Thorncliffe Park E.S. has been expanded a number
of times, most recently about six years ago. The
current school accommodates JK to Grade 5 and
has an enrollment of approximately 2000 children,
making it one of the largest elementary schools
in North America. The need for a new school
was generated by the demands on kindergarten
space resulting from full day learning, the desire
to remove the large number of portables on the
site and the increase in young families in the
community.
The new school is a two-storey building located
close to the north lot line and extending southward
with minimal intrusion on the schoolyard. All
classrooms at grade have doors which can be
directly reached from the schoolyard at all times of
the year without entering the school proper.
The central atrium and ramped circulation space
in the new school is part of the natural ventilation
system of the Kindergarten and shading elements
are used as part of a passive cooling strategy.
The Kindergarten will be a LEED Silver building
and will also meet the standards of the TDSB Go
Green: Climate Change Action Plan, the Toronto
Green Development Standard and the City of
Toronto Green Roof By-Law.