Toronto Normal School

Toronto Normal School (St. James Square)
Toronto Normal School in 1890
Interactive map of the Toronto Normal School (St. James Square) area
Former names	Provincial Normal School, Normal School for Upper Canada, Normal School for Ontario
Alternative names	Ryerson Hall
General information
Type	Institutional
Architectural style	Palladian
Location	Site bounded by Gerrard, Church, Gould and Victoria streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Construction started	July 2, 1851
Completed	May 1852
Demolished	1958-63
Owner	Province of Ontario
Design and construction
Architects	Cumberland and Ridout

The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the normal school was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto (after 1852), and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The Royal Ontario Museum, OCAD University and the Ontario Agricultural College all originated at the Normal School's campus and the provincial Department of Education was also located there. Officially named St. James Square (and located with the old Toronto St. James Ward), the school became known as "the cradle of Ontario's education system". The school's landmark Gothic-Romanesque building was designed by architects Thomas Ridout and Frederick William Cumberland in 1852. The landmark building was demolished in 1963, but architectural elements of the structure remain on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University.

The Toronto Normal School was relocated from St. James Square to East York in 1941. In 1953, the Normal School was renamed the Toronto Teachers' College and in 1974 became the Ontario Teacher Education College. In 1979, it was merged into the University of Toronto's Faculty of Education which, in 1996, was merged into the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.