This time last year, the Times featured an article called “New look for Winchester Public School”. At that time, the “portapack” building – which housed 7 classrooms and its own set of washrooms – had just been removed, providing unobstructed views in the schoolyard that hadn’t been seen before, at least not by any of the kids young enough to be attending the school.
Last month, workers helped to beautify the vacant area of fine gravel left behind since the removal of the structure. A total of 6 small planters and 2 large planters were added to the space, with the smaller planters being surrounded by a bed of mulch encased in the same kind of plastic barrier that surrounds play structures.
Many of the students at the school undoubtedly hoped a new play structure would be installed in the open space, even though 3 climbing structures and a full swing set are already just steps away. Instead, the addition of a living “green space” in the yard will add not only aesthetic appeal, but also a connection with nature, which is excellent for student learning.
The overall shape of both the Winchester Public School building and its property are ever-changing. The original tower section of the building was built in 1928, making it nearly 100 years old. A small section of the original stone arch entranceway can still be seen from inside the building, where it now connects to another section.
In 1956, the building took the shape of a more typical “public school” with the addition of a long hallway, a complete set of staff and student washrooms, a few additional classrooms, and a complete gymnasium and stage area. More recently, there came expansions. There was of course the portapack building, as well as a new kindergarten wing complete with a new main office and principals’ offices about 10 years ago. Then about 7 years ago, a hallway and some unused classrooms were demolished at the southeast corner of the building. This cleared the way for the new state of the art childcare wing, which was completed just 2 years ago and currently houses Happyface Nursery School.
All of these changes to the building have necessitated changes to the outdoor landscape of the property as well. New fencing has been put up to create divided yard areas. Grass has been added in some areas while others were paved. The former angle parking on Clarence Street was replaced with a bus lane, while staff got a new gated-access parking lot on the west side of the school’s soccer field yard. Both York Street and Louise Street S (in the sections directly adjacent to school property) were made into one-way streets to allow for streetside drop-off and pick-up parking spaces to be added. A new basketball court was constructed, and a brand new play structure was just added to the soccer field about a year ago.
The rich history of Winchester’s only elementary school is fascinating, and continues to grow. The addition of some planters in one of the 3 yards may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of decades worth of changes, but to the students who returned to school this week, the addition of yet another new feature to the yard has undoubtedly brought smiles to many faces.
