Brooks Secondary School
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Brooks school has gone through many phases in its lifetime. The current (as of 2020) school is actually the second structure to bear the name. The original building was constructed in 1926 as an eight room elementary school for grades one to five. The school was named for Dr. Dwight Brooks, the first President of the Powell River Company.
Maxwell Cameron was the Principal in 1929, and in 1936 a Junior High was added, and the old system of one teacher teaching all subjects was abolished. Expansion continued through to 1940 when four rooms were added to create a high school. In 1950 another major expansion was completed, with the addition of rooms such as gyms, labs and shops. It was then capable of accepting students from beyond the Townsite. At this time it was often referred to (depending on the grade) as Powell River High School, or Powell River Junior High School. With the opening of Max Cameron Senior Secondary School in Westview, Brooks became a junior high school, offering grades eight, nine, and ten. In 1993 Brooks was demolished to make way for a new school on the same site. A disastrous fire on the construction site in December 1994 delayed the reopening of the current building until 1994. Brooks was then a “full” high school with grades nine through twelve. |
Brooks Secondary - aerial view looking north from over Golf Course, 1953. (ID 1967.1.3705)
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