History
By the late 1970s The Etobicoke Board of Education had gone through the process of closing over thirty schools because of a dramatic decline in enrolment, which dropped from 65,000 to fewer than 35,000 pupils. In spite of this, the senior staff felt compelled to resume innovative programs that had characterized the Board during the 1960s and 1970s. One idea had been talked about in the program department was a school for artistic students.
In the fall of 1979, the board visited the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. They came away convinced that a successful arts school would have to have an exclusive program, that is, a program that would function on its own, without sharing space within an existing secondary school. To ensure that the right students enrolled, they also agreed that admission would be subject to an audition.
The school was opened on September 8, 1981 at a closed Queensway Senior School.
In September 1983 ESA moved to its current home in the building of Royal York Collegiate which had been closed in June 1982. The school gained a strong reputation over the next decade as one of Toronto's best secondary schools. Students began to apply from all over the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario.
Read more about this topic: Etobicoke School Of The Arts
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