海角社区官网

There are still boxes to unpack and finishing touches to complete聽鈥� maps have been hastily affixed to doors to help with navigation聽鈥� but just over 900 students can now call this modern building home, four years after the school鈥檚 original structure was demolished and everyone was shipped a 35-minute walk east to Central Tech.

Part of a 聽that will include multiple residential towers, affordable housing and a new public park, the school is on 2.6 acres, set back from where the . (The school will celebrate its 100th anniversary in October.)

鈥淭he old school was disjointed; it wasn鈥檛 a planned school,鈥� said principal Janice Gladstone, noting the series of additions. 鈥淭his is a beautiful cohesive design. This is what you want; and the old school is what you put up with.鈥�

While one teacher grumbled about how her new classroom could barely accommodate her 42 students, Gladstone said she is excited to see 鈥渉ow teachers can make best use of a clean slate.鈥�

The four-storey, L-shaped structure is 125,000 square feet, including an underground garage, and is the TDSB’s first new secondary school in six years. Bloor CI is home to the highly sought-after 聽鈥斅燼n advanced math and science offering that last year produced three of the TDSB鈥檚 top scholars. The school also hosts 聽in a few ground-floor classrooms.

Inside, tradition still has a place: lockers and floors are awash in school colours of maroon and gold, and BCI鈥檚 original art deco signage and partial friezes have been incorporated in the atrium. But creating a school for the future was central to the planning.

鈥淏loor CI has this amazing reputation and is at the forefront of what TDSB offers,鈥� said Moncarz. 鈥淭he building didn’t really reflect that, so this became an opportunity to really create a forward-looking school for the next 100 years.鈥�

Here is what that looks like:聽

ATRIUM: The school鈥檚 new official address is 90 Croatia St., on the south side, but students are using their feet to state their preferred entry, taking a signed, landscaped path that snakes down from Bloor and ends at the north doors to this large, light-filled space. Combining elements of an auditorium and a cafeteria, it has raked seating, scattered tables and a double-sided stage that opens in the back to a performing arts classroom. To make a student-centric school, Moncarz explained, 鈥測ou need gathering spaces, not programmed but allowing for informal use.鈥� An Indigenous artist has been commissioned to fill one of the walls with a mural. Moncarz described it as 鈥渢he heart of the school.鈥�

CLASSROOMS: Flexibility was a key consideration in the design, 鈥渂ecause we don鈥檛 know how learning is going to change over time,鈥� said Moncarz. Classrooms feature movable desks, whiteboards, projectors, LED lighting, openable windows, air conditioning and an air filtration system. Outdoor terraces on upper floors provide additional learning spaces. Where possible, classrooms are intentionally clustered 鈥� science labs are paired, music and theatre share a wing, and small breakout rooms between classrooms allow for group work. Specialized spaces include a culinary arts classroom, a visual arts studio with a kiln, and a robotics lab. In a practical response to modern safety concerns, classrooms also include blinds for interior windows, and doors that lock from the inside.

BREAKOUT SPACES: Hallways include kitchenettes, with sinks and microwaves, lots of electrical outlets and benches for hanging out. 鈥淲hen you walk through a school, there’s always kids sitting on the floor, so we formalized that and provided areas where they could plug in their laptops, a space to warm up their food and wash their hands,鈥� said Moncarz. The school has placed some of its many pianos in the nooks, inviting students to play them聽鈥� just not while classes are in session.

LEARNING COMMONS: Libraries are often about looking inward, but this third-floor space with its modest physical collection of books and a larger collection of movable furniture is all about the view outward. Light pours in through two-storey windows that face east to rising residential towers, south over the school鈥檚 playing field and towards the CN Tower, and north towards Bloor, maintaining the connection to the street that gave the school its name.

SIGHTLINES: 鈥淣othing is hidden,鈥� said Moncarz. Instead of isolating rooms at the end of long corridors, the design emphasizes visual connectivity 鈥� hallways, windows and interior overlooks create clear sightlines between floors. Moncarz notes this allows for passive supervision by teachers and exposes students to diverse learning opportunities happening throughout the building.

GYM/DANCE/THEATRE: 鈥淲hen you are building a school from scratch, you get to think about what makes sense to be together,鈥� said Moncarz. 鈥淭here鈥檚 always competition for the ground floor because you want spaces that the public might use to be located there.鈥� The gym, a dance studio and theatre are all on the first floor, and while permits won鈥檛 be issued this year, the intention is to make these spaces available for community use in the future.

WASHROOMS: The building includes single-user washrooms throughout, in line with legal requirements to create inclusive environments for all students. However, unlike a growing trend in some schools toward fully gender-neutral washrooms, Bloor CI鈥檚 main washrooms remain gender-separated. Moncarz acknowledged it’s a 鈥渉ot topic,鈥� but noted that the school鈥檚 plans were developed before the conversation gained broader momentum.

ELEVATOR: Just off the atrium is an elevator that allows the school to be fully accessible. The Ontario building code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act require all new and retrofitted schools to include an elevator. Currently, 45 per cent of the TDSB鈥檚 582 schools have one.

UNDERGROUND PARKING: There are about 28 spots in the garage. Underground school parking remains relatively rare, said Moncarz. But the footprint of Bloor CI, only steps from a subway, is small, and the surrounding urban density makes parking a challenge. Placing the garage below ground, Moncarz added, also preserved valuable surface space for students, allowing for the addition of basketball half-courts and outdoor classrooms.