Van Horne School Buildings

According to the 1947-1948 year book, the school on Van Horne Avenue consisted of 206 pupils, housed in three rooms and another three rooms in a temporary structure along King Street. The first floor consisted of the principal's and secretary's offices as well as one large classroom for students in the junior grades. On the second floor was a small science/chemistry classroom that seated twelve to fifteen students. Another interim classroom was built for senior students in the basement beside an old wood furnace. This furnace was upgraded to a coal furnace. Rumors still exist to this day about the incredible heat that one had to endure in that basement classroom.

The main building was connected by an enclosed walkway to a portable structure where there existed another three classrooms. Obviously, today's strict fire codes and regulations did not exist in those days, as the walkway was used as a storage depot for drums of heating oil and was insulated with lime and wood shavings. According to Roy Wilson, the lime was used to keep out unwanted rodents and pests. The three room structure was affectionately called the "chicken coop".

The physical conditions for work and study in the original school building on Van Horne Avenue were appalling. Imagine forty students crowded into a single classroom, their quiet study interrupted by the loud creaky echo of the secretary's footsteps down the hallway. Classroom windows were frequently found wide open in the middle of winter to alleviate the incredible heat created by the over-stoked furnace.

Up until 1948, students spent the entire day in the same classroom. Rotating classes, where students and teachers moved to different classrooms for each period, began in the 1949-1950 school year. Teachers having classes in both the Van Horne building and the chicken coop were required to carry all their equipment to and from both locations on a daily basis. For classes like Harry McMaster's Grade 10 chemistry, there was a lot to haul.