Our Mission.
At Moosonee Public School, we work together as a Community to create a safe and accepting learning environment that promotes achievement and well-being.
Our Vision.
We believe that every student is entitled to services and supports that will enable them to navigate pathways to success in an evolving world.
Our History.
The first school was established in 1932 in a train car located on a siding near the Ontario Northland Railway station. The next school was a one-room school near the old ONR Lodge. By 1945, it was replaced by a two room school with Auditorium located at the present site of the Polar Bear Lodge and constructed from 3 surplus military Quonset Huts. An additional classroom was added in 1963. The Auditorium was converted to 2 additional classrooms in 1965. There was also a residence for the Principal, which was also constructed out of Quonset hut materials. The school had an outdoor ice rink behind it where the students played broomball and the Moosonee and Moose Factory hockey teams competed on a regular basis in the winter. Before the Auditorium was used for classrooms, it was used as a gym for students and for a variety of community events.
When Moosonee Public School was located on Revillon Road (site of the Polar Bear Lodge) teachers could not contain their students during the spring break-up of the Moose River. Students left the school and joined their families on the river bank for about a week. Students also used to run out of the school when they saw the geese migrating. They would go outside and practice their goose calls. Students can still be heard practicing their goose calls before school or during recess in both spring and fall, when the geese can be seen flying over the playground.
…students can still be heard practicing their goose calls before school or during recess in both spring and fall, when the geese can be seen flying over the playground.
The organized school sports in the late 1950s and early 1960s were Broomball on the outdoor rink during winter, and Volleyball inside the auditorium. Students also practiced Track and Field events that were set up inside the rink once the ice had melted, in preparation for the annual Track and Field Meet that was held at Moose Factory. Students travelled across the Moose River in a wooden barge. The Track Meet was discontinued when Horden Hall Residential School closed.
In 1965, the first teacherages were built on Ferguson Road on the location where the outdoor rink used to stand. At the present time, there are a number of houses allocated for teachers and administrators, including a different Principal’s house and a 4-plex containing one-bedroom apartments.
A new school was built at the present site and was ready for occupancy on January 15, 1967. At the time, it had 8 classrooms, including a Kindergarten room. Moosonee Public School was also offering a Grade 9 program for students, given that Moosonee did not have a Secondary School.
In 1967, the Moosonee Education Centre was constructed (later renamed the James Bay Education Centre (JBEC)). The building was attached to both Moosonee Public School and Bishop Belleau School, which had been built in 1965, creating an education complex. The gym was utilized by both MPS and BBS and a Public Library was located in the building. The library was later closed and the space was renovated for a Day Care Centre. Northern College is now located in the JBEC building and classrooms and the gym are used by Moosonee Public School on a regular basis.
In 1989, the second floor of the school was added, after a fire gutted the school in 1987. 6 classrooms were added to the school, plus a library. By the 1980s, Basketball began to take hold as the most popular organized sport at Moosonee Public School.
In 2009, children’s playground equipment was erected in the school yard. In 2010, an outdoor cement basketball court was constructed, as well as a Primary concrete play pad.