Experience The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse

A visit to the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Toronto's first free school, is a unique museum experience. It is a journey back in time where today's children can experience first-hand the life of a working class child in 19th century Toronto.

From the moment they step through the Schoolhouse door, students see and feel what it was like to be a schoolchild in the Victorian era: the wooden desks, the slates, the discipline and the starched collars and pinafores. "Mrs. Henderson" commands their attention as she tells them what children learned in school 150 years ago.

3-in-1 Program
Full day           
$6.00 per student
You can fill a school bus or a streetcar for a full-day learning experience. This program combines the 90-minute "Schoolhouse Experience" with a 90-minute visit to the Redpath Sugar Museum. Included is a self-directed walking tour through one of Toronto's oldest districts and lunch room facilities at the Market Gallery. At the Redpath Sugar Museum, your students will experience the world of Toronto today in a fascinating look at modern industry and technology in our city.

All Schoolhouse programs feature role playing and hands-on learning. Teachers praise the program and many bring their classes every year. A grade 3 teacher wrote: "They will not forget this experience because they were fully immersed in the activity. Thank you for the wonderful experience! I'd highly recommend this outing to my colleagues."

In Mrs. Henderson's Class
2 hours
$5.00 per student
Your students are transported to Mrs. Jane Henderson's schoolroom of 1858. Their lessons are just like those taught here at the Schoolhouse 150 years ago: they read the very same stories that the Irish immigrant children read, write on slates, and learn about geography through maps of that time. They have an "object lesson", learning first hand from objects (a very popular form of education that all the children took part in). Even break time features the games of that period. This program is designed for grade 3 classes.   

English as a Second Language
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, with a variety of objects and an interactive program, is ideal for English-as-a-second-language students.

The Schoolhouse Experience
90 minutes
$4.00 per student
This program is excellent for the pioneer life strand of the grade 3 Social Studies curriculum, but can be adapted to any grade level. The students, dressed in pinafores for the girls and collars for the boys, become students of 150 years ago. The Schoolmistress, in period costume, leads them in several subjects, such as reading, writing on slates. All Schoolhouse programs feature role playing and hands-on learning. Teachers praise the program and many bring their classes every year. A grade 3 teacher wrote: "They will not forget this experience because they were fully immersed in the activity. Thank you for the wonderful experience! I'd highly recommend this outing to my colleagues."

Activities for Adults
Throughout the year there are lectures, walking tours, concerts, auctions. The Schoolhouse is an ideal place to learn about and enjoy Toronto's heritage. We welcome new members and volunteers.  

Joint Program with Toronto's First Post Office
Full Day
$4 per student at Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
$4.50 per student at Toronto's First Post Office
(Please note: separate payment to each museum is required)                                    
For a full-day field trip or to enable two classes to visit on the same day, enjoy ninety minute programs at both the Schoolhouse and the Post Office. Toronto's first post office features a hands-on program where students write a letter with a quill pen, then seal it with wax and mail it. It's just a brief walk between the two museums and a self-directed walking tour is included. Your classes may bring lunch to eat in the Schoolhouse's West Hall.