The origins of the Saint Nicholas Girls’ School can be traced to the establishment of the Victoria Girls' School in 1933 by the Infant Jesus Sisters, a group of French Catholic nuns whose order was founded in 1666 by Father Nicolas Barré, to serve as the Chinese section of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ). CHIJ was a school and orphanage set up by the Sisters in 1854 to cater to Eurasian and European girls. The Victoria Girls’ School was housed inside the building of the former Hotel Van Dyke, which was located near to the CHIJ at Victoria Street. The school, then known as the Saint Nicholas Girls’ School, shifted to the premises of the CHIJ in 1949. Both schools had to move out of the Victoria Street campus in 1983 due to tunnelling works for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. Saint Nicholas Girls’ School eventually relocated to a permanent new campus at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 2, Street 13.
