Generally speaking (with four exceptions), up to this point, we have been dealing with schools that were closed during the tenure of the Muskoka Board of Education. This time we will deal with the last of these – Victoria Street School (Bracebridge) and D. M. Head School (North Muskoka) – both intended for children who were mentally challenged. They weren’t closed because of financial concerns, particularly; as much as they were terminated by a new philosophy that saw value in placing such individuals in existing school community educational settings.

  However, there was no doubt that educating mentally challenged children was more costly due to the specialized nature of the work. The MBE knew this almost from the beginning when per pupil costs in Muskoka were released in October 1970 that revealed these statistics: (on an annual basis): elementary $500; secondary $1,100 and trainable retarded (the term then used) $1700. But they were also made aware of the tremendous effort that many people had expended to get the schools in Bracebridge and Huntsville up and running during the 1960s – two of these people being director Fred Hammell and Superintendent Robert Claus! However, times changed.

  With the phasing out of these schools in the 1990s, the MBE then carried out educating Muskoka district in its twenty-one remaining schools until December 31, 1997, where special needs children were integrated into the regular school setting and provided additional support.

Victoria Street School

The struggle to obtain instruction for the mentally challenged in South Muskoka was taken up by Mr. Fred Hammell, the inspector of Public Schools, in early 1961. An association of interested individuals was elected and by September 1961, they had made arrangements to open a school in the Bracebridge United Church with Ruth O’Brien as principal.

  In 1965 a Retarded Children’s Educational Authority was formed that had powers similar to a school board and a building fund was initiated. With many struggles, and much hard work, this group eventually opened the Victoria Street School at Bracebridge in the autumn of 1968. Mr. Don Ballantyne was engaged as principal, following Ilda Olimer who had overseen the work since 1962.

  In January 1969, the Association turned over the debt-free Victoria Street School to the new Muskoka Board of Education. Don Snider became the last full-time principal, his years of service running from 1981 to 1992 and in his opinion these were “the most rewarding years he had during his career.” The school continued for a couple of years beyond that, with the principal of the Bracebridge Public School acting in a supervisory role.

D.M.Head

Educational opportunities for mentally challenged children in North Muskoka got underway in the early 1960s. At this time it was still necessary to raise funds locally to support the work, as there was no government help.

With persistent effort the school originally opened in the Anglican Parish Hall with two pupils. Later a move was made to an upstairs room of a downtown store before moving to the former West End School where it was located at the time it was taken over by the Muskoka Board of Education in 1969.

  When Sunny Glen School at Novar was closed in 1971, the opportunity to move to a larger building was acted upon in 1972. Mrs. B. Ferguson was the principal during this phase of the school’s existence.

  Mention should be made that the D.M.Head School included students from North Muskoka s well as East Parry Sound – an agreement that was carried on by the MBE. The move to Novar made the transportation agreements much more equal, especially for the Parry Sound students.