School board members, community representatives, students and parents have selected Elsie MacGill Public School as the name for the new north Oshawa school.
Elsie MacGill was known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes" and is widely regarded as the world's first woman to earn an aeronautical engineering degree. She was the first woman in Canada to receive a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. MacGill worked as an aeronautical engineer during World War II and did much to establish Canada as a powerhouse in aircraft construction during her years at Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) in Fort William, Ontario. She later served as a commissioner on the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada from 1967 - 1970, and in March 2019 her legacy was nationally acknowledged by her being featured on a Canadian postage stamp.
Elsie MacGill Public School is located at 800 Greenhill Avenue in Oshawa. It has a student capacity of 519 and is scheduled to open in September of 2019.
"The continued growth in the neighbourhoods we serve is represented by students, parents and guardians in our Elsie MacGill Public School community," says Darlene Forbes, Trustee for Oshawa. "This new school community now has a state-of-the-art facility they can call their own."
