Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.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.
Clik here to view.Students take part in an auxiliary art classImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Boy caning a chairImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Health inspection by the school nurseImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Boy taking an auxiliary mental test with shapesImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Mimico school band pose for a photographImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Students take part in a public nose-blowing class in 1913Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Mr. Brown's outdoor art classImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.An outdoor class at Victoria Park Forest SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Puppet making classImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Outdoor classes in fallImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.A chilly classroom in winterImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Students drink up all their milk, like good little kids
EXTERIORS:Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Adam Beck Junior Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Agincourt CIImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Allenby Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Broadview Avenue SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Charles G. Fraser Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Crawford Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Danforth TechImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Duke of Connaught Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Earl Beatty Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Earl Grey Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Edith L. Groves Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Givens Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Harbord Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Hillcrest Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Huron Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Islington School HouseImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.The original Jarvis CI buildingImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Kent Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Leslie Street SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Malvern Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Northern Secondary SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Parkdale Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Riverdale CIImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Rosedale SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Toronto Junction High SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Victoria Street Public SchoolImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Western TechImage may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Wilkinson Public School
Images: City of Toronto Archives
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.