Oldest school in the region, Sharon Public, is moving to new location

Facility has been on Leslie Street since 1858

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 8, 2020
Simon Martin

It’s a new era for York Region’s oldest school. Sharon Public School has greeted people on Leslie Street since 1858, but its days as a gateway to the town are coming to an end. The provincial government announced that they will be rebuilding a new Sharon Public School on Murrell Boulevard in Sharon’s new subdivision.

“This is great news for families and future students in East Gwillimbury,” York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney said.

The transportation minister said that people in the community had been advocating for a new school for years. East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson was excited about the prospect of a new school. “It’s really good news,” Hackson said. “These upgrades will help elevate learning in our classrooms.”

Hackson said the new school will be located on Murrell Boulevard, kitty-corner from Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Elementary School. “The site that the school will be going to will be in walking distance for many more people,” she said. “It will be much safer for children with an adjacent community park."

The school will have a new child-care facility located at it, Hackson said. The total cost of the new school is estimated at $14.8 million.

The school was part of a $550-million funding announcement by the province that included 20 new schools and upgrades to eight existing facilities.

First opened in 1858, Sharon Public School is located at 18532 Leslie St. in East Gwillimbury. The original schoolhouse no longer stands, since the school has been renovated, rebuilt and reframed over the last 150 years.

Hackson said she has mixed feelings when thinking about the school moving off the site. “There is such a tradition of learning on that property,” she said. “But it’s much busier than it has ever been there now.”

Hackson said students on the east side of Leslie Street might have to bus to the new school.