The Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Elementary School and Child Care project in East Gwillimbury is a new design for the York Catholic District School Board, developed with an overriding focus on incorporating 21st century learning concepts.

This two-storey, 481-student, Elementary School includes a three-room Child Care facility with 72 licensed spaces, as well as specialty classrooms for music, special education, and Full-Day Kindergartens.

The design centres around a naturally-lit, flexible, central Atrium which can be used for student exhibitions, project-based learning, or serve as “crush space” for parents and the wider community. The Atrium is flanked by the main entrance to the school and features an open stair between floors that is traversed by a glazed, second floor ‘bridge.’ Other synergistic areas like the learning commons, and the gymnasium, which includes a multipurpose stage area, are also adjacent to the Atrium. The stage, which is at the same elevation as the gym, is portable, and provides the flexible use of the room as a third gym or multi purpose space. It is separated from the gym by an operable partition and from the Atrium by a glazed wall.