The move to Perth Road was an important event in the life of the school but, within a few years, another milestone in the history of the Harris was attained when it reached its fiftieth year. Such an occasion could not be allowed to pass without appropriate celebrations and meticulous prepara tions were made to ensure that the Jubilee was an event which would be long remembered. In November, 1934 a crowded meeting of former pupils was held in the City Chambers to plan the programme of events and to enlist the support of the many thousands who had passed through the school. Appeals for financial help brought an immediate and generous response. Many former staff and pupils contributed large sums to the Jubilee fund while others offered special gifts and trophies to commemorate the occasion. Even the school staff played their part, gifting a new set of curtains for the stage in the school hall. The necessary finance having been obtained with ease, the Jubilee committee then planned an ambitious series of attractions which, thanks to a great deal of hard work, proved to be an outstanding success.

The first stage of the Jubilee celebrations was held in June, 1935. This began with a series of sporting events involving present and former pupils. A Parents v Pupils cricket match at Elliot Road attracted large crowds to watch a team of "bald and grey gentlemen" try to turn back the years and show that experience was more than a match for youthful enthusiasm. This was not to be, however, for the pupils won with ease. This match was followed by the annual school sports which, for the first time, were held on a Saturday. For a time, the weather threatened to dampen the spirits of the large crowds but, happily, the skies brightened and the spectators were able to admire the athletic prowess of both present and former pupils, or listen to the band which had been specially arranged to add to the festive atmosphere. The following week also had a sporting theme with a tennis tournament, the swimming gala and a golf competition.

The focus of the celebrations then shifted to the Perth Road building where an exhibition of Arts and Crafts by present and former pupils drew large crowds. One popular feature of this exhibition was a display of old class and picnic photographs:

This proved a tremendous attraction to the older visitors, and the constant ripple of laughter showed the amusement with which they recognised themselves or their friends in an old group. Many, however, were sceptical of the identification, and felt sure that they could never have looked so serious or old­fashioned, or worn such funny clothes, or worn their hair "like that".

The earliest days of the school were recalled for, after much searching, a complete set of class photographs from 1896 had been assembled. For many visitors, feelings of nostalgia must have been tinged with a little disbelief as they recognised the quaintly-clad cherubs of the infants class as none other than themselves.

These events were merely the prelude to the centrepiece of the Jubilee celebrations - the Closing Exhibition and prize-giving held in the Caird Hall. A huge crowd of some 3,000 attended, including many eminent former pupils. The Lord Provost, William Buist, was one of the distinguished guests and he was soon reminded by the Rector that he owed the Harris a debt in more ways than one:

One of the small boys who enrolled at this school nearly fifty years ago was called William Huntly Buist but, although he is entered in the records as having duly enrolled and paid his first fee, there is no record of his having left the school. Technically, therefore, William Buist is still a pupil of mine and legally he owes me, as Rector, the outstanding arrears of fees for the last forty years of £165.1s.

The Rector was followed by the principal speaker, Professor Herbert Smith, who recalled his own days in the crowded confines of Park Place:

In the early days, the classrooms were small, the playgrounds were small, there was no organised sport, no rugby or hockey, no literary or scientific societies, no library. But we did not find it irksome. We were proud of our school and despised schools like the Morgan and the High School as, I have no doubt, they also quite heartily, but quite mistakenly, despised the Harris.

There was no doubt that the school had progressed since those early days and that the standard of education provided would continue to improve but, he hoped, the future generations of Harris pupils would not lose sight of the values which had been instilled in their predecessors - "a faith in the beautiful, the good, the true, the pure and the clean".

Following the presentation of prizes by Mrs Smith, herself a former pupil and dux medallist, a selection of musical items was performed by the choir and orchestra. To provide a link with the past, these items included displays first performed in the early years of the school. The girls, in the gymnastic costume of the 1890s, gave a bar-bell display and demonstrated their expertise with Indian clubs. Memories of Frank Sharp were evoked by an ear-test competition, recalling the time when this was a highpoint of the closing exhibition. A rose dance was "daintily done" by the infants and the programme was ended with a spirited peasant dance performed by the secondary girls. This was not quite the end, however, for no closing ceremony of the Harris was complete without its traditional climax, the "Harris Holiday Song", on this occasion rendered by some three thousand happy voices.

The celebrations continued after the summer break and, in one crowded week in September, the pupils of the time were given ample opportunity to meet their predecessors and listen to their reminiscences of earlier days. The programme of events began with two concerts in the school hall in which both current and former pupils took part, featuring a performance of the Trial Scene from "The Merchant of Venice" and a series of Elizabethan melodies and dances by a cast resplendent in the costume of the period.

This was followed by a Jubilee dance held in Kidd's Rooms at which over two hundred F.P.s were present. A further opportunity to renew old friendships was provided by a reception held in the school on Saturday afternoon, at which almost one thousand guests inspected exhibitions of pupils' work or were entertained with a variety of musical items. For most visitors, however, this was primarily a time to meet old friends and the afternoon was punctuated with numerous variations on the same theme:

How awful if one encountered a familiar face and failed to recognise it as the property of some dear old friend. Old Anno Domini might set us many a ticklish problem. And, after all, there was no difficulty. Did you hear us exclaiming: "Oh, there you are! You haven't changed a bit!" Of course, we knew perfectly well that we had changed, every one of us. Nevertheless, we meant it. We found unchanged the jolly old comradeship, the loyalty to happy memories and the sense of humour that was such a feature of the old school.

While the reception was the largest of the Jubilee events, the celebration dinner held the same evening was perhaps the most impressive. Over three hundred and fifty guests sat down to dinner in Kidd's Rooms - "a brilliant assemblage representative of every year of the school's history". Numbered among them were many distinguished public figures - Sir James Irvine, Principal of St. Andrews University, and Lady Irvine; Sir William McKechnie, Secretary of the Scottish Education Department, and Lady McKechnie; Lord Provost and Mrs Buist; Mr Dingle Foot M.P. and Mrs Foot; and Mr and Mrs Garnet Wilson. After the dinner came the inevitable speeches. After-dinner oratory does not lend itself to verbatim report but the observations of Mr Garnet Wilson may be taken as typical of the feelings of those present:

I rejoice that the Harris Academy is still helping, as it has done in the last fifty years, to equip the youth of today to help solve the problems of tomorrow. Never before, I believe, has the Harris been in better heart, its morale has never been higher, and its direction has never been in safer hands.

The Jubilee year was formally closed at a Thanksgiving Service held in St Clement's Church where a packed congregation heard the Rector review the achievements of the past and proclaim his hopes for the future:

Surely this Jubilee of ours is not to be merely the casting of a pebble into still waters, rousing them for a moment from their wonted calm, causing a few pleasant ripples and then fading away into silence. The real purpose of these celebrations must be not only to link up the real though short traditions of our Academy's past with its living present, but to act as an inspiration for the future. This Jubilee must be not only commemorative but creative; not merely the climax of a former period but the inauguration of a new.

These hopes were to be fulfilled for the enthusiasm generated by the Jubilee celebrations resulted in the re-foundation of the Former Pupils Association. This organisation had originally been founded in 1911 and flourished until 1914, by which time membership had grown to almost four hundred, including a branch in Edinburgh. This initial promise was not to be realised for the tragic losses of the First World War saw the association come to a premature end. The interest of former pupils in their old school had not diminished, however, and the Jubilee celebrations proved to be the catalyst which stimulated its re-birth. The F.P. Association was formally reconstituted in 1936 with W. Campbell-Scarlett, a first day pupil from 1885, as its first President. Thankfully, this association has proved longer­lived than its predecessor and now, another fifty years on, is playing a large part in celebrating the school's centenary.

(The F.P. Association continues to flourish and has forged another link with the past.  In recent years, the Association has revived the annual tradition of placing a wreath at the Remembrance Board in memory of former pupils who sacrificed their lives in two World Wars.  This event is recorded in the Former Pupils section of the school website.)