The school is named after Joseph Henri Picard, a francophone politician from Edmonton. It was officially opened on September 9, 1973 at a cost of $1.2 million. The school was built to consolidate the students previously attending l'Académie Assomption, a private girls school originally run by the Sisters of the Assumption, and College St. Jean for boys into a co-ed environment. The original location of the school was 8828 95 Street in the Bonnie Doon community, not far from Campus Saint Jean and Edmonton's French Quarter.  Many dignitaries attended the official opening of the school including; Archbishop Anthony Jordan, Hon. Lou Hyndman Minister of Education, Julian Koziak, MLA, Edmonton-Strathcona, Dr. Ivor Dent, Mayor of the City of Edmonton and Lt. Governor Dr. Grant MacEwan.  The school remained at that location until 1984, when it moved to a much larger facility, the former St. Mary's high school, at 7055 99 St NW.  The original, smaller facility of Picard became École Maurice-Lavallée, a Catholic francophone rather than French immersion school, providing education to Grade 10-12 (vs Picard's K-12) students; Maurice-Lavallée became part of the Greater North Central Francophone Education Region No. 2, a distinct francophone board, following the 1990 Mahe v Alberta court case.