Port Colborne High School, commonly known as Port High, is a high school in

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after S ...

, just north of the eastern edge of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is part of the

District School Board of Niagara The District School Board of Niagara (DSBN, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 22 prior to 1999) is a school board in the public school system of Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Niagara. Its head office ...

and has been serving the communities of Wainfleet and Port Colborne since the 1920s. The school serves students from communities in Wainfleet,

Dunnville Dunnville is an unincorporated community located near the mouth of the Grand River in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada near the historic Talbot Trail. It was formerly an incorporated town encompassing the surrounding area with a total populat ...

, Dain City, and

.District School Board of Niagar
School Locator
/ref> Port High is a composite high school from which students successfully graduate to attend universities and colleges across Canada. The school offers 5 Specialist High Skills Major programs in Arts and Culture, Manufacturing, Hospitality and Tourism, Health and Wellness and Automotive Technology. The school also offers a specialty cosmetology program with a full service salon on campus. Students have the opportunity to participate in a full range of sporting and cultural activities. Port High has a highly respected technology department. The school also offers a wide range of academic and arts programs that prepare students for university, college, and the world of work. The school has a student population of just under 600 students.

History

The History of Port Colborne High School dates back to 1920, when the town of Port Colborne became a focal point of many new industries. The arrival of the International Nickel Company of Canada (

INCO Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...

) in 1918, the prospering businesses of Canada Furnace, Maple Leaf Mills and Canada Cement along with the building of the fourth

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

brought many new residents and their families to the town. A need for an educational institution was realized. In 1920, the Port Colborne School Board purchased four acres of land from Dewitt Carter on the corner of Steele and Elgin Streets. Building started in 1920 and in 1921 the Port Colborne Continuation School opened its doors for the first time with four classrooms, a science lab, and a gymnasium (currently the theatre). This school offered students in Port Colborne grades 9–11. If a student wanted to further their education after grade 11 they needed to travel to

Welland Welland is a city in the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Southern Ontario, Canada. As of 2021, it had a population of 55,750. The city is in the centre of Niagara and located within a half-hour driving distance to Niagara Falls, Niagara-o ...

, via trolley, to complete their fourth and fifth terms (Grade 12 and 13). In 1922, an application was made to the

Ontario Government The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor— ...

for

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

status, which was granted in 1923. The first graduates of Port High received their diplomas on December 20, 1923. The school board then consisted of 6 members, and there were only 5 teachers at Port High to teach 100 students. In 1926, the first of many additions were built to accommodate the growing student population by adding four classrooms to the back of the existing building. Since that time there have been four other major renovations; in 1938, 6 classes, a gym, a shop class, and a home economics class room was added; in the 1960s another gym, science classes and a technical wing was built; in 1989 saw the improvement of the library and main office area, as well as many stairwells closed to make the building more energy efficient; and the latest addition being the new entrance way and foyer built in 2008. During the late 1960s, the school housed over 1600 students with 90 teachers. The school was bursting at the seams and a new school for Port Colborne was needed. A shift system was put into place with Port High students attending school in the morning and future Lockview Park students attending in the afternoon. In February 1970 the new school, located on Janet Street, opened its doors to over 600 students. Many of these students would return to Port High for grade 13 since Lockview was had only grades 9–12.

Notable alumni

* John Maloney - Canadian Politician * Theodore "Teeder" Kennedy - Former

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Captain * Lynton Ronald 'Red' Wilson - Business Executive *

Melissa McIntyre Melissa Erin McIntyre (born May 31, 1986) is a Canadian former actress. She is best known for her role as Ashley Kerwin on the long-running CTV/The N teen drama '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''.Menon, Vinay (March 20, 2006). "Teen drama Degras ...

- Actress - Degrassi High * Bill McBirnie - Award-winning jazz flautist * Charles "Chuck" Steele - Veteran World War II Pilot of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

411 Squadron

References

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External links

Port Colborne High SchoolPort Colborne High School - District School Board of Niagara - Government of Ontario
High schools in the Regional Municipality of Niagara Port Colborne 1923 establishments in Ontario Educational institutions established in 1923

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links