By David Gregory
Giant’s Head Elementary School in Summerland was built in 1974 to meet a major need in the community.
A year previously, the BC. Teachers Federation released a document stating that Summerland’s student-to-teacher ratio was the highest in the entire province of British Columbia.
The three highest student-to-teacher ratios were in Summerland followed by the South Okanagan and Vancouver.
At MacDonald Elementary School, the ratio ranged from 25.09 to 29.05 students per teacher. There were two classrooms with 34 students each.
Summerland immediately needed more classrooms and at that time, provincial school funding was delayed. In the spring of 1974, the Summerland School Board chose land in Prairie Valley, and with the district’s limited available funds, they built a two-room school. The cost, at the time, was $65,000 which included $5,000 for the culvert for Prairie Creek.
On July 11, 1974, representatives from the Department of Education examined the site and discussed plans for expanding the school.
The design for future expansion featured a central resource/library room surrounded by expanding modules of four to six classrooms.
There were delays in construction due to a non-teaching personnel labour dispute.
October 28, 1974, was the official opening of Giant’s Head Elementary School.
The school had 53 students in Grades 3 to 5. The principal was John Hogarth and the two teachers were Elsie Matheson and Marie Manning.
On Dec. 18, 1974, the school’s first students hosted a winter concert. There were so many parents attending the event that parking assistance was required.
June 20, 1975, was the last day of the first school year. At the closing ceremony, Hogarth announced that for the 1975 to 1976 school year, there would be an expansion of the school for Grades 1 to 7. The school district expected 140 students for the new school year.
In addition, Charlie Greenhough would be the new principal and two teachers would be added to the teaching staff, Margaret Stephenson and Jim Haddrell.
For the previous 12 years, Greenhough had been the vice-principal of the Summerland Secondary School. Also, there would be one half-time librarian and one half-time relief teacher.
As part of the closing ceremony, the students put on a show. They demonstrated their skills on recorders and then surprised the crowd of parents by square dancing.
David Gregory is a Summerland historian.
