Torch - Fall 2016

Top left: Construction on our current campus (1451 Avenue Rd.) began in 1924. Top right: The new Havergal was built by 1926. Bottom left: An aerial view of Havergal in 1961. Bottom right: The Upper School today.

1947 (the assembly hall), 1957 (classrooms, administrative space, a gym and a pool), 1999 (the Legacy Theatre, music hall, Hawkings Dining Hall, Temerty Commons and new Junior School) and 2006 (the Athletic Centre and Dr. Catherine Steele 1928 Archives). Today, Havergal’s facilities encompass 200,000 square feet of buildings on 22 acres, including the bustling Junior and Upper Schools, an administrative building (South House) and the Principal’s residence. A 20-person facilities staff takes care of the buildings and grounds and provide 24-7 security for the school’s 900 students, including the 50 who live on campus. The team is currently working to restore the ravine and forest to its Carolinian roots. They also support the many events, sporting activities and meetings held by Havergal’s active community of students, parents, Old Girls and friends. “Our mission is to provide spaces that inspire learning,” says Director of Facilities Lisa Massie. “We no longer teach in square boxes as in the 70s and 80s. The facilities must reflect the type of teaching that we want to do.” Under the direction of Helen-Kay Davy, Havergal will reimagine its learning spaces with a view to integrating innovative technologies and fostering collaborative learning. We are lucky indeed that all this can happen in the jewel of green space so boldly secured by Ellen Knox nearly 100 years ago.

Technician for Havergal Debra Latcham. A bus, known as Robert’s Bus after its driver, Havergal’s groundskeeper, sped round the city picking up girls and mistresses from residences and feeder schools all over the city. The Main School (Jarvis Street) continued to operate separately until 1933, with a healthy rivalry developing between the two. Ellen Knox’s commitment to superior facilities was shared by the Havergal Old Girls Association (HOGA), which she founded. HOGA has long been engaged in supporting their improvement. In 1926, they created the Ellen Knox Library in memory of their beloved Principal, who died before her new school could be built. In 1985, Old Girls contributed toward the Chapel of St. Cecilia (located in the Upper School) to mark the retirement of Mary Dennys, Havergal’s Sixth Principal. Students, too, have long supported the enhancement of Havergal’s facilities. For the 1979 expansion, which added the Upper School’s north wing with new classrooms, laboratories and a resource centre along with a new gym, library and classrooms for the Junior School, Havergal students raised $70,000. Other major additions took place in 1937 (classrooms, chemistry and physics labs, a household science wing, a Boarders’ common room and staff quarters, thanks to a gift from the Leonard Foundation),

TABLE OF CONTENTS | FALL 2016 • TORCH 29