discipline school encompassing opportunities for education in all streams, from occupational training as a car mechanic or short-order cook, to business office training, to a liberal arts education suitable for university preparation.
To this end, the original school incorporated four science laboratories, a greenhouse, six technical shops (auto, machine, carpentry, electrical, general, drafting), a double gymnasium, a smaller gymnasium and weight training room, an auditorium with a full proscenium arch stage, a music room with sound-proofed practice rooms, several typing and business machine labs, two home economic kitchens, a languages lab, a library with study rooms, a quarter-mile (400-metre) cinder track and football field/soccer pitch, and many classrooms.
In addition to education, student involvement in intramural and varsity sports and other activities was expected. For the first ten years, a spring musical was a major school project under the direction of mathematics teacher Eleanor Juffs that involved most students and staff in some way or another. In addition to several dozen students who appeared as cast members for productions such as My Fair Lady
, Oliver!
, Brigadoon, Anything Goes
, Camelot
, and Annie Get Your Gun
, there was a full pit band, the sets were built by carpentry students, special effects were generated by the science department, and other students were in charge of audio, publicity, photography, ticket sales, ushering and backstage direction. Each musical ran for three nights, often playing to almost 3,000 people from the surrounding region.
In 2006, a new wing was added that contained several new classrooms and computer labs, and renovations were done to the cafetorium and front foyer.
The area around Flesherton is in a snow belt region, and winter storms from Lake Huron
and Georgian Bay
can cause several "snow days" each year, when buses cannot safely deliver students. While this is not a problem for overnight storms when students are forced to stay home, there is always the question of whether to send students home early when a daytime storm threatens. This problem was not anticipated in the first winter of operation (1968–69), when a sudden storm stranded the entire student body and staff at the school, forcing them to spend the night in the gymnasium and auditorium. Special procedures were developed to avoid this, including a continuously running barograph
in the office of then Head of Science W.J. Brown that would warn of sudden drops in barometric pressure.
Flesherton, Ontario
Flesherton is a community in the Municipality of Grey Highlands, in Grey County, Ontario, Canada, located at the junction of Highway 10 and Grey County Road 4...
, in rural Grey County. It was built in 1967 as part of a province-wide upgrade of educational facilities. Unlike typical rural high schools of the time that were designed only to graduate matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
students, it was envisioned as a multi-disciplinary facility for students of all educational paths. Originally designed for approximately 900 students, the building has been significantly expanded several times; approximately 1200 students now attend.
Early history
Grey Highlands Secondary School (GHSS) was built in 1967 as one of the many new school construction projects undertaken by Education Minister Bill DavisBill Davis
William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...
in order to modernize and centralize rural elementary and secondary schools. When it opened in September 1968, it became the central high school for students from three smaller district high schools, covering a collection area of approximately 195,000 hectares (750 square miles). Those smaller high schools were converted to elementary schools, which in turn replaced the many one- and two-room school houses that were still in operation until that time.
Up until that time, the curriculum and facilities in Ontario's rural high schools were designed solely for academic students destined for post-secondary education. Students needing a level of education necessary for the trades, business or a non-academic career inevitably dropped out of high school, limiting their future chances to find a career to match their personal abilities.
E. Murray Juffs, the first principal of Grey Highlands and the main driving force behind the design of the school, envisioned Grey Highlands as a multi-discipline school encompassing opportunities for education in all streams, from occupational training as a car mechanic or short-order cook, to business office training, to a liberal arts education suitable for university preparation.
To this end, the original school incorporated four science laboratories, a greenhouse, six technical shops (auto, machine, carpentry, electrical, general, drafting), a double gymnasium, a smaller gymnasium and weight training room, an auditorium with a full proscenium arch stage, a music room with sound-proofed practice rooms, several typing and business machine labs, two home economic kitchens, a languages lab, a library with study rooms, a quarter-mile (400-metre) cinder track and football field/soccer pitch, and many classrooms.
In addition to education, student involvement in intramural and varsity sports and other activities was expected. For the first ten years, a spring musical was a major school project under the direction of mathematics teacher Eleanor Juffs that involved most students and staff in some way or another. In addition to several dozen students who appeared as cast members for productions such as My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
, Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, Brigadoon, Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, Camelot
Camelot (musical)
Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....
, and Annie Get Your Gun
Annie Get Your Gun (musical)
Annie Get Your Gun is a musical with lyrics and music written by Irving Berlin and a book by Herbert Fields and his sister Dorothy Fields. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley , who was a sharpshooter from Ohio, and her husband, Frank Butler.The 1946 Broadway production...
, there was a full pit band, the sets were built by carpentry students, special effects were generated by the science department, and other students were in charge of audio, publicity, photography, ticket sales, ushering and backstage direction. Each musical ran for three nights, often playing to almost 3,000 people from the surrounding region.
Additions
In the 1990s, another wing was built onto the school, raising the capacity from 1,000 to 1,200 students. An elevator was also added to provide wheelchair access to all three stories of the science/classroom wing.In 2006, a new wing was added that contained several new classrooms and computer labs, and renovations were done to the cafetorium and front foyer.
Athletic teams
The school's sports teams are called the "Lions", except for the soccer team, which is Grey Highlands United. Bluewater Athletic Association is what all of GHSS's athletics are played throughPeculiarities of a Rural High School
Due to the large cachement area, approximately 95% of the students travel to and from school via school bus. This large proportion of "commuters" can be a problem in terms of extra-curricular activities such as team practices and band rehearsals. During its first decade of operation, the school ran "late buses" twice a week that enabled students to participate in extracurricular activities until 5 pm. However, these were discontinued by the school board as a cost-saving measure, and students are now responsible for finding their own way home after extracurricular activities.The area around Flesherton is in a snow belt region, and winter storms from Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
and Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
can cause several "snow days" each year, when buses cannot safely deliver students. While this is not a problem for overnight storms when students are forced to stay home, there is always the question of whether to send students home early when a daytime storm threatens. This problem was not anticipated in the first winter of operation (1968–69), when a sudden storm stranded the entire student body and staff at the school, forcing them to spend the night in the gymnasium and auditorium. Special procedures were developed to avoid this, including a continuously running barograph
Barograph
A barograph is a recording aneroid barometer. It produces a paper or foil chart called a barogram that records the barometric pressure over time....
in the office of then Head of Science W.J. Brown that would warn of sudden drops in barometric pressure.
Notable alumni
- Oliver SchroerOliver SchroerOliver Schroer was a Canadian fiddler, composer, and music producer.-Early life:Oliver Schroer grew up in Vandeleur, Ontario, a small crossroads near Markdale in rural Grey County. He attended Grey Highlands Secondary School in Flesherton, where he played French horn in the school band. He also...
(graduated 1974), award-winning fiddler and recording artist - Matt GallowayMatt GallowayMatt Galloway is a Canadian radio personality, who is host of Metro Morning at CBLA-FM in Toronto. Galloway succeeded Andy Barrie as host of Metro Morning effective March 1, 2010....
(graduated 1989), CBC radio personality - Chris NeilChris NeilChris Neil is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Neil currently plays right wing for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League .-Early years:Neil started out playing minor hockey in the town of Flesherton, Ontario...
(graduated 1996), NHL hockey player