File:Our Lady of Czestochowa School (former), North Tonawanda, New York - 20201117.jpg

English: The former Our Lady of Czestochowa School at 57 Center Avenue, North Tonawanda, New York, November 2020. Erected in 1920, the building is one of the more interesting designs executed by Buffalo-based architect Władysław Zawadzki: the inimitable take on French Renaissance Revival that he favored is very much in evidence, especially in and around the upper-floor windows: those on the second floor topped variously with segmental or round arches framed by cut-stone voussoirs whose light color (along with that of the matching windowsills) contrasts sharply with the dark red brick, and the hipped roof contains the usual row of low-slung dormers. Yet Zawadzki employs more unusual flourishes as well: there's a pronounced Classical style to those dormers, with triple-arched windows crowned by a pediment, while the stone-framed twin entrances are crowned with fanlights more typical of Georgian architecture. Our Lady of Czestochowa parish was founded in 1903 to serve the Polish Catholic community of North Tonawanda; they worshipped initially in a former Protestant church on Oliver Street north of the present complex, then in the basement of the school building seen here until 1928, when the present church was completed. The school was staffed initially by Josephine and later by Felician sisters, who resided in the convent next door, and absorbed the parochial schools of neighboring Ascension and St. Joseph parishes in 1971 and 1990 respectively, and ceased operations in 2008.