PACE at Peterborough Collegiate, formerly Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School, is a public secondary school located in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and is a member of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. It is one of the oldest public schools in the country and was the only public high school in the city of Peterborough until the opening of Kenner Collegiate Vocational Institute in 1952. Regular student programming ended at Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School in June 2012. The building was renamed Peterborough Collegiate and in August 2012 opened as a re-purposed facility offering alternative and continuing education (ACE).Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
Peterborough Collegiate was founded in 1827 as the Peterborough Government School on the former property of Central Public School. Since then it has been moved to different locations throughout the central part of the city with various names and types of programming. It reached its peak enrollment in 1959 with 1402 students and used additional buildings to accommodate the students of the baby boom. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the trend of declining enrollment had reduced the school student population to 800 students with approximately one third in the Integrated Arts and English Language Learners programs.Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
History Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS) is one of the oldest schools in Ontario.
Peterborough Government School Reverend Samuel Armour opened the first school in Peterborough on May 1, 1826. The school, originally known as the Peterborough Government School was first located in the back playground of present-day Central Public School on Murray Street in Peterborough. It functioned as a public elementary school and the early Victorian equivalent to a public high school. As the population of Peterborough increased, public school students moved into smaller schools while the Grammar School high school students stayed in the original school building.
The Union School By 1854 the school trustees had leased an old church, on the corner of Hunter and Sheridan Streets, to hold the school but the student population soon grew too large. In 1855 plans to build a new school had begun. The new building was completed in 1859 and was intended to be used by both common and grammar school students. It was located where the present day Central School is built. The new school was known as the Union School. By 1868 the principal of the school asked that girls be allowed to attend grammar school. A new building was constructed west of the Union School to allow for the increased student population.
Peterborough Collegiate Institute
In 1871, with a government bill abolishing the term grammar school and replacing it with collegiate, the Union School became the Peterborough Collegiate Institute (PCI). Due to overcrowding and various moves within the buildings it soon came time for the Collegiate to have its own building, separate from the public school. On August 1, 1907, the cornerstone for the new school was laid. The new school opened in 1908 on the corner of Aylmer and McDonnel Streets near the Armouries.
House System PCI implemented the four house system to encourage school spirit and foster a positive school environment. The four houses were Keswick, Caernarvon, Warwick and Wiggin, each represented by a colour: Blue, Yellow, Red, and Green respectively. Each house had one male and one female house leader, who represented their membership on the Student Activity Council. They organized events such as dress-up days, bulletin board displays, and lunch events where participants could earn house points. At the annual Christmas (Winter) Assembly, the houses performed a skit for a competition judged by a selection of faculty members, preceding the Teacher Skit. The House Award honoured the house with the most points at the end of the school year. The house system continued until the school was re-purposed in 2012.
Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School In 1927 a vocational school was added to the PCI and became Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational Institute (PCVS). This new section included the Upper Gym, Cafeteria and Library. At the turn of the century, the school enrolled about 800 students with 200 as part of the Integrated Arts program. A tradition of extracurricular athletics included basketball, volleyball, rowing, field hockey, tennis, badminton and track teams. The PCVS Ladies Choir was ranked in the Top Ten choirs in Canada. In 1995, PCVS was listed by Maclean's magazine as one of the top five high schools in Canada in the category of Student Leadership.Brian Bergman, Ken MacQueen, & Karin Marley. "Best High Schools." Macleans Aug 22, 95 PCVS was also the first school in Peterborough to establish a gay–straight alliance, which was featured provincially in Professionally Speaking magazine.Professionally Speaking. In 2008 the school celebrated the 100th anniversary of the school building on May 17 by hosting a Gala/Reunion with entertainment talent featuring PCVS alumni including Sean Cullen, Lawrence Cherney, Rick Fines and Graham Rowat among others.
+ Principals of PCVS 1909 - 2012NameYears of ServiceH.R.H. Kenner1909 - 1943Carl S. Browne1943 - 1955R. David Brown1955 - 1967Kenneth P. Hoaasack1967 - 1969A.L. Reilly1969 - 1971L. James Watson1971 - 1981H. Bert Moss1981 - 1982Robert J. Allan1982 - 1987John McCormack1987 - 1993Shirl Delarue1993 - 2001Rick Essex2002 - 2004Caroline McNamara2005Anita Simpson2005 - 2007Denise Severin2007 - 2012
Principal's portraits There was a tradition at PCVS that the principals would have their photographs taken at the end of their tenure. The photographs were framed and mounted above the balcony doors of the auditorium on the foyer's second floor to maintain the leadership's history of the school. The first portrait features H.R.H. Kenner and the last portrait, mounted in 2012, features Denise Severin, the last principal of PCVS. Caroline McNamara, appointed interim principal after the sudden death of Rick Essex, was not included in this tradition.
Student Council Art Purchases Beginning in the 1940s, the Student Councils of Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School, with the encouragement of their art teacher Zoltan Temesy, bought original Canadian art works for the enjoyment of students at their school. These works are currently on permanent loan to The Art Gallery of Peterborough. Artists include: Andre Bieler, A.J. Casson, Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer, Manley MacDonald and Henri Masson. Reproductions of these paintings now hang throughout the school.Kristin Rushowy "School makes smart use of art" Toronto Star May 21, 09
English Language Learners Program The English as a Second Language (ESL) program started in the 1980s. These students were new immigrants to Canada who settled in Peterborough, International Students, whose parents or national governments paid tuition for their children to learn English in Canadian schools, and exchange students from International community groups, such as Rotary International.
The program catered to four levels of English proficiency, with additional support for student success on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test conducted by the Education Quality and Accountability Office. Community supports for students and families were also made available for study visas, residency applications, and cultural integration.
In 2009, the program was renamed as the English Languages Learners (ELL) program, as part of a Ministry of Education directive, to acknowledge that many students who were in the program speak multiple languages of which English is only one. The ELL program was moved in September 2012 to Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.
Integrated Arts Program In 1990, the Integrated Arts program was established, offering students from Peterborough County the opportunity to take specialized programs in drama, music, visual art, and dance. Prospective grade 8 students submitted a portfolio, auditioned and were interviewed for spots in the program. The Grade 9 program offered general and comprehensive art courses with a common English and Physical Education with an Arts focused curriculum. The entire Grade 9 Integrated Arts population presented two showcase productions each year in January and May.
In Grade 11, a three-credit Musical Theatre class is offered for Drama, Vocal, and Theatre Production credits with selection based on auditions. In the past, The Wiz, Grease, The Sound of Music, among many other plays, have been performed for the Elementary students, current students, and the wider community. In Grade 12, a similar three-credit drama course is offered for English, Drama, and Drama in the Community credits. This class traveled around the city performing a thematic series of skits to Elementary schools and local community groups.
In 2012, the PCVS Integrated Arts Programme was renamed the Peterborough Regional Integrated Arts Programme and was moved to Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School.
Spread the Net Student Challenge In December 2011, PCVS students and faculty established the PCVS Saves Lives campaign to enter the Spread the Net Student Challenge.My Kawartha. Fundraising efforts in the school and local community group donations raised $52,631.32 exceeding the school goal of $8,000. In March 2012, it was announced that PCVS won the challenge in the high school team division and raised 20% of all the money collected in the 2012 Student Challenge.My Kawartha. Rick Mercer visited the school with his crewMy Kawartha. and taped footage for a seven-minute feature on the Rick Mercer Report.Spread the Net. On April 4, 2012, PCVS was nationally recognized as the winner and was the inspiration for his Rant in the same episode.
School Closure Debate
In 1970 the Peterborough County Board of Education proposed converting PCVS to intermediate school with strong reactions led an opposition slate in school board elections. The following year, a new plan retained PCVS as high school.
In 1983 it was announced that PCVS and three other schools would be studied for possible closure, sparking widespread opposition and the formation of the Save PCVS Parents’ and Ratepayers’ Association. In 1984, the school board votes to keep PCVS open.
In 1987 the school board considered leasing PCVS to the local Catholic school board. The Save PCVS association successfully campaigned and instead of leasing PCVS, public board gives Catholic board unused land to be sold so Catholic board can use the money to build a new school.