“It is the most prominent building in the Baker Hill Heritage District. There are still many who think of it as Tenth Ave. School, which it was for over thirty years. There are a few who recall it as the Cranbrook High School, which it also was for over thirty years. Although it is now home to the New Life Foursquare Church it actually began as the first St. Mary's Catholic School, a delightful Jonah of a building slowly swallowed by the ever hungry whale of development. ….

… It would appear that the Catholic trustees pre-dated the modern concept of "school for public use," by a century. Declared, "The first separate Catholic School in the interior of B.C.," it was hoped to be the forerunner of many to be built in the future.

It was indeed a forerunner but sadly the race did not last long. By 1916, due to a lack of students, the school was forced to close. The Cranbrook School Board,seeking additional public educational facilities, purchased the building in 1918 and re-opened it the same year as the Cranbrook High School. The 1920s saw the first of a series of renovations and additions that completely obscured the original exterior although the upstairs parish hall continued to function as the school gymnasium for many years.”