The 2011 Parkview School story remains a source of inspiration and celebration for local residents in South Etobicoke

The Parkview School story remains a source of inspiration and celebration for local residents in South Etobicoke. The school in question, as we learned in October 2010, was being sold by the Toronto District School Board as the property was surplus to its needs. In the end, it was sold to the French public school board Conseil scolaire Viamonde at a cost of $5.2-million in funding from the Province of Ontario.

Here are two stories from 2011 that remain of interest:

A Sept. 1, 2011 Etobicoke Guardian article is entitled: “New French school to open in Etobicoke: School will sit on site of former Col. Samuel Smith homestead.”

In the background is the hill that’s located on the north side of the site. The Colonel Samuel Smith log cabin was located in an area to the front of the baseball backstop. Jaan Pill photo

View of the former Parkview School, photographed from top of Aquaview Condominiums, November 2012. Photo credit: Jaan Pill

As well:

Colonel Samuel Smith and his homestead: Speaking notes from October 2011 presentation

Aerial view looking east along Lake Shore Blvd West from near Long Branch Loop, Ontario Archives Acc 16215, ES1-814, Northway Gestalt Collection.

A 26-minute video based on a presentation by Jaan Pill at an October 4, 2011 meeting of the Long Branch Historical Society is available for viewing on Vimeo.

The sale in late August 2011 of Parkview School was announced in the Toronto media including in a Sept. 1, 2011 Etobicoke Guardian article.

Please note that the Smith house was demolished in 1955 – not in 1952 as the newspaper article in the link in the previous sentence erroneously asserts.

Jan. 15, 2015 Review of the Toronto District School Board

The Parkview story has came to mind for me as I’ve been following recent news reports related to the Jan. 15, 2015 Review of the Toronto District School Board.

With regard to the review, a Jan. 29, 2015 CBC article is entitled: “Toronto school board must use resources more wisely, minister says: New TDSB report shows 1 in 5 of its schools could be at risk of closure due to falling enrolment.”

A Jan. 29, 2015 Globe and Mail article is entitled: “Deadline to close under-used Toronto schools has trustees reeling.”

A Jan. 29, 2015 Globe and Mail article is entitled: “Blame politics, not parents, for Toronto’s shrinking schools.”

I became involved with local community self-organizing, in Long Branch where I live, some years ago when Parkview School was in the process of being sold by the Toronto Public School Board.

Trustee Pamela Gough, as well as the local MPP at the time, Laurel Broten, played a key role in ensuring that the school was sold by the Toronto District School Board to the French public school board Conseil scolaire Viamonde and in that way, remained in public hands.