History of the school
By virtue of the order of the Minister of Education of 20th July 1955, Primary School number 2 was transformed into primary school and upper secondary school. Sych is the origin of UpperSecondary School number 11, which was then located at 1 Krajewskiego Street. Jan Maleszka was appointed headmaster of the Primary School and UpperSecondary School number 11. Antonina Damm became its deputy head.
In September 1955 two classes began their education in UpperSecondary School number 11: class 8a (learning Latin) and class 8b (learning French). The total number of students was 70, 35 students in each class.
In the school year of 1958/1959 our school had 11 classes. In some of them there were up to 50 students. In February 1959 there was the first hundred days’ ball (the undergraduates’ ball held a hundred days before a school leaving examination). And the first school leaving examinations were held on 19th and 20th May 1959. Students who were taking this examination finished their 4-year education in the school with a prom.
In the school year of 1961/1962 Stanisław Konarski became the patron of our school.
On 3rd September 1962 at 8am a joyful parade set off from the school at Krajewskiego Street. Students and the teaching staff were moving from the old building to the modern one at 2a Spółdzielcza Street. Headmaster Jan Maleszka and the representatives of the Inspectorate of Education welcomed the students in the school yard.
On 6th September 1962 the first bell rang and the first lesson began in the new school building.
In 1967 a school reform began – classes I, II, III, IV replaced classes VIII, IX, X, XI. At the beginning of the 60’s in UpperSecondary School number XI there were 11 classes, at the end of the decade there were 15. The number of students in the classes ranged from 31 to 42. The students and the teachers worked shifts.
The only available teaching aids were two tape recorders. a record player, a projector, a TV set and 8 microscopes.
In the school year of 1972/73 along with the 200th anniversary of Stanislaw Konarski’s death, the school celebrated its Patron’s Day for the first time. To add splendor to the occasion The Best Student Competition was held; it was won by a student from class Ic – Dariusz Szczyrbuł. The student was awarded with the ‘sapere auso’ medal.
In the school year of 1973/74 new profiles were introduced:
class 1a, 1b – learning English
class 1c – learning German
class 1d – with a wide mathematics and physics programme
class 1e – learning Latin and with a wide biology and chemistry programme
classes 1f, 1g, 1h – with a basic educational programme and learning German
In the 80’s there were 15 classes with 426 students.
In the school year of 1989/1990 there were only 10 classes with 298 students.
In the school year of 1982/83 Jadwiga Gardzińska was appointed head teacher of the school.
In the school year of 1992/1993 there was introduced a class with a new profile – culture studies and in 1993/1994 an ecological profile. On 1st Sep 1993 Primary School number 91 received its own separate building, which contributed to improving the standards of premises of the high school. In the same year a computer studies roombegan to be prepared. The students of class 2d started cooperating with with a computer firm, thanks to which they were able to assemble a computer from parts they received from that firm.
In the school year 1997/1998 there were 18 classes with 532 students. In September a new philological class began their education in the school.
On the Day of National Education in 1997 the school patio began to be built (teachers participated in voluntary action work paving the school yard). It took three years to complete its building, then the patio was opened with due ceremony.
An important event was Ms Jadwiga Gardzińska’s retirement after she had been head teacher for nearly 20 years and the appointment of Ms Irena Faron as a new head teacher.
In 2002 the geography classroom was modernized, new IT and chemistry classrooms were formed. In 2004 the back room of the gym was renovated and modernized and the long awaited redecoration of the gym thus begun.
Curiosities
In 1956 during a school staff meeting the subject of female students’ hairstyles was brought up. The school staff decided that the “ponytail” hairstyle would be forbidden. A few female teachers opposed the decision claiming that “a low ponytail and a short fringe is a modest and decent hairstyle” and a “ tightly pinned up ponytail is not a harmful hairstyle.” Regardless of those opposing voices the decision of the school staff was as follows: “The ponytail hairstyle is forbidden and schoolgirls wearing make-up are not to be let in.”
In 1957 a school staff meeting was concerned a student who had tried to escape abroad. Some teachers demanded that the student should be expelled from school, others stated that the act was a “mere extravagance”. Finally the school staff decided to expel the student. In the same year there appeared a problem of 8th grade students using crib sheets (especially during Latin and German lessons).
It was a teacher’s duty to make students walk in pairs along the hall. Students were taught how to “walk properly up and down the stairs.”
In 1958 a student who was going to the cinema to watch films screened after 8 pm was suspended.