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{{For|the former school in St. Catharines, Ontario|West Park Secondary School (St. Catharines)}}
{{refimprove|date=July 2013}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox education in Canada

| name = West Park Secondary School
{{Infobox school
| image = Bishop Marrocco-Thomas Merton CSS - West Park SS.jpg
| imagesize = 275px
| name = West Park Secondary School
| motto =
| image = West Park Secondary School (Toronto).jpg
| image_size = 275px
| motto_translation =
| streetaddress = 1515 Bloor Street West
| caption =
| city = [[Roncesvalles, Toronto|Roncesvalles]], [[Toronto]]
| address = 1515 Bloor Street West
| province = [[Ontario]]
| city = [[Roncesvalles, Toronto|Roncesvalles]], [[Toronto]]
| postalcode = M6P 1A3
| province = [[Ontario]]
| postcode = [[Postal codes in Canada|M6P 1A3]]
⚫
| coordinates = {{Coord|43|39|23|N|79|27|04|W|region:CA-ON_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
⚫
| country = Canada
⚫
| publictransit = [[Toronto Transit Commission|TTC]]:<br>'''North/South''': 40 Junction<br>'''West/East''': 504 King<br>'''Rapid Transit:''' [[Dundas West (TTC)|Dundas West]]
⚫
| coordinates = {{coord|43|39|23|N|79|27|04|W|region:CA-ON|display=inline,title}}
| schoolnumber = 951765
| schooltype = [[State school|Public]] [[High school (North America)|High School]]<br />[[Trade school|Vocational]] [[High school (North America)|High School]]
⚫
| schoolboard = [[Toronto District School Board]]<br>{{small|([[Toronto Board of Education]])}}
| religious_affiliation = Secular
| affiliation =
| superintendent = Curtis Ennis
| founded = 1968
| trustee = Irene Atkinson
| status = Leased out
| principal =
| closed = 1988
⚫
| schoolboard = [[Toronto District School Board]]<br />([[Toronto Board of Education]])
| viceprincipal_label = Vice Principals
| oversight = [[Toronto Lands Corporation]]
| viceprincipal =
| superintendent = Sandy Spyropoulos<br />LC4, Executive Superintendent<br />Sandra Tondat<br />LN19
| administrator =
| schooltype = [[State school|Public]] [[High School]]
| trustee = Robin Pilkey<br />Ward 7
| grades = 9-13
| number = 951765
| scheduletype = Semestered
| principal = Ronald Kendall
| language = [[Canadian English|English]]
| grades_label = [[Education in Canada#Levels in education|Grades]]
| area =
| grades = 9-13
| mascot =
| schedule_type = Semestered
| teamname = West Park Vikings
| enrollment = 1158
| language = [[Canadian English|English]]
| colours = Brown, Orange and White {{colorbox|brown}}{{colorbox|orange}}{{colorbox|white}}
| colours = Brown, Orange and White {{Color box|brown|border=darkgray}}{{Color box|orange|border=darkgray}}{{Color box|white|border=darkgray}}
⚫
| founded = 1962 (closed 1988)
| enrollment = 900
| team_name = West Park Vikings
| free_label = Public transit access
| enrollment_as_of =
⚫
| free_text = [[Toronto Transit Commission|TTC]]:<br />'''North/South''': 40 Junction<br />'''West/East''': 504 King<br />'''Rapid Transit:''' [[Dundas West (TTC)|Dundas West]]
}}
}}


'''West Park Secondary School''' ('''WPSS''', '''West Park''') is a former public [[high school]] operated from 1962-1988 by the [[Toronto Board of Education]] (merged into the [[Toronto District School Board]] in 1998). The property is currently owned by the Toronto Lands Corporation (a real estate division of the TDSB).<ref>http://www.torontolandscorp.com/images/pdfs/Toronto_Lands_Corp_Properties.pdf</ref>
'''West Park Secondary School''' ('''WPSS''', '''West Park'''), originally known as '''West Park Vocational School''' is a [[Toronto District School Board]] public [[high school]] facility that operated as a regular school from 1968 to 1988 by the [[Toronto Board of Education]] from grade 9 to 13. The school offered various vocational and academic courses in the spacious four-storey school building for inner city schools. The property remains under TDSB possession as of 2019 as a holding school.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toronto Lands Corp Properties |url=http://www.torontolandscorp.com/images/pdfs/Toronto_Lands_Corp_Properties.pdf |website=torontolandscorp.com}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
⚫
In 1985, Cathy McPherson, the coordinator of the PUSH Central Region, stated that West Park and five other schools were listed as having "excellent" access for disabled persons by the [[Toronto Board of Education]] continuing education program.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brett |first=Mary Ann |date=August 26, 1985 |title=Schools don't make grade on access for the disabled |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/435332535 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109014759/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/doc/435332535.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug%2026,%201985&author=Mary%20Ann%20Brett&pub=Toronto%20Star&edition=&startpage=&desc=Schools%20don%27t%20make%20grade%20on%20access%20for%20the%20disabled |archive-date=2014-01-09 |access-date=August 22, 2013 |work=[[Toronto Star]] |pages=Life p. C3}}</ref>
The West Park property and nearby mall was once a railway yard on the intersection of Bloor and Dundas. It was redeveloped when the school was built and opened in 1962. The school had extensive features including several classrooms, library, cafeteria, couple of art and drama rooms, 600 seat auditorium, 25m swimming pool, weight room, gymnasium, outdoor track and field, and a handful tech-equipped shops.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}


Decrease in enrollment had the [[Toronto Board of Education]] announced in 1986 that it planned to close the West Park facility by 1988.<ref name="Contentawantstake">{{Cite web |last=Contenta |first=Sandro |title=Catholic Board Wants to Take Over Toronto's West Park Secondary |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/475696961.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+17%2C+1986&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Catholic+board+wants+to+take+over+Toronto%27s+West+Park+Secondary&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130723201209/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/475696961.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+17,+1986&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Catholic+board+wants+to+take+over+Toronto's+West+Park+Secondary&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2013 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref> Irene Atkinson, the trustee of Ward 2, said in 1986 that it would likely be the first Toronto (Old Toronto) school closed due to declining enrollment. A task force recommended that the student body is transferred to [[Brockton High School (Toronto)|Brockton High School]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Park school to be closed by 1988 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/435535178 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref> That year, the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' wrote that West Park students were expected to be transferred to Brockton.<ref name=Contentawantstake/> The Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the [[Toronto Catholic District School Board]]) offered to take over the campus and make it into a Roman Catholic separate school.<ref name=Contentawantstake/> The MSSB's [[Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School]] on St. Clair/Dufferin area was over capacity, and the separate school board wanted additional space. There was a proposal stating that both public secular and public separate schools could share the same building.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 30, 1987 |title=Public and Catholic students to share west-end high school |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/472770381.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+30,+1987&author=&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Public+and+Catholic+students+to+share+west-end+high+school&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130723203501/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/472770381.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+30,+1987&author=&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Public+and+Catholic+students+to+share+west-end+high+school&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-07-23 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref>
⚫
In 1985 Cathy McPherson, the coordinator of the PUSH Central Region, stated that West Park and five other schools were listed as having "excellent" access for disabled persons by the [[Toronto Board of Education]] continuing education program.<ref>Brett, Mary Ann. "[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/doc/435332535.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug%2026,%201985&author=Mary%20Ann%20Brett&pub=Toronto%20Star&edition=&startpage=&desc=Schools%20don%27t%20make%20grade%20on%20access%20for%20the%20disabled Schools don't make grade on access for the disabled]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. August 26, 1985. Life p. C3. Retrieved on August 22, 2013.</ref>


On January 7, 1988, Ned McKeown, the director of the TBE, recommended that West Park be transferred to the MSSB.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Contenta |first=Sandro |date=January 8, 1988 |title=2 Toronto schools set for transfer to Catholics |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473176451.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+08%2C+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=2+Toronto+schools+set+for+transfer+to+Catholics&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130723203456/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473176451.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+08,+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=2+Toronto+schools+set+for+transfer+to+Catholics&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 23, 2013 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref> On March 7, 1988, the MSSB accepted taking the West Park facility. Sandro Contenta of the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' stated that the TBE was not willing to pay the funds to make the West Park building shareable between the two school boards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Contenta |first=Sandro |date=March 8, 1988 |title=Separate board takes two schools rejects one |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473403461.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+08,+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Separate+board+takes+two+schools+rejects+one&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130723202155/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473403461.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+08,+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Separate+board+takes+two+schools+rejects+one&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-07-23 |access-date=July 23, 2013 |website=Toronto Star}}</ref> The transfer became effective July 1, 1988. Afterwards, the programs at West Park were dispersed at [[Bickford Park High School]] (12 classrooms), [[Brockton High School (Toronto)|Brockton High School]] (3 shops), [[Rosedale Heights School of the Arts|Castle Frank High School]] (special education), [[Central Toronto Academy|Central High School of Commerce]] (special education) and [[Western Technical-Commercial School]] (auto shop renovations).<ref>{{Cite web |title=MSBT Minutes 1989 |url=http://www.metropolicyarchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/HSS-1146450-1989D_MSBT-Minutes-1989.pdf |website=metropolicyarchive.ca}}</ref>
Decrease in enrollment had the [[Toronto Board of Education]] announced in 1986 that it planned to close the West Park facility by 1988. The [[Metro Separate School Board]] (now the [[Toronto Catholic District School Board]]) offered to take over the campus and make it into a Catholic school.<ref>Contenta, Sandro. "[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/475696961.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+17%2C+1986&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Catholic+board+wants+to+take+over+Toronto%27s+West+Park+Secondary&pqatl=google Catholic board wants to take over Toronto's West Park Secondary]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. December 17, 1986. News p. A7. Retrieved on July 23, 2013. "The Metro Separate School Board is eager to take over Toronto's West Park Secondary School - due to be closed in 1988 - in a bid to accommodate the board's growing student population.[...]A Toronto Board of Education committee has recommended that the full[...]"</ref> The MSSB's Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School on St. Clair/Dufferin area was over capacity, and the separate school board wanted additional space. There was a proposal stating that both public secular and public Catholic schools could share the same building.<ref>"[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/472770381.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+30%2C+1987&author=&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Public+and+Catholic+students+to+share+west-end+high+school&pqatl=google Public and Catholic students to share west-end high school]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. May 30, 1987. News A6. Retrieved on July 23, 2013. "For the past year, Bishop Marrocco students have been sharing an elementary school with 500 of younger pupils. It's so overcrowded, students in the same class have to write exams in shifts. And with high school enrolment{{sic}} expected to jump to 328 in September, Catholic educators faced an accommodation crisis.[...]"</ref>


⚫
It was reopened as [[Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School]] in September 1988, which they were once called Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School (opened in 1986) and St. Joseph Commercial School (founded by the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]] in 1880 and was renamed to [[Thomas Merton]] C.S.S. in 1985).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Back Issues |url=http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA2006/Smyth.pdf |website=umanitoba.ca}}</ref>
On January 7<!--Yesterday from January 8-->, 1988, Ned McKeown, the director of the TBE, recommended that West Park be transferred to the MSSB.<ref>Contenta, Sandro. "[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473176451.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jan+08%2C+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=2+Toronto+schools+set+for+transfer+to+Catholics&pqatl=google 2 Toronto schools set for transfer to Catholics]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. January 8, 1988. News p. A1. Retrieved on July 23, 2013.</ref> On March 7,<!--Yesterday from March 8--> 1988, the MSSB accepted taking the West Park facility. Sandro Contenta of the ''[[Toronto Star]]'' stated that the TBE was not willing to pay the funds to make the West Park building shareable between the two school boards.<ref>Contenta, Sandro. "[http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/473403461.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+08%2C+1988&author=Sandro+Contenta+Toronto+Star&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=Separate+board+takes+two+schools+rejects+one&pqatl=google Separate board takes two schools rejects one]." ''[[Toronto Star]]''. March 8, 1988. News p. A6. Retrieved on July 23, 2013. "Humbergrove Secondary School in Etobicoke and West Park Secondary School in Toronto's west end were accepted yesterday during negotiations on the transfer or sharing of schools under Bill 30, the legislation extending full government funding to Roman Catholic high schools." and "However, it would cost up to $4 million to make the building suitable for sharing and the Toronto board will not pick up those costs."</ref> The transfer became effective July 1, 1988.


In 2017, [[Choice Properties REIT]] proposed to redevelop the property adjacent to the West Park site, although a replacement school is not ruled out.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/dundas-bloor-redevelopment-1.4159586|title=Redevelopment of 40,000 square metre 'eyesore' could transform Dundas and Bloor|work=CBC News|access-date=2018-03-11|language=en}}</ref>
⚫
It was reopened as [[Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School]] in September 1988, which they were once called Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School (opened in 1986) and St. Joseph Commercial School (founded by the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]] in 1880 and was renamed to [[Thomas Merton]] Academy in 1985). <ref>http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA2006/Smyth.pdf</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Toronto|Schools}}
{{Portal|Canada|Schools}}
*[[List of high schools in Ontario]]
*[[List of high schools in Ontario]]
*[[Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School]]
*[[Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School]]
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{{Toronto High Schools}}
{{Toronto High Schools}}
{{Authority control}}


⚫
[[Category:Toronto District School Board]]
[[Category:Schools in the TDSB]]
[[Category:Schools in the TDSB]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1962]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1968]]
[[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1988]]
[[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1988]]
[[Category:High schools in Toronto]]
[[Category:High schools in Toronto]]
⚫
[[Category:Toronto Lands Corporation]]
[[Category:1968 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:1988 disestablishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Defunct schools in Toronto]]

Latest revision as of 18:49, 28 July 2024

For the former school in St. Catharines, Ontario, see West Park Secondary School (St. Catharines).
West Park Secondary School
Address
Map
1515 Bloor Street West

Roncesvalles, Toronto
,
Ontario
,
M6P 1A3

Canada
Coordinates43°39′23″N 79°27′04″W / 43.65639°N 79.45111°W / 43.65639; -79.45111
Information
School typePublic High School
Vocational High School
Religious affiliation(s)Secular
Founded1968
StatusLeased out
Closed1988
School boardToronto District School Board
(Toronto Board of Education)
OversightToronto Lands Corporation
SuperintendentSandy Spyropoulos
LC4, Executive Superintendent
Sandra Tondat
LN19
Area trusteeRobin Pilkey
Ward 7
School number951765
PrincipalRonald Kendall
Grades9-13
Enrollment1158
LanguageEnglish
Schedule typeSemestered
Colour(s)Brown, Orange and White    
Team nameWest Park Vikings
Public transit accessTTC:
North/South: 40 Junction
West/East: 504 King
Rapid Transit: Dundas West

West Park Secondary School (WPSS, West Park), originally known as West Park Vocational School is a Toronto District School Board public high school facility that operated as a regular school from 1968 to 1988 by the Toronto Board of Education from grade 9 to 13. The school offered various vocational and academic courses in the spacious four-storey school building for inner city schools. The property remains under TDSB possession as of 2019 as a holding school.[1]

History

[edit]

In 1985, Cathy McPherson, the coordinator of the PUSH Central Region, stated that West Park and five other schools were listed as having "excellent" access for disabled persons by the Toronto Board of Education continuing education program.[2]

Decrease in enrollment had the Toronto Board of Education announced in 1986 that it planned to close the West Park facility by 1988.[3] Irene Atkinson, the trustee of Ward 2, said in 1986 that it would likely be the first Toronto (Old Toronto) school closed due to declining enrollment. A task force recommended that the student body is transferred to Brockton High School.[4] That year, the Toronto Star wrote that West Park students were expected to be transferred to Brockton.[3] The Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the Toronto Catholic District School Board) offered to take over the campus and make it into a Roman Catholic separate school.[3] The MSSB's Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School on St. Clair/Dufferin area was over capacity, and the separate school board wanted additional space. There was a proposal stating that both public secular and public separate schools could share the same building.[5]

On January 7, 1988, Ned McKeown, the director of the TBE, recommended that West Park be transferred to the MSSB.[6] On March 7, 1988, the MSSB accepted taking the West Park facility. Sandro Contenta of the Toronto Star stated that the TBE was not willing to pay the funds to make the West Park building shareable between the two school boards.[7] The transfer became effective July 1, 1988. Afterwards, the programs at West Park were dispersed at Bickford Park High School (12 classrooms), Brockton High School (3 shops), Castle Frank High School (special education), Central High School of Commerce (special education) and Western Technical-Commercial School (auto shop renovations).[8]

It was reopened as Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School in September 1988, which they were once called Bishop Francis Marrocco Catholic High School (opened in 1986) and St. Joseph Commercial School (founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1880 and was renamed to Thomas Merton C.S.S. in 1985).[9]

In 2017, Choice Properties REIT proposed to redevelop the property adjacent to the West Park site, although a replacement school is not ruled out.[10]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Toronto Lands Corp Properties" (PDF). torontolandscorp.com.
  2. ^ Brett, Mary Ann (August 26, 1985). "Schools don't make grade on access for the disabled". Toronto Star. pp. Life p. C3. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Contenta, Sandro. "Catholic Board Wants to Take Over Toronto's West Park Secondary". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013.
  4. ^ "West Park school to be closed by 1988". Toronto Star.
  5. ^ "Public and Catholic students to share west-end high school". Toronto Star. May 30, 1987. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  6. ^ Contenta, Sandro (January 8, 1988). "2 Toronto schools set for transfer to Catholics". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Contenta, Sandro (March 8, 1988). "Separate board takes two schools rejects one". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  8. ^ "MSBT Minutes 1989" (PDF). metropolicyarchive.ca.
  9. ^ "Back Issues" (PDF). umanitoba.ca.
  10. ^ "Redevelopment of 40,000 square metre 'eyesore' could transform Dundas and Bloor". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
[edit]
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