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Heading back to school after the summer break is always a day of mixed emotions for kids. I recall bursting to tell my friends about my summer vacation and which Sega games I had completed while simultaneously dreading the prospect of being trapped in a tiny classroom for much of the next ten months.
Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Ontario school kids went through the same time-honored tradition of traipsing back into the classroom for the first day of the new academic year, so what better time to round-up vintage pictures of Toronto's schools.
You will most likely recognize many of the buildings shown here since so many of them are still in use. There's a common design thread linking all of the structures - many of the schools built in the early part of the 20th century are, frankly, terrifying in their institutional grandeur. There's no chance kids looked forward to a nose-blowing class (yep, it's real) in the middle of winter at any of these institutions.
Shots of the classrooms, however, don't seem half as scary. Sure, there's a sense of strict discipline, but the outdoor classes at Victoria Park Forest School can't have been so bad. Some of the creative classes look fairly decent, too. That said, the thick coats and hats some students wore indoors in one of the classroom shots make it seem like winter education was something of a drag. I'm glad I could take the furnace at my school for granted.
IN THE CLASSROOM:Image may be NSFW.
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Students take part in an auxiliary art classImage may be NSFW.
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Boy caning a chairImage may be NSFW.
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Health inspection by the school nurseImage may be NSFW.
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Boy taking an auxiliary mental test with shapesImage may be NSFW.
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Mimico school band pose for a photographImage may be NSFW.
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Students take part in a public nose-blowing class in 1913Image may be NSFW.
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Mr. Brown's outdoor art classImage may be NSFW.
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An outdoor class at Victoria Park Forest SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Puppet making classImage may be NSFW.
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Outdoor classes in fallImage may be NSFW.
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A chilly classroom in winterImage may be NSFW.
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Students drink up all their milk, like good little kids
EXTERIORS:Image may be NSFW.
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Adam Beck Junior Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Agincourt CIImage may be NSFW.
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Allenby Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Broadview Avenue SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Charles G. Fraser Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Crawford Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Danforth TechImage may be NSFW.
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Duke of Connaught Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Earl Beatty Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Earl Grey Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Edith L. Groves Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Givens Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Harbord Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Hillcrest Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Huron Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Islington School HouseImage may be NSFW.
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The original Jarvis CI buildingImage may be NSFW.
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Kent Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Leslie Street SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Malvern Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Northern Secondary SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Parkdale Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Riverdale CIImage may be NSFW.
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Rosedale SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Toronto Junction High SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Victoria Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
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Western TechImage may be NSFW.
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Wilkinson Public School
Images: City of Toronto Archives
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