Park Grove School

Park Grove County Primary and Secondary Modern Boys School.

The Groves Wesleyan School was opened in the Groves in 1869 at a cost of £2,435. this building was closed in 1893. York School Board immediately leased and re-opened the building as Brook Street Temporary Board School whilst commissioning Walter Brierley to build the new Park Grove Board School which opened in 1895.

The press of the time desribed the new building as "offering the facilities to rival Eton or Harrow". It was built to house 1,393 children (70 in a class!) and in 1897 the average attendance was 1,115. The younger children were moved back to the Brook Street School building in 1899 because of overcrowding.

There were three departments in 1932; senior mixed with an average attendance of 223, junior mixed with 249, and infants' with 215. By 1956 the senior school was for boys only and 250 were enrolled; there were 210 enrolled in the junior and 100 in the infants' schools.

In 1980 Park Grove Secondary Modern Boys' School, which occupied the top floor of the building, was closed. The building then housed a primary school on the ground floor and York Staff Development Centre on the upper floor. On February 28th 1997 the building suffered a catastrophic fire which left only the Victorian brickwork standing. The building re-opened in September 1999 after a complete rebuild and the whole building is now occupied by Park Grove Primary School with accommodation for 260 children aged 5 - 11.

The original Wesleyan School building is now part of York St John University.

References

External links

* [http://www.parkgrove.york.sch.uk/index.asp Park Grove School, York] (official website)