More Information

Serving a present population of 240 students, St. Ignatius School offers classes from nursey school to grade 8; it was opened as part of the parish church by the same name that was built on this site in 1912. While no part of the earliest school remains, the south section along Jessie St. is now the oldest part, and it suffered an electrical fire in 2007 that precipitated alterations in that section.

Operated from the beginning by Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, the school has always enjoyed a strong reputation even as the popularity of private schools has waxed and waned; there were 600 students in the school in 1955 when most of this construction was undertaken.

Design Characteristics

• Loosely L-shaped in plan, the building and church enclose an asphalt playground
• The elevation running along Harrow St. is its most public face; it is two storeys high and retains an excellent sampling of its superior 1950s design, with good interplay among walls of mid-brown variegated brick and large windows with shallow eaves from a low gabled roof
• There are entrances at both ends of this section that feature glassed walls with classic period detailing and overhanging eaves
• The plain brick face of the gym wing on the north side facing a busy street offered an irresistible canvas for a large mural depicting the story of the school

Sources

• “Harrow, Kent Road and St. Ignatius Schools.” Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal (September 1954).