Founded in 1950 as Eastlea Boys' High School, headmaster E.J. 'Jeeves' Hougaard helped inspire most of Churchill's traditions. Hougaard is credited with establishing the name of the school and its affiliation to Winston Churchill and his family, and the school mascot, the bulldog. The school was established using the name Eastlea Boys High School and operated at Roosevelt Girls High for the first two terms while a block was being built at Eastlea Boys High. It happened then that the headmaster, Mr. Hougaard, wrote to the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Spencer Churchill, to rename the Eastlea Boys High School after him and the permission was granted. Since then the school has been known as Churchill School.