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School History
​High Park School was constructed by the Robert McKay, who was awarded the contract for his bid of $263,695.00. It was constructed on 11.48 acres of land bought on March 5, 1951 for $1,000.00 an acre. Construction began in early January 1952 and the building was ready for occupancy in September of 1952.

The cost of the entire venture broke down in this way:

$263,695.00 was the construction price, $15,000.00 for the architects fee, $2000.00 for the landscaping fees, $13,000.00 for furnishings and equipment, and $11,800.00 for the purchase of the land.

The original staff was made up of one principal, a principal's relief and seven teachers. They were: A. Lawrence Crich, principal, Howard G. McTaggart, Ralph VanAllen, Miss Lois Jackson, Miss Patricia McDonald, Miss Margaret McColl, Miss Noreen Ledingham, Miss Marie Campbell, and James Price, principal's relief.

Early on, the parents of High Park's students were very involved in the school. On March 2, 1953 the principal and parents made a request to the Board to organize a Home and School Association. The Home and School Association bought many things for the school, such as the first television in Sarnia Public Schools, the Atlas of Canada, school sweaters, and add-ons to the sound system.

With the growth of Sarnia, High Park School needed to expand. The original class rooms were always filled to capacity. At the February 3, 1958 Board meeting, plans for a 2 room addition to the north end of the school were approved. Construction was again done by R.W. McKay for $30,000.00. Again on March 11, 1963 at the Board meeting, plans for addition were approved. For $51,230 High Park received 3 new classrooms, a new washroom and a storeroom.

In the early 1960's, the school decided to make better use of the library books by placing them in a central location. The vice-principal's classroom had a wall reserved for this task. The books were organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification and a card catalogue was set up for each book. With this arrangement, book circulation increased dramatically.

During the 1969/70 academic year, another construction project was undertaken by High Park School. This time, an art room, a science room, a pod of six open classrooms, a double all-purpose room with stage and an electrically driven dividing wall, change room and a resource centre were built.

These are the principals since High Park's opening in 1952:

A. Lawrence Crich, 1952-1970
Richard Acton, 1970-1979
Dwayne McClinchey, 1979-1988
Thomas Rompf , 1988-1996
Paul Veriker, 1996-2001
Pam Graham 2001-2006
Karen Dunning 2006 - 2008
Helen Lane 2008 - 2011
Cindy Kramer 2011 - 2013
Steven Thomas 2013 - 2015
Rosanna Deery 2015-2018




Contact

High Park Public School
757 Kember Ave, Sarnia, ON, N7S 2T3
519-332-8643
Principal: Elizabeth Townsend
Vice Principal: Kate Allison
Bus Zone:2BUS STATUS

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