A new Catholic school opened on Paisley Boulevard in Mississauga in September 1975. This school was the Rene Lamoureux Temporary French School.

Prior to 1975 the student body of Pene Lamoureux had shared facilities with the English speaking students at both John XXIII and Pierre La Porte Separate Schools. At John XXIII they were located on he top floor of the school, while at Pierre La Porte they were housed in portables adjacent to the school and shared facilities. Since 1972 the French speaking Catholic ratepayers had the right to have their own schools. However, in order to get Ministry approval to build a new school there had to be sufficient number of students to warrant the expenditure. There weren’t, so they were housed in temporary quarters.

According to the Business Superintendent of the Dufferin-Peek Roman Catholic Separate School Board, Mr. Ed LeMay, the John XXIII English speaking population grew tremendously and thus the French had to move to make room for those students. The same situation developed at Pierre La Porte and that space was becoming overcrowded. The French ratepayers were becoming unhappy and wanted their own school centrally located in Mississauga. Some of their students were being bussed from as far away as Orangeville. Mr. Le May said that in 1974 the Board purchased approximately four acres of land in the area west of Callum Road on Paisley Boulevard and designated this to be the site of the temporary Rene Lamoureux School. At that time very little in the way of services were in that area. A minimum number of houses had been built.

This particular site was to be the location for an English speaking school, however, the population did not warrant the building of an English school. Instead the school was built and served as a holding school for the French students under the principalship of Mr. Bernard Kane for one year.

During 1974-1976 the population growth in the Mississauga Catholic schools continued at a phenomenal rate. The neighbouring schools to Rene Lamoureux, those being John XXIII and St. Catherine of Siena were bulging at the seams. Portables abounded at both schools. Many of the students were residents of the new homes being built south of Dundas Highway between Mavis Road and Stillmeadow. In order to relieve the overcrowding at both John XXIII and St. Catherine of Siena, the Board decided to built a portable school on rented undeveloped park property approximately four hundred yards southwest of the temporary Rene Lamoureux school. This school was to be called Mary Fix and would be situated on Fergo Avenue. It would house all English speaking Catholic students who lived in this area until a new Ecole Rene Lamoureux would be built.

On December 18, 1975 the Ministry had placed a stop on all capital spending for an eight month reassessment period. This could have meant at least a two year stay in the portable accommodation for the Mary Fix students, as well as a severe shortage of pupil accommodation for September 1977 throughout the whole Board. The average time between design and construction of permanent accommodation from the Building Proposal Approval to occupancy is eighteen months. Ecole Rene Lamoureux was the top priority project for the Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board at that time. The Board continued to press the Ministry for release of funds. Persistence paid off and the Ministry approved the building of Ecole Rene Lamoureux in May 1976. Construction began in the fall of 1976. The building was ready for September 1977 occupancy.

In the spring of 1973 the Board had actually earmarked a site for a school in the Paisley Boulevard area since they were aware of the expected growth that would become a reality in the next few years. At that time, as is the Board’s policy the local community including the parish priest, was canvassed for the purpose of selecting a suitable name for the school. Names that were considered were as follows:

Kateri Tekawitha

Jeanne Mance

Marguerite Bourgeois

Our Lady of Wisdom

Mary Fix

St. Luke

St. Mark

St. Matthew

Canadian Martyrs

Father Eugene O’Reilly

Father Joseph Pranzo, assistant pastor at St. Catherine of Siena parish suggested the name of a local personality in the person of Mary Fix (1895-1972) That was the name chosen by the Board.

Mary Fix was born in Ottawa and there received her education. She attended Ottawa Collegiate and Notre Dame Convent. At the age of 16 she joined the Women’s Franchise Association. She studied law at Osgoode Hall and graduated in 1918. While a law student she drafted the legislation to give women the vote. She practiced law in Ottawa for two years. Then she became a legal secretary for the Canadian bankers’ Association. Later she changed occupations and joined Eaton’s as department manager in a Montreal store. She became Eaton’s head buyer in New York. Then she spent two years as Eaton’s buyer in Paris, She later claimed that she was responsible for introducing Canadian women to shorts.

She returned to Canada during the Depression. She married Albert Fix a pianist from Vienna. They moved to Toronto Township and built a house at 1068 Centre Road in Port Credit. The house is situated at the intersection of the Q.E.W. and Hurontario. There is talk that her home will one day be turned into a museum. She quit work and wrote magazine articles and raised show dachshunds until Albert’s death in 1945. Then she opened the Cloverleaf Dress Shop in her home.

In 1952 Mary Fix led a delegation of women asking for a probe into the financial affairs of Toronto Township. She ran for Deputy Reeve to “protect the taxpayers’ pocketbooks.” In 1953 she was elected Reeve and became the first woman to hold any seat on council. She was acclaimed as Reeve in 1954. During the new few years she tried systematically to attract industry to the area. She was defeated in the 1955 election, but bounced right back in 1956 when she was again elected Reeve. In 1959 she was appointed Warden of Pell County. From 1960 to 1967 she served on the Board of Directors of the Lewis Bradley Museum which was moved, restored and furnished. Up until 1967 she was a member of the Library Board. She became ill in that year, but, still managed to write the introductory chapter to the Peel County Centennial History and the third chapter which deals with the history of industry in Peel. For two years prior to Centennial she served on the Mississauga Centennial Committee.

Mary Fix died on April 29, 1972. Her funeral mass was celebrated at St. Mary’s Church in Port Credit. She willed her entire estate to the City of Mississauga. The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board made a wise choice in naming a school in her memory. She was certainly a fine lady.

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board on Tuesday, April 20, 1976, Mr. Robert Fisher who was then Vice-Principal at St. Gerard School, was appointed principal of Mary Fix School

If you were to have traveled along Fergo Avenue during the first week of August, 1976 you would have passed by a dense forest of trees, bushes and weeds, Two weeks later changes started to take place. Some trees and bushes were removed, weeds were mowed down, land was leveled and portables were moved on to the site. Within three days ten portables were moved on to the site. Within three days ten portables were placed on their foundations. A small army of workmen zeroed in on the site and put their various skills to work in order to make ready our school for the September 7^th opening. It was a very difficult and trying time for the teachers who were patiently waiting to get into their classrooms to prepare for their pupils. The parents who dropped by daily during the last week in August were quite dubious as to whether the school would be ready. Finally, on the Thursday before Labour Day our electric power was turned on. On Friday the sewer and water connections were hooked up, ready for action. Tentative class lists were posted on the portable windows. On Tuesday morning, September 7^th, Mary Fix school was opened at 9a.m.

Our service module which contained the office, washrooms, staff room and storage was packed with people waiting to register their children. Due to the heavy new enrolements a new classroom had to be opened in addition to the other eight rooms which had been expected. This created an additional problem since the only other portable on the site was scheduled to be our library. Desks were moved in and our library was transformed into a grade two classroom temporarily. Two new portables were requested by the Board. The buildings were moved on to the site on October 4^th. What an interesting experience for the students: The whole school stood by and watched as the movers installed the first additional portable. The library was functioning by the end of October.

One of the prime objectives of the first Mary Fix staff was to create an atmosphere of happiness and trust. The spirit and tone of the school during those months had been just fantastic:

Many of the parents gave freely of their time to help in the Junior and Senior Kindergarten classes. We needed this help since our little people had to leave their classroom, walk over to the service module in order to go to the washroom. Also, the parents were of tremendous help in the classroom helping to prepare snacks and to carry buckets of water from the classrooms to the service module and vice versa.

The first Open House was held on Septebmer 30^th and most of the parents came out to meet the teachers and see what the portables had to offer. From the comments received most parents were quite happy with our temporary location, but, were looking forward to next September when we would be in our permanent school in Paisley Boulevard.

Since we were situated on a park setting we took advantage of the space available. Just to the east side of the portables we had two large sand boxes and one doxen huge rubber tires. The tires were donated by the Ford Motor Company. The children had a ball at recess time. As well, the Junior and Senior Kindergarten classes used these facilities, especially the tires to develop a sense of balance, control of body parts and muscular coordination. North of the school was a Fitness Trail which was pur into use during Physical Education periods. Each Wednesday afternoon four classes headed to Huron Park to improve their skating skills. On Fridays, thanks to the cooperation of Mr. Kane at Rene Lamoureux we had the use of the gymnasium at that school.

We knew that we had the long hard winter ahead of us but, we also knew that we could cope with it and whatever else would come our way, be it rain, hail or snow, because we had enthusiastic teachers, great pupils and very supportive parents.

First Teaching Staff at Mary Fix

The first three staff members hired were Mary Anne Kelly, Mary Vancas and Carol Anastasi. (Appendix 7) They were all experienced teachers and were a fantastic help to me as they helped to organize class lists and order necessary supplies. Newly hired rookie teachers, Gary Menard and Mauverneen McHenry were shocked to see a field of weeds instead of a school when they visited the school site with me in June 1976. Norma Bowler was assigned to Mary Fix on the Friday before Labour Day. What a busy week-end for a first year teacher; Other experienced teachers were assigned to Mary Fix.

Our first staff meeting was held in my backyard in Oakville on June 29^th, 1976.

Mary Fix Staff 1976-1977

J.K. Mrs. A. Stewart

S.K. (a.m.) Mrs. C, Hurley

S.K. (p.m.) Mrs. R.M. Hill

Grade I Mrs. M.A. Kelly

Grade I Miss M. McHenry

Grade 2 Miss N. Bowler

Grade 2 Mrs. L. O’Grady

Grade 3 Mrs. N. Rabbat

Grade 4 Miss M. Vancas

Grade 5 Miss C. Anastasi

Grade 6 Mr. G. Menard

Librarian Mrs. A. Dowling

Teacher Assisstant Mrs. M.Luscott

Teacher Assisstant Mrs. B. Jones

Secretary Mrs. P. Wasdell

Caretaker Mr. L. Ladouceur

Principal Mr. R. Fisher

Superintendent Mr. E. Lagroix

Trustees Mr. J. Smith &

Mr. D, Bileski

Mary Fix Staff 1977-1978

J.K. Mrs. A. Stewart

S.K. (p.m.) Mrs. C. Hurley

S.K. (a.m.) Mrs. M.E. Smith

S.K. (a.m.) Mrs. L. O’Grady

Grade I Miss M. McHenry

Grade I Sister Mary Teresa

Grade I/2 Mrs. C. Chmiel

Grade 2 Miss N. Bowler

Grade 2 Miss E. Sandford

Grade 3 Mrs. N. Rabbat

Grade 3 Mrs. M. Whittaker

Grade 3/ 4 Mrs. E. Antaya

Grade 4 Miss M. Vancas

Grade 5 Miss C. Anatasi

Grade 5 Mr. B. Burd

Grade 6 Mr. N. Miscione

Grade 6 Mr. G. Menard

Librarian Mrs. A. Dowling

Teacher Assistant Mrs. M. Luscott

Teacher Assistant Mrs. B. Jones

French Teacher Mrs. M. Da Hab

Developmental Teacher Mrs. M.A. Kelly

Caretaker Mr. M. Salvo

Secretary Mrs. C. Romain and Mrs. C. Wasdell

Principal Mr. R. Fisher

Superintendent Mr. D. Mullin

Trustees Mr. J. Smith & Mr. D. Bileski

Mary Fix School is part of the St. Catherine of Siena parish. In October 1981, the parish celebrated its 25^th anniversary. Each week, the pastor, Father Soigolon and his assistants, Father Basso and Father Lando visit the school to participate in celebrations and to assist the teachers in the sacramental preparations. Masses are sometimes held in the school gymnasium. At other times the school community would walk to the parish church which is located on #10 Highway.

Official Opening of Mary Fix School

The Solemn blessing and formal opening of Mary Fix School took place on Sunday, June 4, 1978. Pupils, parents, teachers, trustees, superintendents and the director were present. The program was as outlined in the booklet. The guest speaker for the occasion was Doug Kennedy, MPP for Peel. The principal’s opening talk to the parents follows:

Mr. Fisher then introduced the staff and all the special guests. Mr. Kennedy spoke for a few minutes about his recollections of Mrs. Mary Fix. Father Spigolon then offered the solemn blessing of the school. Then everyone moved to the library for refreshments.