Trafalgar School - Echoes Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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EHEU FUGACES LABUNTUR ANNI TN ITS seventy-seven years of existence, Trafalgar School has been blessed with three distinguished Principals — Miss Fairley, Miss Gumming and Dr. Foster — each of whom guided its destiny for a quarter of a century, and each of whom had the same high ideals of character-building and intellectual achieve- ment. Now, with the announcement of Dr. Foster ' s resignation after twenty-five years of devoted service, we regretfully come to the end of Trafalgar ' s third great era: an era in which the traditions of the school have been strongly upheld, and yet one which has seen many changes. When Dr. Foster came to Trafalgar in 1940, she came well-equipped to assume the onerous duties of Principal, with her great ability as historian, teacher and administrator. After receiving B.A. and M.A. degrees from McGill, where she specialized in eighteenth century English history, she was awarded a Moyse Travelling Scholarship and went to Oxford, where she read Honours History, again gaining B.A. and M.A. degrees. She then taught at McGill for some time, and was Headmistress of Riverbend School in Winnipeg for several years, until she returned to research and went to Bryn Mawr, where she received her Ph.D., her major field being Canadian and American history. During Dr. Foster ' s regime, the school has celebrated its Sixtieth and Seventy-Fifth Anniversaries, and, in the years between, many changes have taken place. The most notable was the demolition of our 1914 wing, in 1955, when McGregor Street came through , and the building of our new wing, which was officially opened on February 10, 1956, by the Governor General, the Rt. Hon. Vincent Massey; this occasion was certainly one of the happiest and most impressive in all Trafalgar ' s history. With the new building came the Projector Room , and the presentation to the school of the movie projector, and the institution of ballet, skiing and skating lessons, by the Old Girls ' Association. School events begun by Dr. Foster, which have by now become traditions, are the Sixth Form Graduation Dance, the Boarders ' Dances, the Spring Concert, and the Open House for parents. In 1957 the constitution of the school was changed so that the Old Girls ' Association should have two representatives on the Board of Governors; in 1958 the Junior Library was established; and in 1960, as the school had grown in numbers, a fifth House was added, called Donald after [13]

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Dr. Joan M. V. Foster

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a lorjiicr I ' lcsidciil ol llic Hoard. Soom alter cominjz lo rralal ar. Dr. I ' r Kl r clianfi; ' tl llic ciirriciiliiiii so llial the fi ' ir n in llie Hifili ScImxjI liarj llic cljoice ol taking cillicr llic Arts or Scif ' nc( course, wlic rcaH forincrlv o;ilv the Arts course wan available. She, loo, introduced llie system ol liavinii tlie I ' rr-fecls and Head ( irl elected by llie senior girls and stall, instead ol being a|)|)()inled by the staff. No one knows better than I, who have worked with ber lor twenty -live y(;ars, tbe time, thought and energy that Dr. Foster has given to th ; administration ol the school. Yet she has always found tbe time to teach the Kilih and Sixth Kf rni History and the Sixth Form Scripture. She has also brought lustre; to T rafalgar by her eminent and respected position in educational circles. She was President of the Montreal Historical Association from 1950 to 19.52, and of the (Canadian Headmistresses ' Association from 1951 to 1953, and has twice been the official delegate of the Headmistresses ' Association to the meetings of the National Association of Principals of Girls ' Schools in tbe United States, at Rye, N.Y., in 1946, and at New Orleans last spring. In 1963 she attended the conference of the British Headmistresses ' Association at Cambridge as a specially invited guest. She is also a member of the McGill Alumnae Society and the (Canadian Institute of International Affairs, and a Director of the University Women ' s Club and of the Montreal Parks and Playgrounds Association. Dr. Foster has many ovitstanding qualities. One is her remarkable ability to assess character quickly; another is her gift of making quick and wise decisions. Her choice of staff, and her strong support of the staff, have made for a harmonious and friendly relationship among the teachers. She has an intimate knowledge of each girl in the school, and her concern is for each as an individual with her own problems. Finally, Dr. Foster ' s unfailing loyalty and devotion to the school, her strength of character, courage, honesty, and refusal to com- promise with what she believes to be wrong, have been a source of admiration ami inspiration to us all. Her retirement will mean a great loss to the school, and we shall all miss her, none more than I. Our affection and gratitude go out to her, and our best wishes lor a hap{)y and interesting sabbatical year, which she so richly deserves, and for health and happiness in the years to come. J.E.H. I 14 I