Little Flower Academy

Little Flower Academy (informally referred to as LFA) is an independent Catholic girls' day school in Vancouver, British Columbia. Established in 1927, by the Sisters of Saint Ann. It educates students at the secondary level between the grades of eight and twelve. It is located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood, between Shaughnessy Elementary School and York House School.

Academic performance

The school has long had a 100% graduation rate and for the classes of 2009 and 2010, 100% of graduates were accepted to post secondary schools.

Little Flower Academy is ranked by the Fraser Institute. In 2010, it was ranked 3rd out of 316 schools in British Columbia, after maintaining its 1st ranking for a number of years.^[1]

Architecture

Until 2005, when portions of the school were demolished to make room for new additions, the school's convent (a 1910 mansion) held a Guinness World Record for the most exterior windows arranged at different levels.

The 1931 library-cafeteria-art building, which was deconstructed during the 2005-2007 renovations, was once the original schoolhouse with boarding rooms in the attic. The schoolhouse ("Foundress Hall") was one of the few remaining examples of the architectural work of Sister Mary Osithe, an artist and pioneering female architect in BC who also designed the Bulkley Valley Hospital in Smithers, BC. (Details on Osithe may be found in Donald Luxton’s Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia (Talon Books, 2003).)

On September 14, 2007, the school celebrated the opening of the new wing and its 80th anniversary. The new wing includes several new classrooms, a boardroom, a new chapel, a gymnasium appropriate for a high school, reception, offices, art room and cafeteria. Many of the features of the old buildings were salvaged during the careful deconstruction and integrated into the new wing. Most of the stained glass windows can be found on display in the new building (many arranged artistically in the lobby); old posts are in the new gym as decoration; the hardwood floors throughout the new wing are from the old buildings; bricks from the chimneys have been used to in the new grotto; fireplaces, which have been reconditioned and made electric, are now in the library and board room; the telephone booth is in the staff room; an original door is in the lobby; and furniture can be found in both the chapel and library.

History

In 1858, five women of the Québec-based order of the Sisters of St. Ann travelled by sea to the Isthmus of Panama and up the west coast to Victoria. They set down in a small log cabin in Beacon Hill Park, and began the process of establishing Victoria's St. Ann's Academy. The Sisters' first presence in Vancouver came in 1888 (two years after the city was established) with a school on Dunsmuir, next to a cathedral and, according to an article researched by the late Sister Eileen Kelly (the last St. Ann order principal of LFA), "on the edge of a forest clearing." The Sisters wanted to expand with a boarding school to accommodate young women who lived too remotely to access existing educational facilities. The building (now destroyed) known as "The Convent" was built in Shaughnessy in 1910 for this purpose, but a Bishop by the name of Timothy Casey pulled rank and took over the Convent House for his own purposes in 1913. By 1918, Reverend Casey’s diocese had been unable to meet successive payments on the land and home, and sold 6 acres (24,000 m²) to the municipality of Point Grey, who desired a portion of the site to erect their own public school – today’s Shaughnessy Elementary. The ownership of the remaining property at the time reverted to the Sisters of Saint Ann, who were able to meet the payments and whose chosen school name “Little Flower Academy” began appearing in the published Vancouver Directory books. The Bishop still reigned over the estate, likely due to political and cultural norms of the day, but fled the region in 1927 due to an inability to meet increasing property taxes. Little Flower Academy was so named apparently because the prayers of one of the Sisters had been answered in acquiring the property. The prayers had been made to Saint Thérèse de Lisieux, who had the nickname “The Little Flower of Jesus.”

Official Colours

The school's official colours are maroon and white. Gold is also used for athletic uniforms.

Uniform

From grades 8 to 11, students are required to wear a maroon v-neck sweater. Grade 12 students have white and maroon button-down cardigans with their graduation year stitched on the left sleeve and their names on the right.
All students wear autumn plaid kilts with a pin and a short-sleeved dress shirt with "LFA" embroidered on the pocket, and navy blue knee high socks or tights, with black dress shoes with no visible stitching, ribbons, or zippers that must not have over a 4 cm heel. Students may only wear thin headbands coloured maroon, black, gold, or white. Makeup must be fairly natural, and minimal,but are allowed and a cross or a single necklace, stud earrings, and a single ring on each hand.

Mascot

The LFA Angels (sports teams) have an angel for a mascot, although there is no official physical mascot. LFA is, simply, the "Home of the Angels."

Notes

• Little Flower Academy's "brother" school is Vancouver College, and it has many ties with other Catholic and private schools, such as York House School, Crofton House School and St. George's School
• The original Little Flower Academy school was designed by Sister Mary Osithe Labossière of the St. Ann's Academy (Victoria, British Columbia)^[2]

Little Flower Academy is 1 of 4 Vancouver Catholic high schools being Vancouver College, St. Patrick's Regional Secondary, and Notre Dame Regional Secondary.

References

External links

• Little Flower Academy official site
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver listing for Little Flower Academy
• Vancouver Courier story on the loss of LFA heritage buildings