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St. Joseph's College School

Photos by Alan L Brown - Posted January, 2011

Here at 74 Wellesley Street West, on the north side, west of Bay Street is this 2008 plaque which says:

Coordinates: 43.664131 -79.388771

Originally called "St. Joseph's Academy for Young Ladies," the private school was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph and was located on Power Street.

In 1863, the Academy was incorporated in a new convent built by the Sisters of St. Joseph at the southwest corner of Bay and St. Alban's Streets, now Wellesley Street West.

The Sisters' property, which grew to occupy a city block, housed in addition to the Academy, their Motherhouse, Novitiate and later St. Joseph's College, which was established in 1911 for women students of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto.

In 1928, the Academy was renamed St. Joseph's College School.

When the Ontario government purchased the convent property to construct four office towers, the Sisters of St. Joseph relocated the College School across the street. Students helped with the move, carrying furniture across Wellesley Street.

St. Joseph's College School at 74 Wellesley Street West opened on September 3, 1961.

The College School became entirely publicly-funded in 1987. The Sisters leased the school to the Metropolitan Separate School Board. The last Sister of St. Joseph serving as principal retired in June 1996.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board bought the College School property from the Sisters of St. Joseph in December 2007.

This plaque was dedicated on October 26, 2008 to the Sisters of St. Joseph, the teachers, the students and the staff in their pursuit of excellence in education since 1854.

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Here are the visitors' comments for this page.

> Posted onday, January 14, 2013
Hi Alan, There's a wee typo at the beginning of this item: the plaque is at 74 Wellesley St West, not 14.
I've been away from the plaque hunt for a while and am now back, and would like to tell you how happy I am that you are still posting these fascinating things. I look forward to hunting up all the new ones that you've posted in the last year or two. Thank you for your work in making this information more widely accessible.
Cheers,Margaret Shepherd
[Editor's Response: I've fixed the address. Thanks.]

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