School History
St. Bernard School, a Roman Catholic elementary, was housed in the Akron building immediately north of St. Bernard Church on South Broadway from its opening in 1887 until 1979.
Enrollment peaked at 400 in 1924 and had declined to 117 when the school shut its doors.
Akron Public Schools used the building as a Teen Parent Center until 1991.
A private school, Interfaith Family Elementary, opened in the building in 1993. It closed in 1998 and reopened as a charter school, enrolling children for five years.
For the past 10 years, the building — among the oldest in downtown Akron — has been vacant.
— Jim Carney