Beginnings
Greater Fort Erie Secondary School was born from the existing two high schools in the Greater Fort Erie area. After many great years at Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School and Fort Erie Secondary School, the buildings began showing their age, and the student populations of the schools began to decline.
In 2014, it was decided that Greater Fort Erie was to have a new school. A modern building would be designed to better adapt to changing student needs, as access to technology, modern instructional models, and accessibility for all students became paramount to student success.
Over the next three years, many efforts were made to prepare for the new school. The architect consulted with teachers, staff, and administration to design a functional building that would meet the needs of Fort Erie's growing population. The building was designed in partnership with the Town of Fort Erie, which partnered with us on the installation of the Meridian Center for the Arts, our state-of-the-art auditorium and theatre. The school board selected Greater Fort Erie to be the first school to have installed an artificial turf football field, to allow the practice of various sports to continue unimpeded rain or shine.
The new school would need a name. After consulting with staff, current students, future students, and community members, three names were submitted to the District School Board of Niagara's Board of Trustees. They decided that the school was to be called Greater Fort Erie Secondary School, and emphasized the union of both schools that came before with the Latin phrase: 'In Communitate Optimus', the best in the community.
Using a similar process to the school's naming, a mascot was also decided on. Garrison the Gryphon was chosen from hundreds of public submissions, and named by the students who would make up the first student body of Greater Fort Erie.
Special care went into the merging of the student bodies of Ridgeway Crystal Beach and Fort Erie Secondary School. The two schools had a history of rivalry which some were worried may lead to tension when the schools merged. The newly announced principal of Greater Fort Erie, Fred Louws would spend the next three years bouncing between the principal role at both schools, to allow staff and students to experience what leadership at Greater Fort Erie would look like. Many events were held involving the populations of both schools in order to establish connections between students and grow an ever greater sense of community between classes.
Finally, after all the preparation and building was completed. Greater Fort Erie Secondary School opened its doors on September 5th 2017. It would still be several months before all of the fixtures and doors were installed, but adapting to a building undergoing final construction further created a sense of unity, as the excitement of the new building drew the students and staff closer together. As Ridgeway Crystal Beach's Latin motto emphasized: Through Adversity, to the Stars!