Holy Name Catholic School Celebrates 100 Years of Catholic Education - Media Release | Renfrew County Catholic District School Board

Holy Name Catholic School Celebrates 100 Years of Catholic Education - Media Release

January 23, 2023

On January 13th, 1923, Holy Name Catholic School in Pembroke, Ontario welcomed the first generation of students into the school hallways. The school has a rich history in Pembroke and RCCDSB is proud to celebrate 100 years of Catholic Education at Holy Name!

In the winter of 1922, the Pembroke Separate School Board issued a tender to construct the school and Cecil Burgess from the architectural firm Milson and Burgess in Ottawa, Ontario designed the building. Construction began in the latter half of 1922 and the building was completed in a little over five months. Holy Name opened its doors for the first time on January 13th, 1923, and was originally christened “St. John’s School.” The top floor of the building was not yet completed when the school welcomed its first group of 180 students.

At that time, the ‘old’ Cathedral was the only other separate school in Pembroke and was severely overcrowded. With the construction of Holy Name, Catholic students in Pembroke’s “West Ward” were re-routed to the new school facility in January 1923.

The school was originally staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph and christened St. John the Baptist Separate School. It was renamed Holy Name, along with the neighbouring Parish Church in 1944 when a dedicated French church/school was constructed on Isabella Street.

An interesting fact about Holy Name is that it was intended to be a bilingual facility. It was involved in the “Regulation 17” controversy over French language instruction in Ontario in the 1920s when Jeanne-Lajoie advocated for the right to provide French students instruction in their first language beyond grade 2. You can read more about this here: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/lajoie_jeanne_15E.html

In an effort to complete the building and create a fully functioning school for students, an additional eight classrooms were constructed and added to the original building in1957. In 1965, the kindergarten section and gymnasium were added to the original building, and in 1968 the original building was renovated to include a library.

Below you will find images of the first cohort of students that attended Holy Name in 1923. How fantastic to see the many generations grow up with Catholic education! The Board looks forward to displaying these photos during an Open House at Holy Name Catholic School on April 30th, 2023, from 10 a.m. -12 p.m.