Victoria School is the name given to three public schools in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, one of which was the first permanent school constructed in the city.

First and Second Victoria Schools

The original Victoria School is a designated historic building. The stone school house was built in 1888 by stonemason Alexander (Sandy) Marr as the first school house of the temperance colony that helped establish the city. Funding for the school was approved by the Saskatoon Board of Trustees in 1887, when the school board was authorized to borrow $1,200 for the purpose of building a one room school that could accommodate 40 pupils. Originally located at the "Five Corners" intersection at Broadway Avenue and 12th Street, in 1905, a two-room school was built beside it; it was also named Victoria School. Both remained in concurrent use until a larger replacement Victoria School was built in 1909. Afterwards, the

Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (IODE) is a women's charitable organization based in Canada. It provides scholarships, bursaries, book prizes, and awards, and pursues other philanthropic and educational projects in various communities ac ...

undertook a project to relocate the original one-room schoolhouse to the University of Saskatchewan campus in 1911, in recognition of the coronation of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

(the two-room school was demolished). Once relocated to the campus, the building was used for storage until 1965, when the Saskatoon Council of Women undertook a project of restoring the school and opening it up to public tours.

École Victoria School

The present-day École Victoria School was constructed in 1909. Originally known as Victoria School, for many years it offered both an English language program and a French immersion program, leading to it adopting a bilingual name. In the 2020-2021 school year the last of the English-only classes were moved to other schools and it became solely a French immersion school.

Walter William LaChance Walter William LaChance (1870–1951) was a Canadian architect best known for his designs of rural schools, although he also designed numerous buildings of other types. His commissions were concentrated in Cleveland, Ohio, Hamilton, Ontario, Wella ...

was the architect for the building. The school is owned and operated by the

Saskatoon Public School Division Saskatoon Public Schools (SPS) or Saskatoon S.D. No. 13 is the largest school division in Saskatchewan serving approximately 24,000 students. Saskatoon Public Schools operates 49 elementary schools, 10 secondary schools and 3 associate or affi ...

References

{{reflist School buildings completed in 1888 Buildings and structures in Saskatoon Museums in Saskatoon Stone school buildings Heritage sites in Saskatchewan