Fairfield and Rockland Homes in the Sir James Douglas Elementary Catchment

About Sir James Douglas Elementary

École Sir James Douglas Elementary is a Kindergarten to Grade 5 school at 401 Moss Street in Fairfield, part of School District 61 (Greater Victoria). About 400 students attend, split between an English program and Early French Immersion, which the school sums up as two programs in one school.

The school opened in 1910 as Moss Street School, a four-room building of brick, stone and concrete with 125 students. It is named for Sir James Douglas, the Hudson’s Bay Company officer who founded Fort Victoria in 1843 and later governed the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Additions followed in 1919, 1930, 1958 and 1965, and portables arrived in 1975. After enrolment passed 500 in 1992-93, the province funded a replacement building, and staff and students moved in during January 1997, just after a major blizzard. The entrance portico of the 1910 school was saved and now stands in the schoolyard.

According to the school’s pathway page, both English and French Immersion students continue to Central Middle School for Grades 6 to 8 and then to Victoria High School.

Programs and Learning

Classroom teachers deliver the BC curriculum, and specialist staff add music, library and strings. Offerings change from year to year, so confirm current details with the school.

Clubs, Teams and Out-of-School Care

Staff run a rotating line-up of clubs through the year. Recent listings include chess, Lego and Lego robotics, choir, drumming and a Grade 5 leadership group, plus fall cross-country, spring track, and basketball and floor hockey in the winter months. Families who walk or cycle can use the school’s Safe Routes to School page, and the parent advisory council keeps its own website.

For child care, the school points families to two out-of-school care providers: the Sir James Douglas Out of School Club, which the district lists as the operator on the school grounds, and the Fairfield Community Association’s out-of-school care program.

Living Within the Sir James Douglas Catchment

The catchment is centred on Fairfield, the established residential district east of Beacon Hill Park. Its western edge follows the Cook Street line, right beside the Cook Street Village shops, and it runs south to the Dallas Road waterfront and Clover Point. To the north it climbs into Rockland, with its large heritage homes around Craigdarroch Castle, and takes in a few apartment blocks on the eastern side of downtown and a sliver of Fernwood. The map search follows the district’s published elementary catchment map, simplified, so homes right on the edge may fall on either side; check an exact address with the district.

Fairfield’s streets mix early 1900s character homes and bungalows, some with suites, with low-rise apartment buildings near Cook Street and Fairfield Road. Rockland adds some of the city’s grandest older houses, and half a dozen current listings carry build years of 2024 or later. Browse all Fairfield houses for sale, or compare the neighbouring South Park and Margaret Jenkins catchments.

At the start of November 2026 there were about 60 homes listed inside the catchment. Condos were the largest group, from about $315,000 to $1.8 million with a median near $525,000. Townhomes ran from about $915,000 to $2 million, duplexes and other multi-family homes from about $1.9 million to $2.65 million, and detached houses from about $890,000 to $4.9 million, with a median of roughly $1.5 million. Keep in mind that the map on this page is the English catchment: Sir James Douglas’s French Immersion stream has its own district catchment and registration process, which may cover a different area.

A property’s address inside these boundaries does not by itself guarantee a place at Sir James Douglas Elementary. Catchment boundaries, registration rules and program admission can change, and some programs depend on capacity. Buyers should confirm the current catchment and registration status with School District 61 (Greater Victoria) before relying on school access as part of a real-estate decision. Compare other catchments on the Greater Victoria schools page.