Cathedral High School (Hamilton, Ontario)

Cathedral High School is a public Roman Catholic high school in Hamilton, Ontario, under the administration of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. Cathedral High School dates back to 1912, when high school classes where offered to the youth of Hamilton by the Hamilton Separate School Board. Classes were held in two rooms at St. Mary’s School, located on Mulberry Street. By 1921, enrollment had increased significantly and the two rooms could no longer hold the amount of people. The boys were soon moved to the upper floor of St. Patrick’s School on East Avenue and Main Street. While the girls remained at St. Mary’s. In 1925, the Separate School Board authorized the building of a new and larger building.People of Catholic faith were asked to donate money to help build the new school by the Holy Name Men of various parishes. In 1928 Cathedral Boys’ High School was officially opened on Emerald and Main Street, where it still stands today. In the same year the Girls’ School took over the space on the top floor of St. Patrick’s School. The gym and the labs at Cathedral Boys’ had to be shared between the boys and the girls.In 1951, the memorial Wing was added onto Cathedral Boys’. In 1955, the girls moved into their new building on Main Street two blocks east of the boys’ school. It was not until 1995 that the two separate high schools were amalgamated into one Cathedral High School.In 1995, the new facility on Wentworth Street was open, merging both the boys and girls into one school, instead of sharing the old two sites together. The Wentworth Street site is still in use to this day.The new school brought amalgamation and new progress. Cathedral High School has the Board's French Immersion program, an ESL program, as well as the Academic, Applied and locally developed courses. Cathedral also has programs in the technologies including Food Services, Communications Technology, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Automotive Technology, Technological Design and Health Care. Other exciting courses include Art, Drama and Music.