"The Girl's Cottage School opened in St. Lambert in 1911 and relocated to Sweetsburg in 1922. It closed briefly from 1946 to 1951 and reopened in 1951 as The Mount Bruno Girl's Cottage School in St. Bruno. It became part of Youth Horizons in 1977."
The Girl's Cottage School was opened in 1911 by a group of Montreal women who wanted to provide a place for care of non-Roman Catholic girls, who were being brought before the then newly-opened Quebec juvenile court.
The original location was on the south shore of Montreal in St-Lambert. It quickly outgrew itself and in 1922, it relocated to a larger location in Sweetsburg, Quebec. The first building constructed was a large building known as The Cottage which housed the girls and staff. The schoolhouse was a short walk from The Cottage.
A larger building was constructed nearby several years later, known as The Residence. It had 35 rooms for girls with a large kitchen in the back. A barn was located beside which was used for chickens and other small farm animals. The barn was well known in the area because it had a large 'K' on the side. The 'K' was for Kiwanis who frequently raised money to support the Girl's Cottage School. Both The Residence and The Cottage were used by the institution for housing and administration.
The Girl's Cottage closed for a brief time between 1946 and 1951. It reopened in St. Bruno, Quebec in August 1951 as The Mount Bruno Girls Cottage. The new location was on 15 acres of land and was able the house 50 girls of High School age. It was able to provide schooling, recreational instruction, domestic training and practice for the girls who were sent there by the Family Welfare courts of the time.
Buildings at the new facility included a four-classroom school, four residential cottages, a hospital, a gymnasium, engine house, staff quarters, and an administration building. The cost to erect the building was $500,000.00 which came mostly from the Quebec Government. The Kiwanis Club of Montreal organized a campaign to raise $40,000.00 to equip the cottages and school.
The Mount Bruno Girl's Cottage became part of Youth Horizons in 1977.
