Windsor Park Collegiate

Windsor Park Collegiate (WPC) is a public secondary school in Winnipeg, Manitoba, within the Louis Riel School Division.

Windsor Park Collegiate
Address
1015 Cottonwood Road

Winnipeg
,
Manitoba
,
R2J 1G3

Canada
Coordinates49.8617°N 97.0744°W / 49.8617; -97.0744
Information
School typePublic, Secondary school
MottoClassical: Wisdom Patience Courage
Traditional: Where Pride Counts
New: Bold Education. Inspired Minds.
Founded1960
School boardLouis Riel School Division
SuperintendentDuane Brothers
PrincipalKaren Haluschak
Staff38 Teachers, 36 Support Staff
GradesGrades 7-12
Enrollment540 (August 2018)
LanguageEnglish/Français Partiel
AreaWindsor Park
Colour(s)Purple and Silver         
MascotThe Duke of Windsor
Team nameRoyals
Websitewww.lrsd.net/schools/WPC/
Last updated: 2019 Sept 4

History

"In the year of nineteen hundred and sixty, in the community of Windsor Park, there opened a school that became a legend. Only one other school in North America had this unique hexagonal architecture. The first principal of the school, Windsor Park Collegiate, was Mr. D. M. Slater, and the faculty population was 27. The first school President was R. D. McClelland. The school had a population of 619, ranging from Grade 7 to Grade 12. 93 of the students were graduating that year." Taken from the 1978 Yearbook

Currently, Windsor Park Collegiate is a Grade 9 to Grade 12 school. It harbors a staff force of 34 teachers and 40 support staff strive to maintain an environment that promotes student learning. The school offers an English Language Program.

Architecture

The building was designed by local Winnipeg firm 'Green Blankstein Russell', and construction began in 1959.[1] The design is notable for its use of multiple two-storey hexagonal pods joined by hallways. The only other school know to feature the "unique hexagonal architecture" is Donald D. Lum Elementary School in Alameda, California, which opened in 1961. A larger gym, designed by firm 'Duncan Rattray Peters Searle' was later added in 1969.

Windsor Park Collegiate was built during the cold war, and rumors of a large bomb shelter in the foundation of the school have been propagated by students, staff and alumni for decades. Despite the school being constructed with a large, open area in its foundation, there is no evidence that it was ever designed as any sort of bomb shelter.[2] This unused underground space is accessible though a crawlspace near the former basement cafeteria, and a door near the main gym changing rooms.

Special Needs Program

WPC has the largest secondary school Special Needs program in the Louis Riel School Division. It is technically termed the Co-op Education Program and the Skills for Living Program. This program works with integration into standard classes, as well as work experience and life skills training.

Bistro in the Park

In 1999, the program opened up Crackers The Bistro, a full-service restaurant that was open to the public for lunch 5 days a week. Here they train and "employ" exclusively the students who are in the Occupational Skills Program within the Louis Riel School Division. It is located in a residential strip mall very close to WPC. The program was a great success in reaching its goals, but is still operated largely off donations and public funding. In 1999 this program won the Manitoba School Board Innovation Award.[3] As of July 2006 the restaurant was renamed Bistro in the Park.[4]

50th Anniversary Celebration and Reunion

A 50th anniversary celebration and reunion was held on May 13–14, 2011. Many past students and staff attended the two-day celebration. A "Hall of Honour" was established and three people were inducted at the Gala Dinner. Butch Goring, Jennifer Jones and Evelyn Jacks.

Notable alumni
gollark: In my case the wiki thing runs on my server, and the data folder on that is backuped to my laptop and other "server".
gollark: SaaS-type platforms like this generally don't have plugins or extensibility much.
gollark: Besides, this way I can add random features nobody else would ever need! DokuWiki has plugin support, and I needed that one time.
gollark: There *are* intermediates between "constantly copy to C L O U D" and "just store a local copy of everything only".
gollark: I have backups.

References
  1. "Winnipeg Architecture Foundation - 1015 Cottonwood road". Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  2. "Mythbusting at Windsor Park Collegiate". The Lance. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  3. http://www.bigdatabase.ca/big-html/nonsecure/resources/success/success-crackers.html
  4. http://www.lrsd.net/Administration/Boardroom/Minutes/Minutes06June2006.htm
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.