In true Grove spirit, more than 140 alumni, past staff and current staff came together on Thursday, May 7 in Toronto to celebrate the ground breaking decision of 1987 that welcomed girls to The Grove for the first time in September of 1989.

 

On November 9, 1987, the Chairman of the Board, Kim Little ‘53, announced to the Grove Family the decision that LCS would welcome girls. On Thursday, Kim (whose LCS legacy includes his sons Ross '81 and Michael '84 and grandchildren Andrew '13 and Kathryn '17) received a standing ovation from the crowded room. It was a great night to hear the history of the decision process by David Hadden who was Head of School at the time and championed for the transition. 

 

The event was not just a celebration of the girls, but a celebration of the school over the past twenty-five years - there were more significant firsts at the school since 1989 than any other similar time period in the school's history as chronicled in the timeline that was a focal point through the event.

 

The sold out crowd heard from Erica ’95 and Matt ’97 Chellew, who both grew up on campus and then attended LCS. The group also heard from the Avards, a legacy family which now includes a female LCS student - Alan ‘85, Andrew ’15 and Allie ’18 shared their LCS experiences, both as a boys school (Alan), to the coed school it now is (Andrew and Allie; Allister '13 was unable to join us for the evening). Jen (Davies) Tidman '91 who was among the 55 girls who first arrived in 1989, shared her perspective of the integration of both sexes. A memorable video, by Ryan Lee '12, which highlights memories from alumni was also shown.

 

It was a great night to share stories from when the school was transitioning. 

 

A special thank you to the Better Together: Celebrating 25 Years of Coeducation planning committee: Susan Armstrong, Tracey Blodgett, Zoe Edwards '09, Ian Fung '00, Rick Green, Susan Hadden, Sarah Mason '91, Jennifer Robertson, Laura Slipp '08, Emma Vouk '08 and Cara Westcott, and to our very entertaining MC Katie Uhlmann ‘05!