Over A Century of Faith, Community & Learning

On August 28, 1905, approximately 50 children gathered at Edinger Hall, the National Home for Ukrainian Canadians, at the corner of Selkirk and McGregor. Sisters Athanasia Melnyk and Alexia Chykalo, who had arrived in Winnipeg on June 16, opened the first Ukrainian Catholic grade school in North America. Most students came from families who had recently immigrated from Ukraine and could not yet speak English. Teaching in a space never designed as a classroom, the two Sisters nevertheless created something that would endure, and grow, for over a century.

After a year at Edinger Hall, the Sisters relocated the school to the basement of the newly constructed St. Nicholas Church at Stella and McGregor Avenue, the first Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg. Enrolment grew to approximately 160 students, and a third teacher, Sr. Nicholas Petrushkevich, joined the staff. The Basilian Fathers assisted with catechism and Ukrainian instruction, providing essential financial and moral support. In 1907, they formally transferred complete control of the school to the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, who would carry it forward for generations to come.

Archbishop Langevin secured funding from the Canadian Episcopate to build a proper school for Winnipeg’s Ukrainian children. On October 22, 1911, Fr. A. Filipow, OSBM, blessed the first purpose-built St. Nicholas School at Flora and McKenzie, a two-storey brick building with five classrooms, a chapel, and a Sisters’ residence. Four hundred students enrolled on opening. Two days later, on October 24, the Sisters and children moved into their new home, bringing to an end years of teaching in the damp, flood-prone basement of St. Nicholas Church.

The opening of St. Nicholas School sparked immediate enthusiasm across Winnipeg’s Ukrainian community. By 1914, enrolment had reached 240 students, and by 1920 it had climbed to approximately 400. Many students were turned away at the door. Despite this growth, the school faced serious financial hardship through World War I and the Depression, when many families could barely afford the 50-cent monthly tuition. The Sisters responded with extraordinary resourcefulness, organizing concerts, bazaars, and teas while often rationing their own food and heat to keep the school open.

The opening of St. Nicholas School sparked immediate enthusiasm across Winnipeg’s Ukrainian community. By 1914, enrolment had reached 240 students, and by 1920 it had climbed to approximately 400. Many students were turned away at the door. Despite this growth, the school faced serious financial hardship through World War I and the Depression, when many families could barely afford the 50-cent monthly tuition. The Sisters responded with extraordinary resourcefulness, organizing concerts, bazaars, and teas while often rationing their own food and heat to keep the school open.

Amid the hardships of the Great Depression, a group of dedicated parents led by Dan Yuskewich formed the Benefit School Committee in 1931 to help share the financial burden that the Sisters could no longer carry alone. Meeting every two weeks, the committee organized concerts, bazaars, fashion shows, and teas. Members also hand-sewed priests’ vestments and contributed to the upkeep of St. Nicholas Church. Born out of necessity during one of the school’s most difficult chapters, this committee established the tradition of parent and community involvement that remains central to IHMS life to this day.

By its 50th anniversary in 1955, St. Nicholas School served students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. As the aging building struggled to keep pace, Provincial Superior Bernadette Warick, SSMI proposed building a nursing home rather than a new school, a decision that led to the founding of Holy Family Nursing Home. The dream of a secondary school wasn’t abandoned: on May 26, 1957, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy was officially opened at the Sisters’ residence at 131 Aberdeen Avenue, with classes beginning September 1. Thirty girls enrolled in Grades 9 and 10. It was also the first time the Immaculate Heart of Mary name was used.

In 1961, former students Walter Paschak and Walter Sahan co-chaired a building committee to raise funds for a new school at 650 Flora Avenue. Construction was led by contractor Steve Zulak and architect Alex Nitchuk, with one distinctive touch: the entire school was carpeted, a novelty that drew attention across the country. On April 28, 1963, over 2,000 people gathered for the opening, blessed by Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk and attended by Premier Duff Roblin. Artist Steve Repa designed the Blessed Mother sculpture on the school’s exterior wall, chosen with Metropolitan Hermaniuk’s personal guidance.

With the opening of the new building in 1963, the school formally shed the St. Nicholas name it had carried for over fifty years. As the new Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy school for Winnipeg, a fresh identity was needed, one not tied to a single parish. The Immaculate Heart of Mary name, first used at the 1957 Academy, was the natural choice. Two years after opening, IHMS settled permanently into its Kindergarten to Grade 8 format. Around 1967, the original St. Nicholas School building at Flora and McKenzie was finally torn down, closing a chapter that had begun in 1911.

On December 18, 1995, Rod Picklyk was appointed principal of Immaculate Heart of Mary School, the first lay person to hold the role in the school’s 90-year history. It marked a quiet but significant turning point: the daily leadership of the school, long carried by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, was now shared with the broader community it served. The mission remained unchanged, but the model had evolved. Sr. Anne Pidskalny, SSMI, continued as Director, ensuring the founding charism of the Sisters remained at the centre of everything the school does.

On October 7–9, 2005, alumni, staff, and friends gathered for a three-day centennial celebration which included a wine and cheese, a banquet, a special Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Church, and a family barbecue. During the festivities, a time capsule sealed at the June 1962 cornerstone blessing was opened, its contents a vivid window into the school’s mid-century life. In a defining moment for the school’s future, IHMS also announced it had purchased land in the Old Kildonan area of Winnipeg, the first step toward a brand new building that would carry the Spirit forward into the school’s second century.

In 2005, IHMS announced an ambitious plan: purchase land in the Old Kildonan area of Winnipeg and build a state-of-the-art facility for the school’s second century. In 2008, land on Ferrier Street was acquired and plans were drawn up. Over the following years, the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate faced a competing priority of equal importance, a major expansion of Holy Family Home, the personal care facility they had operated since 1957. The $66.7-million nursing home project ultimately took precedence. In June 2015, the new school fundraising was paused indefinitely, with a portion of the funds redirected to upgrade IHMS’s existing facilities. The Ferrier Street property remains part of the school’s story to this day.

The summer of 2017 brought the most significant physical renewal of IHMS since 1963. Outside, the playground was completely transformed: a brand new play structure, newly asphalted surface with stencilled games, a soccer field, a basketball court, and new fencing. Inside, most classrooms and offices received new carpeting, with select areas receiving new flooring. The old gym and music teacher’s office became a dedicated Resource Room; the former Resource Room was revitalized as a Music Classroom — a return to its original intended purpose. The Art Room received a full overhaul. Funding came in part from the Michael Bzdel Endowment Fund and the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, with special acknowledgment to custodians Ivan Fil and Rostyslav Trokhanovskyy for their extraordinary efforts.

On March 23, 2020, Manitoba suspended all in-school classes in response to COVID-19 and IHMS, like every school in the province, pivoted overnight to full remote learning for the remainder of the school year. When September arrived, students and staff navigated a constantly shifting hybrid landscape: some weeks fully in class, others entirely at home, and many in between — half-classes, staggered schedules, and rotating cohorts. Through it all, the IHMS community held together, leaning on the same spirit of resilience that had carried the school through the Depression, two world wars, and a flooded basement a century before.

When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, IHMS responded with the same instinct that has defined it since 1905, open the doors. More than 70 families and over 100 students from Ukraine found their way to the school that had kept Ukrainian language, faith, and culture alive in Winnipeg for over a century. To support them, IHMS offered reduced tuition and fees, school uniforms, school supplies, and complimentary before and after school child care. Classrooms filled to capacity. The mission the Sisters had carried since 1905, to educate and welcome Ukrainian children, had never felt more alive.