École Dieppe

Address:530 Dieppe Road
Current Use:

Educational

Original Use:

Educational

Constructed:1952
Other Work:

Additions in 1956, 1958, 1963 and 1968

Architects:
Contractors:
  • Arlington Brothers (1952)

Photographs

More Information

This elementary school is named for the 1942 Dieppe Raid on the beaches in France where Canada and the Allies took heavy casualties but learned a great deal which was later put to use successfully in the Normandy invasions; it is only logical that it should be designated as the district’s dual-track school in the 1981 and a full French immersion school in 2002. It began as the same design as Royal School.

Design Characteristics

Materials:

brick, stucco, tile

Neighbourhood:

Charleswood, Eric Coy

  • With a current student population of 271, the pressures of the 1950s growth seem far away but the school could barely meet the demand during the heaviest period, resulting in a series of additions to create its irregular footprint and varying height
  • It is located just behind a neighbourhood civic cluster of library, city offices and a fire hall
  • Its older portions spread east across the front; the older 1952 section is on the north end and a two-storey academic wing from 1963; with most of its early features intact, the 1963 wing is on the south end of the facade
  • A dark red brick was used throughout to tie the many sections together, with the exception of the 1956 wing that runs straight back from the 1952 portion; it is covered in stucco
  • A gym wing and a 1968 portion run back from the centre but cannot be seen from the street; there is a daycare in the 1952 portion and the Sunnyside Daycare building on the far west end
  • Hand-printed fired tiles, made by students, decorate a sheltered wall by the front entrance