Kindergarten was available to all eligible children in Vaughan Township as of 1960. That said, children in some rural areas could not get to some of the schools that provided kindergarten. 1960/61 was the first year that kindergarten was available to kids of Maple for that generation. However this was not the first time that kindergarten was available in Vaughan.
In October 1887 the first teachers’ convention for Vaughan Township took place at the Maple Public School. The inspector introduced the subject of kindergarten teaching. That was the first year that the province recognized kindergarten as part of the public school system. Grants were established for programs for students 3-7 years old – it was usually a full-day of school. Ontario was the first province to recognize kindergarten as part of the public school system. The superintendent displayed a set of objects that included rings, slats, half-rings and squares and how they could be used for drawing.
This photo of the Maple Public School is unique in that the school has a dormer and there is a barn in the background of the photo.
