Six months after that historic April 1, 1953 meeting of Council, invitations were sent out for the official opening of Applewood Public School at 2180 Harvest Drive and on November 19, 1953 the ribbon was cut to mark the arrival of a school to serve the residents of Applewood Acres. The school was built by G.S. Shipp and Son and the architect was Hanks, Irwin and Pearson.
The administrator for the Board was H.J.A.(Jack) Brown, and according to Harold Shipp in an interview 50 years later, the Board agreed to pay G.S. Shipp ‘cost plus 10 percent’ of the raw land costs and ‘half’ of the cost of the road, sewers and water on which the school fronted. Jack realized that the shortest frontage would equal the least cost. According to Harold that was the formalization of all future school site acquisitions in Peel while Jack was administrator.
The guest speaker for the official opening was William Vanderburgh, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education who was introduced by Alan A. Martin, Public School Inspector. Representing the newly established Home and School Association was Orchard Heights resident Ken Creber. The area Trustee was Mr. J. Featherston.
The first school staff consisted of Principal Gordon Gracey and teaching staff Mr. David H. Brown, Mrs. R. Locking, Mrs. Norma Thomas, Mr. G.W. White, Mrs. Jean Green and Mrs. P. Poyner. The caretaker was Mr. K. Van Tuinen.
Westacres School almost ready to open: photo courtesy of Shipp Corporation
In the school year 1954-1955 Westacres Public School opened. The original school went to Grade 8 and the Principal was Gord Finlayson and the Inspector was Allan A. Martin.
It was again Jack Brown who was responsible for the development of the school. In a written presentation prepared many years later for the school’s 35th Anniversary, Mr. Brown wrote the following.
“Our Westacres Community was one of the better subdivisions that launched the post-war development of Toronto Township.
G.S. Shipp and his son Harold were responsible for the planning and development of this sub-division. Westacres was originally referred to as Applewood West. (I believe I am responsible for the renaming of the school to Westacres.)
The South Peel Board of Education purchased 7.51 acres of land for a site we originally conceived might serve both an elementary and a secondary school. The cost of the land was $35,500.00. The purchase was completed in January 1954.
The first school consisted of six classrooms and was approved for construction by the Department of Education on March 15, 1954. The estimated cost was $108,000.00. The architectural firm of Hanks, Irwin and Pearson was selected to design the school. (They had already designed the Applewood Public School in 1953.) Tatti Construction was the successful contractor and when the project was tendered the actual cost of construction came to $89,279.27. Fees, fencing and furniture totaled another $15,00.00. The total expense was approximately $106,000 for six rooms (about the cost of one room today).