Fisher Park High School
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[edit] Fisher Park High School
Fisher Park High School (1949–1987) is a closed High School once located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Located within a kilometer of prestigious Island Park Drive, Fisher's student population included children of many of Ottawa's prominent and wealthier citizens and a large contingent of Ottawa's Portuguese/Italian community. The area contains a number of embassies, and occasionally the children of ambassadors attended the school. During the late 1960s and early '70s the Ottawa School Board used Fisher Park to experiment with extended freedom for students, allowing open attendance of class and exemption from exams if they maintained consistently high grades.
The story of Fisher Park begins In 1945 when Ottawa had only 4 high schools, and a plan was underway by the Collegiate Institute Board (a cooperation between the Ottawa Separate School Board and the Ottawa Public School Board) to build Ottawa its fifth high school in what was then referred to as the West end. On July 25, 1945, after much debate, Fisher Park was chosen as the site for the new school, and was touted “the most up-to-date building for student and community use that can be built”; Architectural and physical planning began immediately, and on December 21, 1946 it was announced that the Ontario Department of Education had approved the plans and building would begin in the spring. The school was estimated to cost $1,450,000 at that time.
By 1948 construction was well underway, and on November 12, 1948, His Excellency Viscount Alexander, Governor General of Canada, laid the cornerstone of Fisher Park High School.
By 1949, however, cost overruns in the building of the school were "deplored" and resulted in a protest by the Board of Trade. "The additional cost of Fisher High School will have a very decided impact on Ottawa's taxpayers." said Roy F. Fleming, the secretary of the Property Owner's Association at the time. Many felt that there was an over-emphasis on recreation (the plan had been to make Fisher Park not only a high school but also a community center). Somewhere at this time plans to make the small gym into a pool, as well as a "girls" gym on the second floor, were scrapped.
Nevertheless, Fisher Park High School opened in 1949, the first day of classes was September 6, 1949 with construction still taking place, and construction continued for the entire first year the school was open. The school was officially opened by the Honourable Leslie Frost (Premier of Ontario 1949-61) on May 2, 1951. The school was named for a former Ottawa mayor and "distinguished Canadian", Harold Fisher.
In 1950, a contest was held to name the Fisher Park yearbook. Out of over 200 entries, a student named John Foulds won both a cash prize and the honour of having every Fisher Park High School yearbook branded with his suggestion: "Fi Pa Hi".
In 1969 former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau sent a letter of greetings to the students of the school as it entered its 20th year, which was published in the 68-69 FiPaHi.
For 38 years Fisher Park High was a proud, strong school described as "a student's dream come true", and claimed the distinction of being Ottawa's first composite vocational school, teaching academic subjects alongside with metalwork, woodwork, machine / auto shop, electricity, drama, arts, as well as finance and business. The first student body was 491 students from Grade IX and X, peaking at 1,900 students in 1958 before the opening of Laurentian High culled Fisher's population back to a manageable 1,439 in 1961, a number that remained relatively stable for decades.
On October 25th and 26th, 1974, there was a 25th Reunion held at Fisher Park. Hundreds of Fisher Park graduates returned to the school for festivities and what seems to have been a celebrated event. An excerpt from the yearbook entry about the 25th reunion:
"...All the students involved saw that hundreds of graduates were enthusiastically returning to Fisher Park to salute it. Their obvious pride in their old school, and the smiles of their faces as they recalled old memories at the Dinner Dance on Saturday night proved to be contagious. As one Fisher student remarked, "Nowhere have I seen so many people having such a really great time."
FPHS was closed by the Ottawa Board of Education in 1987. On July 16, 1986 the then trustees of the OBE voted (9-7) to close Fisher Park High School. Few FPHS students who were at the school in 1986 will forget an assembly at which Trustee Alex Cullen promised to help keep the school open, and then reneged and voted to close it. As a sidenote, In the Fall of 1998 as a new MPP Cullen became the only Liberal MPP to vote against the Calgary national unity framework, which got him removed from caucus, whereupon after 28 years as a Liberal he switched sides and ran and won as an NDP candidate. The father of current (2007) Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty (also named Dalton) was a Trustee in 1986 and voted to close Fisher Park.
"The school crest was designed by Mr. Robert Walker, then the art director of Fisher Park High School's vocational art course, in the summer of 1952. The crest represented all courses within Fisher Park. The open book on the crest is symbolic of the general course, the open book representing learning. The three smaller panels below represent the three other courses at Fisher, the technical course, the art course, and the commercial course. A T-square, flask, cogwheel and electrical spark represent the technical course, the ship of commerce represents the commercial course, and the art section represented by a palette, brushes, pen and ink. The motto "Est Dignus", "Be Worthy", was given to Fisher Park by its first vice-principal, Mr. L. McCarthy." - 69-70 Fi-Pa-Hi Yearbook
[edit] Notable alumni
- Paul Anka — A famous singer, songwriter, and actor. At the school in the 1950's he was part of a trio called the Bobby Soxers. [1], also IMDB listing.
- Tim Higgins — A professional hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1978 to 1989.
- Robin Gammell — A professional actor with several movies and television shows to his credit. IMDB listing
- Andrew Moodie — A professional playwright and actor with several plays, movies and television shows to his credit. IMDB listing
- Luke Richardson — NHL hockey player since 1987; currently (2007) plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- Jeremy Hotz — Canadian stand-up comedian, writer for The Jon Stewart show, actor IMDB listing
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Fisher Park High School, Ottawa - 1949 - 1987" The Official 2007 reunion website
- Jeremy Hotz Official Website
[edit] References
- The Evening Citizen (newspaper), Dec.21, 1946, front page, “Approve Fisher School Plan”
- The Evening Citizen (newspaper), Nov. 13, 1948, “Alexander Lays Stone at Fisher Park School”
- Ottawa Journal (newspaper), May 3, 1951, page 10, “At Fisher Park, Frost(y) Friday Free”
- Ottawa Citizen (newspaper), May 3, 1951, page 19, “Fisher Park High School Officially Opened by Premier Frost”.
- Ottawa Citizen (newspaper), July 16, 1986, "OBE Trustees Reject Bid to Spare Fisher Park" Cathy Campbell and Jacquie Miller, Citizen Staff writers
- Fisher Park High School Yearbooks (the FiPaHi), 1950-51 (Issue 2), 1968-69 (Issue 20), 1969-70 (Issue 21), and 1974-75 (Issue 26)
