Some accounts suggest the intent to establish a high school in Port Perry dates to January, 1868, when James R. Youmans corresponded with the Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, Edgerton Ryerson, regarding the appropriate textbooks required to conduct instruction of grammar school students.
In 1871, as a result of "An Act to Improve the Common and Grammar Schools of Ontario", the name of the Grammar School was changed to Port Perry High School.