A Faith-Filled - Ottawa Catholic School Board

Transcription

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword ..................................................................................................................5
Archbishop’s Message..............................................................................................7
Chairperson’s Message.............................................................................................9
OCCSB Board of Trustees....................................................................................................9
Director’s Message .................................................................................................11
In Appreciation .......................................................................................................13
Introduction to Catholic Education in the Province of Ontario...............................15
The Struggle Begins ..........................................................................................................15
The Taché Act and the Scott Act .......................................................................................16
The British North America Act...........................................................................................16
The Tiny Township Case....................................................................................................16
The Catholic Taxpayers’ Association..................................................................................17
The Hope Commission ......................................................................................................18
Working Together towards One Goal................................................................................18
The Blair Commission........................................................................................................18
Bill 160..............................................................................................................................18
Catholic Education — A Gift not to be Squandered ..........................................................19
Highlights of Catholic Education in Ontario ......................................................................19
History of the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate School Board..............................21
History of the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate School Board ............................27
History of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board..........................................33
Catholic Education Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton...............................................37
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic Child Care Corporation.................................................39
NECTAR Foundation ...............................................................................................41
Derry Byrne Teacher Resource Centre.....................................................................43
OTTAWA-CARLETON CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARD
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Catholic Education Museum of Ottawa-Carleton...................................................45
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board Children’s Choir ......................................47
History of Ontario Association of Parents in Education .........................................49
History of Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.....................................51
Special Education....................................................................................................55
Continuing and Community Education...................................................................57
St. Nicholas Adult High School...............................................................................59
School Board Chairpersons.....................................................................................61
Director of Education Commendations...................................................................63
School Histories
All Saints High School .......................................................................................................69
Assumption .......................................................................................................................73
Bayshore Catholic..............................................................................................................75
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha .................................................................................................77
Brother André ...................................................................................................................79
Chapel Hill Catholic...........................................................................................................81
Convent Glen Catholic ......................................................................................................83
Corpus Christi ...................................................................................................................85
Divine Infant .....................................................................................................................89
Dr. F.J. McDonald Catholic ................................................................................................91
Frank Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary ............................................................................93
Georges Vanier Catholic ....................................................................................................95
Good Shepherd .................................................................................................................97
Guardian Angels..............................................................................................................101
Holy Cross.......................................................................................................................105
Holy Family.....................................................................................................................107
Holy Redeemer ...............................................................................................................109
Holy Spirit .......................................................................................................................111
Holy Trinity Catholic High School....................................................................................115
Immaculata High School .................................................................................................119
Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate ...................................................................................125
John Paul II .....................................................................................................................127
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School ...........................................................................129
McMaster Catholic..........................................................................................................133
Monsignor Paul Baxter....................................................................................................135
Mother Teresa High School .............................................................................................137
Notre Dame High School ................................................................................................139
Our Lady of Fatima.........................................................................................................141
Our Lady of Mount Carmel ............................................................................................145
Our Lady of Peace ..........................................................................................................147
Our Lady of Victory ........................................................................................................151
Our Lady of Wisdom ......................................................................................................153
Pope John XXIII...............................................................................................................155
Prince of Peace ...............................................................................................................157
Sacred Heart High School................................................................................................161
St. Andrew ......................................................................................................................167
St. Anne..........................................................................................................................169
St. Anthony.....................................................................................................................171
St. Augustine...................................................................................................................175
St. Bernard ......................................................................................................................177
St. Brigid .........................................................................................................................179
St. Catherine ...................................................................................................................181
St. Clare ..........................................................................................................................185
St. Daniel ........................................................................................................................187
St. Elizabeth ....................................................................................................................191
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton...................................................................................................193
St. Emily..........................................................................................................................195
St. Francis of Assisi..........................................................................................................197
St. George.......................................................................................................................199
St. Gregory......................................................................................................................203
St. Isidore ........................................................................................................................205
St. James.........................................................................................................................207
St. Jerome .......................................................................................................................209
St. John the Apostle ........................................................................................................211
St. Joseph High School....................................................................................................213
St. Leonard......................................................................................................................215
St. Luke (Nepean) ...........................................................................................................219
St. Luke (Ottawa) ...........................................................................................................221
St. Marguerite d’Youville .................................................................................................223
St. Mark High School ......................................................................................................227
St. Martin de Porres ........................................................................................................229
St. Mary (Gloucester) ......................................................................................................233
St. Mary (Ottawa)...........................................................................................................235
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
St. Matthew High School ................................................................................................239
St. Michael (Corkery) ......................................................................................................241
St. Michael (Fitzroy) ........................................................................................................243
St. Michael (Ottawa).......................................................................................................245
St. Monica.......................................................................................................................249
St. Patrick........................................................................................................................251
St. Patrick’s High School..................................................................................................253
St. Patrick’s Intermediate.................................................................................................259
St. Paul High School........................................................................................................261
St. Peter High School ......................................................................................................265
St. Philip..........................................................................................................................269
St. Pius X High School.....................................................................................................271
St. Rita ............................................................................................................................273
St. Theresa ......................................................................................................................275
St. Thomas......................................................................................................................277
St. Thomas More ............................................................................................................279
Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic .....................................................................................281
Uplands Catholic.............................................................................................................283
Faith Development ...............................................................................................285
Index of Schools by Families of Schools...............................................................289
Index of Schools by Zone .....................................................................................291
Bibliography .........................................................................................................293
4
T
his history of Catholic education
in the Ottawa and Carleton areas
is dedicated to all those who have
shared its vision and life in the community
over the years. Its inspiring record came
about as we know it today, only through the
hard work and dedication of everyone who
made sure that Catholic schools existed and
were solidly entrenched. A special role in
all of this, especially in the formative early
years, was played by members of various
religious communities of sisters and
brothers, along with the local clergy.
FOREWORD
FOREWORD
JOHN CURRY
We would like to acknowledge
the contribution to this history by all those
people who have taken the time and put
forward the effort to help bring this project
to reality. All of the submissions and input
received are appreciated and has contributed
to the extensiveness of this history.
We do not pretend that this effort
covers everything that should be known or
recorded about the history of Englishlanguage Catholic education in OttawaCarleton. Much of the story still remains
to be told, such as the individual records of
all of the Catholic schools, which have been
closed. There are also, we are sure, many
stories and events relevant to Catholic
education in this area that are not
chronicled in this history. That is why
we encourage anyone with additional
information, corrections, or improvements
to what is recorded here to provide the
data and stories. These will be included in
subsequent revisions to this initial effort.
Any additional information and/or
corrections should be e-mailed to the
Historical Committee at
Cynthia_Montgomery@occdsb.on.ca.
ARTHUR J.M. LAMARCHE
beginning. Much is recorded about Englishlanguage Catholic education in the following
pages; much remains to be told. It is an
historical journey on which it is hoped we
will all travel together, as the inspiring
and faith-filled story is fully unveiled.
The history of English-language
Catholic education in the Ottawa-Carleton
area is very much a work in progress, not
only in terms of new things of an historical
nature happening all of the time, but also
in terms of our discovering more and more
about past struggles, challenges and
successes. It will continue to evolve and
unfold. The Historical Committee of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board
hopes to be there to shine a brighter light
on the accomplishments of the past and to
highlight the achievements of the present,
so that Catholic education will be there,
vibrant and alive, to nurture the success
of students in the future.
John Curry
Chairperson
Historical Committee
Arthur J.M. Lamarche
Chairperson, Sub-Committee
Historical Committee
The collection of information about
English-language education in OttawaCarleton and the telling of its story will
continue, so this project must be seen not
as the end of a process but rather as its
5
I
ARCHBISHOP’S
MESSAGE
ARCHBISHOP’S MESSAGE
The Gospels tell the story of Jesus
calling the children to Himself. One wonders
what He said to them, but we know for
certain what His gestures communicated –
a warm welcome. Over many years in our
area, with many teachers and with many,
many children and young people, the Gospel
of Jesus Christ has been shared with care
and gentleness. May this history of Catholic
education in our area stir your hearts and
renew your commitment to keep this gift
of Catholic education alive for future
generations.
n reading this history of the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board, you
will be engaging in a process that is
at the heart and soul of Christianity:
remembering, celebrating, and drawing
strength from our story.
The Gospels are the first attempts
of the early Christian communities to come
to terms with the Jesus that they knew,
His life, His teachings, His death and
resurrection. What was the original impulse
to write things down? One aspect, no doubt,
was a care and concern for the fragility and
sacredness of human experience. By writing
it down, the story can be passed to the
generations, not completely, but written so
that it will never be lost.
All the efforts to establish, enrich
and maintain Catholic education in Ontario,
and specifically in the Ottawa-Carleton area,
are certainly the ingredients of a story worth
telling and hearing. How can we really
appreciate who we are without some
understanding of where we come from? This
history will help shape an appreciation of
the gift of Catholic education, in some ways
fragile, but in other ways strong in its
commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to a troubled world.
Archbishop Marcel Gervais
Photo credit: Jean Levac and The Ottawa Citizen
7
CHAIRPERSON’S
MESSAGE
O
CHAIRPERSON’S MESSAGE
n behalf of the Board of Trustees
of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board, I invite you to
explore the pages of this book and discover
the history of Catholic education in OttawaCarleton.
JUNE FLYNN-TURNER
Over the past 150 years of Catholic
education in Ottawa-Carleton, people
have grounded themselves in a life-giving
spiritual tradition. Parents, students,
inspired leaders, and milestone organizations
created historic moments that have been
captured and are revealed in this book.
My thanks and appreciation is
extended to the Historical Committee of
the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board
in recognition of their work to produce
this book.
Yours truly,
June Flynn-Turner
Chairperson
The Holy Spirit has truly been
at work in the voices of literally thousands
of people who have given of their time and
insight to help shape the future of our
children. As we go forward, we must
consider our part and prepare for the new
challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
OCCSB BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chairperson
Zone 4
(Bell-South Nepean)
June Flynn-Turner
Vice-Chairperson
Zone 9
(River/Capital)
Kathy Ablett, R.N.
Zone 1
(West Carleton/Goulbourn/
Rideau/Osgoode)
John Curry
Zone 2
(Kanata)
Arthur J.M. Lamarche
Zone 7
(Kitchissippi/Bay)
Betty-Ann Kealey
Zone 3
(Orléans/Cumberland)
Des Curley
Zone 8
(Alta Vista/Gloucester-Southgate)
Mark D. Mullan
Zone 5
(Beacon Hill-Cyrville/Innes)
Jacqueline Legendre-McGuinty
Zone 10
(Rideau-Vanier/Rideau-Rockcliffe/
Somerset)
Thérèse Maloney Cousineau
Zone 6
(Knoxdale-Merivale/Baseline)
Gordon Butler
9
A
DIRECTOR’S
MESSAGE
s you read through A Faith-Filled
Mission: 150 Years of Catholic
Education in Ottawa-Carleton,
you will discover a long and proud history.
Parents welcomed an education for their
child that was anchored in faith and they
willingly invested to establish a Catholic
education system in Ottawa-Carleton. They
united in the belief that every child is a gift,
and every child deserves a Catholic
education.
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
JAMES G. MCCRACKEN
I would like to recognize the
dedicated work and contributions of the
Historical Committee of the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board in preparing
this book to mark the 150th anniversary of
Catholic education in Ottawa-Carleton.
With the assistance of staff, former staff and
students, parents, parishes and community
members, this keepsake filled with
memories of our past came to fruition.
Our God is with us yesterday,
today and forever.
Our history began with the work of
the women and men in the religious orders
who taught in parish schools. The Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School Board was
established in 1856. The Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board was formed in 1969.
Our amalgamated board, the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board, began in
1998. We have grown in numbers to over
41,000 students and 2,400 teachers. We are
blessed to have had pioneers who led the
way and devoted individuals of today who
have made strong commitments to Catholic
education and its mission of teaching the
message of Jesus Christ.
God Bless,
James G. McCracken
Director of Education
11
T
IN APPRECIATION
he Historical Committee of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board has been able to undertake
this project about 150 years of Catholic
education in the Ottawa-Carleton area due
to the dedication and historical enthusiasm
of the members of the committee, both past
and present. A most sincere thank you is
offered to each and every one of them for
their wisdom and their guidance in bringing
this project from idea to reality.
Present Members
John Curry, OCCSB Trustee
Arthur J.M. Lamarche, OCCSB Trustee
Jacqueline Legendre-McGuinty,
OCCSB Trustee
Sister Jean Goulet,
Sister of Holy Cross, Resource
Fred Chrystal, Superintendent of Planning
and Facilities
Sam Coletti, Principal (retired)
Ralph Watzenboeck, Principal (retired)
Anna Yates, Principal (retired)
Alana Schryburt, Assistant to the Director
of Education
Cynthia Montgomery, Records Management
Administrator
IN APPRECIATION
Former Members
Betty-Ann Kealey, OCCSB Trustee
Jim Shea, Superintendent of Corporate
Affairs and Information Technology (retired)
Michael Strimas, Superintendent of Schools
– Operations (retired)
Bill Gartland, Former Assistant to the
Director/Manager of Corporate Affairs
Georges Bouliane, Principal (retired)
Bert O’Connor, Principal (retired)
Lucille Pummer, Principal (retired)
Faye Powell, Principal (retired)
(representing Millennium Museum
Sub-Committee)
Marilyn Kasian, Research Officer
Carol Thibault, Research Officer (retired)
Trevor Arnason, Former Student
Representative
Rita Boutros, Former Student
Representative
Jubilee Jackson, Former Student
Representative
Jonathan Ng, Former Student
Representative
Historical Committee Members (pictured left to right): John Dorner, Anna Yates,
Arthur J.M. Lamarche, John Curry, Jacqueline Legendre-McGuinty, Cynthia Montgomery,
Ralph Watzenboeck.
Missing from photo: Sister Jean Goulet, Fred Chrystal, Sam Coletti and Alana Schryburt
13
Additional Resource
Des Curley, Trustee
John Dorner, Principal (retired)
Bob Kendall, Principal (retired)
Donna McGrath, Principal (retired)
Mae Rooney, Principal (retired)
Mardi de Kemp, Communications Officer
Lauren Rocque, Communications Assistant
Particular thanks must go to
the members of the History of Catholic
Education Working Sub-Committee —
Trustees John Curry, Arthur J.M. Lamarche
(chair), and Jacqueline Legendre-McGuinty;
John Dorner, Ralph Watzenboeck, Anna
Yates, and Cynthia Montgomery — for their
extended and dedicated work in reading
draft articles and tracking down needed
clarification or missing information.
Appreciation is also extended to Trustee
Des Curley for his support and involvement
in sub-committee meetings as his schedule
permitted.
A special thank you is directed
to Bob Kendall, a retired Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board principal,
for his dogged but good-natured
perseverance, his expertise and his
conscientious work in editing this extensive
publication and ensuring that it reflects
literary standards that are consistent with
a school board that strives for excellence in
all that it does.
C
INTRODUCTION
TO
CATHOLIC
EDUCATION
IN THE
PROVINCE
OF
ONTARIO
INTRODUCTION
schools. The growth of Catholic schools over
the next twenty-five years was punctuated
by sectarian violence, linguistic conflict,
and political maneuvering within the poorly
conceived and constitutionally flawed
legislature of Canada. These schools also
emerged at a time in the 1840’s and 1850’s
when Egerton Ryerson, the school
superintendent of Canada West, pushed
for a free, universal, and academically
progressive public school system in Upper
Canada. He believed such schools would
promote loyalty to the Crown, solid
citizenship, a sound curriculum, and
a generic Christianity.
atholic Education in the Province
of Ontario was written by Mark
G. McGowan, PhD, of the
University of Toronto and St. Michael’s
College, and is reproduced in this
publication with permission from the author.
He has written numerous articles on the
history of the Catholic Church in Canada
and is a past president of the Canadian
Catholic Historical Association.
A native of Nepean, Mark
McGowan was a student of the Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board,
having attended Our Lady of Peace Catholic
School and St. Pius X Catholic High School.
Catholic Education in the Province of
Ontario
By Mark G. McGowan, PhD.
The Enduring Gift
Catholic Education in the Province of
Ontario
Written by: Mark G. McGowan, PhD.
University of St. Michael’s College
Toronto Ontario
Published by: Ontario Catholic School
Trustees’ Association, Toronto, Ontario
The Struggle Begins
The creation of a state-supported,
universally accessible, and comprehensive
Catholic education system in Ontario was
never anticipated by the first pioneers in
what was then called Upper Canada. In the
1830’s, Catholic education — for that matter,
any education — was considered to be
within the realm of the few young men
training for the Church, public service, or
the professions. Bishop Alexander Macdonell
of Kingston secured some financial support
from the Crown for schoolmasters, some of
whom were his priests. Small groups of
children undertook a classical and
catechetical education in their parish
rectory, in a local home, or in log school
houses often shared between Catholics and
their non-Catholic neighbours.
In 1841, Macdonell’s dream of
more permanent funding for Catholic schools
by the State was partially realized, when
the new School Act for the United Province
of Canada (a union of Upper and Lower
Canada, today’s Ontario and Quebec)
included a clause that permitted Catholics
and others to establish denominational
15
The latter point was troubling
to many Catholics, who believed that the
nonsectarian Christianity promoted in
public schools, and fostered by the large
numbers of Protestant schoolmasters,
amounted to little more than Protestant
proselytization. Bishop Armand de
Charbonnel of Toronto (1850-1860) went so
far as to call public schools an “insult” to the
Catholic population and he urged his flock to
establish and support distinctively Catholic
schools. All of this squabbling over education
came at a time of troubled relations between
Catholics and Protestants in Canada.
Although these were caused, in part, by
sectarian bitterness imported from Europe,
Upper Canadian Christians created their
own reasons to prey upon one another; the
arrival of thousands of Irish Catholic
refugees from the potato famine was
regarded as a scourge upon the land, while
French-Canadian Catholic legislators were
accused of furthering the interests of
Catholicism by means of their strong
presence in the Canadian Assembly. In the
1850’s, expressions of sectarian bitterness
varied from hateful rhetorical exchanges
between Protestants and Catholics in the
public press, to full-fledged riots in the
towns and cities of Ontario.
INTRODUCTION
The Taché Act and the Scott Act
The extension of Catholic schools
in Upper Canada was often at the heart of
the bitterness and bloodshed. In 1855, by
the weight of French-Canadian Catholic
votes, the Assembly passed the Taché Act,
which extended the rights of Upper Canada’s
Catholic minority to create and manage
their own schools. Similarly, in 1863, the
votes of French-Canadian Catholic
legislators and their moderate Anglophone
allies passed the Scott Act, which, among
other things, confirmed that Catholic school
trustees possessed the same rights and
privileges as their counterparts in the public
schools, and allowed Catholic schools a share
of the Common School Fund provided by
the Canadian Government. What infuriated
English-speaking Protestants in Upper
Canada was that they did not want these
schools in their section of Canada, but
were forced to accept them because of the
preponderance of French-Canadian Catholic
legislators (from the Lower Canadian section
of the Assembly) who were determined to
secure educational rights for their Catholic
brothers and sisters who were a minority in
Upper Canada.
The British North America Act
The sectionalism that helped to
create Catholic schools also prompted Upper
Canadian Protestants to demand the end to
the farcical union between Upper and Lower
Canada. In 1867, the British North America
Act (BNA) created Canada, with both federal
and provincial governments, the latter of
which were solely responsible for education.
Catholics in the new Province of Ontario
now faced a hostile Protestant majority,
without the security of their old FrenchCanadian allies from the new Province of
Quebec. In advance of Confederation, with
their fragile minority rights to Catholic
schools in mind, Archbishop John Joseph
Lynch of Toronto (1860-88) and politician
Thomas D’Arcy McGee initiated a process
to secure the rights of Catholic schools.
Under section 93 of the BNA Act, all the
educational rights held by religious
minorities at the time of Confederation
would be secured constitutionally thereafter.
For Catholics in Ontario this meant the
right to establish, manage and control their
own schools, and to share proportionally in
the government funds allotted to education.
In time, this Section 93 would become the
touchstone for most constitutional and legal
debates regarding Ontario’s Catholic schools.
Ryerson never thought
denominational schools would survive. In
the late nineteenth century, Catholic schools
were chronically under-funded because of
their small tax base, their inability to share
in the business tax assessment, and their
securing of only a tiny share of government
school funds. Moreover, after Confederation,
Ontario grew rapidly and emerged as
Canada’s industrial and urban heartland.
The population increased dramatically and
new strains were placed on the education
system. Ontarians demanded progressive,
high-quality education commensurate with
the commercial and industrial advances of
their society. Catholic schools survived the
stresses of the new Ontario because of the
dogged dedication of Catholic leaders to
fight for legislative changes favouring their
schools and, because of the generosity of
Catholic religious orders whose members
dominated the teaching ranks in these
schools, adapted to the new curricular
changes, and donated much of their salaries
back into the schools. Women in religious
orders were notable in their ability to attain
provincial teaching certification, despite the
popular belief (particularly among Catholics
themselves) that “nuns” would never expose
themselves to the dangers of “Protestant”
teacher’s colleges (Normal Schools).
16
The Tiny Township Case
In no other instance was the selfsacrifice of Catholic school supporters more
evident than in the case of high schools.
Created by an act of the Ontario Legislature
in 1871, Ontario’s high schools would
emerge as one way in which young
Ontarians could be moulded to meet the
demands of their burgeoning urban
industrial society. Because they had not
existed as such at the time of Confederation,
Catholic high schools were not eligible for
provincial grants. Before Confederation,
however, some Catholic schools offered
instruction to older students under the
auspices of the common school. Later,
several Catholic schools offered fifth book
classes (closely resembling grades 9 and 10)
and were in a legal position to do so after
1899, when the government broadened its
regulations regarding schools that offered
a “continuation” of the curriculum beyond
what is now grade eight. In reality, however,
Catholics could direct their taxes only to
public high schools and, if they so desired,
could pay tuition fees to have their children
receive a full high school education in
“private” Catholic schools, usually run by
religious orders. After decades of Catholic
lobbying and sectarian fighting over this
injustice, the Catholic bishops and the
Ontario Government agreed that a test case
be brought before the courts to establish
whether or not Catholic high schools were
entitled to government funding under the
terms of the BNA Act.
In 1925, Catholics in the Township
of Tiny (Simcoe County) launched the legal
challenge poetically named “Tiny vs. The
King.” By 1928, the highest court of appeal
in the British Empire — the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council — offered
a bittersweet decision on the Catholic high
school issue: Catholics, due to the preConfederation precedents and the
INTRODUCTION
subsequent development of the “fifth
book” continuation classes had just claims
to funding for grades nine and ten; but
Catholics had no constitutional right
to funding beyond that, although the
Provincial Government was at liberty
to grant it, if it desired.
The disappointing result of the
Tiny Township case came at a time of
financial crisis and faltering morale within
Ontario’s Catholic schools. Since 1912,
English-speaking and French-speaking
Catholics had been torn apart by the
Ontario Government’s attempt to eliminate
“bilingual schools,” the majority of which
came under the jurisdiction of Catholic
school boards. Regulation 17 restricted
French-language education to grades one
and two, and Regulation 18 threatened
to withdraw provincial funding from any
boards that violated the new restrictions
on French-language education in the
upper grades. Fearful of the maelstrom of
linguistic and religious politics that swirled
about the bilingual schools issue, the
Government of Premier James P. Whitney
terminated its negotiations with the Ontario
Catholic bishops on issues of financial relief
for separate schools. The bishops were
shocked that the intensity of the language
issue scuttled what they thought was an
imminent agreement with the Government.
The Catholic community was frustrated,
divided and angry; on the one side,
Francophone Catholics desperately tried
to preserve their distinctive schools while,
on the other, their Anglophone co-religionists
appeared more supportive of the
Department of Education’s effort to anglicize
and “improve the quality of education” in
the bilingual schools. In 1927, after nearly
fifteen years of litigation, appeals, protest
and even the suspension of the Ottawa
Catholic School Board, the Ontario
Government relaxed Regulation 17, and
limited funding for French--language
education was preserved. Few at the time
would have imagined that, within sixty
years, Francophone children would enjoy
state-supported Catholic education from
junior kindergarten to grade 13. In the
1920’s, however, Catholic bishops,
particularly Neil McNeil of Toronto, and
leading laypersons endeavoured to ease
the strained relations and the lingering
bitterness between English-speaking and
French-speaking Catholics.
Amidst these heightened linguistic
tensions and the failed appeals to the courts,
it became increasingly clear that the
financial pressures on Catholic schools
threatened the survival of the system itself.
In 1900, there were 42,397 students in the
system; twenty-five years later, the Catholic
school population had more than doubled to
95,300 students. A low municipal tax base,
a minute share of the business tax (from
only those Catholic businessmen who wished
to direct their taxes to separate schools),
slim government grants, and a caution to
keep their tax rates competitive with the
affluent public school boards collectively
spelled financial hardship for Catholic
schools. Facilities were old, classrooms
generally were crowded, the growing ranks
of lay teachers were paid less, and
programmes of study were limited in both
breadth and variety. Despite the fact that
Catholic schools matriculated students who
were competitive with their peers in the
public system, and although Catholic youth
moved on to university in greater numbers
by the 1930’s, Catholic schools were still
saddled with the label of “inferiority.” The
onset of the Great Depression in the 1930’s
threatened the very existence of the system.
The Catholic Taxpayers’ Association
As it had so many times in its
history, the Catholic community rallied to
save its schools. By the 1930’s, the mantle of
leadership in the fight for Catholic education
17
was passed from the clergy to the laity.
Martin J. Quinn, a Toronto businessman,
organized the Catholic Taxpayers’
Association to lobby the Provincial
Government to secure the equitable
distribution of corporate and business taxes
to Catholic school boards. With chapters in
over 400 parishes across the province, the
CTA helped to elect Mitchell Hepburn’s
Liberals in 1934, and subsequently his
government passed the much-sought
legislation in 1936. The victory on the
corporate tax issue, however, was shortlived. In December 1936, a wild by-election
fight in East Hastings, reminiscent of the
sectarian explosions of the 1850’s, spelled
disaster for the Liberals and convinced
Premier Hepburn that the fair distribution
of business taxes to Catholics would defeat
his government in the next general election.
The bill was withdrawn and the Catholic
community’s hope for economic justice
was dashed.
Canada’s involvement in World
War II (1939-45) effectively ended the Great
Depression. The post-war situation, however,
merely heightened the crisis facing Catholic
schools. Renewed migration from Europe,
particularly from the Catholic communities
of southern and central Europe, and the
natural increase in population that came as
a result of the “baby boom” placed increased
demands on Ontario’s Catholic schools.
More spaces were needed for the increasing
number of students in Ontario’s cities,
particularly in Hamilton, Ottawa, and
Toronto. The suburbanization of Ontario in
the 1950’s necessitated new Catholic schools
in rural areas. A decline in religious orders
and the increase in the numbers of lay
teachers placed additional financial burdens
on school boards that were already trying
desperately to keep their school facilities
and programmes up to provincial standards.
INTRODUCTION
The Hope Commission
In 1950, the offer of the Hope
Commission (Ontario’s first Royal
Commission on Education) to fund Catholic
schools fully to the end of grade six, but not
to subsequent grades, was indeed tempting.
Such ideas posed an interesting dilemma for
Catholic leaders: an abbreviated but equally
and fully funded system at the primaryjunior level or a complete system from
kindergarten to Grade 13, only partially
funded, and ever-struggling at the secondary
level. The Catholic commissioners, after
much deliberation with the Ontario bishops,
decided to dissent from the Commission;
they submitted a brief minority report,
highlighted by historian Franklin Walker’s
readable and concise (less than 90 pages)
outline of the history and constitutionality
of Catholic schools. In contrast, the overdue
and oversized (900 pages plus) majority
report of the Hope Commission was
generally ignored, as was its demand for
a scaling back of government funding to
separate schools. The system would survive
but would continue to struggle, given the
many demands placed upon it by a growing
and increasingly upwardly-mobile Catholic
population.
Working Together towards One Goal
Given the demographic, economic,
and social pressures facing the Catholic
schools, Catholics once again rallied for
justice. The Ontario Separate School
Trustees’ Association (OSSTA), the fledgling
Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association (OECTA) and the English
Catholic Education Association of Ontario
(ECEAO) worked hard as individual groups
and, at times, cooperatively, to better the
situation of their schools. Cooperative
lobbying efforts bore fruit in the late 1950’s
and early 1960’s when the Ministry of
Education initiated such programmes as
“equalized assessment,” the “growth-needs
factor,” and the Ontario Foundation Tax
Plan (1963) to “have-not” boards. Many
separate school boards gleaned additional
funds by means of these progammes. In
1969, rural boards were amalgamated into
larger county-based units with the hope
that larger boards would have access to
more funds, be more efficient, and provide
improved progammes and facilities.
Together, the funding provided by the
Foundation Tax Plan, and the opportunities
created by board restructuring, meant a
new influx of cash into Catholic elementary
schools.
The Blair Commission
Catholic high schools, however,
continued to suffer, because their junior
grades were funded only at an elementary
level, and their senior grades were sustained
principally by tuition fees. Catholics were
forced to develop innovative ways to keep
the high schools afloat. To make matters
worse, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s
witnessed a decline in vocations to religious
life, and a slow erosion through increased
retirements within the existing cadre of
priests, brothers, and sisters in the schools.
High schools depended on lay teachers
accepting lower salary levels, parents
operating lotteries and bingos, and students
helping to clean and maintain school
facilities. In the election of 1971, the
Progressive Conservative Government
of William Davis won a healthy majority,
sustained, in part, by its public refusal
to extend funding to Catholic high schools.
When this same government proposed
changes to Ontario’s tax laws that would
see Catholic high school property subject
to taxation, it appeared that Catholic high
schools were about to sing their death song.
In 1976, the Blair Commission traveled the
province to assess the reaction to the tax
plan and was greeted at each stop with
formidable submissions by the Catholic
“partners.” Through the combined efforts
18
of clergy, trustees, teachers, parents and
students, the tax plan was scrapped and
Catholic high schools dodged a bullet.
Ironically, in 1984, William
Davis surprised his own caucus when he
announced that there would be extended
funding to grades eleven, twelve and
thirteen in Ontario’s Catholic schools.
Davis regarded the decision as “justice”
to Catholic schools; the cynical saw the
Government fishing for Catholic votes.
Within three years, having faced and
survived constitutional challenges, Ontario’s
Catholic schools finally enjoyed extended
funding from junior kindergarten to the
end of grade thirteen. Funds poured into
the Catholic system and the landscape of
Ontario bore the imprint of new schools,
complete with facilities, equipment, and
comforts scarcely imagined in previous
generations.
Bill 160
In our own time, both the Catholic
and public education systems have
witnessed an unprecedented “revolution”
of institutional and curricular change.
In 1995, school councils were instituted to
bring parents and teachers together for
the local management of their community
schools. Shortly thereafter the Progressive
Conservative Government reduced the
number of school boards, in addition to
cutting the number of school trustees,
while placing a cap on their salaries. In
1997, in a move that may have startled
Ryerson himself, the Provincial Government
suspended the right of trustees to raise
taxes for schools and placed educational
funding exclusively in the hands of the
Province for the first time.
In Ontario’s educational history,
funding is no longer a shared responsibility
between the local community and the central
government. For Catholics, however, the new
INTRODUCTION
financing model means equality of funding
for Catholic and public schools. Those who
have reflected upon the history of their
schools have realized that, finally, justice
has been accorded to Catholics, under the
terms of the Constitution (BNA) Act. Not all
Catholics, however, have been in favour of
the changes; teachers and others have seen
this new centralization as jeopardizing the
ability of Catholics to control and manage
their own schools. There is some fear that
the Provincial Government will take an
increased role in dictating to Catholic
schools, perhaps to the detriment of their
distinct denominational character. In the
current ideological climate dominated by the
proverbial “bottom line” and secular values,
it is believed by some that the taxpayers
of Ontario will be loath to support two
education systems. In addition, the demise
of publicly-funded Catholic schools in
Quebec and Newfoundland has contributed
to a growing uneasiness about the future
of Ontario’s Catholic schools.
Catholic Education —
A Gift not to be Squandered
Catholics in Ontario must be
awake to the “signs of the times.” With
legislation supporting funding equity in
hand, Catholics cannot afford to become
complacent about their education system.
In a secular and pluralistic society,
denominational rights, particularly in the
matter of schools, are not widely supported.
Those who know the story of the
development of Catholic schools in this
province must realize that these schools
are a gift that should not be squandered.
Ontario’s Catholics have a
responsibility to nourish, improve and
defend their schools as a distinctive and
valuable contribution to the vitality of their
faith community and to Ontario society as
a whole. As history has demonstrated, and
as Vatican II has confirmed, the laity have
a vital role to play in the development of
Catholic education.
There is a need for schools that
place Gospel values at the centre of an
holistic education. In Ontario, our
inheritance as Catholics has been
considerable, but so are the challenges that,
no doubt, the future will bring.
Highlights of Catholic Education
in Ontario
1817 – Bishop Alex Macdonell promotes
Catholic education in the Kingston area
as early as 1817.
1841 – The Act of 1841 establishes the
Common School System of Ontario which
had three sectors – a non-denominational
sector which would become known later as
public schools, a Roman Catholic separate
school sector and a Protestant school sector.
1843 – Legislation in Ontario retains the
school rights granted in 1841. Subsequent
amendments to the law, up until 1863,
improve the conditions for both public and
separate schools.
1863 – The Scott Act is passed, bringing all
aspects of existing legislation on Protestant
and Catholic schools into line with
legislation governing common schools.
1867 – The British North America Act
creates Canada. This legislation required
that the rights granted in Ontario and
Quebec to denominational schools are to
be protected and retained.
1871 – The province of Ontario introduces
district secondary school boards apart from
the Common School System, which are to be
responsible for the new high school system.
No provision was made for Catholic
19
secondary schools, deviating from the spirit
of the commitments made both before and
at the time of Confederation.
1890 – The non-denominational common
school system and the separate school
system are both given the authority to offer
continuation classes, i.e. grades nine and ten
to students who graduated from elementary
school.
1908 – Legislation allows common schools
to operate continuation schools offering
programs from grades nine to 13. These
continuation schools could only exist where
there is no district secondary school board.
1927 – The Privy Council decides that
separate school supporters cannot assign
their secondary school taxes to support
certain schools. It also decides that the
Provincial Government has the right to
determine which kinds of schools will offer
secondary school programs.
1964 – The Robarts Foundation Plan
rectifies some of the financial difficulties
for separate schools, as the funding of the
kindergarten to grade eight program in
separate schools is made equal to that of
public schools. Grades nine and ten continue
to be funded as elementary grades.
1969 – The Provincial Government requires
that every county or city have one board of
education to administer both elementary
and secondary schools, meaning that
common or public school trustees now
govern secondary education. This authority,
though, is not given to separate school
trustees. This is a deviation from the
practice of equal treatment for both sectors
of the publicly-funded provincial education
system.
INTRODUCTION
1978 – The Provincial Government
introduces a grant weighting factor for
students in grades nine and ten of the
separate school system.
1982 – The new Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms is enacted. It states that
“nothing in this Charter abrogates or
derogates from any rights or privileges
guaranteed by or under the Constitution
of Canada in respect of denominational,
separate or dissentient schools.”
20
1984 – Ontario Premier William Davis
announces that the Provincial Government
will grant separate schools the same rights
and privileges that were granted to the
non-denominational public school system in
1969, namely authority to govern secondary
education.
C
HISTORY OF THE
OTTAWA
ROMAN
CATHOLIC
SEPARATE
SCHOOL
BOARD
HISTORY OF...
same schools continued to grow, a fact which
must be attributed, ultimately, to the desire of
Catholic parents to have their children
educated in schools where religious values
and the Catholic faith played a dominant
role. The first budget of the new ORCSSB
was $2,985.47, of which only $300.30 came
from provincial grants, with Catholic
ratepayers providing the rest; a substantial
amount in those years when the Catholic
populace of the city was generally anything
but prosperous. The vast majority of the
Board's expenditures went toward salaries.
atholic education in Bytown existed
before the formation of the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School
Board (ORCSSB) in 1856. This earliest of
Catholic education in what is now the core
of the City of Ottawa was very much a result
of initiatives by the religious establishment.
The Grey Sisters of the Cross founded a
school in 1845, while Bishop Guigues
established the Bytown College for Boys,
a forerunner of the University of Ottawa.
The Grey Sisters of the Cross opened a
second school for girls in 1848.
Although separate schools were
legally permitted in Upper Canada, there
was always the question of funding.
Legislation such as the Scott Act of 1863,
drafted by Richard William Scott, helped
entrench the principle of separate schools in
what would become the Province of Ontario.
Scott had been mayor of Bytown in 1852
before becoming a member of the Provincial
Legislature for Ottawa and later a longtime
federal senator. But it was still the common
schools, which prevailed, although the
religion of the majority of the students in
these schools usually determined the religion
of the teacher.
Towards the end of the 1840s, this
principle of coordinating the religion and
language of the teacher with those of the
majority of the students at a school began to
erode. This caused disenchantment among the
Catholic community and led to the formation
of a separate school board in Ottawa in 1856,
in which the Grey Sisters of the Cross played
a key role. The first six teachers hired by this
new Ottawa Roman Catholic School Board, all
Grey Sisters, had no guarantee of a salary.
Other religious communities became involved
in the Catholic schools of Ottawa. For
example, the Brothers of the Christian
Schools established a school in 1864, and the
Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame
opened three schools before the turn of the
1856-1997
century. Indeed, the beginnings of a formal
Catholic education system in Ottawa came
about largely through the efforts of various
religious communities. This, of course,
helped offset to some degree the virtual lack
of public funding which flowed to these early
Catholic schools and meant that Catholics
paid school taxes well in excess of those
required of public school ratepayers.
Struggle and growth were two constants in
the provision of Catholic education in
Ottawa through these early years.
While Catholic schools continued
to struggle with finances and internal
challenges, mainly associated with the FrenchEnglish reality of Ottawa's population, these
21
Yet, despite these obvious financial
challenges, the Catholic school system in
Ottawa grew. By 1867, the year of
Confederation, there were 1,780 students in
schools under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa
Roman Catholic School Board, although the
Board's budget of $3,029.38 had remained
about the same as when it was formed in
1856. Provincial grants had tripled to $934.
By 1895, there were seven English Catholic
schools and 13 French-language schools
operated by the ORCSSB. Ninety-two
teachers were employed to instruct
4,980 students. The English schools at this
time were St. Patrick (boys), St. Patrick
(girls), St. Brigid, St. Joseph (boys), St.
Joseph (girls), Our Lady, and Youville. By
1900, there were 23 schools (English and
French) under the jurisdiction of the Board,
educating 5,487 students.
In those early years, the differing
interests and outlooks of the two linguistic
groups, which made up the Catholic
population of Ottawa, took a dominant
position. The initial single administration of
the school board was changed in 1886 when
it was divided into English and French
sections, each of which had control over the
funds required for its schools. This worked
for a number of years, but early in the new
century, linguistic friction boiled over,
resulting in an agreement where each
HISTORY OF...
language group elected only its own trustees.
These trustees controlled the appointment
and supervision of teachers within their own
jurisdiction.
The very existence of French or
bilingual schools was threatened by the
implementation of the infamous Regulation
17 by the Provincial Government in 1912.
This regulation forbade the use of French
in the classroom after the first two years of
schooling. The ORCSSB had about 4,300
students attending its 17 French (bilingual)
schools at that time. Resistance boiled over
and the Board did not comply with the
regulation. As a result, the province cut off its
grants to the Board. A variety of legal actions
ensued. There were demonstrations, including
a march by 4,000 students through the streets
of Ottawa in protest. Guigues School became
the focal point of this resistance to Regulation
17, as the students followed their discharged
teachers, leaving the classrooms empty. This
was followed by parents re-taking possession
of Guigues School, resisting police efforts to
have them withdraw. Eventually, Regulation
17 was repealed and the French- and Englishspeaking communities of Ottawa continued to
work together in the one Catholic school
board, although linguistic tensions continued
beneath the surface, with trustees of both
groups wanting to have exclusive control
over the management of the schools serving
their language group as well as the setting
of tax rates for those schools.
Despite these difficulties, the one
Catholic school board remained in place
and the French and English communities
cooperated as best they could. Linguistic
challenges did not impede expansion of the
Catholic school system, which grew from its
23 schools in 1900 to 44 in 1930, with a doubling
of the number of students from 5,487 to 10,468.
The Board's budget, likewise, rose
from $75,000 in 1900 to $395,000 in 1930, as
staffing grew from 80 teachers in 1900 to
265 teachers in 1930. The system remained
relatively unchanged from 1935 through
to the years immediately following the
Second World War. In 1935, there were
4,376 English students in Catholic schools in
Ottawa, and in 1950 this number had grown
only slightly, to 4,597 students. On the
French side, the 7,060 students in Catholic
schools in 1935 increased to 7,201 by 1950.
However, it was then that the post-war
growth in Ottawa, including municipal
annexations in both the Nepean and
Gloucester areas, accelerated, with Catholic
school enrolment bursting at the seams.
The five-year period from 1950 to 1955 saw
a growth in English student enrolment from
4,597 to 7,748, an increase of over 3,000
new students in that period. The French
schools also saw growth, adding more than
2,000 students in this five-year period as
they grew from an enrolment of 7,201 in
1950 to 9,330 in 1955. The total Catholic
school population in 1955 stood at 17,078.
It was at this same time, despite
the easing of linguistic tensions following the
repeal of Regulation 17, that the ORCSSB
and its ratepayers struggled with serious
financial problems. School construction was
a particular concern, with the Board issuing
debentures to meet its capital needs.
Guarantees from the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Episcopal Corporation (the Diocese) gave the
school board access to some bank financing,
while there were some special grants from
the province to help the Board meet its
salary obligations. The Board's
administration was taken over by the
Provincial Government for the 1942-44
period. Funds allocated for building
maintenance and urgent repairs were cut
back. The Catholic school system was able
to survive these financial struggles only
because teaching staff at the time accepted
much lower salaries than those in the public
school system. This, combined with Catholic
school tax rates that were usually at least
twice and sometimes almost three times as
22
high as those in the public school system,
was what saved Ottawa's Catholic school
system in those difficult financial years
before, during, and after the Second World
War. In addition, the Board was rescued from
financial collapse by the onset of the postwar era, beginning a period of phenomenal
enrolment growth and school construction
that lasted well into the 1960s. Two hundred
and thirteen new classrooms were added in
the system between 1946 and 1956, as
student enrolment grew from 9,944 to
18,318. Continued population growth in the
west and east ends of the city in the 1950s
and 1960s allowed the Ottawa Roman
Catholic School Board to soar, as it were;
a far cry from the linguistic and financial
struggles which had beset the Board in the
first decades of the 20th century.
In 1964, the Board introduced an
adult education department. September 1965
saw the introduction of the first special
classes for handicapped children. An audiovisual department was established in 1965
and, in the fall of 1966, the Centre
Polyvalent Vanier opened for students who
wanted technical studies in Grades 7 to 10.
In 1968, the seemingly impossible
happened. For the first time in the history
of the Board, Catholic school taxes were
identical to public school taxes: $21.96 per
$1,000 of assessed property value.
In 1969, the Board introduced as
an option its innovative French-language
Program for English-speaking students.
This laid the groundwork for the French
Immersion program, which flourished in
Ottawa Roman Catholic School Board schools
in the last three decades of the twentieth
century. In 1970, the Board took the separate
school system in Vanier under its wing.
The 1970s turned out to be a
decade of dynamic innovation for the
ORCSSB. A Student Services Centre was
HISTORY OF...
created in 1971. In the same year, 23 junior
kindergarten classes for four-year-old pupils
were opened. It was a busy year, as audiovisual services, educational television and
library services were all integrated into a
resource centre. In 1972, a bilingual
exchange program began, enabling students
to improve their French during summer
exchanges in Quebec. The year 1972 was also
when the Board developed the basic planning
for four junior high schools which opened in
1973: St. Raymond's, St. Joseph's, St. Jude's
and Heron Road Intermediate.
The next decade brought different
challenges before the Board. Declining school
enrolments required that the Board develop
a consolidation policy. It was during the
1982-83 school year that a decision was made
to close several schools under this policy.
The Board also had to meet the challenge of
advances in computer education. A two-year
pilot project on the use of computers in
classrooms resulted in the placement of
83 computers in schools in September 1983.
New legislated responsibilities meant that
the Board was required to set up special
program for students with learning
difficulties and for gifted students. Ontario
legislation required that school boards had
to meet the needs of all their exceptional
students by 1985. With this in view, the
Board set up a special pilot program for
gifted students in the 1983-84 school year.
The initial program was developed by
Teachers Janice Lemire and Anne Philion
in collaboration with Consultant Denise
Marquis and Psychologist John Dorner.
Called the Program for Advanced Learners
(PAL), the program involved 80 gifted and
potentially gifted students from Grades 3
and 4. The students were withdrawn from
their home school one day a week and bused
to and from a PAL class at one of two central
schools, Corpus Christi Catholic School or
St. Daniel Catholic School. Classes were kept
to a maximum of ten students. Students
studied an extension of the regular school
curriculum as well as areas of special
interest. Each student was encouraged to
plan his or her own method of study and
way of researching the information, thus
becoming an independent learner. Topics
studied included computer programming,
arts and crafts, drama, environmental
studies and ecology. The program proved
successful and grew to become the Board’s
Program for Gifted Learners (PGL). At this
same time, the Board also became involved
with continuing education for adults,
athletics meets for students, intramural
sports competitions, outdoor education,
enrichment courses, religious activities,
science fairs, public speaking competitions
and multicultural initiatives.
In 1984, the Provincial Government
announced full funding for Catholic schools
resulting in senior high school grades being
added to the Board's jurisdiction. In 1986,
its 130th anniversary, the Ottawa Roman
Catholic School Board was operating
23 English elementary schools (Assumption,
Corpus Christi, Dr. F.J. McDonald, Holy
Cross, Holy Family, Immaculate Heart of
Mary, McMaster Catholic, Our Lady of
Fatima, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our
Lady of Victory, Prince of Peace, St. Anthony,
St. Augustine, St. Brigid, St. Daniel,
St. Elizabeth, St. George, St. Leo, St. Luke,
St. Margaret Mary, St. Mary, St. Michael
and St. Victor) as well as three high schools
(Immaculata, St. Joseph's and St. Patrick's),
and St. Raymond’s Intermediate School.
There were also 19 French elementary
schools, one French high school and two
French special schools. In 1988, provincial
legislation mandated that all French schools
(elementary and secondary, Catholic and
public) in the area were to be merged into one
school board with two semi-autonomous
branches, Catholic and public. This
arrangement, begun in 1989, did not work
out. Consequently in 1995, two autonomous
French school boards, one Catholic and one
public, were created for the area.
23
In 1998, the ORCSSB and the
Carleton Roman Catholic Separate School
Board (CRCSSB) were combined by
provincial legislation to form the new
Ottawa-Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board (OCCSB). A new funding formula
accompanied this province-wide
amalgamation process, resulting in fewer
but larger school boards. Thus began a new
chapter in the governance of Catholic schools
in the Ottawa area.
In compiling this overview of the
history of the ORCSSB, reliance was placed
on two outstanding previously published
works about the Board and Catholic
education in Ottawa:
130 Years of Dedication to Excellence,
by Paul-François Sylvestre, A History
of the ORCSSB from 1956 to 1986.
The chapter entitled Catholic
Education in the Diocese: An Overview by
Lionel Desjarlais in the book Planted by
Flowing Water: The Diocese of Ottawa 18471997, authored by Pierre Hurtubise, Mark
McGowan and Pierre Savard, and published
by Novalis Publishing for the Roman
Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa in 1998.
Directors of Education and/or
Secretary-Treasurers
William Ring was the first
Secretary-Treasurer of the ORCSSB, serving
from its start in 1856 to 1857. Unfortunately,
due to the loss of the initial archives of the
Board caused by fire, the secretary-treasurer
of the Board is unknown.
The 13 Directors of Education
and/or Secretary-Treasurers of the Board
from 1888 until the end of 1997, when the
Board amalgamated with the Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board to
form the new Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board were:
HISTORY OF...
1888-1904 – William Finley
1904-1911 – Achille McNicoll
1911-1915 – J.E. Doyle
1915-1917 – Albert Foisy
1917-1920 – Albert Carle
1920-1940 – Ernest Desmormeaux
1941-1962 – Aime Arvisais
1962-1969 – Raymond Groulx
1969-1975 – Roland Beriault
1975-1979 – Lionel Desjarlais
1980-1988 – Pierre Xatruch
1989-1992 – George Moore
1992-1997 – Dennis Nolan
Administrative Offices
During the tenure of J.E. Doyle
as Secretary-Treasurer of the ORCSSB
from 1911 to 1915, his personal offices at
202 Queen Street served as the Board’s
administrative headquarters.
From 1915 onwards, Guigues
School, located at 159 Murray Street,
was used as the Board’s head office.
Subsequently, the administration offices
were housed on the site of a former school on
Bolton Street. An extension to this facility
in 1958 resulted in the address changing to
140 Cumberland Street, which was the
address of the Board’s administration offices
until 1998 when it joined with the Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board to
become the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board. This building continued to be used for
Board office purposes, along with the
Board’s administration offices facility on
Merivale Road in Nepean, until 2002 when
the Board’s administration staff was
centralized at the Catholic Education Centre
at 570 West Hunt Club Road in Nepean.
Religious Orders whose members taught
for the ORCSSB from
1856 - 1996
Since 1856
1856 – 1968
1864 – 1985
1868 – 1983
1891 – 1983
1911 – 1970
1911 – 1985
Since 1928
1928 – 1934
Since 1929
1929 – 1972
1935 – 1969
1940 – 1975
1940 – 1980
1954 – 1972
1958 – 1972
1959 – 1967
1970 – 1972
1970 – 1972
Soeurs de la Charité d’Ottawa
Oblats de Marie-Immaculée
Frères des Ecoles chrétiènnes
Congregation de Notre-Dame
Filles de la Sagesse
Soeurs du Sacre-Coeur-de-Jesus
Frères du Sacre-Coeur
Grey Sisters of the Immaculate
Conception
Frères de l’instruction
chretienne
Sisters of Holy Cross
Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Soeurs de Sainte-Croix et des
Sept-Douleurs
Soeurs de Sainte-Marie de
Namur
Sisters of St. Joseph of
Peterborough
Soeurs du Bon-Pasteur
d’Angers
Basilian Fathers
Religieuses de Jesus-Marie
Sisters of St. Joseph of
Pembroke
Sisters of St. Ann
Former ORCSSB Schools
Following is a list of former English
elementary, intermediate and secondary
OCRCSSB schools that have been closed over
the years:
• Canadian Martyrs, 20 Graham Avenue (now
operating under the Adult School program of
the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board)
• Holy Rosary, 35 Melrose Avenue (now operating
as St. Francois d’Assise under the Eastern
Ontario French Catholic School Board)
• Immaculate Heart of Mary, 445 Pleasant
Park Road (vacant)
• St. Peter Intermediate, 1480 Heron Road
(sold to the City of Ottawa)
24
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 22 Eccles Street
• Our Lady’s Primary, 287 Cumberland
Street (vacant - unknown ownership)
• Queen of the Angels, 1481 Heron Road (now
operating as one of the Adult Schools of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board)
• Queen of the Angels Annex, Briar Hill
• Sacre-Coeur (Holy Rosary Annex) – (vacant
for sale)
• St. Joseph Centre, 339 Wilbrod (sold to
International School)
• St. Agnes, 18 Louisa (used as an OCCSB
Adult School – recently became vacant and
was sold by the Board in 2006)
• St. Andrew, 1119 Lazard Street (sold to
Tohra Academy)
• St. Basil, 1774 Kerr Avenue (sold to Jewish
Academy)
• St. Christopher, 335 Lindsay Street
• St. Ignatius, 1151 River Road (sold to
St. Peter and Paul Parish)
• St. Joseph, 200 Wilbrod
• St. Leo, 860 Colson Avenue
• St. Leonard, Rob Roy Avenue
• St. Louis, 1435 Larose Avenue
• St. Margaret Mary, 88 Bellwood (sold with
site redeveloped for residential purposes)
• St. Mark, 803 Canterbury
• St. Patrick, 290 Nepean Street (now
operating under the Adult Education
program of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board)
• St. Raymond’s Intermediate, 1303 Fellows
Road (transferred to the French Public School
Board;
• St. Theresa, 156 Waverley Street
• St. Victor, Brookfield Road (transferred to
the Eastern Ontario French Catholic School
Board)
• Notre Dame High School, 1487 Heron Road
(was operated by the ORCSSB but owned
by the Grey Nuns and was sold to the
federal government as the Campanila
Study Centre)
• St. Joseph’s High School, 881 Broadview
Avenue (was operated by the ORCSSB but
owned by the Grey Nuns and was sold to
the Jewish Academy)
HISTORY OF...
A future project of the Historical
Committee of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board is to research and record as
much as possible, the history of these closed
schools where many students received their
Catholic education, guided by dedicated
teachers.
As an integral part of the story of
Catholic education in the Ottawa-Carleton
area, we ask that if anyone has any
information or stories about any of these
closed schools, please pass them along to the
Historical Committee for possible inclusion
in future editions of this historical
publication. Information or stories about
these schools should be e-mailed to:
Cynthia_Montgomery@occdsb.on.ca or sent
via regular mail to Cindy Montgomery,
Records Management Administrator, OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board, 570 West
Hunt Club Road, Nepean, Ontario K2G 3R4
(Phone 613-224-4455, extension 2328).
25
T
HISTORY OF THE
CARLETON
ROMAN
CATHOLIC
SEPARATE
SCHOOL
BOARD
HISTORY OF...
By 1997, the last year of the
operation of the Board before its provincially
mandated amalgamation with the Ottawa
it had grown to an enrolment of 26,100
students ranging from junior kindergarten
to the Ontario academic credit year
(formerly Grade 13). The Board employed
1,487 teachers and 585 support staff, and
operated 37elementary schools, seven high
schools and one adult school. It covered an
area of approximately 1,100 square
kilometres.
he Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board (CRCSSB)
was formed in 1969 but this was
not the beginning of Catholic education in
Carleton County, the rural area surrounding
the City of Ottawa. Indeed, Catholic
education in Carleton was a reality almost
from the days of the earliest settlers.
Wherever there was a settlement
of sufficient numbers of Catholics, there
almost invariably emerged Catholic schools.
This is what happened in the South March
area of March Township, in the Corkery region
of Upper Huntley, in the Fallowfield and
Merivale parts of Nepean, in the West Osgoode
area, in the Metcalfe vicinity of Osgoode and
in the Gloucester South neighbourhood of
Gloucester. Catholic schools existed in these
regions, run by local school section school
boards, well before anyone thought of a
county-wide system. In addition, there were
situations such as at the Jockvale School (S.S.
No. 10) in Nepean, where nine out of ten
students were Catholics, as was the teacher.
In such a situation, there was no need to
establish a separate school because the
existing public school was, in essence, Catholic.
Formal separate schools tended
to be created only where the numbers of
Catholic and Protestant families were fairly
balanced. In circumstances such as this,
there were sufficient student numbers for
the minority group to establish a viable
school of its own. If one religious group or
the other dominated an area in numbers, the
school invariably reflected the beliefs of that
group. Nepean, with its burgeoning post-war
growth, saw a number of Catholic schools
opened. By 1969, when county-wide school
boards were imposed by the province, there
were ten Catholic schools in Nepean. It was
these schools, in addition to the far-flung
schools operated by other small Catholic
school boards, that formed the basis of the
newly-established Carleton Roman Catholic
1969 - 1997
Separate School Board in 1969. At its birth,
this county-wide Catholic school board had
a student enrolment of 9,978 students and
a staff of 443 teachers.
From its inception, the CRCSSB
experienced growth, reflecting the suburban
development that was taking place in the
Carleton area, including such fast-growing
locations as Kanata, Barrhaven and Orléans.
By the 1988-89 school year, the Board was
operating 34 elementary schools and five
high schools with a total enrolment of 18,317
students, 1,010 teachers and approximately
400 other administrative and support staff.
27
C. Basil MacDonald of Nepean
was elected as the first Chairman of the
CRCSSB in 1969, while René Lefebvre was
the first Vice-Chairperson. The original
trustees, each one representing a different
part of the Board’s far-flung area, included
Harry Beingessner, James Colton, Leo Coté,
Lorne Gignac, Carmel Kasper, Michael
Kelly, Bernard Labelle, Roch Lafleur, Lionel
McCauley, Mathias Pagé, Norman Wilson
and Vernon Zinck.
Dr. William Crossan, a former
provincial school inspector, was the Board’s
first Director of Education, serving from
1969 through to 1991. Subsequent Directors
of Education were Derry Byrne (1991 – 1995
and Philip A. Rocco (1995 – 1997).
Under Dr. Crossan’s guidance,
supported by senior staff such as educator
Michael Revells and Ronald P. Larkin, as
Superintendent of Planning and Facilities,
the CRCSSB not only managed its rampant
growth but also became an innovative school
board that accomplished much despite its
meagre tax base. Dr. Crossan’s legacy
includes the junior high school concept, the
media integration project, the integration
of all students, a balanced French-language
program, and the provision of new school
facilities.
HISTORY OF...
In January 1989, the media
integration project began with the secondment
of Dale Henderson and Brent Wilson. The
venture focused on mathematics, language
arts and environmental science in Grades 4, 5
and 6, by treating them in an integrated
manner. In the high schools, the project
focused on the Ontario Academic Credit (OAC)
Calculus course, the Technological Journalism
course and the Grade 12 General-level
English course. In May 1989, the first
units were tested in a pilot classroom at
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Barrhaven.
By October 1989, five additional classrooms
were implemented at Convent Glen Catholic,
Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic, St. Rita,
St. Mary (Gloucester) and Georges Vanier
Catholic Schools. This preceded the Board’s
initiative to open a media integration
classroom in all of its schools.
Beginning with programs that
were developed in the early 1970s such as
mathematics, language arts, religion and
science, the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board came to be
considered by others, including the Ontario
Ministry of Education, as a leader in the
field of programming.
A music coordinator was hired in
1969, followed by the development of a music
department and, in 1972, publication of the
Let’s Sing songbook for primary students.
Industrial Arts and Family Studies classes
were first offered by the Board at Frank
Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary School in
1970, expanding to other schools by 1972.
Initially, in 1969, the new
CRCSSB set up its administration office
in a Merivale Road strip mall. This
changed in 1972 when the Board built an
administration office and resource centre
farther south on Merivale Road.
The first ten years of the life of
the CRCSSB were years of rapid growth and
expansion. The increase in enrolment to
17,141 students in 1979 from the 9,978 in
1969 resulted in the building of 15 new
schools and ten major school additions.
But it was not constant growth
all of the time. In 1983, the CRCSSB closed
Our Lady of Good Counsel School on Bowhill
Avenue, which had opened in 1965. The
Board also closed St. Nicholas School in the
St. Claire Gardens area in 1990 due to
declining enrolment in this older area of
Nepean. In the ten years from 1979 to 1989,
student enrolment grew by fewer than
500 in total, with the Board’s enrolment
in 1989 totaling 17,622 students. However,
by 1994, the Board’s 25th anniversary year,
there were 45 schools housing a total of
more than 21,000 students.
The county-wide school board
concept was a target for criticism right from
the start. The Mayo Commission on regional
government, along with Nepean Mayor
Andrew Haydon, recommended regional
school boards, just as this new county-wide
school board was getting its feet wet. In
1985, a CRCSSB trustee, Rick Chiarelli, who
was to play a prominent role in the fullfunding debate for Catholic schools, led a
group of trustees in asking for a plebiscite
on uniting the Ottawa and Carleton public
and Catholic boards into two regional school
boards, one for the public schools and one
for the Catholic schools. It was thought that
the Ottawa schools, which were losing
enrolment, would benefit from the addition
of the growing Carleton schools, while the
Carleton schools would benefit from access
to the city’s large corporate tax base.
However, the Carleton school boards resisted
this move, fearing negative consequences
for their suburban and rural students. Hal
Hansen, Chairman of the Carleton Board
of Education, the coterminous public board
with the CRCSSB, frequently proposed, as
an alternative, merging the Carleton public
and Catholic boards because they shared the
28
same rural and suburban residents. The
CRCSSB rejected this suggestion, citing
religious reasons. However, their position
was not enhanced when the province created
the Ottawa-Carleton French-Language
School Board in 1989 to serve the
educational needs of Francophones in the
area. This was a combined Catholic and
public school board. History would vindicate
the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board when the combined French
board was divided into two separate boards,
one public and the other Catholic, in 1995.
While 1989 saw the Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board
become for the first time, an English-only
school board, the loss of its Francophone
students, ratepayers and facilities was
something of a setback. The division of assets
and the loss of students (28 percent of its
enrolment) meant that the Board had
even fewer resources to meet its constant
challenges. There was an ongoing and
persistent campaign for more and fairer
funding for Catholic schools. This inequity,
as seen by the CRCSSB, centred around five
issues: revenue inequity, because some public
school boards were able to spend over
$1,000 more per elementary student than
their neighbouring Catholic boards due to
access to a larger tax base; assessment
inequity, because some public school boards
had tenfold the commercial assessment of
similar Catholic boards even though student
enrolment could be identical; grant inequities
at the grades 9 and 10 level, because
Catholic school boards had to provide
education for students in those grades with
less funding in grants than were available to
their public school board counterparts; grant
inequities for Grades 11, 12 and 13, because
no funds were provided to Catholic boards for
these grades; and a capital grant allocations
inequity for school facilities, because Catholic
school boards were receiving approximately
20 percent less in capital grants than their
public counterparts.
HISTORY OF...
In 1988, the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board had a budget
totaling $143,911,688. It received its
revenues from government grants (69.6%),
local taxes (23.3%) and other sources (7.1%).
A total of $13,214,810 or 9.2 percent of this
budget was allocated to student
transportation as the Board provided bussing
for its students at all grade levels if they
lived beyond a required walking distance. It
provided this student transportation through
its own fleet of school buses, as well as via a
number of contracted services. These vehicles
traveled more than 28,000 kilometres a day,
serving a vast jurisdiction. By 1997, the
Board’s operating budget had grown to
$160,404,654, along with a capital budget
of $14.3 million, with the majority of these
monies directed to the construction of a new
Catholic high school in Barrhaven.
The Board’s Program Department,
just prior to the amalgamation with the
Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate School
Board in 1997, was responsible for all
curricular and co-curricular programs from
junior kindergarten through to OAC.
This included the review, development
and implementation of curriculum in
every subject area, the support of all intrascholastic and inter-scholastic activities, the
coordination of a number of special programs
such as English as a Second Language and
Cooperative Education, and leadership for
a number of student activities such as peer
helpers and the children’s choir. The Staff
Development, Evaluation and Technology
Department of the Board focused on staff
professional development. It piloted the new
provincial report card because of its
combination of expertise in staff
development, evaluation and technology.
To meet the needs of students with special
learning requirements, the Board embraced
the goal of inclusion, meaning that most
students with special needs spent all or
most of their day with age peers in regular
classrooms in neighbourhood schools. At the
same time, the Continuing Education
Department was growing, as enrolment in
the Adult High School reached approximately
700 students and nearly 20,000 people took
continuing education courses. The Child
Care Services Foundation also continued to
grow in that year, providing services to
approximately 500 students at various
school-based centres under its control.
The Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board grew to achieve very
high retention rates in its high schools.
In 1995-96, for instance, the Board placed
in the top five in Ontario for retaining
students, the second straight year for this
achievement. The dropout rate was only
about three percent, well below the Ontario
average of 16 percent and the national
average of 18 percent. The Board attributed
this success in part to a variety of strategies
designed to keep students in school. These
included programs for early identification of
at-risk students, teacher in-service training
regarding learning styles, mentorship,
apprenticeship, a mini-course in association
with Algonquin College, peer helpers, and
an alternate school.
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board
Highlights
1969: Twenty-four Roman Catholic school
boards in Carleton County are
reorganized to form the Carleton
Board with 40 schools and
10,000 students
1970: First Industrial Arts and Family
Studies classes are offered
First summer school courses are
offered
1971: Music and Art Departments are
developed
1972: Board Administration Office and
Central Resource Centre built on
Merivale Road
29
St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary
becomes St. Pius X High School
1978: Central Resource Centre moves
to Pope John XXIII School
Personnel Department is created
1979: Board’s tenth anniversary is celebrated
First psychologist is hired
1981: First heritage language classes offered
1982: First French public-speaking contest
for Immersion students
1983: First Board-wide public-speaking
contest
1984: Board adopts a logo
Bill 30 for full public funding for
Catholic secondary schools is
introduced
1985: First full year of grade 11 classes at
Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board schools
Developmentally Disabled Centre
opens at Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Catholic School
1987: Supreme Court supports Bill 30 full
funding for Catholic secondary schools
1988: Board adopts multicultural and racial
equity policy
First night school program offered
Bill 109 creates Ottawa-Carleton
French Language School Board
1989: First Board child care centres open at
St. Francis of Assisi and Holy Spirit
Schools
Fresh Start part-time work and school
program for adults is introduced
Media Integrated Curriculum
Department formed
Department of Continuing Education
is established
1990: Apprenticeship/co-op program
established
Transition Years curriculum for
Grades 7 to 9 is introduced
First Adult Secondary School diploma
graduation ceremony is held
1991: Founding Director of Education
Dr. William Crossan resigns
Derry Byrne is appointed as Director
of Education
HISTORY OF...
New school bus safety program and
training are introduced
1992: Mobile Adult Learning Centre for
Literacy is introduced
1995: Philip A. Rocco is appointed as
Director of Education
1996: The Teacher Resource Centre is
dedicated as the Derry Byrne Teacher
Resource Centre in honour of the late
Derry Byrne, Director of Education
at the time of his death
Christmas and St. Patrick’s Day
concerts were always highlight events in
the life of S.S. No. 7, Nepean.
Separate School No. 7, Nepean
(Fallowfield)
French Schools
Catholic education in the
community of Fallowfield in Nepean goes back
over 130 years and is one of the examples of
how Catholic education existed in various
pockets in rural Carleton County over the
years. It provided a base of support, which
was essential when township-wide school
boards, and then a county-wide school board
came into being in the 1960s. Schools similar
to S.S. No. 7, Nepean at Fallowfield existed in
such far-flung areas as South March, Corkery,
Kelly’s Landing and South Gloucester.
S.S. No. 7, Nepean was built
in 1871 near the intersection of today’s
Fallowfield Road/Richmond Road
intersection. It was a one-room school heated
by a wood box stove, with the students
sitting according to age, the younger ones
in front and the older students at the back.
This school building was closed in 1959.
A new S.S. No. 7 opened on a site on Steeple
Hill Crescent across from St. Patrick
Church, comprised of two classrooms, one
on the main floor and the other on a lower
level. The grades 1 through 4 students were
housed on the main floor so that the smaller
children did not have to climb stairs. The
grade 5 through 8 students occupied the
lower level classroom.
The school eventually closed, and
the facility became a depot building for the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board.
With the coming of the new millennium, the
need for this depot facility had diminished,
resulting in the Board selling the property
and facility.
Separate School Board operated both French
and English schools during much of its
history until the province moved to create
French-language school boards in 1989.
In the 1986-87 school year, the
Board operated 18 French-language schools
as well as 34 English-language schools
with enrolment of approximately
6,200 Francophone students and
13,900 English-language students.
French-language schools under the
CRCSSB in the 1986-87 school year were:
Des Pins, Gloucester
Des Voyageurs, Orléans
Intermediate Leo D. Coté, Orléans
Intermediate Pauline Vanier, Gloucester
Laurier Carrière, Nepean
La Verendrye, Gloucester
Notre Dame du Cap, Orléans
Notre Dame des Champs, Navan
Preseault, Orléans
Reine des Bois, Orléans
Roger Saint-Denis, Kanata
Ste-Bernadette, Gloucester
St-Gabriel, Gloucester
St-Guillaume, Vars
St-Hugues, Sarsfield
St-Laurent, Carlsbad Springs
Ste-Marie, Gloucester
Ste-Thérèse d’Avila, Marionville
30
The Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board Logo
Separate School Board logo was created in
1984, 15 years after the establishment of the
Board itself. From 1969 to 1984, the Board
did not have an official logo but an outline of
the Carleton County map was incorporated
in letterhead and other Board printed
materials. In 1984, the Board adopted a
logo, which was developed under a $750
contract with John Cook Industrial Design.
The logo featured a double “C”
along with an offset flame and a cross inside
the flame. The two C’s, with the outside one
black and the inside one white, represented
“Carleton Catholic.” The red flame signified
a modern version of the lamp of learning
and also the Holy Spirit. Inside the flame,
the white Celtic cross signified a belief in
the redemption of the people of the world
through the crucifixion, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross and
the flame also symbolized the gift of the
Church, established on the first Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit gave to Peter and the
Apostles the knowledge needed for them to
be heirs of the Kingdom of God.
HISTORY OF...
25th Anniversary of the CRCSSB
(1969-1997)
Separate School Board marked its
25th Anniversary in December 1994. In
recognition of the 79 employees who had
been with the Board since its very existence,
special tribute was made to the following
individuals:
Grace Anderson
M. Lee Armstrong
Ronald Avon
Marilyn Beckstead
Lyle Bergeron
André Blain
Beverley Box
Sandra Boyer
Lorna Brisson
Derry Byrne
Terry Ann Carter
Leah Cassidy
Nancy Jane Cawley
Maurice Charron
Dorothy Collins
Robert Curry
Julien de la Durantaye
John Delorme
Michelle Desjardins
Richard Despatie
Alan Dickinson
Nicole Dickinson
Mildred Donnelly
Irene Doth
Theresa Dubien
Claude Dubois
Marion Fuder
Louise Gallagher
Margaret Girgrah
Helen Gordon
Patrick Jennings
Suzanne Mary Jones
Deanna Lynn Kelly
Starr Kelly
Lois Keon
Janet Laba
Daniel Lahey
Rolland Lapointe
Ronald Larkin
Linda Legault
Gerald Leveque
Peter MacKinnon
Monica McCarthy
Patrick McEvoy
Ruth McGretrick
Andrew McKinley
Michael McNally
Kathryn McVean
Elizabeth Anne Moore
Noreen Murphy
Terrence Murphy
William Murphy
Stephen Newton
Phyllis O’Neill
Barry Olivier
Rita Ovington
Leo Payant
Gregory Peddie
Ann Read
Susan Rheaume
Kathleen Robillard
Elizabeth Rock
Martin Rollocks
Claire Rondeau
Gayle Sadler
Patricia Scrim
Helen Sheehan
Robert Slack
Kathleen Stauch
Gloria Sterling
Patrick Sterling
Patricia Switzer
Sandra Tischer
Susan Vail
Garry Valiquette
Theodorus Vandenberg
Ralph Watzenboeck
Mary Whiticar
Philip Yates
31
Reflections
In compiling this history of
Catholic education, we have had the good
fortune to receive personal reflections from
past employees.
With sincere appreciation to all
who took the time and effort to submit their
thoughts and memories, we would like to
share their stories.
Bernadette MacNeil
Superintendent of Education (retired)
Bernadette MacNeil worked as
a teacher, vice-principal, coordinator of
the Family Life program, principal and
superintendent of education during her
career in education in the Ottawa area.
She worked for the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board from 1957 to 1959
and for the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board and its Nepean
predecessors from 1960 to 1994.
Among the highlights of her career
in education are the following:
Working with the Nepean Separate
School Board prior to the formation of the
Board in 1969. Trustees had a real sense
of “community service,” family values were
honourable and teachers were respected.
Family Life education began with this
Board.
Amalgamation of the smaller
school boards in the Carleton area to form
School Board in 1969 brought a whole new
dimension, with excellent administrative
leadership, new initiatives and a desire to
achieve full funding for Catholic schools.
New programs were continually developed
and the Board, under the direction of
HISTORY OF...
Dr. William Crossan as Director of
Education, was respected provincially as
a leading school board. The Family Life
program was a model for Ontario and the
Board developed the first Ontario Ministry
of Education course in Family Life for
teachers in Ontario in 1972. The
kindergarten program was also an
outstanding initiative, along with French
as a Second Language & Technology in the
classroom, to mention just a few. All of these
developments were exciting because staff
always felt “ownership.” There was a
wonderful balance of “grass roots”
involvement and real leadership at the top.
Everyone always felt proud to be employees
of the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board.
The Board weathered all of the
normal but difficult challenges with “class
and concern,” for example, governance of
the French schools, full funding for high
schools (the Board was ready with its junior
high schools) and amalgamation with the
Board in 1998.
“My memories are those of
wonderful colleagues, tremendous families,
strong leadership and dedication and lots
of fun.”
Claude Dubois
Helen & Gerry Coulombe
Coordinator (retired)
French as a Second Language
Teacher/Principal (retired)
Throughout most of its existence,
School Board operated a French as a Second
Language program (FSL), which proved
highly successful and was the envy of many
school authorities both provincially and
abroad.
Starting with a strong half-English
and half-French language program in the
two kindergarten years, students then
progressed to a three-quarter English and
one-quarter French language program
during the primary and junior divisions.
This allowed students to develop strong
skills in their mother tongue while acquiring
solid fundamentals in the French language,
thus enabling them to pursue their second
language aspirations in high school.
All three FSL program options
were made available to students beginning
in Grade 7 and extending to the end of high
school, namely: core, extended and
immersion.
In particular, the success of the
Late Immersion option (50%-50% and later
75% French and 25% English) was such a
resounding success that many institutions
from across the country and Europe lauded
our practice and acquired our curricula.
32
Our careers with the Carleton
spanned from the late 1970s through to
amalgamation with the Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board in 1998 –
a time of staggering growth and enthusiasm
for Catholic education.
Full funding brought expansion
to the high school level. Because of Bill 81,
we gave expression to an inclusionary focus
for special needs students.
What stands out above all is a
strong thread of community, friendship
and solidarity. Christian Community Days
brought us together every fall, a time of
thanksgiving both literally and figuratively,
reminding us of our mission.
The way in which we pursued
professional development, upgrading and
in-service during those years was part of
an overall plan. Religious education courses,
special education and technology kept us on
a steady course. The conviction that we were
a school board where heart, mind and soul
kept children at the centre, was the vision
which steered us.
At a personal level, we were
both blessed with leadership and career
opportunities beyond the cherished
classroom walls. We look back with pride,
a sense of satisfaction and feelings of
gratitude that we spent our working years
with the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board. Teaching as a profession
remains dear to us and passing the torch
to our son keeps the passion for it alive.
T
HISTORY OF THE
OTTAWACARLETON
CATHOLIC
SCHOOL
BOARD
HISTORY OF...
formula, removing them from dependence on
assessment wealth and providing equal
funding for every student in Ontario.
he amalgamation of the two
English Catholic school boards in
the Ottawa area, legislated by the
Provincial Government, took effect in 1998,
launching a period of uniting two entities
with different structures, philosophies and
programs. However, three constants eased
the transition and formed the basis on
which the new board could move forward
to become a provincially-recognized leader
in education: student success, staff
development and the wise use of resources.
It was not easy in the early years
of amalgamation to develop one entity where
previously there had been two. Along with
the amalgamation was a new provincial
funding formula for education that
presented challenges in implementation
but also, at least for Catholic school boards
across the province, brought equity to
funding. The right to tax was removed from
school boards, with the Provincial
Government providing revenue based on a
student per capita formula. In other words,
each board in the province, whether Catholic
or public, rural or urban, English or French,
was funded equally.
For Catholic school boards, this
usually meant an increase in funding, a fact
that was very significant for boards like the
Board which had previously been dependent
on a tax base with a low commercialindustrial assessment resulting in smaller
revenues than some more assessment-rich
school boards. In some respects, this was
preferable because these school boards knew
how to make do with less, while still
providing quality education. These practices
would ultimately benefit the newlyamalgamated school boards, since the new
provincial funding formula would lag behind
real costs as the post-amalgamation years
unfolded. Amalgamated school boards had
to become imaginative in their programming
1998 TO PRESENT
and efficient in their management in order
to maintain a financial equilibrium.
Amalgamation itself was opposed
by the CRCSSB, with the issue becoming a
major topic of study and concern during the
1990s. The Board contended that the real
problem facing school boards in the province
was the disparity of assessment wealth
among boards, as well as shortcomings in
the provincial funding program that was
in place. This, in the view of the CRCSSB,
failed to distribute resources equitably
among school boards. Little did the CRCSSB
know that, when forcing the amalgamation
of school boards, the province would
radically alter the education funding
33
Separate School Board entered
amalgamation with more Catholic school
ratepayers than its new partner, the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School Board, as
well as with more students, but with less
assessment wealth. In 1991, the CRCSSB
had 77,462 Catholic ratepayers in its
jurisdiction. This included the rural and
suburban portions of the Ottawa-Carleton
area, including the Townships of
Cumberland, Goulbourn, Osgoode, Rideau
and West Carleton and the suburban cities
of Nepean, Gloucester and Kanata. The
ORCSSB, in 1991, had 69,536 ratepayers
located in what was then the City of Ottawa,
as well as the Village of Rockcliffe Park and
the City of Vanier. It had access to more
than twice the equalized assessment wealth
per pupil at both the elementary and high
school levels compared to the CRCSSB.
This difference was reflected in the level of
expenditure per pupil by each board. Again
using 1991 figures, the ORCSSB spent
$437.55 more per pupil at the elementary
level and $914.35 more at the high school
level. With regard to student enrolment, the
CRCSSB had about twice as many students
as the ORCSSB.
The 1991 figures, used here
because they are the best available
comparable data on the two former boards,
show that the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board had 20,729 students
while the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate
School Board had 10,080 students.
If amalgamation were just a
matter of board assessment wealth and
number of ratepayers and students, it would
have been a relatively easy transition. But
the real challenge to the amalgamation
HISTORY OF...
process came in bringing together the
different programs and philosophies of the
boards; programs and philosophies, dictated
by the unique history, geography and
clientele of each board. Fortunately, both
boards had the same philosophical and
theological foundations with regard to
Catholic education, so this most basic and
relevant of considerations, the provision of
an education based on Gospel values and
the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church,
was the common bond upon which the
success of amalgamation was based. The
belief was strong in both boards that a
Catholic school must be one in which God,
His truth and His life are integrated into
the entire syllabus, curriculum and life of
the school. But there were challenges to
the amalgamation.
There were differences in school
structure and organization, French as a
second language, the curriculum delivery
model, special education programs and
services, the evaluation of student
achievement, kindergarten programs and
English as a second language. All of these
had to be rationalized and harmonized across
the jurisdiction of the new board, a task
which, in some cases, such as French as a
second language, took until 2005 to resolve.
The most contentious issues facing
was the rationalization of school space
and facilities. This was an issue that was
driven more by the new funding model
implemented by the Provincial Government
than the actual amalgamation of the two
former school boards. A school board could
not qualify for capital funding to build
needed new schools unless it had more
students than pupil places in the system.
Inevitably, the need for new schools in the
amalgamated board existed in the suburban
growth areas of the former Carleton board
jurisdiction, while the vacant spaces, mainly
but not exclusively within the area of the
former Ottawa board, were bloating the
overall pupil places count. The exception to
this urban-suburban distribution of spaces
was in some of the older sections of Nepean
and Gloucester, where enrolment was
declining. This stemmed the flow of capital
dollars for the needed new schools, and
resulted in a prolonged and at times heated
process, which led to the closing of a number
of schools, eliminating pupil places, thus
providing the OCCSB with access to capital
funding so that new schools could continue
to be built in growth areas within its
jurisdiction. This was accomplished, but the
school closure and rationalization situation
was the overriding issue in the first years
of the new board.
At its birth in 1998, the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board had
61 elementary schools, 11 high schools, five
intermediate schools, one adult high school
and four adult day schools. In total, there
were 38,528 students guided by a staff of
2,217 teachers, vice-principals, principals
and other education staff. Trustee Ronald P.
Larkin was the first chairperson of the new
board, which had been reduced to only ten
members. Trustee Thérèse Maloney
Cousineau was the first vice-chairperson of
the Board. Other trustees serving from 1998
to 2000 were John Chiarelli, Mary Curry,
June Flynn-Turner, Arthur J.M. Lamarche,
Catherine Maguire-Urban, Des Curley, Mark
Mullan and Patrick Mullan. Philip A. Rocco,
the former Director of Education for the
Board, was selected as the first Director of
Education of the new OCCSB.
The Board established its head
office at the C.B. MacDonald Catholic
Education Centre on Merivale Road in
Nepean, the former headquarters of the
Board. The budget for the new school board
for the 1998-99 school year was
$235.8 million. In addition, the Board had
34
a restructuring fund budget of $4.4 million
and a capital budget of $17.4 million.
By the 2003-04 school year, the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board had
rationalized many of its operations, had
moved into a new headquarters facility on
Hunt Club Road in 2002, had a new director
of education and was continuing to grow.
By this time, it had 60 elementary schools,
14 high schools, three intermediate schools,
one adult high school and four adult day
schools. Student enrolment reached
approximately 40,900, supported by a
professional staff of more than 2,400 teachers,
vice-principals, principals and education staff.
James G. McCracken was appointed Director
of Education for the OCCSB in July 2003,
implementing an era of focus on student
success, staff development and the
responsible use of resources.
The Educational Programs
Department of the Board developed
initiatives aimed at these three goals. Success
for students initiatives included programs
focused on literacy and numeracy, such as
completion of an early literacy initiative
for grade 3 teachers and continued
implementation of the Primary 4 Blocks
initiative for teachers of French as a second
language. There was also a focus on helping
at-risk students through the development of
a department model for the implementation
of remedial programs, the creation of an
assessment manual and the use of PM
benchmarks for the tracking of student
progress and the continuation and expansion
of the Board’s “Everybody Learns” project.
There was also a focus on literacy and
numeracy at the secondary level with ongoing
support for the “Pathways for Success”
initiative. Enhancement of programs in the
area of technology was also a focus at the
secondary level at this time. Professional
development and support for all Educational
Programs Department innovations continued
including support for elementary teachers
HISTORY OF...
of Religious Education, Family Life, and
sacramental preparation. There were also
adult faith initiatives for staff.
The Information Technology
Department of the OCCSB was also busy
at this time developing communications
infrastructure, connectivity among schools
and to the internet, deployment of hardware
and software to all Board facilities and the
professional development of staff in
technology matters. Academically, department
staff developed the RoboDome program,
video conferencing in high schools, the rollout
of the new teacher performance appraisal,
replacement of computer labs in high schools
and continual upgrading and replacement
of computer hardware and software.
The Student Services Department,
at the same time, continued to promote the
goal of inclusive programming for students
with special needs. This meant that
wherever possible, special needs students
would be educated in regular classrooms
with age-appropriate peers in their
community schools. The department was
in the process of developing programs for
autism and for developmentally challenged
adolescents.
In 2003-04, the Continuing and
Community Education Department provided
programs and services for more than
45,000 students annually, including four
daytime adult schools for English as a
second language (Queen of the Angels,
St. Agnes, St. Joseph’s and St. Patrick’s),
and 22 community locations offering English
as a second language programs, with over
15,000 adult learners benefiting from them
over the course of the year. There were also
five federally-funded language instruction
classes for newcomers, 27 languages
provided to over 2,500 students at
11 elementary sites each Saturday, and
13 languages and 55 credits available to
more than 750 secondary students each
Saturday at St. Pius X High School.
Elementary summer schools and camps were
provided to over 1,000 students. Literacy
and numeracy programs, operating in seven
locations, served up to 400 adults each year,
and night and summer school credit courses
had an enrolment of more than 10,000
students. On-line credit courses, youth
camps during March break and summer and
a driver-education program were offered to
about 600 high school students annually.
The operating budget for the 200304 school year totaled $316.1 million, in the
service of approximately 39,200 students.
This budget represented an increase in
spending of about $34 million over the
previous budget year due to additional
funding provided by the Provincial
Government. The Board at this time
employed 2,439 active permanent teachers
including 126 who were newly-hired for
2003-04. There were also 850 teachers on
the occasional teachers’ list. Also employed
were approximately 1,000 non-teaching staff
comprised of teaching assistants, library
technicians, secretaries, custodians and
central board office staff. Continuing
Education staff numbered upwards of
1,400 personnel.
In 2006, the Board approved a tenyear Capital Plan that included a number
of projects in its first five years aimed at
providing school accommodation in those
areas of the Board’s jurisdiction where
student enrolment growth was straining
existing school facilities. These new school
facilities include a new 30-room addition at
Mother Teresa High School in South Nepean
in 2007, a new 24-room addition at Holy
Trinity Catholic High School in Kanata in
2007, a new 30-room addition at All Saints
High School in Kanata in 2007, a
renovation-conversion program at St. Mark
High School in Manotick in 2006 (followed
by construction of a new addition in 2007),
construction of a new elementary school in
35
Stittsville in 2008, construction of a new
secondary school in Riverside South in 2008,
and additions to St. Michael School in
Corkery, Lester B. Pearson Catholic High
School and St. Matthew High School in
2007-08.
Trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board
1998 to 2000
John Chiarelli, Des Curley, Mary Curry,
June Flynn-Turner, Arthur J.M. Lamarche,
Ronald P. Larkin, Catherine Maguire-Urban,
Thérèse Maloney Cousineau, Mark Mullan,
Patrick Mullan
2000 to 2003
Kathy Ablett, John Chiarelli, Des Curley,
John Curry, June Flynn-Turner, Betty-Ann
Kealey, Arthur J.M. Lamarche, Jacqueline
Legendre-McGuinty, Thérèse Maloney
Cousineau, Mark Mullan
2003 to 2006
Kathy Ablett, Gordon Butler, Des Curley,
John Curry, June Flynn-Turner, Betty-Ann
Kealey, Arthur J. M. Lamarche, Jacqueline
Legendre-McGuinty, Thérèse Maloney
Cousineau, Mark Mullan
T
he Catholic Education Foundation
of Ottawa-Carleton (CEFOC) was
created in 1999 as a registered
fundraising entity operating at arms-length
from the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board.
The Foundation was set up initially
with the view that it would undertake a variety
of fundraising initiatives. These included a
capital campaign to help pay off the debt
related to the construction of the Sacred Heart
High School theatre, an upgrading of computer
technology, and the provision of help to
alleviate poverty in schools. Dr. David Pfeiffer
was the inaugural Chairperson of the Board of
Directors of the Catholic Education Foundation
of Ottawa-Carleton. Philip A, Rocco, the
Director of Education for the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board at the time, was the first
President and Secretary. Wayne Bishop, the
recently retired Manager of Corporate &
Administrative Services with the OCCSB, was
the first Vice-President and Treasurer.
Inaugural members of the Board
of Directors of the Catholic Education
Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton were Bill
Collins of the Ottawa Centre for Research
and Innovation, June Flynn-Turner, OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board Chairperson,
OCCSB Trustee Mary Curry, Rev. Joe
Leclair, and lawyers James Leal and Peter
Vice. Lisa Hopkins was the Administrative
Officer in charge of the development office
of the school board, which administered the
Foundation.
By 2004, the Catholic Education
Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton had honed its
focus to concentrate on helping to alleviate
poverty in Board schools. By 2006, the
Foundation had awarded a total of $205,000
to 20 innovative programs and projects under
its “Helping To Alleviate Poverty In Our
Schools” campaign. Some of the projects
receiving assistance included the following:
CATHOLIC
EDUCATION
FOUNDATION
OF OTTAWACARLETON
FOUNDATION
•
•
•
•
• Summer camps coordinated by the
Children’s Support Committee of the
Board - $25,500
The Committee coordinated six one-week
camps over the course of four summers in
six different school locations, providing an
opportunity for students from each school
to attend a week of fun-filled activities.
Priority for attendance was given to
students whose families were financially
disadvantaged and would not normally
have the opportunity to attend such a
summer camp.
• A school readiness project by the Child
Care Services Department of the Board $6,000, with the funds matched by the
Ontario Ministry of Community and
Social Services
37
•
This three-year pilot project offered home
visits by trained early-childhood
professionals to families whose children
were entering kindergarten in designated
high-needs schools.
A Big Sisters, Big Brothers of Ottawa
mentorship program at Immaculata High
School - $21,500
This co-op mentorship program matched
highly-motivated secondary school student
leaders with “at risk” elementary students
between the ages of seven and 11.
An early literacy project at Our Lady
of Mount Carmel School - $21,500
This multi-year project focused on
improving the literacy of children in the
primary grades in a partnership with
students from the University of Ottawa
and Carleton University
A Rich Mind Club at Brother André
School - $7,305
This after-school club was designed for
45 grades 2 to 6 students, offering a safe,
nurturing and accepting environment to
concentrate on homework, reading and
computer skills.
A junior division swim program at
St. Anthony School - $4,000
The funds provided four nine-week
swimming programs for a total of
80 impoverished or at risk students
at a local swimming pool.
A program called “Holistic Education:
Making A Better World One Child At
A Time” at Bayshore Catholic School $7,100
This is part of an ongoing literacy
initiative at the school, contributing
funds to purchase additional reading
materials and incorporating “Second
Steps,” a research-based curriculum
designed to teach social and emotional
skills to help prevent aggression and
violence. The program also includes
a three-day trip to camp.
FOUNDATION
Besides its “Helping To Alleviate
Poverty In Our Schools Campaign,” the
Catholic Education Foundation of OttawaCarleton also has emergency response funds
which provide immediate assistance to
impoverished children and their families.
This assistance includes the provision of eye
glasses, EpiPens, medical supplies, food and
clothing, transportation and other financial
needs resulting from situations of family
crisis.
Fundraising efforts of the Catholic
Education Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton
to support its assistance to these educational
programs and emergency response
situations include special events, in
memoriam programs offered through all
local funeral homes, payroll deduction via
the United Way, partnerships with other
organizations and corporate-sponsored
Broadway musical productions which
annually include over 600 Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board students. Having the
Catholic Education Foundation of OttawaCarleton included as a United Way agency
and eligible to be assisted through directed
United Way payroll deductions began in
2005 and resulted in a substantial increase
in funding provided to the Foundation.
CEFOC’s major fundraising event
is the annual Broadway musical involving
students from schools across the Board’s
jurisdiction. This tradition began in 2003
with the production of Joseph and The
Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, presented
at the Sacred Heart High School Theatre. In
2004, the musical The Music Man was
presented, again at the Sacred Heart High
School Theatre. In 2005, the venue changed
to the St. Paul High School Theatre where
Annie was presented. In 2006, the musical
featured was Anything Goes, which was held
38
at the St. Paul High School Theatre. Another
fundraising event benefiting the Catholic
Education Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton
is the annual O.C. Idol singing competition
organized by the Board’s student trustees
in cooperation with the student council
co-presidents from the high schools across
the system. In 2006, this O.C. Idol
competition was held at St. Paul Catholic
High School with 12 singers involved, with
Student Trustees Phillip MacDougall and
Lisa Daly serving as the Masters of
Ceremonies.
In 2006, Trustee Arthur J.M.
Lamarche serves as Chairperson of the
Board of Directors of the Catholic Education
Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton. James G.
McCracken, OCCSB Director of Education,
is the President and Secretary and Lisa
Hopkins is the Executive Director.
O
OTTAWA-CARLETON CATHOLIC
CHILD CARE
CORPORATION
ver the past 17 years, the
provision of child care services
has become an increasingly
significant initiative. This has been
accomplished through the work of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic Child Care
Corporation, an arms-length corporation
first established by the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board, developing
a variety of programs and services. This
involvement with child care programs and
service really began in June 1987, when
the Ontario Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Community and Social Services
launched an initiative called “New
Directions in Child Care,” which was aimed
at involving schools and school boards more
fully in the provision of child care services
and programs.
At that time, the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board studied the matter and,
following the hiring of a child care manager
in November 1988, established the OttawaCarleton Catholic Child Care Corporation
in April 1989. Its role was to facilitate the
development of child care services.
The new corporation took its first
steps in this regard in September 1989, with
the opening of the first child care centres at
Holy Spirit School in Stittsville and at
St. Francis of Assisi School in Orléans.
This was followed in February 1991,
with the opening of the Katimavik Preschool
Resource Centre at Holy Trinity Catholic
High School in Kanata. Several months
later, in July 1991, the Corporation opened
the Katimavik Kindergarten/School Age
Program at Holy Trinity Catholic High
School. Next came the Charlemagne
Preschool Resource Centre at St. Peter
High School in Orléans in February 1993,
followed by the expansion of school age care
at both the St. Francis of Assisi Child Care
Centre and the Katimavik Kindergarten/
School Age program in September of that
same year.
CHILD CARE CORPORATION
Strandherd School Age
Program at Monsignor Paul
Baxter School in South
Nepean
Baywood School Age
Program at Guardian Angels
School in Stittsville
Emerald Meadows School
Age Program at St. Anne
School in Kanata
September 2000 Two additional after-school
clubs
September 2001 Two additional before-school
clubs and three more afterschool clubs
August 2002 Portobello School Age
Program at St. Theresa
School in Orléans
Keyworth School Age
Program at St. George School
September 2002 One additional before-school
club and one after-school
club
September 2003 One additional before-school
club and one after-school
club
December 2003 Crestway School Age
Program at St. Andrew
School in South Nepean
June 2000
The Corporation was busy in July
1994, opening three school age programs:
the Mountshannon School Age Program at
St. Luke School in South Nepean, the
Gardenway School Age Program at St. Clare
School in Orléans and the Stonehaven
School Age Program at St. James School
in Kanata. The programs at both the
Stonehaven School Age Program and the
Mountshannon School Age Program were
expanded in 1995 and 1996 respectively as
the steady growth of the Board’s child care
services and programs continued.
In September 1996, the
Charlemagne Nursery School opened in
St. Peter High School in Orléans.
The years 1996 and 1997 also
saw the opening of four after-school clubs.
During the years 1998 through
2003, the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic Child
Care Corporation continued to expand and
grow its services and programs. This included
the opening of the following facilities:
St. Nicholas Catholic School
Preschool Program
September 1998 A before-school club
September 1999 A before-school club and an
after-school club
Five Ontario Works programs
April 2000
Assumption of responsibility
for the Language Instruction
for Newcomers (LINC) child
care
January 1998
39
In September 2005, the Shoreline
School Age Program was opened at
St. Jerome School in Riverside South. In
2006, four more child care centres were
created at Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board schools under the “Best Start”
program initiated by the Provincial
Government as a result of the availability
of Federal Government funding. New child
care centres were added at Brother André
School and Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic
School, both in Gloucester, Prince of Peace
School in South Ottawa and Our Lady of
Peace School in Bells Corners.
The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
Child Care Corporation has its own Board
of Directors consisting of two trustees of
CHILD CARE CORPORATION
the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board,
a person appointed by the Director of
Education and four to six persons who are
neither trustees nor employees of the school
board. For 2006, Board Chairperson June
Flynn Turner is the President of the Board
of Directors, Catherine Maguire-Urban is
Vice-President and the Directors are Trustee
Betty-Ann Kealey, Leslie Kopf-Johnson and
Sandy Tremblay. Dr. Lucy Miller,
Superintendent of Educational Programs for
the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board,
is the corporation’s Secretary-Treasurer.
Programs offered by the Child Care
Corporation include: Kindergarten/School
Age programs (13 locations); preschool
resource centres (two locations); and nursery
school programs (one location).
School board programs under the
auspices of the Child Care Corporation
include before/after-school clubs, and Ontario
Works Child Care and Language Instruction
for Newcomers( LINC) child care. In 2006,
before/after-school clubs exist at 12 schools
(St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Chapel Hill
Catholic, St. Mary in Ottawa, St. Mary in
Gloucester, Our Lady of Wisdom, Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Isidore, St. Brigid,
St. Marguerite D’Youville, Georges Vanier
Catholic, McMaster Catholic and St. Patrick
Schools). These programs provide
recreational activities including outdoor play,
cooperative games and sports, arts and
crafts, board games and dramatic play.
Activities may also involve cooking, watching
films or videos and homework time.
In 2006, the Ontario Works Child
Care exists at three locations. This is a
program offered to adult students
participating in English as a Second
Language or Continuing Education as part
of their Ontario Works development plan.
40
The programs provide a relaxed
child-centered environment where children
can learn safely through play. The programs
encourage development in social, emotional,
physical and cognitive skills.
In 2006, there was one location
offering the Language Instruction for
Newcomers (LINC) Child Care program.
This is a service offered to adult students
participating in LINC language classes.
The program is similar to the one offered
through the Ontario Works Child Care
program. However, whereas in the Ontario
Works Child Care program the costs are
funded through the City of Ottawa, the
program costs for the LINC Child Care
Program are funded through federal
government grants for children of new
Canadians participating in LINC language
classes.
I
nnovative, state-of-the-art curriculumbased educational software products
developed by the NECTAR Foundation are
now in use around the world as well as within
schools. This has all come about as the result
of the creation and ensuing development and
growth of the NECTAR Foundation, a nonprofit organization incorporated under the
Ontario Corporations Act with letters patent
issued in 1990 by the Ontario Ministry of
Consumer and Commercial Affairs. The
acronym NECTAR stands for New Era
Classroom, Technology and Research.
Dedicated to the development of
innovative educational programs featuring
the integration of interactive multimedia
technologies and individualized student
programs, the NECTAR Foundation grew
out of a demand in the late 1980s to use
computers to support student learning and
to provide students with technical skills for
future careers.
Separate School Board emerged as a leader
in this field, developing unique curricula
that incorporated technology with
traditional programs. Other school boards
indicated an interest in obtaining these new
programs which use the power of technology
in student learning. In addition, companies
such as Unisys Canada wanted to undertake
joint development projects with the CRCSSB
to develop software applicable to the
curriculum. However, the Education Act does
not allow school boards to sell materials
and products. As a result, the NECTAR
Foundation, a non-profit, independent and
self-sustaining foundation, was formed to
be the legal entity that could develop and
market curriculum-based software and also
partner with private sector organizations.
The development of curriculumbased software, such as NECTAR’s
renowned TREK series, has meant that
NECTAR
FOUNDATION
NECTAR
(NEW ERA CLASSROOM,
TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH
FOUNDATION)
NECTAR products are now marketed and
used around the world. A number of its
software programs have been licensed for
use in large educational jurisdictions such
as the Province of Ontario, Schoolnet India,
South Africa, Barbados and large counties
in the United States. NECTAR products
are now available in English, French and
Spanish in both Macintosh and Windows
formats and in both educational and home
versions.
NECTAR usually works with
partners to develop and market its
curriculum materials, including educational
partners such as the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board and many other
school boards. Staff from the various school
boards have been invaluable in contributing
their educational expertise to the
development of these curriculum-based
software products.
Among NECTAR’s development
partners are or have been Unisys Canada
Inc., the Eastern Ontario Staff Development
Network, Gage Publishing, Inukshuk
Internet Inc., the Canadian Space Agency
and Schoolnet India.
NECTAR products are distributed
directly by NECTAR throughout the world
and by distributors such as Bradford
Publishing, Siboney Learning Group,
41
Academic Distributors and Curriculum
Services Corporation in the United States,
W & G Marketing in Australia and New
Zealand, Schoolnet India in South Asia
and Rheids Education in South Africa.
The NECTAR Foundation is a selffunded organization. Its operating capital
comes from the sale of its educational
products. The capital is then reinvested in
further product development. Partnership
initiatives also are a source of funding for
the Foundation.
NECTAR staff have produced a
wide variety of educational materials over
the years including print, video and audio
kits, educational software and CD ROM
disks. NECTAR staff have won awards
for their work in curriculum development
including the Prime Minister’s Award for
Excellence in Technology, the Ontario
Association of Curriculum Development
Award and the National Institute Award
from Northern Telecom (Nortel). NECTAR
work has been featured in a video produced
by the International Society for Technology
in Education. This video focuses on how
technology should be and will be used in the
classroom in the future.
Among the NECTAR educational
software now on the market are: the MATH
TREK series of multimedia programs
covering the Mathematics curriculum from
Kindergarten to Grade 12; the LANGUAGE
TREK series of multimedia programs which
covers the Language Arts curriculum from
Kindergarten to Grade 10; the SCIENCE
TREK 4, 5 and 6 series for the Science
program in Grades 4, 5 and 6; Professional
Learning Courses for Teachers, a series of
79 courses produced in partnership with
the Eastern Ontario Staff Development
Network, which features courses self-paced
and designed for the personal professional
development of teachers and which are
provided to teachers at no cost; and the
NECTAR
Canadian Space Agency series, two
programs, one for Grades 4, 5 and 6 and
the other for Grades 10 to 12 which were
developed for the Canadian Space Agency,
focusing on teaching Math skills in the
context of space navigation.
School Board and its students benefit from
the existence of NECTAR because they have
these state-of-the-art curriculum-based
software products available to them.
NECTAR provides the software to the Board
and also offers home versions to parents
and families at a reduced cost.
Board of Directors
A Board of Directors governs the
NECTAR Foundation. Traditionally, since
its formation in 1990 at the instigation of
School Board, several trustees and the
Director of Education have served on the
Board of Directors, along with
representatives from business and industry
and other educators.
Members of the first Board of
Directors of the NECTAR Foundation were:
Dr. William Crossan, Director of Education
Arthur J.M. Lamarche, Trustee
James Lea, Lawyer
Dale Henderson, Educator
Brent Wilson, Educator
Vic D’Amico, Executive Director
42
The Board of Directors was
expanded to eight members in the second
year of operation of NECTAR.
Members of the Board of Directors of the
NECTAR Foundation in 2006 are:
James G. McCracken, Director of Education
Gordon Butler, Trustee
Des Curley, Trustee
Arthur J.M. Lamarche, Trustee
Mark Mullan, Trustee
Gerry Clarke
Margot Crawford
David Leach
Brent Wilson
T
he Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board Central Resource Centre,
which was established in 1972,
was dedicated as the Derry Byrne Teacher
Resource Centre in 1996 in honour of the
late Derry Byrne, Director of Education of
the Board at the time of his death.
The Teacher Resource Centre
initially served 22 schools in the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board’s English
panel and 18 schools in the French panel.
The Centre was initially located in a
770 square foot room at the Board’s
administration building at 1695 Merivale
Road in Nepean. At its inception it held
about 875 volumes, under the direction of
consultant Sister Lillia Teaffe. In September
1973, Lloyd Ambler, who was later to become
a principal with the Board, was hired as
Coordinator of the Teacher Resource Centre,
and Sister Teaffe stayed on as the full-time
consultant. Edwin Costello was the full-time
audio-visual consultant.
This Teacher Resource Centre was
considered a showplace, as it was a brand
new concept, fulfilling the role of a teacher
resource centre but also strongly tied into
the development of all of the school libraries
as well.
As the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board built new schools with
libraries, and expanded existing school
libraries to accommodate ever-increasing
enrolment growth, financial resources often
prevented the purchase of duplicate holdings
for every school. The Teacher Resource
Centre overcame this problem by stocking
materials which all staff in any school could
borrow. As the Board continued to grow,
school teacher-librarians each spent one
half-day per month working at the Centre
for the first few years of its existence.
DERRY BYRNE
TEACHER
RESOURCE
CENTRE
TEACHER RESOURCE CENTRE
While school librarians were
developing their own individual resources,
the centralizing of consultative and
administrative material continued. The
Teacher Resource Centre was given wider
responsibilities to equalize all school
resource materials, to develop and plan new
resource facilities and to implement a core
curriculum for the Board. At the same time,
the Teacher Resource Centre introduced
services in video programming, inter-board
film and television liaison, slide production,
audio-visual loans, video editing and
copying, audio reproduction and core
program control and distribution. The
Centre had the first laminating machines
within the Board, equipment far beyond the
resources of individual schools at that time.
The Teacher Resource Centre also oversaw
the introduction of colour televisions to the
Board schools.
The Teacher Resource Centre grew
and evolved along with the Board and with
the education system in Ontario in general.
In its first five years of operation, it
expanded from 875 volumes to over 15,000.
This growth meant that a new, larger home
was needed, just as more than 6,000 square
feet of space became available in the lower
level of Pope John XXIII School in Nepean.
The move began on July 1, 1978, and was
43
completed in March 1979. An official open
house was held in April 1979 to mark the
occasion.
Besides having space to house the
Teacher Resource Centre’s holdings, the new
location also provided rooms that could be
used for meetings, professional development
sessions and other events. By 1996, the
Teacher Resource Centre, newly renamed
the Derry Byrne Teacher Resource Centre,
had over 20,000 holdings. But while the
Centre was still a vital support to ensure
high-quality Catholic education in the
CRCSSB schools at that time, it became
much more than a supplier of text books.
It began to provide curriculum support
materials and professional resources to
teachers. The provision of resource materials
in computer CD format became more and
more important.
The Derry Byrne Teacher Resource
Centre continues to play an important role
in providing the support materials and
resources required to ensure that OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board teachers and
students have the tools they need to ensure
top-quality Catholic education in Board
schools.
W
hen the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board’s Central
Resource Centre was dedicated as
the Derry Byrne Teacher Resource Centre in
1996, a display of historical items related to
education was assembled for the ceremony.
This proved to be the genesis of the Catholic
Education Museum of Ottawa-Carleton.
For that display, school board
archives were searched for appropriate
materials, individual schools were asked to
submit items and materials, and artifacts
were borrowed from the Mae Rooney
collection of school-related memorabilia
dating back to the early 1800s. This
successful display of historical items was still
a fresh experience when a committee, under
the chairmanship of Paulina Brecher, was
established on August 31, 1999 to plan the
celebrations and events for the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board to mark the
coming of the Millennium in 2000. One of the
suggestions which arose was to establish a
permanent Board museum to display items
of historical significance, including both
written and pictorial documents, and items
used by students and teachers in the past.
A millennium museum subcommittee was formed under the direction
of Faye Powell as Chairperson. Others on
this museum sub-committee were Paulina
Brecher, Chairperson of the Millennium
Committee, Wayne Bishop, Ralph
Watzenboeck, Glenda Archer, Starr Kelly,
Carol Thibault and Glenda MacDonnell. This
sub-committee was tasked with directing
the museum project, including making an
application for a federal millennium grant.
Sub-committee members Wayne Bishop and
Paulina Brecher completed the detailed work
on the federal grant submission, with
Trustee Arthur J.M. Lamarche providing
invaluable liaison advice.
Upon approval of the federal
millennium grant, the museum project moved
CATHOLIC
EDUCATION
MUSEUM
OF
OTTAWACARLETON
EDUCATION MUSEUM
ahead, with discussions held with Mae
Rooney, a retired principal, for the purchase
of all or part of her collection. She had put
together the collection over many years,
developing it into a unique collection of school
items and memorabilia including sets of
textbooks, provincial examinations, a set
of pupil lunch kits dating back to the early
1800s and a complete series of Catechisms
used in Catholic schools in Ontario over the
years. It was an invaluable collection of
school-related historical materials.
The timing to acquire this collection
proved to be just right, as the collection had
outgrown Mrs. Rooney’s home and she was
looking for an appropriate new venue for it.
The discussions between the school board
and Mrs. Rooney proved fruitful and an
appropriate deal was struck. Space to house
the collection was provided at the Derry
Byrne Teacher Resource Centre and the
collection was moved there thanks to the
efforts of the members of the museum subcommittee and with the advice of Mrs. Rooney.
45
An official dedication, opening and
reception for the new Catholic Education
Museum of Ottawa-Carleton was held at the
Derry Byrne Teacher Resource Centre on
April 4, 2001, with representatives of the
federal government, the school board and
others in attendance. The ringing of an
antique school bell, part of the collection,
announced the opening. A plaque unveiled to
mark the occasion was provided through the
efforts of Trustee Arthur J.M. Lamarche.
With the opening of the Catholic
Education Centre, the Board’s new central
administration facility on Hunt Club Road,
a room just inside the doorway leading to
the Board Room was provided to house the
museum and its collection. The transfer of
the collection from the Derry Byrne Teacher
Resource Centre premises to the new
location was undertaken by Faye Powell
and a group of retired Board personnel.
The Catholic Education Museum of OttawaCarleton was set up and ready in time for
the official opening of the Catholic
Education Centre on February 16, 2003.
The Mae Rooney collection, which
is the foundation of the museum, is available
for research purposes. In addition, items
can be borrowed by schools for special
celebrations. The museum is open for visits
and presentations by teachers, students and
community groups. The museum is filled
with original school desks, books and
classroom memorabilia, set up in a school
room setting, reminiscent of the one-room
school house of the past where a single
teacher would be in charge of students at
every level of learning.
School Board is now the custodian of the
museum and the Mae Rooney collection.
The direction of the museum and its
operation fall under the jurisdiction of the
Historical Committee of the Board.
T
he Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board is one of the few school
boards in the province with a choir
comprised of students drawn from schools
across its jurisdiction. Directed by Mrs.
MaryAnn Dunn since its formation in 1991,
the OCCSB Children’s Choir celebrated its
15th anniversary at its spring concert in
June 2006.
Approximately 500 students
have been chosen for the choir over the
course of its 15-year history. Originally
a group of 54 singers, the choir currently has
80 members with 35 senior members forming
a more advanced chamber choir. Due to
increasing interest, there is now Young Voices
(a training choir) and a new boys’ choir.
Over the years, the Children’s
Choir has competed successfully at the
annual Kiwanis Music Festival. The choir
has also performed at many different venues
for the school board and the City of Ottawa
as well as at national events, always
representing the OCCSB and the area with
pride, honour and distinction.
From the beginning, the Children’s
Choir was an honours group, chosen by
audition from across the jurisdiction of the
Board. The Chamber Choir was formed in
1998 so that senior choir members could
continue singing. The training choir (Young
Voices) was begun in 2000 while the boys’
choir started in 2004.
Choir members are selected based
on their natural talent and their joy of
singing regardless of their experience.
Many members stay for the duration of
their elementary school careers while some
remain in the choir for only a year or two.
Whether a novice or a veteran, each child
makes his or her contribution to the vocal
and musical excellence of the choir.
OTTAWACARLETON
CATHOLIC
SCHOOL
BOARD
CHILDREN’S
CHOIR
CHILDREN’S CHOIR
The Children’s Choir has sung in
over a dozen languages, performing a variety
of music from classical to contemporary,
folk to sacred. The choir has produced two
compact discs, Light of the World and Shine.
It has also performed several songs
especially commissioned for it, including
You Are The Light of the World by Michel
Guimont and Our Father, The Candle, Jack
Was Every Inch A Sailor and When the Ice
Worms Nest Again, all by Tony Dunn.
Among the highlight performances
by the Children’s Choir over the years have
been at the National Citizenship ceremony
for Nelson Mandela at the Museum of
Civilization; at the 80th birthday party for
Alex Colville at the National Gallery of
47
Canada; at Young People’s Concerts at
the National Arts Centre with the NAC
Orchestra; at the Festival of Carols at
the National Gallery of Canada; at the
50th anniversary of the United Nations at
Centrepointe Theatre in Nepean; at the
50th anniversary of Canadian Citizenship
in the House of Commons; at the Ontario
Music Educators’ Conference at the National
Library; at Unisong 2000; at the Niagara
International Festival in Niagara Falls; at
citizenship ceremonies at the Supreme Court
of Canada; at the Kiwanis Music Festival
highlights concert; at the National Memorial
concert for fallen police officers; at the
Conference of Catholic Superintendents of
Ontario; at annual Christmas and Spring
concerts; and at the Board’s annual
Education Week Mass.
The Children’s Choir has been able
to support numerous charities over the years
including the Ottawa-Carleton Homes for
the Aged, the Bosnian Refugee Sponsorship
Group, Sylvia House Hospice, the Nelson
Mandela Children’s Fund, the Children’s
Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Catholic
Education Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton,
the Shepherds of Good Hope, The Mission,
the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,
May Court Hospice, the St. Isidore Church
Building Fund, the St. Basil’s Church
Building Fund, Aid for the Children of
Chernobyl, and the Terry Fox Foundation.
O
ttawa has played a role in the
provincial Catholic Parents’
Organization right from its very
beginnings. T.J. Kerr of Ottawa was the first
president of the new Federation of Catholic
Parent-Teacher Associations of Ontario,
which held its inaugural meeting in Toronto
in April 1949. In September 1951, the
Federation of Catholic Parent-Teacher
Associations of Ontario became an
incorporated federation. Its charter was
prepared by Hush Gadbois of Ottawa.
Mrs. F.M. Viau of Ottawa designed the
Association’s crest.
The Federation of Catholic ParentTeacher Associations of Ontario held its
convention in Ottawa in 1975 where Father
Patrick Fogarty delivered a landmark
address regarding the rights of Catholic
schools.
Another annual general meeting
and conference was held in Ottawa in 1985.
Through the years, the Federation
has worked to develop diocesan and regional
councils to liaise with parents in Catholic
schools. It has encouraged parents to become
involved in Catholic education, and to
express their views, while expecting that
their views are respected by other
shareholders in education.
HISTORY OF
ONTARIO
ASSOCIATION
OF PARENTS
IN
EDUCATION
PARENTS IN EDUCATION
The Federation of Catholic ParentTeacher Associations of Ontario has, over
the years, worked side-by-side with other
Catholic partners to bring about changes
benefiting Catholic education in the
province, including the extension of full
funding announced by Premier William
Davis in 1984. The Federation has prepared
49
briefs and presentations on all aspects of
Catholic education, becoming the unified
voice of Catholic parents in Ontario. The
Ontario Ministry of Education and other
Catholic partners in education have
recognized this role of the Federation by
including it in various discussions and
consultations regarding education reforms.
The Federation submitted its first triennial
review to the Ministry of Education in 1989,
the same year that Patrick Smith was
appointed as its first Executive Director.
In 1996, the name of the
Federation was changed to the Ontario
Federation of Catholic School Associations
in order to broaden its representation to
include all Catholic school groups. January
1998, saw the Federation gain status as
a board member on the Institute for
Catholic Education.
At the 1998 annual general
meeting, another name change was made.
Now known as the Ontario Association of
Parents in Catholic Education, the
association held its first-ever conference
in Thunder Bay in 2004, followed by a
conference in London in 2005, and a third
in Ottawa in 2006. Ann Callaghan of
Ottawa is the current Executive Secretary
of the Association.
O
ttawa teachers and educators
not only played pivotal roles
in the creation of the Ontario
English Catholic Teachers’ Association
(OECTA) but they have contributed in
important ways to its operation and success
over the years. Ottawa’s contribution to the
formation of the organization in 1944 was far
more than just being the site for its founding
meeting. Indeed, it was largely through the
efforts and leadership of Ottawa educator Dr.
F.J. McDonald that the provincial teachers’
organization became a reality.
While Catholic teachers in the
province are now collectively represented
by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association, such was not always the case.
Catholic teachers in Ontario, including
Ottawa, had for years carried on without a
province-wide organization. These teachers,
many of them religious, were devoted to a
Catholic education system but lay teachers
in particular faced the problem of earning
a livelihood in a Catholic system always
facing financial problems. The salaries and
working conditions of Catholic lay teachers
were less than ideal, sacrificed for the
greater good of having a functional Catholic
education system.
For many years, the late Dr. F.J.
McDonald, the inspector of separate schools
in Ottawa, had been convinced that the
efforts and achievements of separate school
teachers were neither understood nor
appreciated. In 1930, under his leadership,
separate school teachers in Ottawa set up
their own local organization which resulted
in both professional and economic gains. Yet,
despite this, Dr. McDonald realized that a
provincial organization would bring benefits
to all Catholic teachers in the province.
But this was far easier said than done, even
in the context of a call to Catholic action
by His Holiness Pope Pius XI urging the
organization of workers and other groups,
especially in educational institutions.
HISTORY OF
ONTARIO
ENGLISH
CATHOLIC
TEACHERS’
ASSOCIATION
TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION
In light of this, discussions
continued for several years before concrete
action was realized. Consultation with
clergy, in particular with the Most Reverend
John C. Cody, Bishop of Victoria, resulted
in a green light from the Church with regard
to forming a provincial Catholic teachers’
organization. With this endorsement,
Dr. McDonald then consulted separate
school inspectors across the province who,
in turn, encouraged Catholic teachers to
proceed with the formation of a provincial
organization. Cecilia Rowan, who was
President of the Ottawa English Catholic
Teachers’ Association, and her executive,
wrote to the superiors of all of the religious
congregations teaching in Ontario, seeking
their support for a province-wide association.
These superiors all replied that such an
organization would be productive and
offered their wholehearted cooperation to
the initiative. The clergy were also consulted
and very supportive.
51
The work of organizing English
Catholic teachers across the province got
under way. Ottawa was the site for a
meeting of diocesan delegates on February
18, 1944, attended by teachers from
Windsor, London, Belleville, Kingston,
Toronto, Peterborough, Pembroke, Cornwall,
Alexandria and, of course, Ottawa.
Dr. F. J. McDonald and another
inspector of separate schools, C.P. Matthews
of Kingston, were at the meeting to lend
their support to the undertaking. The
delegates decided unanimously that there
must be an English Catholic teachers’
association in the province, with
membership open to all English-speaking
Catholic teachers. A provisional executive
was chosen to hold office until a provincial
meeting could be held. The first executive,
headed by Margaret Lynch of Windsor,
included Cecilia Rowan of Ottawa as
Secretary.
The creation of this provisional
provincial executive was most timely,
because a few weeks later, the Ontario
Department of Education asked the newlyminted Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association to send a delegate to a Toronto
meeting to discuss inclusion of the group in
a new provincial professional organization
called the Ontario Teachers’ Federation.
Indeed, Ottawa teachers had once again
played a significant role in ensuring that
an English Catholic teachers’ organization
would be included in the structure of the
new provincial federation. The Ottawa
teachers’ organization had taken a lead in
this since there was not yet any provincial
organization in existence when this matter
came to a head in 1943.
The Department of Education
brought forward a Teaching Profession Act
which included automatic membership in
a federation for all teachers in the taxsupported schools of the province.
At that time there were four
provincial teachers’ organizations in the
province: the Ontario Secondary School
Teachers’ Federation, organized in 1919; the
Federation of Women Teachers’ Association
of Ontario (1918); the Ontario Public School
Men Teachers’ Federation (1921); and the
Association of Franco-Ontarian Teachers
(1939). When the executive of the Ottawa
Catholic teachers’ group discovered that the
draft legislation gave the Catholic teachers
in the province the choice of becoming
members of the new Ontario Teachers’
Federation either by joining one of the
three existing English teacher groups or
by forming a new group (which was the
preference in Ottawa), they acted quickly.
All Catholic teachers were to be
polled by the Department of Education
regarding their preference regarding the
proposal by the province. However, fearing
that many English Catholic teachers might
not know of the proposal to form a new
English Catholic teachers’ association,
the Ottawa teachers’ organization sent
explanatory letters to all principals and
teachers in Ontario, urging them to vote
for a Catholic teachers’ group as their
representative in the new Ontario Teachers’
Federation. The resulting vote was conclusive
and the Department of Education included
an English Catholic teachers’ organization
as one of the groups to fall within the
Ontario Teachers’ Federation. Shortly after
the new Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association was created, the Department
of Education sought a meeting with this
fledgling group concerning its inclusion in the
new Ontario Teachers’ Federation. To carry
its banner in these talks, OECTA sent Rev.
Lawrence Poupore, OMI, of St. Patrick’s
College High School in Ottawa to the Toronto
meeting. Father Poupore was rector of
St. Patrick’s College High School from 1944
to 1953 and would play a key role in the early
development of OECTA.
The talks resulted in the Ontario
joining the Ontario Teachers’ Federation
as an independent Catholic group, sharing
ten governor seats with the Association of
Franco-Ontarian Teachers. Father Poupore
went on to serve as chairperson of the
legislation committee of OECTA from 1944
to 1952 as well as chairperson of the
legislation committee of the Ontario
Teachers’ Federation during its first year of
existence, and for a second time in 1951-52.
In the spring of 1944, 600 English
Catholic teachers from across the province
crowded the Royal York Hotel in Toronto for
the formal founding meeting
of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association. The constitution was adopted
and the temporary executive from the earlier
meeting in Ottawa was ratified. There was
general agreement that all English-Catholic
teachers in Ontario needed a provincial
organization to represent them.
The first year of operation required
all of the organizing abilities of its founders,
and was demanding not only for President
Margaret Lynch of Windsor but also for the
secretary of the group, Cecilia Rowan of
Ottawa. Everything had to be built virtually
from scratch, since there were only three
Catholic teacher organizations in the province
(Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor). For example,
while the Ottawa organization had existed
for a number of years thanks to the work of
Dr. F.J. McDonald, it was composed only of
lay teachers and was not affiliated with any
outside group. The main task lying ahead
for the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association in its first year was to assist in
organizing each of the 19 districts across
the province which had been set up at the
founding convention in Toronto. Requests for
information and advice poured in from all of
these districts to Cecilia Rowan whose work
in this inaugural year set the foundation for
the organizational structure of the
52
Association. With no experience, little help
and only a $300 secretary’s honorarium, she
essentially organized the 19 districts by mail.
Among those from Ottawa who
served OECTA on the board and committees
of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation in its
early days were Father Poupore, Sister
Maureen of the Grey Sisters of the
Immaculate Conception of Ottawa, and
Ray Bergin of Ottawa.
The Ontario English Catholic
Teachers’ Association grew and stabilized,
hiring a full time secretary in 1949. By
1960, it had a staff of five and by 1969, its
25th year, it boasted a membership of about
14,000 teachers and a staff of 19.
In the 1970s, OECTA faced a
number of serious issues, as did the entire
educational community in Ontario. This
period saw the passing of legislation giving
teachers the right to strike, the creation of
the Qualifications Evaluation Council of
Ontario, the establishment of religious
education courses and the provision in
legislation for Catholic schools to teach
students with developmental disabilities.
Father Frank Kavanagh, OMI,
a former principal of St. Patrick’s College
High School in Ottawa (1964-69) became
Executive Director of the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association in 1981. A
former president of both the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association and of the
Ontario Federation of Teachers, Father
Kavanagh had worked for years to develop
the position of the Catholic community on
extension of the separate school system to
Grade 13. The extension of full funding took
place in 1984. In 1985, Father Kavanagh
was one of those involved in the creation of
the Institute for Catholic Education, whose
primary focus would be to ensure the
Catholic character and features of the
separate school system in the province.
When he retired in 1990, Father Kavanagh
left behind an organization representing just
over 30,000 members.
In the 1990s, the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association faced a
number of challenges such as the “Social
Contract” imposed by the Provincial
Government of Premier Bob Rae and the
agenda of the Mike Harris Conservative
government elected in 1995.
The organization marked its
50th anniversary of representing the welfare
of Catholic teachers in the province in 1994,
holding its annual general meeting in
Ottawa, considered its birthplace.
The years of the Mike Harris
Provincial Government saw the Ontario
English Catholic Teachers’ Association work
against the attacks on the public sector and
labour by the government. OECTA organized
a Rally for Education at Queens’ Park on
January 13, 1996, which attracted about
37,000 demonstrators in opposition to the
policies of the provincial government.
There was a constant barrage
of issues emanating from the provincial
government to which OECTA and other
teachers’ groups in the province had to
respond. In 1997, OECTA and other
teachers’ groups in the province mobilized
against Bill 160, the Education Equality
Improvement Act of the Provincial
Government which they saw as a
devastating attack on the education system
in Ontario. A province-wide political protest
shutting down all schools ran from Monday,
October 27 to Monday, November 10, with
OECTA members taking part. This political
protest received significant backing from the
public despite the inconvenience of closed
schools.
While continuing its political
actions against the provincial government’s
education initiatives, OECTA also continued
to work on behalf of the professional
interests of its members, responding to
government initiatives on secondary school
reform, standardized testing, a provincewide elementary school report card and the
introduction of new curricula.
Political activism would continue
to be a major focus of OECTA activities from
this point on, both in opposing Harris
government initiatives and then in ensuring
that the ensuing government of Premier
Dalton McGuinty would translate its stated
priority for education into enhanced learning
and working conditions for students and
teachers across the province.
Ottawa continues to play a role
in OECTA activities provincially, with
Donna Marie Kennedy of Ottawa serving
as Provincial President for 2005-06. Former
provincial presidents from the Ottawa area
have included Doreen Brady, Derry Byrne,
and Kathy McVean, who is currently the
immediate past president. OECTA now has
36,000 members. The Ottawa-Carleton Unit
of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association is currently headed by Bob
McGahey. Anne Lamont is the Elementary
Bargaining Unit President, Elaine McMahon
is the Secondary Bargaining Unit President
and Mary Major is the Occasional Teachers’
Bargaining Unit President. The OttawaCarleton Unit conducts its business
through a committee structure, with
various committees in charge of awards,
beginning teachers, communications,
legislation, local collective bargaining,
political action, professional development,
elementary schools, finance, health and
safety, secondary schools, social matters
and social justice.
The mission statement of the
Association reads as follows: “Recognizing
our uniqueness as teachers in Catholic
53
schools, we are an Association committed to
the advancement of Catholic education. As
teacher advocates we provide professional
services, support, protection and leadership.”
OECTA’s statement of principles says that
the Unit will promote Catholic values, foster
the growth of confident, competent
professionals, support its members in
collective bargaining, promote spiritual
growth in its members, establish and
exercise teachers’ rights at all levels of
educational decision-making, build solidarity
through actions that foster trust and
collegiality, and assist its members to grow
professionally by providing access to
information and resources.
The Ottawa-Carleton Unit of
the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association presents a number of awards,
grants and bursaries. These include the
Bernadette MacNeil Award which is
presented annually to a teacher who shows
the leadership quality of compassion for
those in need, and demonstrates a
supportive role among colleagues and
promotes good fellowship among staff; the
Doreen Brady Memorial Award which is
presented annually to a member of the
Ottawa-Carleton Unit of OECTA who has
made an outstanding contribution to OECTA
at the local and/or provincial levels; the
Elizabeth Patch Memorial Award which is
given annually to a teacher demonstrating
a high level of professionalism and
commitment towards Catholic education
and service to his or her community; the
Sylvester Quinn Memorial Award in the
amount of $1,000, which is presented to one
graduating student in each Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic High School to assist him or her
in pursuing a post-secondary education.
(Sylvester Quinn was a superintendent
of the former Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board who was an
outstanding educator and leader
exemplifying the qualities of servant
leadership. Upon his death in 1982, the
local unit of OECTA established the
Sylvester Quinn Memorial Award as a
tribute to his tremendous contribution to
education and dedication to the well-being
of those he served); and a Teacher Education
Grant Fund initiated by the OttawaCarleton Unit to encourage and support
members who are taking courses. There
are ten grants of $600 each available to
teachers; the Dr. William Crossan Memorial
Bursary is presented to a student enrolled
in the Bachelor of Education program at
the Faculty of Education of the University
of Ottawa. The recipient must demonstrate
interest in teaching in the Catholic school
system, motivation in selecting the field
of education as a career choice, and
financial need.
54
T
he following historical perspective
of special education both
provincially and in the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board has been
prepared by Michael Baine, Superintendent
of Special Education and Student Services.
The delivery of programs and
services to students with various
“exceptionalities” has undergone dramatic
changes in the past 50 years. These changes
reflect similar experiences throughout
Ontario and, indeed, North America.
While all school boards and districts have
witnessed these changes, Catholic school
boards in Ontario have had an even more
unique history.
Up to the 1950s, parents of
children with various disabilities were fairly
much on their own in finding educational
placements. Other than some provincial
schools for students who were deaf and/or
blind, parents often had no alternatives for
their children. After 1950, a number of
boards and schools did implement a variety
of special programs and in many cases,
they were exemplary. However, because
students did not have a legal right to
services, the availability of special programs
was inconsistent in some areas and totally
lacking in others. Faced with severe
financial inequities, Catholic boards in
Ontario were particularly without special
programs.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a
number of developments were taking place
throughout North America. The Civil Rights
Movement, advances in research and socialpolitical movements to close various
residential institutions for people with
developmental, physical and mental
disabilities started to impact on the
education scene. The philosophy of bringing
all people into the mainstream and into
publicly funded organizations, like school
boards, was strongly advocated by numerous
SPECIAL
EDUCATION
SPECIAL EDUCATION
groups and individuals. There were
increases in the number of specialized
programs for students with disabilities and
these programs were modeled along the
latest research on how students learn. Still,
Catholic school boards lagged behind their
public school counterparts, given financial
restraints.
With the passage of Bill 82 in
Ontario in 1980, all the rules changed. For
the first time, all students, regardless of
their disabilities, had a legal right to attend
publicly funded schools. This momentous
legislation created changes in practice and
policy which continue to the present day.
Later, Ontario initiatives such as Regulation
181 in 1998, which compelled boards to
consider regular classroom placement as
a first consideration, quickened the pace
of more fully including students with
disabilities into their own community
schools. The lines between “regular” and
“special” education became blurred and the
philosophy of “inclusion” became the Ontario
Government’s guiding direction. The
resource document, Education for All,
released in 2005, firmly established the fact
and philosophy that students with special
needs are and should be included in the
regular classrooms of Ontario.
Catholic school boards, after the
passage of Bill 82 in 1980, were under the
same legal obligations to provide programs
and services as other school boards; however,
a continuing funding disparity delayed the
legislation’s full implementation in Catholic
schools. With full funding to Catholic high
schools in 1984 and fair funding in 1998,
55
when grants became the same for every
student in Ontario, Catholic school boards
were able to fully meet the needs of all their
students.
In the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board and its predecessor boards, the
provincial history, described above, played
itself out in a similar fashion. Until the
advent of fair and equal funding, a process
beginning in 1984, Catholic high school
students with disabilities received most
of their special education programs in
the coterminous public school board.
That transfer of students no longer occurs.
A strong history of cooperation and
collaboration has existed among all the local
school boards in Ottawa and continues to
the present. Programs for students with
developmental disabilities were designed
according to needs and offered by the boards
for students regardless of their jurisdiction.
The Dependently Handicapped Program and
the Assessment Kindergarten Classes were
offered by the Catholic boards, while the
public boards provided specialized settings
at Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey Schools.
While this sharing continues today, even
without the inter-board political
organization of the past, boards have
continued to develop programs so that all
their students can stay within their own
community schools alongside their siblings
and friends.
Undoubtedly, the delivery of
special education programs and services
will continue to evolve in the years to come.
The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board
proudly celebrates its inclusionary practices
and has made them the Board-wide focus for
2004-06. A three-year (2006-09) “roadmap,”
outlining where the Board will go next with
regard to special education, will be released
for consultation in the fall of 2006 to help
ensure that the Board continues to provide
the best possible programs for all of its
students.
C
ontinuing and Community
Education programs for
elementary and high school
students as well as adults, have been
provided by Catholic school boards in the
Ottawa area since the 1980s. The Ottawa
and the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board both offered these educational
opportunities, with their efforts being
combined at the time of their amalgamation
into the new Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board in 1998.
For the CRCSSB, continuing
education was offered through a section
within the Board’s Program Department.
At first, much of the continuing education
focus was on free summer camps and
partial-credit language courses. In
September 1989, as a result of the growth of
continuing education programs, the Board
set up a Continuing Education Department
under the direction of Superintendent John
McGuinness with Mike Matthews as
Principal, Maria Makrakis as Administrator,
Kathy Hodgins as Executive Secretary and
Diane Valiquette as Secretary. The Futures
Program began in the Spring of 1990 and
the English as a Second Language program
followed, along with the adult classes and
other programs.
Through the current Continuing
and Community Education Department,
residents of Ottawa-Carleton are able to
access classes in more than 30 international
languages at both the elementary and
secondary school levels. Also provided are
adult English as a Second Language classes,
language instruction for newcomers, literacy
and basic skills, credit courses through both
night and summer schools, and numerous
general-interest classes and summer camps.
The three locations where adult
schools are operated as of 2006 are as
follows:
CONTINUING
AND
COMMUNITY
EDUCATION
CONTINUING EDUCATION
1. St. Patrick’s Adult School,
290 Nepean Street, Ottawa
St. Patrick’s Adult School opened
its doors in January 1991 and by year’s end,
it had 550 students registered. The school
provides English as a Second Language
(ESL) instruction at every level from literacy
and beginner to advanced, as well as Test
of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
preparation, English as a Second Language
with computers and Language Instruction
for Newcomers to Canada (LINC). The LINC
program is funded by Federal Government
grants and provides child care for children
ranging in age from six months to five years.
There is also transportation support for
newcomers who are in need. In addition to
the ESL and LINC programs, classes are
also available in the area of literacy and
basic skills for adults wishing to improve
their reading and writing skills in
preparation for life in society and the
workplace. St. Patrick’s Adult School is a
vibrant, busy place with classes operating
from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. almost 12 months of
the year.
2. St. Joseph’s Adult School,
330 Lajoie Street, Vanier
The St. Joseph’s Adult School
program was located at 20 Graham Avenue
in 1996. In September 2001, it was relocated
57
to its current site. Like St. Patrick’s Adult
School, St. Joseph’s Adult School provides
all levels of English as a Second Language,
literacy and basic skills. In addition, child
care is provided for those students on social
assistance who need such services. Until
2005, Language Instruction for Newcomers
to Canada (LINC) classes were also provided
at this school. While the student population
of St. Joseph’s Adult School is not as large
as that at St. Patrick’s, the school provides a
valuable service to the newcomer, immigrant
population in the areas of Vanier and the
east end of Ottawa. The school provides
classes in the morning, afternoon and
evening, all offered at a convenient location.
3. Queen of the Angels Adult School,
1461 Heron Road, Ottawa
Queen of the Angels Adult School
began as a partnership with the Canadian
African Solidarity. In September 1993, the
Canadian African Solidarity was able to
lease two classes at 1461 Heron Road to run
two Language Instruction for Newcomers to
Canada (LINC) classes, both with child care
services provided. By 1994, the remaining
rooms on the second floor of this facility
were filled with learners taking English as
a Second Language and English as a Second
Language skills programs. By April 1995,
Queen of the Angels Adult School was fully
engaged with programs and services for
newcomers and immigrants. Evening classes
were also introduced. In the Fall of 2005,
two portable classrooms were added to this
site in order to accommodate the growing
number of classes and the needs of the
students. Queen of the Angels Adult School
continues to offer English as a Second
Language and English as a Second
Language skills programs, along with
child care services.
An adult school was operated at
St. Agnes School at 18 Louisa Street in
Ottawa from 2000 to 2005. It was the
successor of the St. Andrew’s Adult School
CONTINUING EDUCATION
located at 1119 Lazard Street in the west
end of Ottawa which had been in operation
since 1992. St. Andrew’s was initially opened
by the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate
School Board as a result of requests from
both the Carlington and Pinecrest
Queensway Health and Community Centres
which saw a need for the emerging
immigrant population of those areas to have
access to an English as a Second Language
(ESL) program in the west end of the city.
St. Andrew’s Adult School, in fact, offered
not only ESL classes but it was also the site
for Language Instruction for Newcomers to
Canada (LINC) classes and ESL co-op credit
classes.
When the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board was formed in 1998,
and in light of the new provincial rules
regarding funding and pupil places in school
facilities, it was decided that the adult
school program at St. Andrew’s would be relocated to St. Agnes School on Louisa Street.
The doors of St. Agnes Adult School were
opened for the first time in the Fall of 2000.
At the beginning, the enrolment numbers
were encouraging, but as time went on, it
became evident that the newcomer
immigrant population served by St. Agnes
Adult School was in decline. In June 2005,
St. Agnes Adult School closed its doors
permanently and the site was sold by the
school board in 2006.
Principals
(since amalgamation in 1998)
Michael Strimas
John Karam
Thomas D’Amico
John McGrath
Eugene Milito
Central Staff at the Time of
Amalgamation in 1998
Shailja Verma, Administrator
Maria Makrakis, Administrator
Jill Lyons, Secretary to the
Superintendent
Judy McCool, Secretary
Maureen McGovern, Secretary
Paula Cavan, Clerk
Olive Nelson, Secretary
Ginette Centen, Secretary
Staff Achievements
Maria Makrakis has received the
Ottawa Citizen Literacy Award.
Trudy Lothian has received the
Canada Post Literacy Award and the Ottawa
Citizen Literacy Award. Shailja Verma has
received the Y’s Women of Distinction
Learning for Life Award, the Ottawa Citizen
Literacy Award and the Teaching English
as a Second Language (TESL) Ontario
Silver Pin.
58
Continuing and Community Education
Achievements
School Board has received a ten-year plaque
from Citizenship and Immigration Canada
for providing Language Instruction for
Newcomers to Canada (LINC) programs
through the Continuing and Community
Education Department.
S
t. Nicholas Adult High School
officially began to serve the adult
community in September 1992 and
is presently operating from two sites: a west
campus at 893 Admiral Avenue (the former
St. Elizabeth Catholic School) and a central
campus at 20 Graham Avenue (the former
Canadian Martyrs Catholic School).
The school took its name from
an elementary school that had previously
occupied the Lotta Avenue premises where
it began. This elementary school, opened
in September 1953, was the first teaching
apostolate of the Sisters of Holy Cross in the
City View area of Nepean. As an adult high
school, it is designed to meet the needs of
mature students, that is, those who are
18 years of age and over, in order to assist
them to earn the necessary credits to receive
their Ontario secondary school diploma, or
to improve their grades, or to acquire the
necessary prerequisite courses to enter a
certain college or university program.
On average, about 735 students
attend St. Nicholas Adult High School at
any one time, obtaining a credit upgrade,
taking a prerequisite course or seeking
a graduation diploma. The school offers
close to 100 different courses taught by
21 teachers. There are more than
130 graduates each year who receive their
Ontario secondary school diploma. Indeed,
the graduation ceremony is by far the most
significant event that takes place at the
school as it represents the culmination of
the hopes, the dreams, the tears and
thousands of hours of hard work by the
students, teachers, counselors, support staff
and others, helping these adult learners
achieve their goal.
Many graduates of St. Nicholas
Adult High School have gone on to
successful professional careers and lives.
For example, one former student writes
a regular column for a daily newspaper,
ST. NICHOLAS
ADULT
HIGH
SCHOOL
ST. NICHOLAS ADULT
New programs being implemented
in the 2006-07 school year include a preapprenticeship program, English as a
Second Language credits and on-line
learning.
Present Principal
John Karam
Past Principals
Mike Matthews
John Karam
Tom Duggan
Brent Wilson
Present Vice-Principal
Mary-Ellen Agnel
Past Vice-Principals
Paul Wubban
Tom Duggan
Peter Atkinson
another runs a successful local business,
and another continues to actively advocate
for street children in Paraguay and to
provide resources for them. Two former
students are, in fact, now teachers with the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
St. Nicholas Adult High School is
committed to providing the academic and
personal support required by older learners
in their quest to achieve scholastic success.
This approach requires mentoring and a
flexible method of curriculum delivery. The
range of curriculum models used increases
immeasurably the chances of the adult
learner meeting his or her personal goals.
Students study in classes
supported by teachers who have specialties
in a number of disciplines.
59
First Teaching and Support Staff
Dawn Quigley
Marc Orzel
Noella Chisholm
Anna Main
Sue Casey
Cathy Flynn
Jane Foster
Logo
The logo for St. Nicholas Adult
High School is circular, featuring three
students in silhouette over an open book.
At the top of the crest is the phrase
“Committed to Lifelong Learning” while
the school name, “St. Nicholas Adult High
School” is at the bottom of the logo. The
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board logo
is also featured on the school logo.
F
CHAIRPERSONS
ormal, institutionalized governance
of Catholic education in the Ottawa
area began with the creation of the
Board in 1856. Since that time, there have
been trustees entrusted with the governance
of Catholic education, led by a Board
chairperson.
It is acknowledged that there were
Catholic school boards, either governing
certain “school sections” in areas outside
the former City of Ottawa, or in existence
prior to the creation of the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board in 1969, in
areas such as Nepean, Richmond, Gloucester
and Metcalfe. As with a number of other
historical matters, such as the history of
closed Catholic schools, data related to the
boards that predated the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board will be
sought in the future and included in updates
and revisions of this publication.
For now, the following list includes
only the chairpersons of the Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board, the
Board and the current Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board.
Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate
School Board
The first archives of this Board were
destroyed by fire so there are gaps in this
listing, particularly between the years 1858
and 1887.
1856-57 .....Henry James Friel
1863 ..........Father John O’Connor
1864 ..........J.W. Pealhy
1888-90 .....J.C. Enright
1890-92 .....Ed Smith
1893 ..........E. Lavoie
1901 ..........A.E. Provost
1902 ..........G.A. Lizotte
1903 ..........J. McGuire
CHAIRPERSONS
1904 ..........C.J. Bettez
1906 ..........Joseph McLaughlin
1911-12 .....H.F. Sims
1913-30 .....Samuel Genest
1391-32 .....Domitien Robichaud
1933-34 .....Philip Phelan
1935 ..........Albert Perras
1936 ..........Adelard Chartrand
1937-38 .....Edward V. McCarthy
1939-40 .....Adelard Chartrand
1951 ..........Louis Charbonneau
1952 ..........Adelard Chartrand
1953-54 .....Frank M. Peters
1955 ..........Arthur Desjardins
1956 ..........Roger N. Seguin
1959-60 .....Roger N. Seguin
1963 ..........Roland Beriault
1964 ..........Frank M. Peters
1965-66 .....Pierre Mercier
1967 ..........Frank M. Peters
1968 ..........C. Frank Gilhooly
1969-70 .....Pierre Mercier
1972 ..........Pierre Mercier
1973 ..........Rita Desjardins
1974 ..........Gisele Lalonde
1975 ..........Paul Kelly
1976 ..........Gisele Lalonde
1978 ..........Florian Carrière
1979 ..........Roberta Anderson
1980 ..........Lucien Dagenais
1981 ..........Jack McKinnon
1983 ..........Don Murphy
1984 ..........Lucien Dagenais
1985 ..........John Connolly
1987 ..........John Connolly
1988 ..........André Champagne
1989 ..........Bonnie Kehoe
61
1990 ..........Jack McKinnon
1991-93 .....Betty-Ann Kealey
1994-97 .....Jim Kennelly
Carleton Roman Catholic Separate
School Board
1969 ..........C. Basil MacDonald
1970 ..........Rene Lefebvre
1971 ..........Lorne Gignac
1972 ..........Leo Coté
1973 ..........Vernon Zinck
1974 ..........André Richard
1975 ..........Suzanne Krygsman
1976 ..........Fernand Godbout
1977 ..........James Colton
1978 ..........Rodrigue Landriault
1979 ..........Yvonne O’Neill
1980 ..........Denis Bertrand
1981 ..........Joseph Mangione
1982 ..........Rodrigue Landriault
1984 ..........Rene Lefebvre
1985 ..........Hugh Connelly
1986 ..........Jocelyne Ladouceur
1987 ..........Mel Thompson
1988 ..........Gerald Quesnel
1989-92 .....Arthur J.M. Lamarche
December 1989-November 1992
1992-94 .....Anne Stankovic
December 1992-November 1994
1994-97 .....June Flynn-Turner
1998 ..........Ronald P. Larkin
(term ending December 1998)
1998-99 ....Arthur J.M. Lamarche
1999-2000 .June Flynn-Turner
2000-01 .....Arthur J.M. Lamarche
2001-02 .....Thérèse Maloney Cousineau
2004-05 .....Betty-Ann Kealey
T
he Director of Education
Commendations honour significant
contributions to the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board by teaching and
administrative and support staff. Recipients
of these commendations are individuals who
have demonstrated a commitment to the
Board and have worked tirelessly to enhance
the school system for students. These
commendations, presented annually during
Catholic Education Week, have been awarded
since the 1991-92 school year when they began
as part of the Honours and Awards program of
the Carleton Roman Catholic Separate School
Board. The commendations have continued in
since its creation in 1998.
Past recipients of Director of Education
Commendations
1991-92
Roger Allard
Ronald Avon
Father Paul Baxter
Clement Beaugé
Marilyn Beckstead
Sheila Burnett
Pierre Chartrand
Joanne Cooke
Julien Deladurantaye
Claude Dubois
Vera Gallant
Paul Gibson
Russ Grant
Carmel Horan
Frances Ilgunas
Vicky Jacobson
Jean Laplante
Jessie McMahon
Patricia Moore
Barbara Morneau
Noreen Murphy
Stella Owens
Cecile Prodonick
Mae Rooney
Eleanor Taylor
DIRECTOR
OF
EDUCATION
COMMENDATIONS
DOE COMMENDATIONS
1992-93
Lionel Barbe
Sandie Bender
Maurice Charron
Jim Dale
Terry Flynn
Italo Graziani
Sonja Karsh
Bernadette MacNeil
Ida Marcille
Dr. Charles Murray
Phyllis Perry
Rene Ryan
Leona Watters
Brent Wilson
1993-94
Pauline Barbary
Hellen Bogie
Carole Collins
Tracy Crowe
Nuala Durkin
Carmelle Faucher
Rolland Lanthier
Joanne LaPlante
Robert LeBlanc
Jeri Lunney
Jean McKenna
Lucy Miller
Mary Ellen Nolan
Pat Scrim
Patricia Yaternick
63
1994-95
Terry Carter
Mary Ann Dunn
Greg Hurley
Margaret Imbleau
Ken Kurs
Pierre Lalonde
Gerry Leveque
Peter Linegar
Peter MacKinnon
John McGovern
Ann Read
Carol Rutledge
John Shannon
Linus Shea
Dolores Wojtyna
1995-96
Jane Buck
Helen Coulombe
Bob Curry
Varda Deslandes
Ann Heide
Carol Hennessy
Susan Henry
Ronald Larkin
Yvonne Lyons
Janet Plunkett
Michel Rozon
Joe Ryan
Sandra Tischer
Ralph Watzenboeck
Helen Whitehouse
1996-97
Jacquelyn Arsenault
Dorothy Collins
Teresa (Betty) Dubien
Joanne Farnand
Nicole Frechette
Anna Galla
Rochelle Lafontaine
Louise LaSalle
Maria Ioannou-Makrakis
Terrence Murphy
Delle Nizman
Roy Pellatt
John Podgorski
Kathleen Robillard
Remo Zuccarini
DOE COMMENDATIONS
1997-98
Ghislaine Blais
Carl Cameron
Pamela Cassidy
Murielle Cayouette
Gerry Clouthier
Anne Conway
Laurent Couture
Dwight Delahunt
Donald Doyle
Mary Gauthier
Michael Keeler
Elizabeth Klassen
Linda Larkin
Denis Lortie
Carla MacGregor
Bernadette Murphy
Christopher Murphy
Sharon Murphy
Wendy Patenaude
Maureen Speer
1999-2000
Marilu Armstrong
Michael Blood
Marc Brown
Eldon Currell
Helena Daly
Ann Escott
Claudia Fillion
Bill Fox
Joseph Friske
Margie Gourdier
Helen Halligan
Jeanne Joinette
Sister Daniela Kolak
Bogdan Kolbusz
Eugene Michaud
Ray Monette
Silvio Rigucci
Elizabeth Rock
Sister Frances Romanucci
Yvonne Whalen
2001-02
Nancy Beddoe
Joyce Brule
Richard Chabot
Dante Falsetto
Joyce Bryson Fleury
Helen Gordon
Lynne Grandmaitre
Barry Lemoine
Colleen MacDonald
Patricia McRae
Mary Moss
Leslie Parent
Deb Robinson
Manon Seguin
John Shaughnessy
Carol Thibault
Claudette Touchette
Nancy Villeneuve
Karen Walkowiak
Helene Worden
1998-99
Yvonne Benton
Lyle Bergeron
Cicely Berry
Dennis Boucher
Rheal Bourgeois
Darlene Charron
Anne DesRoches
Helen Despatie
Dale Henderson
Jolanta Kania
Micheline Leroux
Francis Liu
Bonnie McGilchrist
Anne-Marie McGillis
Jean-Pierre Meunier
Anne Moore
Tina Rudkoski
Helen Sheehan
Rodney Thompson
Mary Wyard
2000-01
Denise Andre
Glenda Archer
Toni Bacchi
Josephine Bolechala
Bernita Capstick
Margie Chaput
Al Dufour
Rachelle Giroux
Mike Kennedy
Denis Lascelle
Len Mayer
Gina McAlear
Sister Marilyn Paterson
Patricia Phalen
John Power
Alison Purdy
Wendy Reynolds
Cathy Sheridan
Julie Swords
Ernie Wilson
2002-03
Tom Beckett
Denis Bussieres
Claire Caron
Marty Carreau
Thomas Charlebois
Helene Coulombe
Betty Craig
Rosemarie Dubois
Pierre Gougeon
Patricia Koeslag
Daniel Lahey
Mary Lemoine
Nicole Levesque
June McCaffrey
Debbie Plante
Roberto Santos
Betty Sharland
Bob Shaw
Faith Silver
Bernie Swords
64
DOE COMMENDATIONS
2003-2004
Jacques Cardinal
Paula Cavan
Joan Clark
Angela Cosgrove
Susan Davidson
Nancy Du Vall
Michel Fortin
Karen Gorr
Eileen Johnson
Laura Justinich
Alexa Lapalme
Agnes Lee
Janet Matthews
Donna McGrath
Elaine McMahon
Kenneth Mendes
Jean-Guy Mercier
Shawna Morgan
Rosann Mullins
Christina Murdock
Cheryl Murphy
Helene Roy
Susan Marie Vail
Doug White
2004-2005
Bill Anderson
Tony Arthur
Terri Bolster
Elizabeth Bolton
Tammy Doyle
Connie Drew
Sheila Forman
Pius Walter Gratwohl
Karin Guite
Frank Harris
Ken Kary
Terri Kelly
Claude Lafleur
Joanne Laframboise
David Leach
Sandra Mackay
Norma McDonald
Nancy McLaren
Bonnie McLaurin
Rick Moss
Joe Mullally
Brenda Mulvihill
Elinor Pouliot
Diane Spenard Bruce
65
2005-2006
Annette Bajraktari
Mary Byrne
Rosalie Carroll
Greta Chase
Abai Coker
Jane Foster
Catherine Gillis
Ted Gillissie
Joanne Gosselin
Kathy Hodgins
Shelley Lawrence
Greg Mullen
Peter Murray
Richard Peters
Suzanne Poirier
Heather Reid
Carrolle Rothwell
Mary Stanton
Cathy Vachon
Paul Voisin
Chris Wakefield
Maureen Watkin
Anna Yates
Barbara Zanon
W
hile it does not have a long history,
having opened in September 2002,
All Saints High School is gaining
renown through its actions, and already has
a long litany of social justice initiatives
and projects which the students have
undertaken. Since its opening, All Saints
High School has adopted St. Elizabeth School
in Ottawa as its sister school and has
supported it in various ways, including
providing the elementary school with over
4,500 books for its literacy program.
An annual event at All Saints
High School is its craft fair. The proceeds
from this event go to support St. Angela’s
Community Centre in Brazil, as well as
St. Elizabeth School in Ottawa. In the spring
of 2003, the All Saints multi-media prayer
studio supported the Canadian Catholic
Organization for Development
and Peace through the production of an
interactive Lenten calendar. This project
received a certificate of honour from the
organization. The Lenten calendar is
currently used across Canada and
elsewhere.
All Saints High School supports
an annual 24-hour famine experience
called “Thinkfast,” which is sponsored by
the Canadian Catholic Organization for
Development and Peace. Every May in
honour of Mother’s Day, All Saints hosts
a baby shower, with gifts donated to
St. Mary’s Home. Annually as well, the Music
Department arranges visits to homes for
seniors and feeder schools in the community,
where the students share their gift of music.
During the Christmas season, students
provide baskets that include food and gifts
for needy families in the community. They
have also begun a tradition of traveling to
the Dominican Republic to experience
conditions in a developing nation. In
September 2004 and again in 2005, All
Saints High School students participated in
the Terry Fox Run, raising over $40,000 for
ALL
SAINTS
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
All Saints has seen its students
succeed at various levels. In 2005, Simon
Pek placed fourth in a national debating
competition. In 2004-05, Malyha Alibhai was
a finalist in the Canadian Merit Scholarship
competition, a scholarship which recognizes
Canadian students who demonstrate
superior academic achievement and who
make an outstanding contribution to the
community. Also in 2005, Madeline Marsh
won the top prize in a provincial writing
contest sponsored by the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association.
The school has concert bands, vocal
groups, jazz bands and small ensembles, all
of which perform at music competitions such
as Musicfest and the Kiwanis Music Festival.
In 2004, and again in 2005, All Saints grade
8 students participated in the Skills Canada
Marsville competition to showcase their
abilities in robotics, animation, mechanical
engineering and technology. They have won
gold and silver medals in these competitions.
5115 Kanata Avenue
Kanata K2K 3K5
613-271-4254
www.occdsb.on.ca/ash
cancer research. In January 2005, in
response to the tsunami disaster, which
struck Southeast Asia, the school collected
$20,000 to support relief efforts in the area.
All Saints High School draws
students from the Kanata North area as
well as from West Carleton. It offers a wide
range of academic programs. Students are
also able to participate in more than
25 interscholastic sports and 30 clubs and
activities, including student council,
yearbook, improv, an environmental group,
a school band, peer helpers, peer mentoring,
a chess club, peer tutoring and an early
intervention program.
69
All Saints High School has fielded
numerous sports teams in its brief history.
The junior boys’ soccer team won the
National Capital Championship title in 2004.
The school opened on September 3,
2002, with Monsignor Leonard Lunney
presiding at the official ceremony on behalf
of Archbishop Marcel Gervais. The school
was built on land in Kanata North, which
was previously owned by the Whalen family.
A mature spruce tree at one time growing on
the property immediately to the west of the
school bore a plaque with an inscription
indicating that it had been planted by the
Whalen family on VE Day in 1945.
The school’s first graduation
ceremony took place in June 2004. To
commemorate the event, the class of 2004
built a rock cairn entitled “Cairn of Hope” at
the front of the school, into which they
placed a time capsule.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
All Saints High School, created to
relieve overcrowding at Holy Trinity in
Kanata and at Sacred Heart in Stittsville,
was named following a process which
involved input and extensive consultation
among students, staff, parents, school council
and trustees regarding potential choices.
The names of many saints were among the
suggestions that came forward. Ultimately,
“All Saints” emerged as the clear favourite.
All Saints High School features the
same high school design by architect Edward
Cuhaci that was used for Holy Trinity
Catholic High School, Kanata’s first Catholic
high school, and which has been used by the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board and
now the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board as the design for all its new high
schools. Each time, the design is improved
in some respects and in the case of All
Saints, this meant an increased number
of classrooms on the second floor, achieved
by encroaching on the trademark central
atrium feature of the design. Besides
numerous classrooms, All Saints also has
a chapel, two large gymnasiums, four
computer labs, seven science labs, a graphics
room, a library, two music rooms, a dance
studio, a fitness room, a drama room and
an electronics shop.
The school has continued to grow
in enrolment since its formation, thanks to
ongoing and steady residential growth in
the Kanata North area. Portable classrooms
have now sprouted up at the school to
accommodate this burgeoning student
enrolment. A 30-room addition to the school
is now in the planning stages, with an
expected opening in September 2007.
Present Principal
Joseph Mullally (2005-present)
Past Principals
Joan Clark (2002-05)
Tony Adams
Barry Agnew
Barb Arnold
Danielle Baillie
Virginia Bedecki
John Bender
Rejeane Bone
Jeff Boucher
Catherine Bourgon
Rosa Cammara
Todd Campbell
Joan Clark
Joanne Costanzo
Anne Delahunt
Michelle Deveaux
Leslie Diack
Sandy Dos Santos
Carolyn Druve
Valerie Forte
Kate Fournier
Stephanie Gonsalves
Joanne Gosselin
Carmen Hillary
Ryan Hobbins
Nicole Houle-Pukanich
Anne Hudson
Angela Hussey
Trevor Kirtz
Vanessa Kirtz
Patricia Koeslag
Liana Krauthaker
Joanne Lachapelle
Oriana Laderoute
Randy Ladoucer
Richard Larock
Kai Lee
Tara MacNeil
Tracey MacPherson
Elizabeth Mahan
Daniel Marcil
70
Graham Mastersmith
Michael McHale
Shawna McSheffrey
Chad Morreau
Mary Morris
Shawn Murphy
Michel Nadeau
Danielle Novak
Michael Nugent
Cheryl Orzel
Anthony O’Sullivan
Pino Pasqua
Frederic Pepin
Angela Pignat
Kathlene Pomfret
Kevin Porter
Suzanne Raymond
Kerry Rodgers
Bonnie Russell
Jennifer Scrim
Raymond Shea
Gwen Simonds
Gloria Sobb
Dung Tang
Anne-Marie Tapply
Karen Timmons
Chris Todd
AnnMarie Vanneste
Deanna VanZeeland
Richard Walker
Christopher Ward
Claire Wilson
Theresa Wood
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
The founding students, staff and
school council chose the school colours of
silver, blue and burgundy.
In 2005, in keeping with a Nordic
theme, All Saints students chose the Yeti as
the school mascot.
Motto
Team Names
Dei Gratia (The Grace of God)
Mascot
The Avalanche
Home Gymnasium
It is called “The Summit.”
71
Significant Events
In 2005, All Saints High School
was chosen as the location for the official
“kick off” event for the implementation
of the “Eat Smart” program in OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board high
school cafeterias.
The school’s grades 7 and 8 boys’
touch football team won the OttawaCarleton Catholic Intermediate Athletic
Association Championship title in both 2003
and 2004.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
72
A
ASSUMPTION
ssumption Catholic School has
existed as a beacon of Catholic
education for English-speaking
students in the Vanier area for half a
century. Its beginnings can be traced to
September 1926, according to records of
student registrations. The early students
attended classes in a hotel, which was
converted for use as a school near the site of
the present day Assumption Catholic Church
on Olmstead Avenue in Vanier. In those
early years, the school accommodated
students from Grades 1 through 8. The
Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
became associated with the school in 1934,
with four classrooms of girls being taught
by them while the Christian Brothers taught
four classrooms of boys.
It is not known if the school was
initially named Assumption or not, since
the school predates the founding of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Parish in Eastview. It seems obvious,
though, that it was the same concerns of the
English-speaking Catholics of Eastview with
regard to practicing and learning about their
Catholic faith in their mother tongue that
brought about both the school and the
church at about the same time period. The
Catholic parents were concerned about their
children attending the public school and not
being exposed to Catholic influences. Thus,
the Catholic school was established in 1926.
Similarly, the English-speaking
Catholics, who numbered about 118 families
by the beginning of the 1930s, petitioned
Archbishop William Forbes for their own
parish as well, stressing their need for proper
religious instruction in their own language.
Assumption became a mission in August 1931,
and was raised to the status of a full parish
in October 1932. The church community
purchased a building known as the Assembly
Hall on Savard Street and this was used as a
temporary church, until the new building was
completed in 1940, on property on Olmstead
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
though the school was obviously not totally
completed, since blackboards were borrowed
for the event from a school in Renfrew and
were returned promptly following the
blessing.
Over the years, Assumption School
has become known for its love of music as
demonstrated by the school choir, for the
offerings of its drama club, for its acceptance
of the challenge to improve the literacy and
numeracy levels of its students, and for its
many sports and athletics activities. Several
unique initiatives have been undertaken at
the school. One example is the Knitting Club
directed by Sister Barbara Ryan. Another is
the Little Beaver Club, a noontime program
designed to increase understanding between
aboriginal and non-aboriginal children.
A rich sense of community permeates the
school community.
Present Principal
Ann-Louise Revells (2006-present)
236 Lévis Street
Vanier K1L 6H8
613-746-4822
wwww.occdsb.on.ca/asu
Avenue that had been acquired as early as
1932. The new Assumption Church was
blessed by Archbishop Alexandre Vachon in
December 1940.
The original Assumption School,
which came under the jurisdiction of the
Eastview Catholic School Board, a separate
entity from the former Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board, was struck
by tragedy in 1948 when it caught fire on
a Sunday evening. Students were taught
in the basement of Assumption Catholic
Church until a new school could be built.
The official blessing of the new Assumption
School took place in March 1950 even
73
Past Principals
Sister Ann of the Cross (1940-51)
Sister Theresa Kelly (1969-83)
Alex Nagle
Alan Morissette
Michael Kloepfer (1989-94)
Pearl Lavigne-DeMillo (1995-99)
Simone Oliver (2000-02)
Eileen Maychruk
Early Teaching Staff
(dates are when the staff members started at
the school)
Violet Duford (1934)
Angelina Duford (1934)
Sister Mary Noreen (1934)
Sister Mary Lawrence (1935)
Sister St. Denis ( 1936)
Sister St. Helen (1937)
Sister Catherine of the Cross (1939)
Sister Ann of the Cross,
Principal (1940)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Sister St. Monica (1941)
Sister Mary Rose (1942)
Sister St. Brendan (1944)
Sister Francis Maurice (1944)
Sister Anne Louise
Sister St. Hilda
Sister St. Mary Gabriel
Anna Kessels
School Colours
The school colour is a rich,
brilliant blue reflecting the robes in which
the Blessed Virgin is traditionally adorned.
Logo
The school logo is a circle in which
there is a stylized cross which forms one
side of the letter “A.”
Order of Canada Recipient
Sister Ann of the Cross, who was
Principal of Assumption School from 1940
to 1951, worked in the Dominican Republic
from 1951 to 2000, where she established
the first education system known in that
area. She was awarded the Order of Canada
in February 1994, by Governor-General
Ramon Hnatyshyn for her contribution to
education in both Canada and the
Dominican Republic.
Sister Barbara Ryan
After her retirement as the
Librarian at Immaculata High School in
1991, Sister Barbara Ryan volunteered to
work daily at Assumption School, serving
as librarian, reading coach, knitting club
director and staff advisor.
Former Student
Bernard “Bunny” McCann, who
died in September 2006 at the age of 86,
attended Assumption Catholic School, as did
his 16 children who are known for their
musical abilities. Bunny himself had a
lifetime filled with accomplishments:
recipient of the Governor General’s Caring
Canadian Award; recipient of the Royal
Canadian Legion’s Dominion Command
Palm Leaf; Governor of the Loyal Order of
Moose Branch 1765; Moose of the Year
(2004); member of the Royal Canadian
Legion Branch 462 for over 50 years;
founding member of Action Vanier; life
member of the Institut Canadienne
Francaise; a member of the Knights of
Columbus Conseil 5571; a member of the
Vanier Optimist Club; and a Vanier City
alderman.
Peer Mediators
Dale Matsubara, a teaching
assistant at Assumption School, established
peer mediators at the school in 1992. This
initiative has flourished right up to the
present time.
Little Beavers’ Club
Queenie McPhee, an aboriginal
woman who, as a volunteer, was very
involved with the life of students at
Assumption School, established a link
between the school and the Wabano Centre,
which still exists today. The Wabano Centre
for Aboriginal Health is an urban, non-profit
community-based healthcare centre on
Montreal Road providing programs and
74
services for First Nations, Inuit and Métis
peoples. One of its mandates is to promote
community building through education and
advocacy. She established a noon program
called the “Little Beavers’ Club” for both
aboriginal and non-aboriginal students. Here
they can learn how to do beadwork and
crafts and learn about native legends. Each
year a First Nations banquet is held
featuring beaver, deer, caribou, blueberry
cake and fiddlehead ferns. There is also
a sweet-grass ceremony. Queenie McPhee
was instrumental in promoting pride in the
gifts and wisdom of Inuit, Metis and First
Nations cultures. After her husband’s death,
she ceased being a volunteer at the school.
An Early Christmas Concert
This is a story that is told about
one of the first Christmas concerts held in
the original Assumption School, a converted
hotel.
Reportedly, Sister Anne, who was
responsible for the Christmas concert at that
time in the early history of the school, asked
some of the male students who shared the
premises, albeit in separate classrooms, to
obtain a Christmas tree for the concert.
The boys apparently made their way over to
Notre Dame Cemetery where they obtained
their Christmas tree. The boys delivered the
tree to Sister Anne in no time. Sister Anne,
prudently perhaps, did not question the boys
about where they had obtained the tree but
merely remarked on the beauty of the blue
spruce, which went on to adorn the stage at
the Christmas concert that year.
B
ayshore Catholic School is special.
It is not the newest, most modern
school, having opened in
September 1966. It is not the biggest school,
having a student enrolment of 149 students
in the 2005-06 school year. It is not the
wealthiest school, as it relies on partner
schools to provide financial help for special
items such as student agendas and field
trips, and as it is a frequent recipient of
special funding for program support and for
literacy and numeracy initiatives. Bayshore
Catholic School is so very special because
those at the school — students and staff —
are able to make a difference by being
associated with others with special needs
and disabilities and thus to practise the
Gospel values in their everyday school lives.
Since 1985, Bayshore Catholic
School has been home to a dependently
handicapped class. Its presence in the school
has allowed both students and staff to
understand the challenges of dependently
handicapped students and to treat them
with respect and dignity as children of God.
Bayshore Catholic School also houses a
primary learning disabilities system class,
a half-day program. As of 2005, the school
houses two McHugh School behavioural
classes — one primary and the other junior.
Students with severe behavioral difficulties
from both Catholic and public schools in the
Ottawa area attend these Crossroad classes.
Bayshore Catholic School is also
special because it is the learning environment
for many students for whom English is a
second language. Because it is located within
an urban rental community, there are
sometimes economic and involvement issues
for the families that are part of the school
community. The school community views this
as an opportunity to make a difference in
lives and to put Catholic beliefs into practice.
For instance, Bayshore Catholic School has a
food cupboard for students who come to
school without breakfast, lunch or snacks.
BAYSHORE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
community partner of the school, paying for
paving the access to the play structure area
in the schoolyard. The school is within the
St. Martin de Porres Parish boundary and,
over the years, Masses were held at the
school as part of the regular Sunday routine
of the parish. This practice ceased about ten
years ago.
Bayshore Catholic School has
a number of regular events which have
become school traditions, such as annual
Christmas concerts, heritage dinners during
Education Week, a Christmas gift sale,
pancake suppers on Shrove Tuesday, a
Halloween party and a year-end barbecue.
Present Principal
Austin DeCoste
Past Principals
Starr Kelly
Marie Kennedy
Robert Slack
Sherri Swales
Bonnie McLaurin
Mary Moss
Dwight Delahunt
50 Bayshore Drive
Nepean K2B 6M8
613-828-5158
www.occdsb.on.ca/bay
School Colours
Parents are welcomed at the school
and particularly enjoy attending school
functions in which their children are
highlighted. Parental involvement in parent
council and school-focused meetings is not
as robust as at school functions. But caring
principals, an involved staff and students
who reach out and include others are
traditional at Bayshore Catholic School and
make it a special place, not in spite of its
challenges but because of them.
The school takes its name from
the Bayshore area of Nepean in which it
is located. Indeed, the nearby, well-known
Bayshore Shopping Centre has become a
75
Blue and yellow
Logo
The school logo is circular,
featuring a cross, the initials “BCS” and
the school name.
B
lessed Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic
School in the Orléans South area of
Gloucester had its beginnings due
to overcrowding at Our Lady of Wisdom
School. This overcrowding, along with
increased population growth in the Chapel
Hill and Chateauneuf areas, made it
necessary for the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board to open the “annex of Our
Lady of Wisdom” in September 1984, housed
in the former Ecole Saint François School
on Innes Road. This annex operated for two
and a half years until the new Blessed
Kateri Tekawitha School was established
on Beausejour Drive in Orléans. The official
opening ceremony for the school was held
on April 29, 1987.
BLESSED
KATERI
TEKAKWITHA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Marilyn Hanley
Past Principals
Kevin Mullins (oversaw the school
as an annex to Our Lady of
Wisdom Catholic School)
Robert Laplante
Greg Peddie
John Delorme
Jim O’Connor
Patricia Morden-Kelly
Ben Vallati
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Carolyn Bordeleau
Tracy Crowe
Darlene Danis
Line Douglas
Jodie Ingels
Luce Mercier-Coburn
Chuck Orifici
Marie Lafrenière, Secretary
Marcel Dubeau, Custodian
The school is named after Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha, an aboriginal Canadian
who was elevated from venerated to blessed
status in June 1980, by Pope John Paul II.
Blessed Kateri Tekawitha School
has three kindergarten classes, five junior
classes, six primary classes, a computer
lab, a library and a gymnasium. Student
enrolment in the fall of 2005 was over
300 students.
School Colours
Red and gold
Logo
6400 Beausejour Drive
Orléans K1C 4W2
613-830-2454
www.occdsb.on.ca/ble
77
Cross with flowers draped across it
Other Features
A carved wooden statue of Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha is in the school lobby.
A painted banner depicting Blessed
Kateri Tekakwitha hangs in the school lobby.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
78
B
rother André is one of the newer
names for an Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board school but
the school itself is far from new. In fact,
the school community was created in 1975.
While the construction of the new school
on Elmridge Drive in Gloucester was being
built, its students were housed in two
different locations. Students from Senior
Kindergarten through Grade 6 were housed
on the second floor of St. Gabriel’s, a nearby
French school; the junior kindergarten
pupils, meanwhile, were accommodated at
Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic School.
In May 1976, the students and
staff at these two separate locations came
together as they moved into their new school
facility. The official opening did not take
place until one year later. The school was
built at a cost of $958,685.03, with Zygmunt
J. Nowak as the architect. Construction,
which was designed to house 411 students,
commenced in October 1975. The completed
facility would contain two kindergarten
rooms, a special education room and nine
regular classrooms. The school was built in
a multi-level format as the architect
designed the building to complement and
follow the rocky and hilly terrain of the
school property.
The community and staff were
asked to suggest names for the new school.
The name “Elmridge” was selected because
it reflected its location on Elmridge Drive.
After thorough consultation within the
community, the school was renamed Brother
André Catholic School at an official and
solemn ceremony that took place on May 27,
2005.
Brother André was associated
with the school in the years leading up to
this renaming. During the school’s
25th anniversary celebrations in May 2002,
Brother André was chosen as the patron
saint of the school. At the Education Week
BROTHER
ANDRÉ
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
1923 Elmridge Drive
Gloucester K1J 8G7
613-741-0100
www.occdsb.on.ca/ban
Mass that year, Brother André prayer cards
and medals were blessed by Father Richard
Siok and distributed to each student. Later,
a large statue of Blessed Brother André and
smaller statues for the prayer table in each
classroom were blessed by Monsignor
Leonard Lunney. The large statue was
placed in the foyer of the school, surrounded
by a new showcase designed by student
representatives from Junior Kindergarten to
Grade 6. Painted tiles represented the seven
values in the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board’s strategic plan, “Believing,
Discovering, Achieving.” The students began
learning about the life of Brother André. In
June 2002, grades 3 to 6 students traveled
79
to Montreal to visit Brother André’s museum
and Saint Joseph’s Oratory, the shrine that
was built on the strength of this religious
Brother’s faith.
At one time, the school had about
500 students, necessitating four portable
classrooms in the playground area. However,
1986 was the last year that a portable was
needed at the school. In its 25th anniversary
year, school enrolment stood at
approximately 300 students.
With the formation of the
amalgamated Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board in 1998, and with the new
school funding approach instituted by the
Provincial Government, there were a
number of school consolidations and closures
as the Board tried to rationalize its use of
space. The Elmridge Catholic School
community made presentations and lobbied
the Board to keep the school open, as it had
been suggested for closure. The community
was successful in this effort to preserve its
local Catholic elementary school.
Over the years, a variety of
activities and events have helped create
school spirit and traditions, and develop
a sense of community at the school. These
have included a staff versus grade 6
basketball game, an Advent family Mass at
St. Gabriel’s Church, family dances on such
occasions as Halloween and Valentine’s Day,
a meet-the-teacher barbecue, a Christmas
play by grade 1 students, a Red Lobster
breakfast with a visit from Santa Claus, a
mentoring program by students from Lester
B. Pearson Catholic High School, and a
breakfast program. The school community
has also supported a variety of charities
such as the Children’s Hospital of Eastern
Ontario and the Terry Fox Run.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
School Colours
Past Principals
Logo
Anne Noseworthy
James MacPherson
Sister Rita McBane
Hugh Marshall
William Tomka
Mary (Armstrong) Moss
Patrick Jennings
Maurene Atherton
John Dorner
Claudette Lapointe
JoAnn Cazabon
Jane Barkley
Doug Colwill
John Lalonde
Kathy Smilie
Sharon Johnston
Sister Rita McBane
Rose Brossard
Tina Bloess
Linda McNeely
Judy Brown, Secretary
Gerry Boisclair, Custodian
Blue and white
The school logo for Elmridge
Catholic School has been a giant “E” with
a heart, a cross and a pen.
Former Students
John Morris, Canadian Junior
Curling Champion Skip
athlete
Jason Lachance, Paralympic
Longtime Custodian
Rick Delaney has been the
custodian at Brother André Catholic School
since 1981.
School Mission Statement
In the 2005-06 school year, staff at
Brother André Catholic School, as part of a
school success planning initiative, developed
a school mission statement: “Brother André
Catholic School… learning and growing in
faith.”
80
Memorable Move
In May 1976, when students and
staff were moving from St. Gabriel School
to the new school facility on Elmridge Drive,
Teacher Jane Barkley remembers walking
over with her 28 senior kindergarten pupils,
carrying books and puzzles, with everyone
filled with excitement about moving into the
new school. When they arrived, they
discovered that all of the classroom
furniture, including tables and chairs, were
still in their boxes. Mrs. Barkley remembers
having to arrange the furniture on her own
while also keeping her 28 excited, energetic
five-year-old pupils under control. It made
for a memorable move-in for her and her
pupils.
C
hapel Hill Catholic School bears its
community’s name, which is very
appropriate since the school prides
itself on community involvement.
The Chapel Hill School community
is involved in outreach programs such as
Christmas hampers, an annual clothing
drive and a Christmas angel tree program.
Each year the school community raises
funds for the Canadian Hunger Foundation,
contributing anywhere from $4,500 to $7,500
annually to this global outreach initiative.
Other fundraisers throughout the year
at Chapel Hill Catholic School include
donations to the United Way as well as to
worldwide relief efforts. The school’s parent
community contributes to school life through
involvement with such programs as early
literacy, the school library and a hot lunch
program.
Chapel Hill Catholic School is an
active place, with a focus on fitness through
quality daily physical education. Its
intramural and school team programs are
designed to allow maximum participation
and to follow the school motto, “Be the best
you can be.”
Chapel Hill Catholic School shares
the community’s name because it was the
first school built in the area. A neighbouring
public school was built a short time after
Chapel Hill Catholic opened in 1987. It was
named Chapel Hill Public School. Confusion
was inevitable. What added to the confusion
was that both schools were on the same
street, Forest Valley Drive in Orléans,
separated only by a park. This led to
numerous mix-ups in mail delivery and
visitors so it was decided that one of the
schools should change its name. Since
Chapel Hill Catholic School was built first,
it retained its name while the public school
was renamed Forest Valley Public School.
CHAPEL
HILL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
1534 Forest Valley Drive
Orléans K1C 6G9
613-837-3773
www.occdsb.on.ca/cha
The construction and opening of
Chapel Hill Catholic School resulted from
the continuing residential growth in the
area. First, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Catholic School was created, branching
off from Our Lady of Wisdom. Its official
opening was in April 1987. Chapel Hill
Catholic School was the next one
constructed, branching off in turn from
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. The official
opening took place in April 1988, just one
year after the inauguration of Blessed
Kateri. Indeed, several teachers and a
significant number of students went through
both of these school changes before ending
up among the original staff members and
81
students at Chapel Hill Catholic School.
The students and staff of Chapel Hill were
housed at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha for a
while beginning in September 1987, until
their new facility was ready for occupancy.
Several memorable events have
occurred at Chapel Hill Catholic School. In
2001, the Canadian Hunger Foundation
celebrated its 40th anniversary. To mark the
occasion, a celebration was planned and held
at the school due to the school’s annual
fundraising for the organization. In attendance
at this celebration was the Honourable
Mitchell Sharp in his capacity as founder. In
2005, Chapel Hill Catholic School received a
visit from Prime Minister Paul Martin,
accompanied by Ottawa-Orléans Member of
Parliament Marc Godbout. They were at the
school to attend celebrations and activities
relating to Earth Day. Their visit drew
considerable media attention, providing both
local and national exposure for the school.
Present Principal
Katie Kenny
Past Principals
Floriana Albi
Judy Sarginson
Grace Kenny-Castonguay
Basil Tomlinson
Diane Jackson
Paul Lahey
Lynn Charette
Jane Scott
Kathleen Kenny
Carol Polnicky
Chris Brady
Debbie Quail
Suzette Nadon
Carole Parent
Diane Jackson
Rosemary Schouten
Lou Massey
Lorraine Hubbs
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
School Colours
Red, white and black
Motto
Katherine Poon is scheduled to
graduate as a brain surgeon in April 2007.
Logo
The logo is an elongated shield
featuring a cross, a star and the school
name.
Mascot
Stephanie Poon graduated as a
heart surgeon in April 2006.
82
“Be the best you can be!”
The school mascot is a panda bear
named “Chappy.”
T
he construction of Convent Glen
Catholic School in Orléans not only
provided a much needed home for
students, but also provided the first location
for the new church community called Divine
Infant, the forerunner of Divine Infant
Parish.
Growing enrolment at Our Lady
of Wisdom School resulted in Convent Glen
Catholic School opening in 1977 in a porta-pak complex on Grey Nuns Drive. It
consisted of five classrooms in total, with
only one washroom that was shared by both
students and teachers. There was also a
staff room that doubled as a storage and
meeting room. For the 1978-79 school year,
a second stand-alone port-a-pak was added
at the site to accommodate the increasing
enrolment. For gym and library sessions,
students were bused to Our Lady of Wisdom
School.
The new Convent Glen Catholic
School on Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard was
finally occupied in September 1979, with the
official opening held later, on May 25, 1980.
The name of the school is derived from the
name of the community in which it is
located. The opening of the new school not
only provided a home for the students and
staff but also became the first home of the
newly-established Divine Infant Church
community, which had been established in
September 1979, under the leadership of
Father Michael Hurtubise; to provide
English-speaking Catholics in Orléans with
their own church, thus relieving the
overcrowded, bilingual St. Joseph’s Parish.
Masses were held at Convent Glen Catholic
School until September 1981 when the
location was changed to St. Matthew Junior
High School, near the future site of Divine
Infant Church. The Divine Infant Church
community became a parish in 1983, and
the new church was completed and blessed
in 1987.
CONVENT
GLEN
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
6212 Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard
Orléans K1C 2M4
613-824-8541
www.occdsb.on.ca/con
Meanwhile, Convent Glen Catholic
School was developing its own traditions and
character.
A shaggy brown dog named
“Copper,” christened by Mrs. Cotes’ grade 1
class, was the school’s mascot and attended
all of its sporting events. Grey and burgundy
became the school’s colours.
A strong sense of community has
pervaded Convent Glen Catholic School
since it began. Two former students, Romina
Lombardi and Krista St. John, are now
teachers at the school. Ken Vowles, a
veteran and former parent, still makes
83
Remembrance Day presentations at the
school. Parents with students no longer
at the school return to volunteer. School
secretary Barb Foley’s children attended
the school.
Convent Glen Catholic School has
a myriad of extracurricular activities such
as the Grade 6 Leadership Program, and
Peacemakers. There are other clubs for
chess, dance, bridge, and primary and junior
choirs, and there is a milk program. Quality
daily physical education is emphasized and
students play intramural team sports daily.
Interscholastic teams include cross-country
running, volleyball, basketball, ultimate
Frisbee, touch football, handball and track
and field. Advent and Lenten projects,
liturgical services, the Arts, a spring concert,
Education Week activities, winter and spring
play days, Remembrance Day services, a
volunteer appreciation event, and support
for UNICEF and the United Way are some
of the other activities which define Convent
Glen Catholic School as a hive of living and
learning. Over the years, special events at
the school have included ski trips, camping
trips, a harvest moon family dance,
Winterlude activities, a spring fun fair,
Christmas concerts and musicals. Since
2002, Convent Glen Catholic School has
hosted one of the two Robodome classrooms
in the Board. Robodome is a program in
which grade 5 students build Lego robots
to develop their problem-solving and
thinking skills.
Convent Glen Catholic School
today also hosts primary and junior learning
disabilities classes.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Patricia Morden-Kelly
Past Principals
Robert Laplante
Joanne LaPlante
Dr. Margaret McGrath
Joan Gravel
Robert Benning
Paul Wubben
Robert Laplante
Susan Rheaume
Rosina Davis
Colleen Plante
Norma Menard
Georges Lajeunesse
Martine Bealne
Faye Powell
Betty Sharland
Dan Charbonneau
84
School Colours
Burgundy and grey
Logo
The oval logo features a cross
overlaid with the letters “C” and “G”
representing Convent Glen, surrounded by
the school name “Convent Glen Catholic
School.” The cross represents Our Lord.
The logo was the result of a contest held at
the school.
C
orpus Christi Catholic School and
its predecessor, St. Matthew, have
provided Catholic education to
families in the Glebe area since 1900. In
that year, St. Matthew School, the original
small, two-room school on the site at Fourth
Avenue and Lyon Street opened, serving the
four lower grades.
St. Matthew expanded with the
growth of the area and, at the time of the
formation of Blessed Sacrament Parish in
1913, the school needed to rent a two-room
annex at the corner of Bank Street and First
Avenue so that all of the primary grades
could be accommodated. Enrolment at
St. Matthew in 1913 was 186 students.
From 1913 through to 1920, the
classes were taught by members of the Grey
Sisters as well as by lay teachers. In 1916,
enrolment at St. Matthew had grown to
259 students. This necessitated the
construction of another classroom, bringing the
total to six. Beginning in 1920 and continuing
until 1928, the students were taught by the
Sisters of St. Mary, as well as by lay teachers.
Continuing growth in the area in
the 1920s meant that construction of a
larger school became necessary. In 1926,
a new school containing eight classrooms
was built and named Corpus Christi
Catholic School. H.J. Morin was the
architect and Henri Dagenais served as
the contractor for the $47,600 school. It is
believed that this new Corpus Christi School
probably opened in October when the lease
on the annex premises at Bank Street and
First Avenue expired. The construction of
this new school did not mean the demolition
of the original St. Matthew building. It
continued to be used as part of Corpus
Christi School for another 40 years until it
was eventually razed in 1967.
The name of the school emerged as
a result of a spiritual connection to the new
CORPUS
CHRISTI
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
157 Fourth Ave
Ottawa K1S 2L5
613-232-9743
www.occdsb.on.ca/cch
Blessed Sacrament Parish. Some time after
the parish was established in 1913, an
annual procession on the feast of Corpus
Christi concluded with Benediction being
held on the grounds of St. Matthew School.
Since the new school was being built on
these same grounds and its construction
was commencing soon after the feast day,
“Corpus Christi” seemed to be a most
appropriate choice.
From 1930 through to the 1970s,
the students at Corpus Christi School were
taught by the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate
Conception and by lay teachers. The parish
was involved with the school in these early
85
years. In 1933, for instance, it spent $200 for
Bible pictures that were used in Catechism
classes at the school. Both Bible history and
Catechism were taught at this time by two
assistant priests from Blessed Sacrament.
Much was happening at Corpus
Christi School in the 1930s. There was an
annual Christmas concert. A motion picture
machine was purchased in 1935. Mary J.
Waygaman donated 20 volumes of books to
the school library in 1936, the same year
that an electrical Victrola was purchased for
the school. French-language instruction
began at the school in 1936. In 1937, Grade
9 was introduced at the school, and a rotary
class system began. Shop equipment was
installed, as well as more equipment in the
Home Economics class that was completed
in 1938, consisting of a dining area, sewing
area and combined kitchenette and laundry.
A radio was purchased for the school. In
1941, a school rink was constructed in the
boys’ play yard. This would appear to have
paid dividends as the school’s intermediate
hockey team won the McKinley Trophy in
1945, playing for coach Max Rowan.
Following World War II, the Glebe
area continued to experience residential
growth, especially by young families. This
created the need for a six-room addition
designed by architect R. Thibault. But even
with this addition, the school was not large
enough, necessitating plans for a major
expansion.
In 1967, the St. Matthew School
building was torn down, making room for
the new north wing and gymnasium of the
school. E. J. Cuhaci was the architect for
this project. In 1977, Corpus Christi Catholic
School held its 50th anniversary celebration.
The event’s activities included sculptor John
Tappin working with the students to make
fibreglass totem panels which were mounted
on the new light panels, in the main hall of
the school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
In 1988, major renovations took
place at Corpus Christi Catholic School.
These included replacement of windows,
doors and the heating system. In 1991, an
Earth Day initiative at the school was the
installation of a community recycling depot
in the parking lot.
In 1994, new play structures were
built in the schoolyard thanks to the effort
of the parents. This was followed in the year
2000 by the construction of a shared play
structure with neighbouring Mutchmor
Public School. The year 2000 was also
special for Corpus Christi Catholic School
as the choir sang for author Margaret
Atwood when she received the key to the
City of Ottawa at an event at the nearby
Glebe Community Centre.
Corpus Christi Catholic School
community continues to be active. In
February 2002, students made Valentine
cards and took them to the Ottawa Heart
Institute. In 2004, the team from teacher
Triona White’s grade 5-6 class won the
catapult contest at the Science and Technology
Museum in Ottawa. This was the same
year that the first Blues in the Schools
performance took place at Corpus Christi
School. Also in 2004, the school’s students,
along with students from 20 other schools,
created paintings depicting winter, which
were displayed at 240 Sparks Street in
Ottawa.
Present Principal
Monica Kerwin
Principals
Sister St. Teresita (1930-33)
Sister Frances Morris (19??-53)
Sister Mary Stanton (1953-5?)
Sister Mary Patricia (195?-65)
Sister Mary Stanton (1965-??)
Sister Theresa Kelly (19??-74)
Doreen Brady (1974-78)
James McStravick (197?-81)
John Knoble (1981-86)
Anthony Charbonneau (19??-9?)
John Shaughnessy (199?-95)
Lucille Pummer (1996-99)
Jim Rogers (1999-2003)
Bonnie McLaurin (2003-2006)
Teaching Staff in 1930
Sister St. Teresita, Principal
Miss O’Grady
Miss Searson
Miss Gogins
Sister Frances Margaret
Sister Maureen
Miss O’Connell
Miss McCready
Miss Kelly
Sister Jane Frances
Daniel O’Connor, Custodian
Mr. Godbout, Attendance Officer
.
Former Students
Brian Smith, professional hockey
player from 1960 to 1973 including playing
for the Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota
North Stars of the National Hockey League
and for the Houston Aeros of the World
Hockey Association. He was also well known
locally as a sports broadcaster with Ottawa
television station CJOH from 1973 until his
tragic death in 1995 when he was murdered
by a deranged gunman in the station’s
parking lot.
86
Patrick Hayes of the Ottawa Police
Department received the Order of Merit of
the Police Forces in 2002, the first Ottawa
police officer to receive the award, which
recognizes officers for conspicuous merit and
exceptional service. An inspector in 1999,
he was the officer in command of the police
response unit at OC Transpo headquarters
when four OC Transpo employees and their
shooter died. After 35 years of service, he
was the most senior member of the Ottawa
Police Department.
Garry Guzzo served on the City
of Ottawa Council and as a Progressive
Conservative MPP in the Legislative
Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003.
A lawyer by profession, he also served as
a provincial court judge.
Maureen Lafontaine and Helen
McCloskey won the National Prize for essays
on topics of Irish history in 1942.
Theresa Picher won the National
Prize for essays on topics of Irish history in
1944.
Frank Dunlap became an Ottawa
lawyer. He also played in the Canadian
Football League and went on to become a
commentator on radio broadcasts of Ottawa
Rough Rider football games.
School Colours
Green and grey or white
Logo
The Corpus Christi School logo
features a cup of wine and loaves of bread
representing the body and blood of Christ.
The cup and loaves are superimposed over
a stylized crucifix.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Song
The only known school song is a
playground chant dating from the 1950s . . .
Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi
Sitting on the fence,
Trying to teach Mutchmor
A little bit of sense.
Honour Roll
The school has an honour roll with
the names of all of the graduates of Corpus
Christi School who served overseas in the
army, navy or air force. Among those who
died in World War II were Andrew
McKenna, Gerald Mansfield, Francis
Quinlan, Kelliker Player, Robert McMillan,
Stuart MacDonnell, Robert Bradley, Homer
Courtright, Joseph Courtright, Eric Post,
Michael Leary, Kenneth Sheehan, Alex
Cameron, Blake Dennison, William Murphy
and James Williamson.
Priests from Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi School students
who went on to become priests include
Fathers Larose, Maloney, Lowry, Brennan,
Frank Freney, George Courtright, and
L.A. Costello.
A Teacher Writes
I taught at Corpus Christi School
from 1988 until 1993. I really enjoyed my
experience there with the school’s
cosmopolitan flavour, a stark contrast from
the homogenous groups that I had taught
previously, especially in Northern Ontario,
namely in Cobalt and Iroquois Falls.
While at Corpus Christi School,
I accepted the responsibility to coordinate
the liturgical life of the school, something
which I enjoyed, especially because I had
the full cooperation of the staff.
Whatever the occasion, I would
choose the readings and then consult with
Patti Murphy and Debbie Niemenen, the
guitarists, to choose the appropriate hymns.
It was then easy to lead the singing, backed
up by these two excellent musicians.
Whether the event was in the gym
or at the nearby church, Blessed Sacrament,
the teachers whose students were chosen to
do the readings would help the children
prepare for the occasion. And, at all times,
we had the blessing of the principal.
I remember my time at Corpus
Christi School with much fondness.
Jeanne Marceau-Joyal
87
O
riginally named Chatelaine
Village Catholic School for the
first few months of its existence,
Divine Infant Catholic School was renamed
and blessed at its official opening on May 5,
1982. It took on the name of the newlycreated Divine Infant Church community,
which was to become a parish the very next
year.
DIVINE
INFANT
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
The Divine Infant Church
community was established in September
1979, first holding services at Convent Glen
Catholic School and then at St. Matthew
Junior High School.
The school, which opened in
September 1981, was designed by architect
E.J. Cuhaci. Paul D’Aoust Construction Ltd.
was the builder for the Carleton Roman
Over the years since its opening,
Divine Infant School has raised thousands of
dollars for the Heart and Stroke Foundation,
the Holy Childhood Association, the United
Way, UNICEF and the Canadian Hunger
Foundation. This has been done through
special activities such as “Jump Rope for
Heart” and Lenten and Advent projects.
This generosity of spirit in serving the local
and global communities continues. In
December 2004, the tsunami in southeast
Asia caused untold devastation, and when
the Divine Infant students returned to
school after the Christmas break, they
wondered what they could do to help those
in need. The grade 4-5 class, under the
direction of Teacher Dan Rigley, took the
lead in creating a “Buck or Two Sale” in the
gymnasium. The school community was
invited to bring in books, toys, videos and
other items that they no longer wanted or
needed. Funds raised were donated to the
Canadian Red Cross for tsunami relief. All
donations were matched dollar for dollar
by the Canadian government. Volunteers
emerged from everywhere on their own
8100 Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard
Orléans K1E 2E1
613-824-1060
www.occdsb.on.ca/div
initiative to assist students and staff in
setting up this sale which resulted in the
raising of over $2,000.
Another example of the inclusive
and generous spirit, which continues to
pervade Divine Infant, happened in 2005
after a student was diagnosed with the same
type of cancer as Terry Fox. In honour of
both the 25th anniversary of the Terry Fox
Run and of the student, the school held an
event entitled “Run for Hannah.” The school
community pitched in, and over $3,510 was
raised for the Canadian Cancer Society.
But this was not the end of it. When the
community learned about the situation, a
89
parent, Mrs. Christina Lyons, launched an
initiative to assist Hannah’s family by
cooking meals for them. She developed a
two-month schedule and advertised for
volunteers in the school newsletter. Not
only did people sign up to cook meals, but
a freezer was donated to the family so that
the meals could be preserved.
A number of interesting events
have happened at Divine Infant over the
years. In November 1982, a baptism took
place in the school library. Mrs. Cindy
Simpson, a teacher at the school at that
time, arranged to have her daughter, Sarah,
baptized by Father Michael Hurtubuise who
was in charge of the Divine Infant church
community. Father Hurtubise later became
the first pastor of Divine Infant in March
1983.
In 1990, Mila Mulroney, the wife
of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,
visited Divine Infant School to speak to the
students about cystic fibrosis. At that time,
Divine Infant had a student suffering from
the disease. The school community
presented a cheque in the amount of $3,500
to Mrs. Mulroney during her visit to the
school. In January 1991, a fellow student,
Kelly Robin Edwards, was killed in a school
bus accident. A painting was commissioned
in her honour, and hangs in the school
hallway. In the 1990s, Daniel Massey, a
custodian at the school, was killed in an
automobile accident. His memory is
preserved by means of a plaque in his
honour, which is displayed on the wall in
the school foyer.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Kimberly Giles
Past Principals
Andrew McKinley
Richard Dittman
Sam Coletti
Kevin Mullins
Lyle Bergeron
Gerry Coulombe
Cindy Simpson
Marjorie MacKay
Marie Chambers
Cindy Simpson
Christina Van Vugt
Murielle Cayouette
Carol Wheeler
Real Gagnon
Theresa Lucas
Deborah Barbaro
Marie Chambers
Shirley Dostaler
Terry Lucas
Adriana DeWaal, Special
Education
Janet DeMurs, Educational
Assistant
Judy Prest, Librarian
Jacquie Lapratte, Secretary
Felix Robertson, Custodian
Maurice Rozon, Custodian
90
Staff Recognition
Jill Lamont received the Daniel
Kelly Athletic Award in 1999.
Marilyn Doucette received the
Bernadette MacNeil Award in 2005. This
is an award given by the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA).
School Colours
The school colours were originally
orange and blue. They were later changed
to blue and white.
Logo
The school logo was designed by
a student through a contest organized by
the school council under the principalship
of Cindy Simpson.
D
r. F.J. McDonald Catholic School
bears the name of a legendary
supporter of, and advocate for,
Catholic education in the City of Ottawa.
For many years, Dr. F.J. McDonald,
a medical doctor, was the inspector of
separate schools in Ottawa. His work and
contributions to Catholic education were
such that the Board named the school in
his honour.
Dr. McDonald became convinced
that the efforts and achievements of
separate schoolteachers were neither
understood nor appreciated. In 1930, under
his leadership, separate schoolteachers in
Ottawa set up their own local organization
to make professional and economic gains.
However, Dr. McDonald believed that a
provincial organization would benefit all
Catholic teachers in the province, but it took
several years to achieve this. Dr. McDonald
consulted with other separate school
inspectors across the province. They
encouraged the teachers to form a provincial
teachers’ organization. Support from the
clergy and religious congregations teaching
in Ontario was also forthcoming, leading
eventually to the formation of the Ontario
(OECTA).
The school was in operation for
more than two years before it was formally
renamed Dr. F.J. McDonald Catholic School
on December 14, 1970.
The first few years for the school
were anything but calm. Originally opened
at the nearby St. Leonard Catholic School on
Rob Roy Street in the Pinecrest-Queensway
area on September 3, 1968, it moved to its
permanent site on Ahearn Avenue at the
end of September that year, bearing the
name Britannia Bay Catholic School.
However, even at this permanent site, the
students were housed in portables until the
end of September 1969, when the new school
DR. F.J.
MCDONALD
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
and a local conservation area along the
Ottawa River. Students celebrated its
upgrading made possible by their
development of a science area. The school,
along with a local conservation group, helps
promote respect for Mud Lake. A grade 6
class met with Canadian astronaut Marc
Garneau at Ottawa City Hall where he
received the key to the city. The school was
chosen as the home base for the Rag and
Bone Puppet Theatre from 1987 to 1990.
This theatre group, associated with an
artists-in-residence program, staged many
performances for the school and students
visited the group’s workshop at the school
for creative arts instruction.
Dr. F.J. McDonald Catholic School
is home to a nursery school as well as a
child/adult drop-in centre. The PinecrestQueensway Community group leases space
from the school board, running a daycare
program for the community.
2860 Ahearn Avenue
Ottawa K2B 6Z9
613-829-3878
www.occdsb.on.ca/dfj
facility finally opened. Z.J. Nowak was
the architect. More than a year later, on
December 14, 1970, the school was formally
renamed in honour of Dr. McDonald.
The school celebrated its 25th
anniversary in 1993. At this memorable
event, an anniversary Mass was followed
by a reception attended by Board Trustees
as well as by Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board Director of Education
George Moore.
Other memorable events have
taken place. In June 2005, students visited
nearby Mud Lake, an environmental gem
91
was one of eight Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board schools that in 2005-06 raised
approximately $6,000 in total for the “OK
Clean Water Project.” This project (OK
stands for Ottawa-Kumbo, a town in
Cameroon in Africa) is an initiative of
the Congregation of Notre Dame, an
international religious community of Sisters
and associates. The “OK Clean Water
Project” supports the purchase of water
pipes, which are laid from a clean water
source into their communities by villagers
in Cameroon.
has a kindergarten room, six regular
classrooms, a gymnasium, a computer lab
and a library.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
John Legree
Past Principals
Gregory Daly
Douglas Goodwin
James Morrison
Philip Butler
John Dorner
Michael Blimkie
Marcel Lafleur
Brian T. Kelly
Teaching Staff in 1971-72
Phyllis Shearer
Louise LeMoine
Jeanne Fortier
Mrs. B. Chapman
Miss Shields
B. Burant
Diane Grison
Miss L. Doherty
Brent Gilmour
Winnifred Trudel
92
Family Connection
Dr. F.J. McDonald’s daughter,
Carolyn Watson, was a teacher, retiring from
Bayshore Catholic School.
School Colours
Green and gold
Logo
The school logo features a giant
“M” on top of a sunrise-starburst featuring
a cross and a banner with the name “Dr. F.J.
McDonald Catholic School.”
F
FRANK RYAN
CATHOLIC
or almost 40 years, Frank Ryan
Catholic Senior Elementary School has
been the scholastic home of adolescents
making the transition from elementary to
high school. This grades 7 and 8 school
opened in September 1968. Since then, it
has offered teaching expertise in all subject
areas, combined with a wide palate of
extracurricular activities, in athletics as well
as in clubs and groups. These scholastic
advantages have enabled students to grow
academically, while also living a two-year
school experience that lets them forever
remember being a “Royal.”
SCHOOL HISTORIES
McMahon as Secretary-Treasurer. Zygmunt
J. Nowak was the architect for the project.
SENIOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Being a “Royal” means attending
Frank Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary
School. Perhaps best known are the Royal
athletic teams, which, over the years, have
won countless championships in all sports,
offered by the school board. Effort,
sportsmanship and teamwork are
characteristics of Royal sports teams.
The school is named after the late
Frank Ryan, an Ottawa Valley native who
graduated from Queen’s University in 1927,
held a number of advertising and public
relations positions and eventually founded
CFRA Radio in Ottawa in May 1947,
followed by CFMO, Canada’s first FM
station, in 1959. This impressive resumé
is not in itself the reason that this school
in Nepean was named after him. Mr. Ryan
had stepped forward when war veterans in
the City View area of Nepean were unable
to find suitable property for an elementary
school. Mr. Ryan gave them the site on
Cordova Street between Lotta Street and
Rita Street where St. Nicholas of Tolentino
School was built. It was later, in recognition
of this generosity, that the new intermediate
school on Chesterton Drive was named in
his honour. He passed away in March 1965.
In 1968, Frank Ryan Catholic
Senior Elementary School was located in
an addition to Our Lady of Good Counsel, a
128 Chesterton Drive
Nepean K2E 5T8
613-224-8833
www.occdsb.on.ca/rya
kindergarten to grade 6 school, which had
opened in September 1965 on Bowhill Drive.
When Our Lady of Good Counsel closed in
June 1983, and the students relocated to
St. Gregory Catholic School, Frank Ryan
Catholic Senior Elementary School expanded
into the vacant space. This area of the school
is now known as “the west wing.”
Frank Ryan Catholic Senior
Elementary was built by Uni-Form Builders
Limited for the school board of the Roman
Catholic School Section 1 of Nepean, with
V.R. Zinck as Chairman, C.B. MacDonald
as Vice-Chairman, Y.A. Loubert, C.P. O’Neill
and R.C. Warren as Trustees and Mrs. J.S.
93
The students and staff of Frank
Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary School
have school-wide and classroom liturgies
and retreats to live out their Catholic faith.
In addition, they undertake fundraising for
charities and do community service. Parish
priests visit the school regularly to
participate in these liturgical celebrations.
The school’s chaplain serves as the liaison
between the school and the various parishes
in its attendance area.
The Turkey Trot of Hope was
initiated in 1981 by teachers William Fox
and Marie-Claire Rondeau. This charity
fundraiser, started in memory of Terry Fox,
marked the 25th anniversary of his
Marathon of Hope in 2005 by raising
$32,000. This brought the total funds raised
by the Turkey Trot of Hope at Frank Ryan
Catholic Senior Elementary School to over
$500,000 over the course of the quarter
century.
Present Principal
Debbie Clark
Principals
Bernard Reitz
Peter Gravelle
Peter Linegar
Bill Roach
Starr Kelly
Eileen Sametz
Andrew McKinley
Bert O’Connor
Lise St. Eloi
Gerald Mikalauskas
Deborah DeFinney
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Vice-Principals
Gary Valiquette
Bogdan Kolbusz
Tom Duggan
Paul Fortier
Gilles Laperriere
Betty Craig
Patricia Moise
Brenda Wilson
Gerald Mikalauskas
Martine Mitton
John Legree
Paul McGuire (current)
William Fox
Marie-Claire Rondeau
School Colours
Royal blue, Carolina blue and gold
Logo
The school logo is a stylized shield
with a cross, along with a winged horse and
the initials “F” and “R.”
Motto
“Respect and Responsibility”
Frank Ryan Catholic School Letter
The Frank Ryan Catholic School
Letter, first awarded in 1981, is given
annually to certain graduating students who
have made an impact on life at the school
during their two years in grades seven and
eight. A recipient of this award must obtain
a minimum number of points during his or
her two-year period of attendance at the
school. These points are obtained by
maintaining an above-average academic
standing and through participation in
extracurricular activities such as sports and
clubs. The award consists of a letter as well
as a certificate, and is presented at the
school’s grade eight graduation ceremony in
June. Framed photographs of the recipients
of this award are displayed in the hallway
of the school.
94
Maureen Galla Christian Spirit Award
This award, named after former
school secretary, Mrs. Maureen Galla, has
been awarded at the school annually since
1981 to a graduating student who has
exemplified the teachings of Jesus Christ.
G
eorges Vanier Catholic School was
the first Catholic elementary
school to open in Kanata. The
school started in September 1967, with the
students initially housed at Our Lady of
Peace Catholic School in Bells Corners until
the new facility in the Beaverbrook area was
ready for occupancy. Georges Vanier Catholic
School eventually served as the “mother
school” for four other Kanata Catholic
elementary schools, which opened over
the ensuing three decades — St. Martin de
Porres, Holy Redeemer, St. James and
St. Anne, all of which were established with
students who had been attending Georges
Vanier. Because of the continuing growth in
its attendance area resulting in the creation
of other Catholic schools, Georges Vanier has
seen its student population fluctuate over
time, often creating the need for portable
classrooms. Georges Vanier Catholic School
has had up to eight portables on site prior to
the formation of another school such as Holy
Redeemer or St. James.
The school was named in memory
of Canadian Governor-General Georges
Vanier, who died in March 1967. Georges
Vanier was the first French-Canadian to
be appointed as Governor-General, serving
from September 1959 to April 1967. Born
in Montreal in 1888, he earned both the
Military Cross for bravery and the
Distinguished Service Order in World War I.
He rose to the rank of Major-General in
1942 and, after World War II, was appointed
Ambassador to France.
The school celebrated its 25th
anniversary in 1992 with an event attended
by many former staff and students.
Over the years, the school has
been visited by numerous guest speakers
such as Canadian national basketball coach
Jack Donahue, Olympic gold medalist and
sports announcer Carolyn Waldo, champion
figure skater Brian Orser and CJOH-TV
GEORGES
VANIER
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Robert Slack
Ann Blier
Dwight Delahunt
Mary Moss
Diane Jackson
Grace Blimkie
Ed McHale
Pat Sterling
Bonnie Collins
Cheryl Carter
Elizabeth White
Fay Stalman
Nancy-Ann Cawley
Ann Read
Steve Newton
Danielle Jaworsky
Maxine Quilty
Mary Venier
Ann Publow
Former Staff and Students
40 Varley Drive
Kanata K2K 1G5
613-592-4371
www.occdsb.on.ca/geo
news anchor Max Keeping, as well as by
various members of the Ottawa Senators of
the National Hockey League.
Present Principal
Marcia Lynch
Principals
Greg Peddie
Russ Graham
Garry Valiquette
Margaret McGrath
Andy Groulx
Bert O’Connor
Robert Curry
95
Dr. Ruth Dempsey, a former
teacher at Georges Vanier, is a professor in
the Faculty of Education at the University
of Ottawa.
Alex Munter, a former student,
established a Kanata community newspaper
when he was 14 years old. It is still
published today as the Kanata KourierStandard. Alex became a Kanata city
councillor and an Ottawa-Carleton regional
councillor as well as a City of Ottawa
councillor after amalgamation in 2001. After
his withdrawal from municipal politics, he
became a visiting professor at the University
of Ottawa. He has declared his candidacy for
Mayor of Ottawa in the November 2006
municipal election.
Paul Shepherd, current pastor of
Holy Redeemer Parish in Kanata
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
The school colours are red and
white. These colours were chosen because
they are the colours of the Canadian flag.
Logo
The school logo has a stylized
initial “G” superimposed on the initial “V,”
with a maple leaf commemorating Canada’s
Centennial Year of 1967, the year in which
the school opened, and a cross in the
background. The white background and the
red outline of the logo reflect the school
colours.
96
G
ood Shepherd Catholic School in
Gloucester was created because of
the persistence of Catholics in the
community, determined to have their own
local elementary school. Once built, the
school became not only a vibrant, welcoming
community where the teachings of Jesus, the
Good Shepherd, fill its academic and social
life, but also its gymnasium became the
gathering place for Sunday Mass for
Catholics in the Blackburn Hamlet
community for over 25 years.
GOOD
SHEPHERD
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
A Catholic elementary school in
Blackburn Hamlet was planned for some
time, but ongoing agitation by Catholics in
the community resulted in the school being
built sooner rather than later. Indeed, as
things turned out, with continuing growth
in the community and a burgeoning school
population, sooner turned out to be a wise
decision.
It all began in September 1970,
when the school, originally called Blackburn
Hamlet Catholic School, started not in its
own premises but in two separate temporary
quarters. The senior kindergarten to grade 4
students were housed in four portables at
Ecole Ste. Marie on Innes Road, while the
grades 5 to 8 students attended Thomas
D’Arcy McGee Catholic School. This is how
things remained until October 1971, when
students and staff moved into the new school
facility on Bearbrook Road. Shortly
thereafter, an official opening ceremony was
held on March 8, 1972. John Turner, federal
MP for the area at the time and a future
Prime Minister, attended the official opening
of the school.
The name of the school remained
unchanged until 1982, when Principal
Bernadette MacNeil and the community’s
priest, Father Cornelius Herlihy, suggested
that the school be renamed “Good Shepherd
Catholic School,” echoing the name that the
Catholic community of the area had chosen
101 Bearbrook Road
Gloucester K1B 3H5
613-824-4531
www.occdsb.on.ca/goo
for itself. This community had not only
fought for a Catholic school in the area but
was also strong in the belief that a new
parish should be established. Initially
Blackburn Hamlet was part of St. Ignatius
Parish, but in March 1970, Masses were
celebrated at the Glen Ogilvie Public School.
While not a parish in its own right until
1991, the Catholic community of Blackburn
Hamlet was granted its own identity early
on, including its name. In 1976, the Good
Shepherd Catholic community became
independent of St. Ignatius, with its own
resident priest-administrator. As of 1972,
Mass and other church-related activities
were being held in the gymnasium of the
97
Catholic school, as there were not yet the
funds to build a church. The church was
eventually built on Innes Road in 1998.
Once the school had been renamed
Good Shepherd Catholic School in 1982, this
new name was fully embraced by the school
community. Judi Sarginson, a staff member,
initiated a tradition of celebrating the
December 16 anniversary date of the
naming of the school by serving a Good
Shepherd coffee cake. The recipe for this can
be found in the Good Shepherd Catholic
Women’s League cookbook published in
1985.
Today, the Good Shepherd is
highlighted throughout the building. In
2001, three parents of the school community,
Anna Gut, Scarlett Russell and Beth
Mitchell, painted a Good Shepherd mural
in the main entrance of the school. A statue
carved by Jacques Bourgault was installed
there in 2003. Jacqueline LegendreMcGuinty, a longtime trustee for the area,
traveled to Saint Jean Port-Joli in Quebec
to obtain the statue and deliver it to Good
Shepherd School. Each year, students at
Good Shepherd School sign class lambs,
which are placed around a picture of the
Good Shepherd situated on a wall in the
school library. The prayer table in every
classroom has a picture of the Good
Shepherd as well as a stuffed lamb.
The school mascots are three
stuffed lambs which were acquired in 2001
and named Nazareth, Minnie Me and Spike
by the students.
When Good Shepherd Catholic
School began, it was an open concept school
as was common at the time; however, in
1974, walls began to sprout up separating
the open concept area into individual
classrooms.
An addition comprised of a
kindergarten area and two classrooms was
SCHOOL HISTORIES
added on the north side of the school in
1976.
Enrolment at the school continued
to grow. At one time, there were more than
700 students at the school, with 13 portables
on site.
The school became a partial
mother school for other new schools in the
area, such as Pineview Catholic School (now
John Paul II) in 1980, Chapel Hill Catholic
School in 1988, and St. Clare Catholic School
in 1993.
A class for developmentally
handicapped children was added to the
school in December 1987. In 1991, Gerald
Montplaisir, an artist and member of the
Arteast and Gloucester Art Council,
completed an acrylic painting entitled
Children During Recess – A Winter Scene
in Gloucester. The children whom he painted
in his work were students at Good Shepherd
Catholic School. A school assembly in 1992,
celebrating the anniversary of the World
Summit for Children, was attended by
Eugene Bellemare, the federal MP for the
area.
Good Shepherd Catholic School
held its 25th anniversary celebration during
the first week of December in 1996. Special
activities at this celebration included the
creation of a time capsule, a family
breakfast/school tour, special performances
for students and a Mass and reception with
a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. An
ongoing project during this anniversary year
was the collection of family recipes for the
publication of a Good Shepherd recipe book.
from noted environmentalist David Suzuki
in 2003, acknowledging the respect that they
exhibited for the environment.
The mission statement of Good
Shepherd Catholic School is “to facilitate
excellence in Catholic education through
promoting a positive learning environment
that instills a sense of self-discipline,
respect, responsibility and love of learning.”
The students and staff at the school try to
work together to achieve this through
personal excellence in academics, sports
and extracurricular activities. In addition,
the school community tries to make a
contribution within the wider community,
reaching out to support worthy causes and
projects that make a difference.
Present Principal
Gloria Horan (2000-present)
Principals
Ada Theoret (1970-71 at Ecole
Ste. Marie)
Peter Johnston (1971-74)
Hugh Marshall (1974-80)
William Roach (1980-82)
Bernadette MacNeil (1982-85)
Lloyd Ambler (1985-89)
Mary-Pat Kelly (1990-92)
Sherry Swales (1993-97)
Paul Fortier (1997-2000)
September 1970 staff at Ecole
Ste. Marie site
Nicole Chartrand, Senior
Kindergarten
Margaret McGrath, Grades 1
and 2
Marjorie Plunkett, Grades 2 and 3
Ada Theoret, Grades 3 and 4
September 1971 staff
Margaret McGrath, English
Kindergarten
Shirley Dostaler, French
Kindergarten
J. McIntyre, Grade 1
Wendy Hall, Grade 2
Nicole Chartrand, Grade 3
C. Barrette, Grade 4
Mary-Lou O’Brien, Grade 5
Rolly Lapointe, Grade 6
Sherryl Hunt, Grade 7
Richard McGrath, Grade 8
Lucien Morin, Custodian
Edith Turmel, Secretary
Staff Achievements
Principal William Roach (1980-82)
became a Superintendent of Education with
the Toronto Catholic School Board.
Mrs. Bernadette MacNeil,
Principal from 1982 to 1985, became the
first female superintendent with the
Board in 1985.
Teacher Ms. Michelle HurleyDesjardins won the Prime Minister’s Award
for Teaching Excellence in 2000.
In 1998, a Good Shepherd student,
Lisabeth Ott, designed a certificate, which
students receive in the school’s “Thumbs Up”
assemblies, held monthly to recognize
student achievement. The students of Good
Shepherd Catholic School received a letter
98
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
Dana Murzyn, a National Hockey
League defenseman with the Hartford
Whalers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver
Canucks
Steve Guenette, a National Hockey
League goalie with the Calgary Flames and
the Pittsburgh Penguins
Colours
Blue and gold
Logo
The school logo features the Good
Shepherd name as well as a cross in the
middle.
Denise Blinn received a Canadian
Comedy Award for Best Director in 2005.
Michael Curran is Regional
Director for the Ottawa Business Journal.
Student Eva-Andreanne Noah won
the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’
Association’s Young Authors award in June
2002 for her elementary-junior poem.
Adrienne Goddett organized
a Black Youth Conference in 2005. She
received an Investing in People award from
the Community Foundation of Ottawa in
2005.
99
Canadian Education Exchange
Foundation
Leanne Kavanagh, a teacher at
Good Shepherd Catholic School, is
participating in the Canadian Education
Exchange Foundation program in the 20062007 school year with Rosemary Finn, a
teacher at Blue Coat Church at England
Aided, Durham, United Kingdom. This
exchange will provide many professional
development opportunities for both teachers.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
100
G
uardian Angels Catholic School in
Stittsville began in September
1999, the result of continued
residential growth which was straining the
capacity of the only existing Catholic
elementary school in the community, Holy
Spirit Catholic School. This overcrowding at
Holy Spirit had reached severe proportions
by 1997, bringing about parent action to
seek relief in the form of another Catholic
elementary school in the community.
GUARDIAN
ANGELS
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
In August 1997, a Holy Spirit
School Council Subcommittee on
Overcrowding came into operation under
the direction of parents Debbie Barr and
Mary Pichette. Its activities included a
letter-writing campaign urging provincial
government funding action, a balloon-o-gram
visit to Carleton MPP Norm Sterling’s office
in Manotick, and a documentary aired on
CBC television about the overcrowded
situation at Holy Spirit.
On Friday, December 12, 1997,
a group of 12 parents from Holy Spirit
Catholic School in Stittsville delivered 258
helium-filled balloons to the constituency
office of Carleton MPP Norm Sterling. Each
balloon represented a student in a portable
at Holy Spirit, which, at that time, had ten
temporary units on site. Student enrolment
was 785 students, housed in a school with a
design capacity of 465. The actions of the
Holy Spirit parents were meant to draw the
attention of the Provincial Government to
the Stittsville situation, in the hopes that
funding for the new school would be
forthcoming. However, the end of 1997
brought other factors into play, with the
creation of the amalgamated OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board as well as
provincial government declarations of a new
funding model for school construction.
The new school board gave high
priority to the construction of elementary
schools in growth areas such as Stittsville,
4 Baywood Drive
Stittsville K2S 1K5
613-836-7423
www.occdsb.on.ca/gua
but financing was contingent upon the
province’s funding formula for new school
construction. By the fall of 1998, the
province had released its new funding
formula, which called for the elimination
of surplus school spaces in the Board’s
jurisdiction before any grants would be
provided for new schools.
Things looked a little bleak, since
at that time had a surplus of 3,773 pupil
places at the elementary school level, which,
according to the formula, would have to be
eliminated before funding for new schools
would be provided. However, MPPs Norm
101
Sterling of Carleton and John Baird of
Nepean, in November 1998, brought forward
their “Baird-Sterling Plan” which proposed
advancing the construction of new
elementary schools for the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board while still
maintaining adherence to the provincial
funding formula. The “Baird-Sterling Plan”
called for reclassifying four adult day schools
as elementary on the basis that these
schools were built as elementary schools.
This shifting of the secondary school
inventory to the elementary panel created
a larger shortage of student spaces at the
high school level within the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board. This qualified the
Board for funding for new school
construction, which Mr. Baird and Mr.
Sterling believed could be switched and used
by the Board to pay for needed elementary
schools. Mr. Baird and Mr. Sterling felt that
this flexible approach would provide the
funding for three new elementary schools,
in Stittsville (which had 13 portables at that
time), in South Nepean and in Bridlewood.
In January 1999, the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board approved in principle
the construction of these three new
elementary schools.
The firm Pye & Richards
Architects Inc. of Ottawa was appointed as
the architect for the Stittsville Catholic
elementary school in March 1999, as the
Board by this time had received approval
from the Ontario Ministry of Education and
Training for funding for all three proposed
construction projects.
In May 1999, Deborah Robinson
was named principal of the new Stittsville
Catholic elementary school. It would be
housed at Holy Spirit temporarily in the
fall while the new school was under
construction. There were problems finding a
site in Stittsville that could be developed in
accordance with the school board’s timetable
for new school construction, but by the end
SCHOOL HISTORIES
of June, the search finally ended. A proposal
brought forward by Goulbourn Township
meant that a property in the development
area south of James Lewis Avenue in
Stittsville would become available, with
construction to proceed in time for a spring
2000 occupancy of the new facility.
The plan was to make the school
site the first phase of the surrounding
residential development. It could then
become a registered subdivision and could
proceed even though there were delays
pertaining to construction in the rest of
the area. As well, in June the school board
established the attendance boundaries for
the new school. In August 1999, Mag
Eastwood Developments Inc. was awarded
the contract to build the school in Stittsville,
submitting the lowest ($4,299,000) of six
tenders received by the Board.
In October 1999, while its future
students were housed at Holy Spirit Catholic
School, the new Stittsville elementary school
was officially named “Guardian Angels
Catholic School.” (Guardian angels are a
matter of faith in the Catholic church. There
are many stories in the Bible about angels
guiding, protecting and singing the praises
of God). The name was the overwhelming
choice of parents and was approved
unanimously by the Board.
The official sod-turning was held
on Thursday, October 21, 1999 with
construction work on the new facility
continuing in the distance as the ceremony
took place. The event included the blessing
of the soil by Father Frank Scott of Holy
Spirit Catholic Parish in Stittsville, and the
blending of soil from the temporary home of
the school at Holy Spirit Catholic School
with the soil of the new school site. The sodturning also included the burying of heartshaped boxes containing the dreams and
hopes of various student representatives at
the ceremony. Construction of the 51,000
square foot, one-storey building continued
throughout the winter, aided by unusually
mild weather conditions and very little snow.
Monday, April 10, 2000 was the
first day that Guardian Angels Catholic
School students and staff occupied the
new school facility on Baywood Drive in
Stittsville. The school was situated on a
5.74-acre site adjacent to a future municipal
park. The capacity of the school, as
determined by the provincial government,
was 534 pupils. It had four kindergarten
rooms, a child care room that could be used
by the school during the day, 18 classrooms,
an oversized gymnasium with a retractable
stage, a library and a computer room. The
school facility was fully air-conditioned and
totally accessible to the handicapped. It also
had a child care centre, called the “Baywood
School Age Program,” which offered a before
and after-school program for school children.
It is operated by the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic Child Care Corporation.
Shad Qadri, a community
representative on the Catholic school
council, donated a guardian angel statue
in September 1999. This statue was placed
outside the front entrance to the school,
welcoming all visitors.
Since its opening, Guardian Angels
Catholic School has seen increasing
enrolment as residential development
continues in Stittsville. Several portable
classrooms have been located on the site
to meet this burgeoning enrolment, which
reached more than 750 students by 2004.
The school immediately became
a vibrant Catholic community, with strong
parental support as well as a close
connection with Holy Spirit Parish. The
parental involvement through the Catholic
school council included fundraising, which
resulted in playground improvements for the
school. In the spring of 2004, Guardian
102
Angels became the first elementary school
ever to host a daytime “Relay for Life” event.
Under the direction of Vice-Principal
Francesca Hernandez, the students raised
funds for cancer research in honour of grade
6 teacher and cancer victim, Mary Ann
McCuen.
This was not the school’s first foray
into major fundraising for a worthy cause.
The school’s “Jump Rope for Heart” event
in the spring of 2003, organized under the
direction of grade one teacher Josephine
Shelton and her committee, raised more
money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation
than any other school in Canada. This
success resulted in a visit by Walter Gretzky,
a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke
Foundation, in the spring of 2004, to kick
off the “Jump Rope for Heart” event and to
thank the school community for its large
contributions in the past. Fundraising and
helping causes have become a tradition at
Guardian Angels. In 2003, 2004, 2005 and
2006, the staff of Guardian Angels
participated in the “Relay for Life” overnight
run, thanks to the spirited leadership of
kindergarten teacher Christine BrosseauLaroche.
Guardian Angels Catholic School
played a major role in the participation of
Todd Nicholson as captain of the gold-medal
winning Canadian sledge hockey team at the
2006 Paralympics in Italy. Todd had been in
hospital for five months prior to the Games
and had considered withdrawing from the
national sledge hockey team; however, it was
the support, which he received from the
students and staff at Guardian Angels that
enabled him to find once again the drive to
pursue his dream and play for Canada. Todd
had been an inspirational speaker at
Guardian Angels Catholic School during
their “Jump Rope for Heart” campaign the
two previous years. Each time he spoke
about the importance of being physically
active and never giving up on a dream. His
SCHOOL HISTORIES
inspirational message obviously worked,
as the students responded and Guardian
Angels became the top fundraising school
nationally in “Jump Rope for Heart.” When
the students heard that Todd was in the
hospital and might not be able to pursue his
dream, they sent him cards, drawings and
good wishes by the hundreds, encouraging
him not to give up and telling him that they
were watching and wishing for him to make
a quick return to his dream. This
encouragement and these messages worked,
helping to put Todd back on track. He
captained the Canadian sledge hockey team
to a gold medal in the 2006 Paralympics.
Todd Nicholson did not forget the
role that the students and staff at Guardian
Angels Catholic School played in all of this;
he visited the school in March 2006, shortly
after the Paralympics, to thank them for
their support and to show his gratitude for
all that they had done for him. “My hat goes
off to each of you, each and every one of you
in this school … the students, the teachers
… everybody,” Todd told those at a jammed
and cheering assembly, “because those
letters you guys sent me…to never give up
on my dreams…literally came back to haunt
me and made sure that I didn’t give up on
my dreams.”
The activities of the school are not
limited to fundraising events and helping
others. In June 2002, the school held Arts
Alive, a musical presentation that took place
in the theatre at Sacred Heart Catholic High
School in Stittsville. Under the direction of
Victoria White and with staff and parent
volunteers helping, this musical
extravaganza included the participation of
every student in the school. Guardian Angels
has also implemented anti-bullying,
peacemaking and “Stop, Think and Choose”
programs. The school has participated in all
of the Board-wide musicals and a “buddy
day” is held weekly. Electronic portfolios are
commonplace at Guardian Angels, where
students have eagerly and willingly utilized
computers and technology. The school takes
part in all Board sporting events, runs a full
intramural program and has many student
clubs. It features a large school choir.
Given the school’s vibrancy and
activity, it is not surprising that Principal
Deborah Robinson and Grade 6 Teacher Kelly
Brownrigg received the Prime Minister’s
Award for Teaching Excellence in 2002. In
addition, Teacher Laura Justinich received a
Capital Educators Award in 2002 and Teacher
Liz Arkell received a Junior Education
Recognition Award for Ontario in 2000.
Present Principal
Brenda Wilson (2003-present)
Past Principals
Deborah Robinson (1999-2003)
Deborah Robinson, Principal
Karen Zanetti-VanWesterop
Cheryl Laffin-Lepage
Tamara Creaser
Linda Scrivens
Laura Justinich
Valerie Moodie
Shannon Carragher (McLeod)
Carolyn Carpini (Joseph)
Stacy Santos
John Palmer
Pamela Hassenklover
Christian Pouliot
Elizabeth Arkell
Mary Ann Albert (McCuen)
Janet Steele
Carole Conway
Chantal Paquin (McAlpine)
Nathalie Leman-Abbott
Anne Marie Smith
Brenda McNally
Terri Kelly, Office Administrator
Christine Woodley, Librarian
John Hughes, Custodian
103
School Colours
Navy blue, cranberry and white
These colours appear on the school
logo, with a hint of gold showing for the
halo.
Logo
The school logo features angels’
wings in a heart shape, symbolizing love
and embracing learning as symbolized by an
open book in which the motto is written.
A halo sits above the wings and book. The
logo was designed by Grade 4 Student
Lauren Jamieson, Parent Chris Dorey and
Teacher Val Moodie.
Motto
“Hope, Wonder and Dream.” This
motto was the result of a combination of
over 170 submissions made by staff,
students and families.
“Hope” in the motto has a strong
scriptural basis. St. Paul, in his letter to the
Colossians, writes: “The faith and love that
spring from hope that is stored up for you in
heaven and that you have already heard
about is the word of truth, the Gospel.”
“Wonder” in the motto: Angels
played a huge role in supporting, guiding
and comforting Jesus on earth. They also
proclaimed the news of Jesus’ birth. Their
actions created wonder and awe for people.
Learning also begins with wonder and then
discovery.
“Dream” in the motto suggests a
vision of tomorrow and the whole concept
of setting and achieving goals in life.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Team Names
“Gators” is the name for all school
sports teams. The name was unveiled at an
assembly at the school in 2006, the
culmination of a process, which began
during the previous school year when the
initiative to come up with a name for the
school teams was announced. A suggestion
box was set up and the students were able to
submit possible names. The school staff then
selected the top 30 submitted names and, in
June 2005, circulated this list among the
classes in the school, with each class being
able to select its favourite six names. After
the top six names were identified through
this process, the actual selection of the
winning name was very democratic. Around
the time of the 2006 federal election,
balloting was held at the school with every
student getting to vote on the name for the
school’s sports teams. It turned out that
“Gators” was the name that received the
most votes. A banner proclaiming “Home of
the Gators” is next on the “to do” list, along
with the holding of a contest to design what
the gator should look like. There will then be
a “Name the Gator” contest.
Song
The school’s song was written by
Teacher John Palmer and was recorded by
the school choir at Sacred Heart Catholic
High School.
104
I
n the early 1960s, a number of new
subdivisions sprang up in the Riverside
Park area of Ottawa South near Mooney’s
Bay. This brought about the need for a new
school and a new parish. The parish was
officially formed in the fall of 1966 and
named Holy Cross. The new church, at the
corner of Walkley Road and Springland
Drive, was not built and occupied until
March 1969.
At about the same time as this
new parish was being planned and
developed, the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board was assessing the
need for a new school in the area. A 1965
letter from architect Edward J. Cuhaci
estimated the cost of a new school at
$298,000. In 1966, construction of the
as-yet unnamed new school in the Walkley
Road/Springland Drive area took place. Holy
Cross Catholic School opened in September
1967, sharing the name of the newly-formed
parish in the area. The official opening and
blessing took place on October 10, 1968, with
Bishop Windle officiating.
With the amalgamation of the
Board and the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board in 1998, a rationalization of
school space took place. One result was that
St. Victor Catholic School was closed, with
its school community joining Holy Cross
School in 1999. The same year also saw a
computer lab opened at Holy Cross, as well
as a library and a play structure. The main
office was also renovated.
Holy Cross School today offers
a welcoming and inclusive learning
environment for students from Junior
Kindergarten to Grade 6. The challenge for
each student is to be of service to others and
to achieve personal growth and academic
success. A strong sense of faith, community
and excellence pervades the Holy Cross
School community.
HOLY
CROSS
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Past Principals
Paul Brady (1967)
Vincent O’Reilly (1968)
James Shea (1975-78)
Donald Lenaghan (1978-83)
Sister Anna Clare Berrigan
(1984-85)
Douglas Goodwin (1985-86)
Clifford Foley (1986-91)
Anthony Charbonneau (1991-97)
Sheila Fergus (1998-2002)
Monica Kerwin (2002-2006)
Early Teaching and Support Staff
2820 Springland Drive
Ottawa K1V 6M4
613-733-5887
www.occdsb.on.ca/hcr
One highlight for the school was
a visit by Ottawa South MPP Dalton
McGuinty when he was the MPP for the
area, prior to his becoming Premier of the
Province of Ontario.
Present Principal
Susan Thibault
105
Arthur Johnston
Faye Patsula
Marlene Connelly
Winnifred Wancgycki
M. Ridzon
Lee Hutt
Fran McGilchrist
Elaine McAllister
Mrs. Bradley
Victor Lauren
Sister Helen Gray
Shirley Harvey
Maureen Wainwright
Marion Barton
Mrs. MacMillan
Mr. Bonapart
Kate Goodine
Margaret Bray
Diane Atsalenos
R. Burgess
Fran Blanchfield
Bruce Kinsella
Margaret Madden
Pat Brown
Mrs. Chapman
Elnora McLean
Sue Farrant
Judy Cogan
Anne Phillion
Bonnie Steele
Miss Stewart
Mrs. Rowan
Mrs. Hoganson
SCHOOL HISTORIES
French Teachers
Joelle Agar
Louise Gardner
Claire Carpentier
Jeannette Rochon
Ann Caron
Mrs. Gauthier
Sylvie Tessier
Diane Noel
Thérese Condron
Louise Vincent
Denis Ducharme
Danielle Miron
Anita Lapérrière
Former Students
George Brown became a longtime
City of Ottawa Councillor.
Jim Peplinski played for the
Calgary Flames of the National Hockey
League.
School Colours
The school colours are blue, red
and white.
Marcella O’Connor, Secretary
Sheila Forman, Secretary
(1986-2005)
Jill Hnatyshyn, Secretary
(2005-present)
Aline Charette, Custodian
(1992-2005)
106
Sports Team Logo
The Holy Cross sports team logo
features a grey background representing
the wind. The words “Holy Cross” are on
the logo in blue while the team name
“Hurricanes” appears in red. There is also
a cross in red and blue on the logo, located
beneath the “Hurricanes” name. Student
Samuel Dye designed this “Hurricanes”
school sports logo in 2002.
Logo
The school logo, in the shape of
a stylized shield, features a white and red
background with a cross that is partially
coloured white and red in contrast to the
similar background colours. The school name
appears in red on the white background at
the top of the logo.
O
ften a school becomes a reality
due to the presence and activism
of a Catholic parish. In Ottawa
South, it was the reverse: the new Holy
Family Catholic School led to the
establishment of the Hunt Club Catholic
Community in 1981. The name of the
community was changed in 1985 to Holy
Family Catholic Community to reflect the
relationship with the school where weekly
Sunday Masses were held in the
gymnasium. The creation of both Holy
Family Catholic School and this Catholic
community were the result of residential
growth in the south end of the city, a growth
that necessitated the creation of Holy Cross
Catholic Parish in 1966 and a continuing
growth, which led to the need for the new
school and the new Catholic community.
The Holy Family Catholic Community held
a closing celebration in May 2001, when it
reunited with Holy Cross Parish.
“Holy Family,” the name first
of the school and then of the Catholic
community, was submitted by the Samuels
family during the school board’s name
selection process. This had been the name
of the school that their children had
attended in Montreal. It was selected
because it represented the values of family
and community, which were core principles
for the new school.
Holy Family Catholic School opened
for the 1978-79 school year with an enrolment
of 75 students, housed in portables. But the
new school facility, boasting a unique one-ofa-kind design, was ready for the next school
year. Its official opening took place on
Sunday, October 21, 1979.
In just a few years, Holy Family
Catholic School became overcrowded so
an annex was opened on Uplands Drive.
This annex remained in place until 1989.
In June 1989, the primary students at the
annex moved to the main building. Then, on
HOLY
FAMILY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
245 Owl Drive
Ottawa K1V 9K3
613-521-0475
www.occdsb.on.ca/hfa
Thanksgiving Day, 1989, the annex was
closed and Vice-Principal Margie Gourdier
and her junior students moved back to Holy
Family School to be accommodated in a porta-pak.
In 1988-89, the school celebrated
its tenth anniversary. A school logo was
designed and the school song was written.
Holy Family Catholic School celebrated its
25th anniversary on October 17, 2004, an
event that attracted many staff, students
and parents, both past and present.
A highlight event took place in
Holy Family Catholic School in January
107
2005, when Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty visited the school, speaking to
the grades 5 and 6 students and visiting
all of the classes.
Over the years, Holy Family
School has been a caring and generous
community, as well as one with a sense
of fun and celebration. It has supported
charitable causes such as “Jump Rope for
Heart” and the Ottawa Food Bank. In
January 2005, the school, with an enrolment
of just under 300 students, raised $3,500 for
tsunami relief. Each year the school holds
a walk-a-thon fundraiser.
For fun, the Holy Family School
community enjoys activities such as carnival
days, a fun fair, a family skate night and
Christmas celebrations. There is a talented
school choir, which, under the direction of
Teacher Rhodora Williams, has won
numerous awards at the Kiwanis Music
Festival. Holy Family Catholic School also
has had a strong interest in physical fitness
and sports. It has received Canadian
Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) awards
at both the gold and platinum levels. It has
a daily intramural sports program for
students at lunchtime, most recently
organized by Teacher Diane Finlay.
The Holy Family School
community remains a welcoming,
multicultural community, embracing many
nationalities. Its members come from more
than 20 different language backgrounds.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Anne McCready (2003-present)
Past Principals
Ken Kurs (1979-83)
Michael Kloepfer (1983-84
Glenda McDonell (1984-89)
Fergus Lyons (1989-94)
Michael Kloepfer (1994-99)
Anne Noseworthy (1999-2003)
Former students
Alanis Morissette, a world famous
singer and songwriter
Chris Nihmey, a published author
of children’s books
Craig Carson, a published author
of children’s books
Colours
Royal blue and white
Carla Baars
Marlene Connelly
Joanne Budd
Sister Marilyn Carty
Anthony Charbonneau
Thérèse Condron
Roger Doré
Noreen Flynn
Michel Fortin
Charlotte Lalonde
Claudette Lemire
Anne Lengelle
Dalia Lewis
Kathleen McDonnell
Sister Marie Shewchuk
Sharon Murphy, Secretary
Ron Leblanc, Custodian
Logo
The school logo consists of a
triangular symbol topped by a cross. The
triangle is divided into three parts, each
containing a representative picture to show
the connection among home, school and
church.
Song
The Holy Family School song was
written for the school’s tenth anniversary
in 1988-89.
108
H
oly Redeemer Catholic School
opened on McCurdy Drive in
Kanata in January 1988. The
students and staff had been housed at
Georges Vanier Catholic School since
September 1987, awaiting the completion
of their new school facility. Holy Redeemer
School shares its name with Holy Redeemer
Parish in Kanata, a fact which partly
explains the close partnership which exists
between school and church. But the
relationship between the school and the
parish goes far beyond just sharing a name.
In recent years, the school has
enjoyed weekly visits from Father Oliver
Rich of Holy Redeemer Parish, who delights
the students with his stories. In addition,
the school currently benefits from regular
visits by Ted Hurley, the youth coordinator
of the parish, who charms the students with
his religious songs. This has led to a strong
faith component at the school, as evidenced
by the grade two sacramental preparation
and the faith-filled liturgies and prayer
services, enriched by student involvement as
readers, choir members and altar servers.
Besides a strong parish
relationship, the school has also benefited
over the years from a vital academic,
extracurricular and athletic focus, and from
a supportive school council. Here is a
glimpse of the Holy Redeemer School of
today; the product of nearly two decades of
student achievement and growth, assisted
by an engaged and proficient staff.
Holy Redeemer students actively
participate in choral activities, in an active
intramural program, in Board athletic meets
and in clubs such as rope skipping and chess.
An ambassador program for grade 6 students
develops their leadership skills through
training, followed by active involvement in
school functions as librarians and bus
helpers, and by serving as introducers at
school events. A social skills program that
HOLY
REDEEMER
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
75 McCurdy Drive
Kanata K2L 3W6
613-591-3256
www.occdsb.on.ca/red
deals with students’ needs has been
implemented. Monthly assemblies celebrate
student success by awarding certificates to
two students in each class who exemplify
values such as peacemaking, friendship,
trust and citizenship. A “Be a Buddy; Be a
Friend” school-wide, anti-bullying program,
implemented in partnership with the
Western Ottawa Community Resource
Centre, allows students to make the right
choices and emphasizes respect for each
other. The school choir, which has been active
since the school was formed, has participated
in school board musicals and arts
celebrations and has sung at an Ottawa 67’s
junior hockey game.
109
The students actively participate
in athletic events of all kinds, both at the
Board and intramural levels. The school has
received four Canadian Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance (CAHPERD) gold awards for its
physical activity programs. There has been
an annual sing-along at Christmas time,
with a brass quartet. Donations have been
made to the Canadian Hunger Foundation
for many years. Annual ski days for grades 5
and 6 classes are held, along with end-ofyear trips for grade 6 graduates. A volunteer
tea, an Education Week community
breakfast, a “Read with All Your Hearts
Day” featuring guest readers in the
classrooms, and a “Buddy Readers” program
where older students share stories with
younger ones, also add to the excellence of
the learning and community environment
at the school.
The recent outpouring of support
for the victims of the tsunami in Southeast
Asia in December 2004, and for the victims
of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 are examples
of how Holy Redeemer lives the Gospel
message of helping one’s neighbour. Holy
Redeemer School raised $680 through a
“Toonies for Katrina” campaign and also
provided eight boxes of books for victims of
Hurricane Katrina. The school raised $1,200
for tsunami victims.
A supportive school council has
been instrumental in helping Holy Redeemer
Catholic School grow into the school that it
is today. This council has supported the
school’s literacy initiatives through
fundraising activities. It has hosted an
annual Halloween community night, a
Christmas craft fair, a pizza and Mass
evening and a year-end barbecue. It also
sponsors an annual walk-a-thon at the
school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Linda Mosley
Staff Recognition
Teacher Anne Lamont was the first
recipient of the Bernadette MacNeil Award.
Past Principals
John Delorme
Greg Peddie
Judi Sarginson
Gloria Sterling
Sam Coletti
Tom Winterbottom
Marie Smith
Joanne Kennedy
Susan Wilgress
Guylaine Labelle
Pam Morel
Pat Scrim
Elizabeth Valiquette
Kathryn Golob
Mary Whiticar
Mike Moran
Roxanne McCaffrey
Sylvia Jennings
Ann-Louise Revells
Anne Lamont
Rita Charbonneau
Lois Rouble
Gina Bakonyi
Gayle Sadler
Dale Brownlee
Italo Graziani
John Panagakos
Former Students
Sean Langdon played with the
Sudbury Wolves and the Kingston
Frontenacs of the Ontario Junior A Hockey
League.
Jim Kehoe played with the
Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Junior A
Hockey League.
Daniel Weaver is studying for his
doctorate in astrophysics.
110
Logo
The letters “H R” in the middle of
the circular logo stand for Holy Redeemer,
printed over a Canadian maple leaf. The
school colours of red, white and blue are
reflected in the logo. The word “Catholic” in
the school’s name on the logo provides the
faith element.
First School Council
Louise Harding
Chris Jurewicz
Diane Ryan
Monica Rosales
Sheryl Bell
Sharron Quinn
Kita Jussup
Linda Scrivens
Joanne McSheffrey
W
hen Holy Spirit Catholic School
in Stittsville opened in 1989, it
marked the coming together of
the past, present and future of the Catholic
presence in the community. It represented
in its name respect for Stittsville’s Catholic
heritage; it represented in its creation the
work and activity of the Catholic community
of the village to bring Catholic education
to Stittsville; and it contained within its
formation the seeds of the future Holy Spirit
Catholic Parish and of a future second
Catholic elementary school in the
neighbourhood. Yes, all of this because of
one school!
During the municipal election
campaign of 1985, the subject of a new
Catholic elementary school in Stittsville
arose and started the stream of events that
culminated in the opening of Holy Spirit
Catholic School on Tuesday, May 23, 1989,
less than four years later. The impetus for
all of this was a November 6, 1985 editorial
in The Stittsville News pointing out that a
Catholic school was needed in Stittsville
because of the population growth in the
community and because such a school would
be important for the local Catholic
community. At an ensuing all-candidates’
meeting, Goulbourn Township’s trustee on
the Carleton Roman Catholic School Board,
Hugh Connelly, stated that he saw “eye to
eye” with The Stittsville News editorial. He
said at the meeting that if Catholic parents
in the community expressed some interest,
a new school in Stittsville could be a reality
“within the next three years.” How prophetic
he turned out to be!
School Board already owned a site on Main
Street in Stittsville, having purchased it in
the late 1970s when there had been some
talk of establishing a portable complex in
the village, an idea that fell through when
Munster Hamlet parents vocally insisted
that their children continue to attend their
HOLY
SPIRIT
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
1383 Stittsville Main Street
Stittsville K2S 1A6
613-831-1853
www.occdsb.on.ca/spi
parish school, St. Philip in Richmond, rather
than transfer to the proposed Stittsville
facility. Later, in November 1985, Trustee
Connelly, who was acclaimed in the election,
wrote an article in The Stittsville News,
which began by stating, “Stittsville should
have a Catholic elementary school.” He
pointed out that a new Stittsville school was
not a high priority in the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board’s 1986 capital
expenditure forecast (it was number 18 on
the list), but he also pointed out that
number five was an eight-unit semipermanent portable addition at St. Martin
de Porres Catholic School in Glen Cairn,
which Stittsville students attended at that
111
time. In his article, Trustee Connelly made a
strong case for the community school concept
and suggested that it would make more
sense to establish a portable complex at
Stittsville than to put the temporary
addition at St. Martin. He advocated the
formation of a Catholic school ratepayers
group to work for a community school in
Stittsville. On December 5, 1985, a meeting
was held to form such a group. At this
meeting, Trustee Connelly said that it was
up to Catholic parents and ratepayers in
Stittsville to determine whether a Catholic
elementary school would or would not
become a reality in the village in the near
future. While indicating his full support for
a Stittsville Catholic school, he said that the
Catholic parents and ratepayers would have
to “lead the charge.”
A follow-up meeting in January
1986, saw the formation of the Stittsville
Catholic Parents’ Association, with the goal
of working towards the establishment of a
Catholic elementary school in the area.
A draft constitution was approved and an
executive was elected, consisting of Linda
Gilmour as President, Bob Davis as VicePresident and Louise Gallagher as Secretary
and Treasurer. It was made clear at this
meeting that the group would be
approaching the school board for a
permanent school in the village and not a
port-a-pak complex on the site. Following
the meeting, a petition signed by virtually
all of the Catholic ratepayers in Stittsville
and area was gathered and a brief outlining
the need for a Catholic community school
was drawn up for presentation to the
In the fall of 1986, the Stittsville
Catholic elementary school moved closer
to reality as the 1987 capital expenditure
forecast of the school board listed the
Stittsville school as third on its priority
list. This improvement, along with the
elimination of the planned addition to
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School in Glen
Cairn, could be attributed to the work and
lobbying of the Stittsville Catholic Parents’
Association whose members helped the
school board and its administration come to
realize that there was a desire by Catholic
ratepayers in the community to have a
school. A sign identifying a Main Street
location as the site of the future English
Catholic elementary school in Stittsville
was erected on the property. In March 1987,
following a motion initiated by Trustees
Hugh Connelly and Arthur J.M. Lamarche,
the school board agreed to list the Stittsville
elementary school as the number one
priority in its 1988 capital expenditure
forecast. In the late spring of 1987, the
Stittsville Catholic Parents’ Association
organized a letter-writing campaign to the
Ontario Minister of Education, outlining the
need for improved capital funding from the
province for new schools within the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board. Pursuant to
the March 1987 motion, the Board, on
October 13, 1987, placed the Stittsville
school once again as its number one priority
in the capital expenditure forecast which
would be submitted to the Ministry of
Education. Mr. Connelly had resigned from
the Board because of a new job commitment,
but his efforts at facilitating the new
Stittsville school were carried on by his
replacement, Mrs. Mary Curry of Stittsville.
In November 1987, the school
board appointed the firm of Griffiths,
Rankin, Cook, Architects, to develop sketch
plans for the school, pending funding
approval from the Ministry of Education.
The size of the school was increased from its
originally proposed capacity of 411 students
to one that would accommodate 516. The
Stittsville Catholic Parents’ Association
remained active. In the fall of 1987, it
organized an outdoor Mass on the school
site.
Tuesday, April 26, 1988 proved to
be the day of destiny for the new Stittsville
Catholic School as the Provincial
Government announced that it had approved
capital funding of $3.4 million for its
construction. This accelerated the
completion of the working drawings, receipt
of additional Ministry approvals and the
calling of tenders for the new school. It was
decided that, in the fall of 1988, students of
the new Stittsville Catholic School would be
housed at St. Martin de Porres School in
Glen Cairn as a temporary measure until
the new building was ready in the spring
of 1989.
The Stittsville Catholic Parents’
Association disbanded, its work completed,
and the Parent-Teacher Association for the
new school was elected consisting of Lorne
McConnery, President, Joan Kinnie, VicePresident, Cathy White, Secretary, Jan
Haubrich, Treasurer, Stephen Grant and
Sue MacDonald, Parent Representatives,
Louise Turcotte, Teacher Representative and
Robert Slack, Principal. In addition, the
name “Holy Spirit” was selected as the name
for the new Stittsville Catholic School. This
name tied the school to Stittsville’s Catholic
heritage because the name was shared by
the Catholic community, which had
flourished briefly in the community two
decades previously.
By agreeing with the
recommendation of Stittsville parents to
name the school “Holy Spirit Catholic
School,” the Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board recognized the efforts of those who
had put their Catholic faith into action in
the late 1960s and early 1970s by
establishing a Catholic church in Stittsville.
Naming the school “Holy Spirit”
brought home the fact that the Catholic
heritage of Stittsville did not begin with the
establishment of the new school but rather
had begun more than 20 years previously
112
with the establishment of the Catholic
Church of the Holy Spirit on Flewellyn Road
just west of Stanley’s Corners, south of
Stittsville. Masses were celebrated there
from July 30, 1967 until 1974 when it was
closed by the pastor of St. Philip Church and
the Archbishop.
Catholic Masses were held in
Stittsville as early as 1963 in the gymnasium
of the Stittsville Public School. This led to the
purchase of a former red brick school building
on Flewellyn Road, which was converted into
a church. Rev. Thomas Farrell, parish priest
at St. Philip Catholic Church in Richmond,
also served in the new church from its
inception. Formally, it was a mission church
of St. Philip’s, but, for all intents and
purposes, it operated as a parish community
in its own right. The parishioners themselves
selected the name “Holy Spirit” for the
church. Regular Sunday Masses were held at
the Church of the Holy Spirit, and the parish
flourished to the point where an addition was
built on the rear of the old school building to
enlarge the church premises. But 1974
brought an end to this church in the
community, as a change of parish priests at
St. Philip and other factors combined to bring
about its closure. However, the tradition of
the name “Holy Spirit” in Stittsville had been
established, and it would emerge again and
be embraced when the new school was named
in 1988. The new Catholic community in
Stittsville would also be called “Holy Spirit
Parish” when it was revitalized after the
establishment of the school.
On August 22, 1988, the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board awarded the
contract for the construction of the new
school to Mueller-Hein Corporation of
Nepean at a tendered price of $3,396,000.
This new 40,000 square foot school,
accommodating up to 532 students and
including a child care facility, would be built
on the 4.5 acre site that the Board had
owned since the late 1970s.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Holy Spirit Catholic School opened
on September 6, 1988, housed in temporary
quarters at St. Martin de Porres Catholic
School. Principal Bob Slack, Office
Administrator Debby Moore and the 12member teaching staff began with a student
enrolment of 238 students. Finally, on May
23, 1989, the students and staff moved into
the new building in Stittsville. Almost
immediately, Father Corbin Eddy of Holy
Redeemer Parish in Kanata, which included
Stittsville within its boundaries, started
holding a Sunday Mass in the Holy Spirit
School gymnasium. This led to the
establishment of Holy Spirit Mission, which
grew to become Holy Spirit Catholic Parish.
Masses were celebrated in the
Holy Spirit gymnasium until 2001 when the
growing congregation was forced to relocate
to a larger venue, the gymnasium at the
new Sacred Heart Catholic High School in
Stittsville. The parish now has plans to
build its church, with an expected opening
in December 2007. Holy Spirit Catholic
School was not only the impetus for reestablishment of a Catholic community in
Stittsville, but also became the leading force,
which eventually led to the construction of
a second Catholic elementary school,
Guardian Angels.
Enrolment at Holy Spirit grew
in the 1990s due to continued residential
growth in Stittsville. Portable classrooms
became a fact of life, with as many as
15 jamming the schoolyard. By the late
1990s, the population of Holy Spirit had
mushroomed to about 850 students, in a
school built for only 532.
letter-writing campaigns and a
demonstration at the office of MPP Norm
Sterling.
In the summer of 1998, the
overcrowding situation at Holy Spirit
Catholic School led to the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board building an extension
at the rear of the school to house additional
washroom facilities to serve the overcrowded
student population. Enrolment at Holy
Spirit had reached 785 students by
December 1997, with another increase
expected in September 1998. Finally, a
second Catholic elementary school was
approved for Stittsville. The school year
1999-2000 saw the Holy Spirit School
community sharing their facility with the
students and staff of Guardian Angels
Catholic School, which was under
construction. There were 17 portable
classrooms in use on the Holy Spirit site
that fall, and close to 1,000 students.
Deborah Robinson, the Principal of
Guardian Angels Catholic School, led her
students and staff into the new school in
April 2000.
Ongoing residential growth in the
Stittsville community has meant that
Holy Spirit School continues to enjoy an
enrolment of about 500 students. The school
board’s latest capital plan includes
construction of a new elementary school in
Stittsville with a scheduled opening of
September 2008.
Present Principal
Kevin Mullins
Past Principals
Robert Slack
Bev Murphy
Lyle Bergeron
Bert O’Connor
Robert Slack, Principal
Gloria Sterling
Phyllis O’Neill
Louise Turcotte
Brenda MacDonald
Grace Anderson
Robert Santos
Valerie Tierney
Pat Campbell
Linda Scrivens
Tamara Connors
Marilyn O’Connor, Music Teacher
Rita Ovington, Librarian
Line Picard, French Teacher
Carole Conway, French Teacher
Tilly O’Connor, Teacher Assistant
for Kindergarten
Mary Locke, Special Education
Resource Teacher
Debby Moore, Secretary
Claude Fedorchuk, Head
Custodian
Michael Poole, Custodian
School Colours
The school colours are royal blue
and white.
Motto
Catholic parents in Stittsville once
again came to the fore and, working with
school and Board staff and trustees, they
fought to make the provincial government,
then the funding agency for new schools,
aware of the need for another new school in
the area. There were public meetings, and
Logo
“Friends Sharing God’s Spirit”
The school’s logo portrays the
flame of the Holy Spirit surrounding a cross
superimposed on the stylized letters “H.S.”
113
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Mascot
A bear is the school’s mascot.
Bears are not unfamiliar to
students and staff at Holy Spirit. There have
been sightings of real bears in Stittsville.
This has resulted in parents being called to
pick up their children after school so that
walking students have a safe way home.
Song
Holy Spirit Catholic School has
a school song.
The lyrics and music for the song
were composed by Tim Mouchet, the brother
of Louise Turcotte, the first grade three
teacher at Holy Spirit.
Mr. Mouchet took the school’s
motto, “Friends Sharing God’s Spirit” and,
combining it with themes such as family and
teachers, composed the lyrics and then
developed the music to go with the song
during the school’s inaugural year of 19881989.
The words of the Holy Spirit
Catholic School’s song are as follows:
Chorus:
Holy Spirit Catholic School is the
beginning of a dream
That will sail us far beyond the
stars
A life yet to be seen.
Filled with faith and hope and love
And everything between.
Holy Spirit Catholic School is the
beginning of a dream. (twice)
Each morning I find myself
Wondering what the day will bring
Books in hand, away I go…
And my heart begins to sing.
114
All my friends are standing tall
with me
Asking all we wish to know
Teachers guiding us throughout
the years
As our minds and bodies grow.
It’s great to know that Mom and
Dad
Are there to see me through and
through
To give the best in life a child can
have
To be a part of such a school.
The Spirit touches all our lives
In a very special way
In the Spirit we will be as one
As we live to love each day.
A
rchitecturally, Holy Trinity
Catholic High School in Kanata is
the mother of all of the newer high
schools now operated by the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board. The threestorey design, first employed here, has been
reused in the construction of five other new
high schools built in the years since Holy
Trinity’s construction in 1990. The design,
developed by Edward J. Cuhaci and
Associates Architects of Ottawa, continues
to be modified and improved with each new
high school, and visually altered to add some
uniqueness to each high school; nonetheless,
the basic design remains unchanged.
Holy Trinity Catholic High School
was the first high school built by the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board in
the suburban community of Kanata, initially
serving not only the Kanata growth area but
also the surrounding rural areas to the
north and west. Previously, students from
these areas attended St. Paul High School
in Bells Corners. While Holy Trinity was
created and inaugurated as a school
community on September 4, 1990 with
700 students from Grades 7 through 10,
the students and staff initially shared the
St. Paul facility on a shift basis, with Holy
Trinity students attending in the afternoon
and St. Paul students going in the morning.
This temporary arrangement lasted for two
months until the end of October when the
newly-constructed facility on Katimavik
Road in Kanata was completed. Classes
concluded at St. Paul on the afternoon of
October 29, 1990 and resumed in the brand
new school on the morning of October 30.
The official opening and blessing of the new
school, held on May 5, 1991, was presided
over by Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais.
Holy Trinity added a grade level
in each of the ensuing three years, becoming
a full grades 7 to 13 high school, and a very
successful one in terms of numbers.
Continuing growth in Kanata and the
HOLY
TRINITY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
180 Katimavik Road
Kanata K2L 4A7
613-591-9955
www.occdsb.on.ca/trh
surrounding areas, particularly in
Stittsville, meant that the enrolment at Holy
Trinity swelled to 1,900 students by the late
1990s, resulting in a forest of portables
springing up at the rear of the school. Relief
from the overcrowding came when
Stittsville’s Sacred Heart Catholic High
School opened in the 1999-2000 school year.
Three years later, in September, All Saints
Catholic High School in Kanata, north of
Highway 417, began serving the community.
The 2006 capital plan of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board calls
for a 24-room addition to be built at Holy
Trinity Catholic High School in time for the
115
2007-08 school year. This enlargement,
foreseen in the original design of the school,
will eliminate the need for many of the
remaining portables. It will allow St. Anne
School graduates to attend high school in
their home community of Kanata instead of
commuting to Sacred Heart in Stittsville as
they have always done since the opening of
that school. Finally, it will ensure the
educational viability of the Holy Trinity
school community for the foreseeable future,
halting the decline in student numbers at
the school due to demographic factors.
The name “Holy Trinity Catholic
High School” came about as a result of a
process described in school board policy.
Suggestions for the name of the new school
were sought from the students, staff and
parents of the newly formed school
community. The submissions were whittled
down to five names, from which the school
community then had the opportunity to
indicate a favoured choice. Suggestions
included “Kanata Catholic High School,”
“St. Luke Catholic High School,” and “John
Paul II Catholic High School,” but the
almost unanimous choice by the school
community, submitted to the school board
for approval in the spring of 1990, was
“Trinity Catholic High School.” “Holy” was
added to the name to ensure the Catholic
identity of the school.
Support of social justice initiatives
and charitable causes has become a tradition
at Holy Trinity Catholic High School. Since
1997, groups of students from Holy Trinity
have traveled to the Dominican Republic to
experience first-hand the struggles of those
who live in poverty in that country and to
raise awareness of social issues. The Holy
Trinity community annually supports a
number of charitable causes such as Easter
Seals, the Kanata Food Cupboard, St. Mary’s
Home, the United Way, the Catholic
Organization for Development and Peace
and the Terry Fox Cancer Foundation. In
SCHOOL HISTORIES
2004, Holy Trinity students and staff raised
$35,000 in their annual Terry Fox Run, the
third-highest total for any school in Ontario.
The canned food drives at the school,
inaugurated in 1991 have assisted the
Kanata Food Cupboard annually since then,
with over 40,000 items collected in peak
years.
A defining event at Holy Trinity
was the creation of the Holy Trinity Walk of
Fame at the front of the school in the 200203 academic year.
Athletics has played a major role
in the student experience over the years,
with the sports teams known as the Trinity
Tornadoes and the main gymnasium being
christened the “Twisterdome.”
Present Principal
Peter Atkinson (2005-present)
Past Principals
Tom Duggan (1989-92)
Brent Wilson (1992-96)
Anne-Marie McGillis (1996-99)
Joan Clark (1999-2002)
Roseanne Lalonde (2002-04)
Tom Duggan, Principal
Julian Hanlon, Vice-Principal
Lynn Fulton, Vice-Principal
Darlene Dumas, Chaplain
Christine Adam-Carr
Gino Bentivoglio
Al Byers
Joao Moloissa
Gilles Peltier
Chris Bonner
Martha More
Josephine Geraghty
Mario Cerroni
Paul Voisin
Mike Maloney
David Hart
Dan MacDonald
Ron Coté
Fouad Kofri
Steve McCabe
Richard Bordeleau
Nancyjane Cawley
Bob Lackey
Elizabeth Jones
Sandy Dobec
Katherine Razzouk
Liana Krauthaker
Lisa Nanavati
Cheryl Orzel
Johanne Lachapelle
Mary McGrath
Bernie Gauthier
H.P. Hansen
Bob Lee
Gloria Sobb
Gail Osborne
Anne-Marie McGillis
Rosario Vidosa
Sil Sanna
John McGovern
Leslie Vanneste
Chantal Perreault
Gary Yates
Roy Lalonde
Danielle Novak
Pauline Tzivanopoulos
Terry Fagan
Peter de Montigny
Terry McGovern
Patricia McKinnon, Educational
Assistant
Frank Bastianelli, Educational
Assistant
Angela Harrison, Educational
Assistant
Susan Tomka, Head Secretary
Myrna Nicholls, Secretary
Patricia Koeslag, Secretary
Lorraine Hubbs, Library
Technician
Pat O’Connell, Custodian
Gerry Seguin, Custodian
Claude Fedorchuk, Custodian
116
Staff Recognition
Teacher Stephanie Goodwin
received a Capital Educators’ Award from
the Ottawa Centre for Research and
Innovation in 2004.
Music Teacher Neil Bateman
received the Susan Davis Memorial Award
in 2005.
Former Students
Darren Pouliot has earned a PhD
in remote sensing.
Matthew Poyner and Katherine Yu
have both become medical doctors.
Pat Woodcock has played for the
Montreal Alouettes and the Ottawa
Renegades of the Canadian Football League.
Jeremy Barnett became the owner
and designer of Riders Village Clothing
Lifestyles Store.
Greg Foley and Kerry Moher both
received golf scholarships.
2006 graduate Matt McCarney was
drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the
23rd round of the major league baseball
draft of young players in June 2006. He has
played for the Ottawa Nepean Canadians
team and played for a Canadian team in a
series of games in the Dominican Republic.
He played in the Canada Cup tournament
in August 2005, and for a team of select
Canadian juniors at a tournament at Disney
World in Florida.
Maria Klokotzky, who was ranked
number ten in Canada for under-18 women’s
tennis players in 2005, winning the Ontario
Junior Championship, received a scholarship
from the University of Louisville. In her first
year at the university in 2005-2006, she
became the first freshman at the school to be
SCHOOL HISTORIES
ranked among the top 125 tennis players
in the NCAA Division 1. The University of
Louisville Cardinals finished the season
89th in NCAA Division 1 women’s tennis,
the highest placing in team history,
including a third place finish in its Big East
championship debut.
Emilie Joinette, an Ontario
Scholar graduate and a cystic fibrosis
sufferer since birth, received her longawaited double lung transplant in Toronto
in 2006 and is now enrolled at Algonquin
College to study travel and tourism.
Logo
The school’s logo is a stylized
triangle, representing the Trinity, overlaid
with a white circle, containing a central
green cross and the name of the school.
A furled banner along the bottom of the
triangle contains the school motto of “Faith,
Excellence, Truth.” The logo features the
school’s official colours of green, blue and
white.
117
Canadian flag
For the school’s official opening
on May 5, 1991, Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board Chairperson and
Kanata Trustee Arthur J.M. Lamarche
arranged for a Canadian flag that had flown
at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill to be
draped in the school’s atrium area.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
118
F
IMMACULATA
or over 75 years, Immaculata High
School has been one of the City
of Ottawa’s best-known Catholic
educational facilities. It began in 1928 as
a private Catholic school for girls, with an
enrolment of 85 students in what was then
Form One and Form Two. Three Grey
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Sister
Loyola, Sister Agnes of the Sacred Heart and
Sister St. Geraldine, were the first members
of the school’s teaching staff. The Grey
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from
Pembroke had been asked to open the
Catholic girls’ school to provide a quality
Catholic education to those from families
of moderate income. The girls, who wore
uniforms, paid a minimum monthly fee of
one dollar, but only if they could afford it.
The name of the school is
attributed to Reverend J.J. O’Gorman who
made the long-desired Catholic high school
for girls a reality, acting under the advice
of higher ecclesiastical authority. Apparently,
he was the one who bestowed the revered
name of “Immaculata” upon the school when
it opened, a name it still bears today.
The Christie mansion property
on Bronson Avenue at the corner of Lisgar
Street was purchased for $25,000 as the
site for the new school. The mansion itself
became the first convent home for the Grey
Sisters who taught at the school.
The new school was designed by
Werner Knoffke, a well-known Ottawa
architect who designed the French embassy
on Sussex Drive, among other buildings.
It had eight classrooms, a science lab, a
home economics classroom, a gymnasium
and a stage area, as well as office space.
A passageway linked the school to the Grey
Sisters’ convent.
During the construction of the
school building, the students of the newlyformed Immaculata High School attended
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Sister St. Geraldine and Sister St. Waltrude
handled the teaching duties.
The year 1929 also saw the first
commencement held at Immaculata High
School for graduates of Forms One and Two.
Rev. Father E. Maloney presided at this
commencement ceremony. In the same year,
a music department was established at
Immaculata High School, where both violin
and piano were taught to students. The
school continued to grow, with enrolment
reaching 200 students in 1930 and Sister
Mary Celine and Sister Mary Christine
joining the teaching staff. Another higher
form was added to the original two offered at
the school and a commercial course was also
provided.
140 Main Street
Ottawa K1S 5P4
613-237-2001
www.occdsb.on.ca/ima
classes at St. Patrick’s Home, which at that
time was located at the corner of Laurier
Avenue and Kent Street. At that site, Sister
Loyola was the first principal and the
teachers were Sister Agnes of the Sacred
Heart and Sister St. Geraldine. When the
classes officially opened at the new location,
Sister Agnes of the Sacred Heart became
Principal.
Immaculata High School flourished
immediately, as enrolment soared to
160 students in 1929, requiring a new
building with five classrooms, a science lab
and a small library. Sister Agnes of the
Sacred Heart, Sister St. Hilda, Sister Loyola,
119
By 1939, enrolment at Immaculata
High School had grown to 300 students
taught by nine Sisters. A home economics
department was added in 1939 as were nine
new classrooms to accommodate the growing
enrolment. In 1941, new Principal, Sister
Mary Christine, was supervising a staff of
11. A camera club was formed with facilities
such as developing and printing rooms
added. By 1948, enrolment at Immaculata
had reached 425, and the staff had grown
to 17 Sisters. This meant that the school had
to expand, and thanks to a bequest from the
estate of Dr. B. Kearns, the school was able
to add the Kearns Memorial Wing which
opened in September 1950, adding eight
classrooms including a double-sized
commercial classroom and space for the
Music Department.
This was by no means the end of
new construction: in 1952, an addition was
built on to the Kearns Memorial Wing,
adding three new classrooms, a students’
library and a principal’s office. Then, in
1954, with the construction of a new convent
on the north side of the property, the former
Sisters’ residence was transformed into two
additional classrooms as well as more space
SCHOOL HISTORIES
for the Music Department. The student
population by this time had topped
725 students and the teaching staff stood
at 22. The Music Department alone now
had a staff of four.
The 1960s saw continuing growth
and construction at Immaculata. In 1962,
a chapel/auditorium was built, fulfilling a
dream as well as the prayers of long-time
principal Sister Mary Christine, who
spearheaded the project and its fundraising.
Four years later, Sister Mary Christine
celebrated her silver anniversary as
principal of the school.
Expansion continued. In 1967,
a building with 12 classrooms, as well as
labs and a gym, was opened.
The coming of the 1970s saw new
challenges emerge for Immaculata, both in
terms of enrolment and finances. Up until
the 1970s, many English-speaking students
from the Province of Quebec had been
attending Immaculata. The opening of an
English Catholic high school for girls in
Hull resulted in a decline in the number of
students attending Immaculata from that
province. Enrolment at Immaculata suffered
a further decline when St. Pius X High
School became a co-ed school in 1972. These
blows to Immaculata precipitated a student
population drop to around 400 students.
At the same time, the Grey Sisters
were facing increasing financial challenges
in maintaining Immaculata. The mid 1970s,
as a result, saw increased involvement from
volunteers to help the Grey Sisters to meet
these financial challenges. The volunteers
served on a lay advisory board providing
advice to the school principal, a
management board, a lottery committee
and the Immaculata Foundation, which
used interest from investments to support
Immaculata and Grey Sisters’ projects.
A $100 lottery was established with weekly
prizes, with Robert Hunter coordinating the
fund on behalf of the school and community.
The funds from this lottery supplemented
the support, which the Grey Sisters were
able to provide. In addition, lay staff
members took on extra duties and classes
to help the Grey Sisters.
As Immaculata celebrated its
golden anniversary in 1978, boys were
admitted for the first time in its history, and,
in 1984, grades 7 and 8 students were added
as well. This was also a significant year
because Ontario Premier Bill Davis
announced full funding for Catholic schools.
The resulting grants for Grades 11, 12 and 13
gave Immaculata the financial stability that
it needed and eased the fiscal pressures that
Immaculata had been facing since the 1970s.
As Immaculata marked its
60th anniversary in 1988, change continued.
James J. Shea was appointed as the school’s
first lay principal, ending the tradition of
having a Grey Sister at the helm. Enrolment
at Immaculata, once again increasing, had
grown to 870 students by 1988. The biggest
change in the school’s history occurred
just after Immaculata celebrated its
65th anniversary. In September 1994,
Immaculata students and staff moved from
the treasured Bronson Avenue site to a facility
at 281 Echo Drive, which had been built in
1929-30 as St. Patrick’s College, administered
by the Oblate Fathers. The Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board purchased the
site from Algonquin College, with Edward
Cuhaci as the architect for the renovations
that were undertaken at that time.
At this new location, Immaculata
held its first Terry Fox Run in 1995. Since
that time, the school has raised over $100,000
for cancer research through its Terry Fox
Runs involving students, staff and parents.
In 1996, Immaculata students
went on their first trip to the Dominican
120
Republic where they visited the missions of
the Grey Sisters.
In the spring of 2000, a satellite
classroom site for Immaculata High School
was set up at St. Mary’s Home, a dynamic
centre that brings together, in one location,
a variety of community services in the
support of young pregnant teens. As a result
of a formal partnership between the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board and the
Home, a classroom was created within the
residence to enable pregnant teenagers from
all schools in the city to continue with their
academics during their pregnancies. The
inaugural class had ten students. Bernard
Swords was the first principal of this
satellite site, followed by Denise Andre and
then by Tom D’Amico, the current principal.
Maryalice Mullally has been the teacher in
this satellite classroom since its inception.
The program began in a basement
room at St. Mary’s Home residence in May
2000. In January 2002, the program moved
into a newly renovated facility at 780 rue de
l’Eglise called St. Mary’s Home Community
Outreach and Program Centre. The students
helped to design the classroom, which is a
bright and inviting setting that is very
conducive to learning. The school held its
first graduation in June 2000, and has had
a growing number of graduates ever since.
In 2006, St. Mary’s Home presented a
plaque to the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board in gratitude for its partnership
and the support that it gives to the home in
providing its residents with an amazing
educational opportunity.
Immaculata High School was one
of eight Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board schools which, in the 2005-06 school
year, raised approximately $6,000 in total
for the “OK Clean Water Project.” This
project (OK stands for Ottawa-Kumbo, a
town in Cameroon in Africa) is an initiative
of the Congregation of Notre Dame, an
SCHOOL HISTORIES
in Cameroon.
Immaculata High School
celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2003 and
is now moving towards its centennial in
2028.
Present Principal
Thomas D’Amico (2003–present)
Past Principals
Sister Loyola (1928) (while
students attended classes at
St. Patrick’s Home)
Sister Agnes of the Sacred Heart
(1928-1941) (first principal at
Bronson Avenue site)
Sister Mary Christine (1941-67)
Sister Lucille Martin (1967-70)
Sister Anna Clare (1970-75 and
1976-82)
Sister Anne O’Brien (1975-76)
Sister Theresa Kelly (1982-87)
James J. Shea (1987-89)
Mary Durst (1989-95)
Evelyn Kelly (1989 (acting) and
1995-1997)
Bernard Swords (1998-2001)
Denise Andre (2001-03)
All of the Sisters who were
principals were Grey Sisters of the
Immaculate Conception
Former Staff, Students and Others
In 1988, Sister Barbara Ryan was
honoured as one of three Grey Sisters still
teaching at Immaculata. She began teaching
at Immaculata in 1950.
Evelyn Kelly, a former student,
teacher and principal at Immaculata, was
the first recipient of the YM-YWCA’s Women
of Distinction Award for Education, Training
and Development in 1994. This award is
presented annually celebrating the
achievements of women and honouring the
women who inspire others in the community.
A former Immaculata staff member
and Art teacher, Father Herman Falke, has
received national and international acclaim
as an artist and sculptor. His work is based
principally on liturgical and scriptural
themes.
Edgar “Rocky” Rockburn was
Immaculata’s school custodian for 28 years,
retiring at the age of 69. For 28 years, he
arrived at the school at 4 a.m. each day.
Chris Spiteri was elected
Immaculata’s first head boy in the school’s
history in the 1982-83 school year.
Joseph Meagher, builder of the
original school building and convent as well
as several additions, attended the school’s
50th anniversary celebrations in 1978. He
was 91 years old at the time.
2003 Immaculata graduate Corey
Centen became the first graduate to win the
prestigious Canadian Merit Scholarship
worth over $8,000. In that same year, Corey
also won gold at the Canadian National
Science competition.
Former Immaculata Principal
Bernard Swords became a Justice of the
Peace after retiring from education.
121
The first lay staff member at
Immaculata was Vera McCoy, who taught
elocution. She helped build the school’s
Drama Club presenting annual plays, which
became major events in the community.
Alice Maloney was one of the
graduating students in the picture of the first
graduating class which hung on the wall on
the top floor of Immaculata’s Bronson Avenue
building. There were only five graduates that
year. Alice was also in the first graduating
class of nurses at the University of Ottawa,
as the university had just started classes for
registered nurses. Alice went on from her
university graduation to join the war effort
as a “Wren.”
A number of Immaculata
graduates have become members of religious
communities. Several graduates, as Grey
Sisters, have served as missionaries in
China, Japan, the Bahamas and the
Dominican Republic.
International singing star Alanis
Morissette attended Immaculata for Grades
7 and 8. At the age of 12, she produced her
first record, Fate Stay With Me. On the cover
of an album she wrote a note to a teacher,
Mr. Gorman, as follows: “Mr. Gorman, just
think, you’ve taught me all I know, and I’ll
never swallow gum again. Alanis.”
Student Keenan MacWilliam took
time away from her studies at Immaculata
to star in the television series The Saddle
Club. She also appeared in the Saddle Club
movie and appeared in several music CD’s
and concerts for the show. She also had roles
in a number of other movies including a TV
movie called Get a Clue for Disney
Productions. She was the host and presenter
for a pilot television show, Popular
Mechanics for Kids.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Craig Lauzon had a regular role
on The Comedy Network’s Chez Carla. He
co-wrote and starred in The Chick and
Cubby Comedy Hour, which received a
Canadian Comedy Award nomination for
best new play. He is a member of the comedy
troupe Tonto’s Nephews and is a regular cast
member of Air Farce on CBC-TV.
Immaculata graduate Dorothy
Dunn became the Director of the Teacher
Education Branch of the Ontario Ministry
of Education.
Immaculata graduate Andrew
Scheer was elected as a member of the
House of Commons for the riding of ReginaQu’Appelle in Saskatchewan in June 2004.
Immaculata graduate Lynn
Nightingale became a Canadian ladies’
figure-skating champion.
David Azzi had an outstanding
football career with the University of Ottawa
and then played for the Ottawa Renegades
of the Canadian Football League in 2004
and 2005. The Toronto Argonauts in the
Renegades’ dispersal draft picked him up
in April 2006.
Ben Eager was drafted by the
Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of the
National Hockey League Entry Draft in
2002. He then went on to the Philadelphia
Flyers organization.
Jeremy Mercer worked as a crime
reporter with the Ottawa Citizen from 1995
to 1999. He is the founder of a literary
magazine, Kilometer Zero, and recently
published his third book, Time Was Soft
There.
1990 Immaculata graduate Kris
Klein is a counsel in the federal Department
of Justice and is a co-author of a leading
text, The Law of Privacy in Canada.
Immaculata graduate Carmel
Maloney attended university and then joined
the Ottawa Police Department in its first
hiring of female officers. When she married,
she had to resign because a female officer
could not remain on the Force if married, at
a time when male officers could marry and
still remain with the Police Department.
Immaculata graduate Colleen
Swords is Canada’s ambassador to the
Netherlands.
Immaculata graduate Rita
Desjardins became an elected trustee with
the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate School
Board.
Immaculata graduate Betty-Ann
Kealey became an elected trustee, serving as
Chairperson of the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board and of the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board.
School Colours
The school colours are navy blue,
white and silver/grey.
Logo and Motto
The school logo and motto were
created in 1967 by Sister Mary Paula (Rita
McGuire) and her students. The centennial
year class project was presented to Principal
Sister Mary Christine for approval. The
students came up with the motto “Study
Builds Character.” They also designed the
school logo with its three symbols: a white
lily as a symbol of Mary’s immaculate purity,
a Celtic cross in recognition of the financial
contributions of Irish Catholics in Ottawa
and the lamp of learning to recognize the
pursuit of knowledge.
Mascot
The school mascot is a Saint
Bernard called “Bernie Mac.”
122
Team Names
The school sports teams are known
by the nickname “Saints.”
.
Feast Day
The Feast of the Immaculate
Conception on December 8 is celebrated at
Immaculata every year. The Virgin Mary is
the school’s patroness.
Trips
At one time Immaculata students
were escorted by their teachers on annual
pilgrimages to Mayo, Quebec where there
is a shrine to Our Lady of Knock, honouring
the Blessed Virgin’s appearance to children
in Ireland. Father Braceland, who at
various times served at St. Patrick and
St. Theresa Parishes in Ottawa, visited the
Our Lady of Knock shrine in Ireland and
brought back relics to Canada. Later, he
established a similar shrine in Mayo. Both
sites are recognized around the world.
Father Braceland’s sister, Sister Mary David
of the Grey Sisters, was a teacher at
Immaculata High School.
Song
The school song was written and
composed by Sister Loyola (1875-1953) and
Michael C. MacNeil (1893-1958).
The lyrics are as follows:
Immaculata
Immaculata, we praise Thee;
Loyal we’ll always stand
‘Neath dar’ning cloud or sunbeam
light,
Our hearts at thy command –
And though the years in their swift
flight
May find us apart,
Thy cherished name will all unite
Immaculata hail!
Mem’ries that ne’er will fade,
Comrades and friends so dear,
Souls that are unafraid –
All these are gathered here.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Subjects
In 1929, students trying for Lower
School standing, which enabled them to
enter Normal School, were required to study
the following subjects: botany, physiography,
arithmetic, zoology, geography, English
grammar and English history.
Subjects taken when aiming for
promotion to higher forms and to Ontario
matriculation included Catholic apologetics,
French, English, geometry, algebra and
latin.
Yearbook
The school’s first yearbook was
published in 1942. It was dedicated to
Sister Agnes of the Sacred Heart, the first
principal of Immaculata at the Bronson
Avenue site. She wrote this message in the
yearbook: “In the war-torn world of today,
“V” stands for Victory. Immaculata girls of
1941-42, it will be your glorious task to
make “V” stand for Virtue in the post-war
world which will necessarily require
fundamental re-making in the pursuits
of home, career, art, literature, science,
business and the professions.”
Immaculata’s first hardcover
yearbook, entitled Highlights, was published
in 1955.
Ladies’ Auxiliary
A Ladies’ Auxiliary was formed at
Immaculata in the 1950s to raise funds for
the school. Large community dinners were
a regular activity of this Ladies Auxiliary.
Drama Club
The school’s drama club celebrated
its 25th anniversary in 1955.
Uniforms
By 1978, Immaculata was into the
fourth version of its school uniform. The first
was simply a black smock, the second a navy
blue tunic, and the third a royal blue vest
and short kilt. The current uniform colours
are blue and gray.
Graduates
Over 6,000 students graduated
from Immaculata from its beginnings in
1928 to its 65th anniversary in 1993.
The Grey Sisters of the Immaculate
Conception
The history of the Grey Sisters of
the Immaculate Conception begins with the
Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Grey Nuns)
whose foundress, Marguerite d’Youville, was
the first Canadian-born saint in the Catholic
Church. One of the daughter groups of the
Montreal congregation was the Grey Nuns
of the Cross in Bytown (now the Sisters of
Charity of Ottawa). In 1926, the Grey
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were
formed from the Ottawa community as a
Canadian English-speaking congregation,
with its motherhouse and novitiate in
Pembroke.
Immaculata continues to have a
link with the Grey Sisters. The Grey Sisters
and the Immaculata Foundation provide
$8,000 in scholarships and awards on a
yearly basis to Immaculata graduates.
In addition, the Immaculata Foundation
provides support to the chaplaincy at
Immaculata as well as to the Religious
Education Department. The Immaculata
Foundation continues to function with its
Board of Directors consisting of Grey Sisters
and members of Ottawa’s education and
business community.
123
The Grey Sisters
Sisters who taught at Immaculata between
1928 and 1993
Sister Agnes of the Sacred Heart
Sister Loyola
Sister St. Geraldine
Sister St. Richard
Sister Mary of Mount Carmel
Sister St. Waltrude
Sister St. John
Sister St. Hilda
Sister Helen of the Sacred Heart
(G. Desrochers)
Sister Mary Christine
Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart
(Tunney)
Sister Mary Celine (Marion Kelly)
Sister Mary Louise
Sister Mary Elizabeth
Sister Adeltrude
Sister Mildred
Sister St. Walbert
Sister Mary Ida
Sister St. Leo
Sister Mary Beanor (Eleanor
Swain)
Sister Catherine of the Cross
(Gladys Brennan)
Sister Mary Alice
Sister Francis Clare
Sister Margaret Mary (Mildred
Moyle)
Sister M. Celestine (Geraldine
Kelly)
Sister Mary Monica (Monica
Prestley)
Sister Mary Charlotte (Margaret
M. O’Neill)
Sister Mary Alfred (Gwyneth
Roberts)
Sister St. Benilda
Sister St. Denis (Evelyn Melcohe)
Sister St. Basil (Teresa Doyle)
Sister Mary Terence
Sister St. Helena
Sister Mary Andrew
Sister Maureen (Nora Dolan)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Sister St. Emma
Sister Teresa Ann (Helen
Dunnigan)
Sister Francis Maurice
Sister Mary David
Sister Frances Margaret
Sister Mary Joanna (Barbara
Ryan)
Sister Mary Mildred (Margaret
Ferguson)
Sister Mary Stephen (Catherine
McCann)
Sister Mary Sheila (Marguerite
Somers)
Sister Mary Lucia
Sister Mary Lucille (Lucille
Martin)
Sister Mary of Perpetual Help
(Mary Mulligan)
Sister Mary Evangelista (Helen
Nolan)
Sister Mary Sylvia (Bernice
McCoy)
Sister Mary James (Catherine
Noonan)
Sister Mary Olive (Geraldine
Daley)
Sister Patricia Ann (Joan Nugent)
Sister William Bernard
(Bernadette Kinsella)
Sister Mary Arthur (Rose Welsh)
Sister Mary Teresa (Teresa Kelly)
Sister Mary Deborah (Catherine
Fairbairn)
Sister Mary Rosaleen (Margaret
Ann Cuthbert)
Sister Mary Hugh (Helen Berthe)
Sister Mary Paula (Rita McGuire)
Sister Mary Susan (Anne Taylor)
Sister Mary Paschal (Marie
McArdie)
Sister Mary Julia (Catherine Shea)
Sister Mary Cornelia (Cornelia
Goulet)
Sister St. Callista (Elizabeth
Johnston)
Sister St. Barbara (Madeline
Tokar)
Sister Mary Gregory (Mary Anne
Bondy)
Sister Mary Adrian (Celia
Turcotte)
Sister Margaret Helen (Helen
Leeney)
Sister Mary Patricia
Sister Mary Judith (Margaret
Foran)
Sister Michael Anne (Anne
O’Brien)
Sister St. Frances (Houlihan)
Sister Margaret Dempster
Sister Anna Clare
Sister Gertrude Harrington
Sister Elizabeth Ann Kinsella
Sister Mary Ruddy
Sister Bonnie Zentner
Sister Mary Irene
Sister Mary Beatrice
Sister Roseann (Teresa Todd)
Sister St. Ignatius Loyola
Sisters who taught in the Music Department
at Immaculata High School
Sister St. Edmund
Sister St. Bernard (Bernadette
Stanton)
Sister Mary Claire
Sister Zita of the Cross
Sister Mary Arthur (Rose Welsh)
Sister St. Agatha
Sister Mary Erma (Erma
Courneene)
Sister Paul of the Cross (Madeline
Demarse)
Sister St. Geralda
Sister Caroline
Sister Mary Elaine (Elaine
Reaume)
Sister St. Inez (Marilyn Burns)
Sister St. Bonaventure (Florence
Lapierre)
Sister Mary of Victory (Sheila
Finnerty)
Sister St. Stephen (Aileen Johnson)
Sister Diane Marie (Anne
Fairbairn)
124
Immaculata Graduates
Immaculata High School graduates
who have returned to the school as lay staff
members
Amy Connolly
Jane Cronin
Anne Mason
Louise Hunter
Joan St. Germain
Patricia Reilly
Carol Arnason
Emily Grimes
Maureen DeMontigny
Carol Farbar
Rita Costantini
Julie Swords
Sheila Fergus
Donna Shaughnessy
Kathleen Robinson
Mary Gauthier
Kathleen Dodds (Maloney)
Evelyn Kelly
Brent Hopkins
J
ean Vanier Catholic Intermediate
School on Lajoie Street in Vanier is
named after the founder of L’Arche,
a worldwide movement that provides care
and support for people with disabilities.
It is, as a result, most fitting indeed that
the school’s motto is “A Place For Everyone.”
This phrase is found not only on the school
logo and in the school prayer, but also in the
daily attitude and actions of the students
and staff at the school. It is reflected in the
school’s support of charitable endeavors
such as the Shepherds of Good Hope, the
St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Heart and
Stroke Foundation, the United Way and the
Waupoos Foundation. The school opened in
1988, with an official ceremony held on
October 27, 1989.
Jean Vanier is the son of former
Canadian Governor-General Georges Vanier.
After a brief career in the Royal Canadian
Navy, Mr. Vanier embarked on a life journey
that led to his founding of L’Arche, a
movement which has grown to include
communities worldwide, with about 200 homes
and related day and work programs in
Canada alone. L’Arche communities enable
people with disabilities to grow to their full
potential and to share life together in a spirit
of mutuality. Indeed, the L’Arche movement
is sometimes referred to as the “University
of the Heart,” not only providing support for
people with disabilities but also providing a
training ground for young students to grow
in their compassion for society.
Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate
School offers a full academic and
extracurricular program for grades 7 and 8
students. The two-storey facility includes
a gymnasium, science lab, technology lab,
family studies lab, a cafeteria and a
library/computer lab, as well as regular
classrooms.
Typical of the cross-curricular,
activity-based learning which prevails at
JEAN
VANIER
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
320 Lajoie Street
Vanier K1L 7H4
613-745-1502
www.occdsb.on.ca/jvc
Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate School
was a project in April 1998, involving
students who took part in a unit focusing
on shopping malls. The grade 7 students
became business owners while the grade 8
students were mall owners. The students
worked together to learn about marketing,
consumerism, budgeting, demographics and
design. Then they participated in a behindthe-scenes tour of Place d’Orléans Shopping
Centre. The grade 7 students, as business
owners, ended up trying to convince the
grade 8 mall owners to lease space to them.
Jean Vanier Catholic Intermediate
School received international honours in
125
May 2006, as a result of the school’s
involvement in the Macoun Marsh
biodiversity project in which Jean Vanier
students, along with students from their
partner, Educarium School, studied the
biodiversity of the marsh, which is located
in a corner of Beechwood Cemetery. This
venture was chosen from among 338 projects
in 41 countries to be one of ten finalists in
the Volvo Adventure competition, an
international environmental program
organized by the Volvo Car Corporation of
Sweden in partnership with the United
Nations Environmental Program. The Volvo
Adventure is an education program designed
to heighten environmental awareness and
encourage environmental activities among
students.
Five students, including two from
Jean Vanier Catholic School, Alex Zylka and
Katie Beauchamp, traveled to Goteborg,
Sweden in May 2006 to present their project
and action plan to a jury of international
experts at the Volvo Adventure International
finals. They were accompanied on the all
expenses paid trip by a volunteer parent
chaperone and two teachers, including Clint
Monaghan from Jean Vanier Catholic
School. The students were awarded second
place in the Volvo Adventure competition
and brought home $6,000 in prize money,
which was earmarked for continuing work
on the Macoun Marsh biodiversity project.
This project began in 2003 as an
ecology-based project for students of
Educarium School, located across the street
from the Macoun Marsh. Students at Jean
Vanier Catholic School, which is within a
25-minute walk to the marsh, got involved
with the project in 2005 when Alex Zylka
excitedly told her teacher, Mr. Monaghan,
about it after attending a Saturday Science
program at Educarium. They were promptly
invited by Educarium School to join the
project. The project aims to research,
enhance and protect the ecology of the
SCHOOL HISTORIES
marsh. Winter visits involve watching birds,
filling bird feeders and taking water samples
from holes in the pond ice. The project also
involves recording the species in the marsh.
More than 870 species of birds, animals,
plants and microscopic life forms have been
recorded to date.
There are now plans to erect a
permanent structure at the marsh to shelter
students who are there studying nature.
There are also plans to build a boardwalk
and to plant aquatic flora and trees.
Fundraising is ongoing. The marsh, named
after the great Canadian naturalist John
Macoun who is buried at Beechwood
Cemetery, is considered a unique inner-city
wetland.
Present Principal
Martine Mitton with Acting
Vice-Principals Bonnie McGilchrist and
Justin Doyle
Past Principals
Wayne Moyle with Acting VicePrincipals Dianna Gardner, Lise
St. Louis and Brent Halverson
Hazel Lambert with Acting VicePrincipals Lise St. Louis, Gail
Taillon, Paul Gautreau and
Jo Gifford
Wayne Moyle, Principal
Dianna Gardner, Acting VicePrincipal
Ken Crosby, Physical Education
Brent Halverson, Social Studies
Gail Taillon, French and Music
Lise St. Louis, Science
Louise Boucher, French
Nancy Skipper, Resource
Mary Saliba, Resource (English)
Tim Frymire, Chaplain
Richard Gadivry, Science
Carl Cameron
Louise Hayden, Secretary
Other Teachers in the Early Years
Sharon Gilmour, Physical
Education
Paul Gautreau, Social Sciences
Richard Choquette, French
Sister Ann O’Leary, Chaplain
Harry Rovers, English and
Mathematics
Mark Lacroix, Music and French
Mary McGahey, Mathematics and
English
Malcolm Lawrence, Chaplain
Geoff Burridge with Acting VicePrincipals Jo Gifford, Bonnie
McGilchrist and Justin Doyle
126
School Colours
Red and black
Logo
A shield with the school motto “A
Place For Everyone” at the top and the name
of the school along the bottom, with the
centre featuring the initials of the school,
“JVC,” with a torch on one arm of the “V”
and with a cross in the background. The logo
was designed by two students.
School Prayer
The Jean Vanier Catholic
Intermediate School prayer is as follows:
God our loving Father, we thank
You for our health, our families, and our
friends, and for all the good things You have
given us.
Benis-nous et aide-nous a vivre en
paix et avec joie.
Donne- nous la force d’être bons,
de travailler fort aux études, d’être gentils
envers les autres et de prendre soins de
l’environnement.
May we each try to make JVC a
place for everyone.
We remember those who are sad
or sick, poor or hungry, and we ask Your
blessing on all people on our planet.
Nous Te demandons cela avec
confiance en Jesus, Ton Fils et notre Frère.
AMEN.
A
fter being known as Pineview
Catholic School for more than
25 years, this school on
Beaverpond Drive in Gloucester, was
recently renamed John Paul II Catholic
School. Trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board approved the name
change in the spring of 2006. The official
renaming celebration took place on June 26,
2006, just before the end of the school year.
The renaming celebration included
a liturgy led by Father Michael Wright of
St. Ignatius Parish as well as songs and
prayers by the students. Speakers at this
celebration included: June Flynn-Turner,
Chairperson of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board; James McCracken, Director
of Education; the Hon. Madeleine Meilleur,
the MPP for the area (Ottawa-Vanier riding)
and Minister of Community and Social
Services and Minister Responsible for
Francophone Affairs in the Provincial
Government; Denise Issa, Chairperson of
the School Council; and Carole Parent,
School Principal. A ribbon cutting ceremony
involved Principal Carole Parent, Director
of Education James McCracken and
Board Chairperson June Flynn-Turner,
accompanied by grade 1 student Cherie
Gilmour. In keeping with its new name,
the school now houses a carved statue of
John Paul II.
The renaming of the school was
the culmination of a process where the
Pineview Catholic School community
explored the possibility of renaming the
school to better characterize its Catholic
identity. The process began in the spring
of 2005 when staff and school council
members were invited to submit preferred
names for the school. In the fall, a
committee comprised of the school council
chair, a teacher, the parish priest, the
principal and the school’s superintendent
was established to look at the submitted
names. These were narrowed down to three
JOHN
PAUL II
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(formerly Pineview Catholic)
1500 Beaverpond Drive
Gloucester K1B 3R9
613-744-3591
www.occdsb.on.ca/pin
after which the grade 6 students and staff
voted in favour of “John Paul II Catholic
School.” A survey sent to parents in
February 2006 resulted in input on this
proposed new name, with a vast majority of
parents in favour. Finally, the choice was
submitted to the Board for approval.
The school is named after Pope
John Paul II who died in 2005 after his
lengthy tenure as Pope. He became the
most-traveled pontiff in the history of the
position, carrying the message of Christ to
virtually every corner of the world and
becoming one of the most beloved Popes ever
to lead the Church.
127
The 25th anniversary celebration
for Pineview Catholic School in 2005 spoke
volumes about the kind of school that it has
been since first opening its doors in the fall
of 1980. The celebration involved not only
students, staff and Board officials, but also
parents, families and the clergy. The school
looked sparkling and as good as new when
it welcomed the parents and community to
the celebration on November 26, 2005.
A newly-built front desk was the centerpiece,
creating a welcoming environment,
something that has been the hallmark of
this caring Catholic school community for
the past quarter century. Staff and families
gathered in the school foyer as Father
Michael Wright of St. Ignatius Parish
blessed the school. “Pineview Catholic is
a perfect example of all the ways a caring
community can grow and share together
the Gospel values while providing a quality
Catholic education for our students,”
commented Board Chairperson Betty-Ann
Kealey. The anniversary celebration also
featured songs of celebration sung by the
school’s children’s choir led by school
secretary Helen Featherston. This was
followed by more singing by Helen and
fellow musicians and staff in the library.
The warmth and caring nature of the 25th
anniversary celebration impressed OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board Director of
Education James McCracken. “The warm
welcome we all experienced today is
characteristic of how Pineview Catholic
students and their families continue to be
treated after 25 years,” he noted.
That John Paul II Catholic School
has such a close connection to its
neighbourhood and community should be no
surprise, since it took its original name from
the community, the Pineview area of
Gloucester near Blair Road. Its seven-acre
site backs on to city parkland, which has
soccer fields, two play structures and a
skating rink in the winter.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
John Paul II Catholic School
students represent many different
nationalities and languages. This aspect
of the school is celebrated with a yearly
multicultural dinner each spring, a tradition
that was initiated by Teacher Joyce Allard
in 1995. John Paul II School maintains a
number of other traditions such as the
annual musical plays each spring, initiated
by Teacher Cheryl Hicks in 1993, and the
angel tree sharing event at Christmas time,
started in 1997.
Eileen Flichel, Junior and Senior
Kindergarten
Jill Weir, Junior Kindergarten
Linda McNeely, Senior
Kindergarten
Diane Vaughan, Grade 1
Monica Paynter, Grade 1-2
John Lalonde, Grade 2
Tom Charlebois, Grade 3
Marg Beockler, Grade 3-4
Barry Lemoine, Grade 4
Dan Lahey, Grade 5-6
Monica Pelletier, Special Education
Sandra Boyer, Resource
Rose Brassard, Primary French as
a Second Language
Yvette Riel, Junior French as a
Second Language
Brenda Richard, Librarian
Estelle Essex, Secretary
Noel Lalande, Custodian
John Paul II School has two
kindergarten classrooms, 15 regular
classrooms, a fully-equipped computer lab,
a library and a gymnasium.
Present Principal
Carole Parent (2005-present)
Past Principals
James MacPherson
Julie Tuepah
John Power
Kevin Mullins
Joanne Meredith
Former Student
vocalist
Keisha Chanté, professional
128
School Colours
Purple
Logo
The school logo at Pineview
Catholic School featured a cross, the initials
“PCS” and the words “Pineview Catholic
School.”
Mascot
A panther
Other Highlights
Teacher Eileen Moriarity started
the school choir.
John Paul II Catholic School, as
Pineview Catholic School, was one of the
first schools in the jurisdiction of the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board to
house a class for developmentally
handicapped children.
Staff Recognition
Patricia Brunet of Pineview
Catholic School staff was the first recipient
of the Steve Richardson Memorial Award,
which is presented annually to an
administrative and support staff employee
who best exemplifies the Gospel values of
stewardship, partnership and excellence
based on the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board motto: “Believing, Discovering,
Achieving.”
L
ester B. Pearson Catholic High
School likes to view itself as the
“little school that could” and over
the years since being conceived as a complete
Catholic high school, it has done just that –
achieved whatever it set out to do.
Pearson, as the school is fondly
called, began as a dream for the former
Board in 1972 to create a complete Catholic
high school. At that time, Catholic high
schools were provincially funded only to the
end of Grade 10. Completion to Grade 13
was a political goal, which the Catholic
community across the province espoused
until it finally became reality in 1984. Before
the founding of Lester B. Pearson Catholic
High School, there were four principal
players who shared the dream of establishing
it: Basil MacDonald, Chairperson of the
Board; William Crossan, Director of
Education for the Board; Sylvester E. Quinn,
a Superintendent of Education for the Board;
and Merle J. Obee, the first principal of the
school. But these four did not do it alone;
they were strongly supported by the parishes
and Catholic parents of the communities in
North Gloucester as well as others across the
whole jurisdiction of the Board.
Principal Merle Obee’s vision of
a dynamic and effective Catholic school
was innovative at that time; however, the
Pearson model would become a prototype
used by the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board to accommodate its
grades 7 to 13 students across its entire
jurisdiction. Principal Obee was keen to
assemble a staff of educators dedicated to
providing Catholic high school students with
the unique and varied opportunities that
they would need to achieve excellence.
From the outset, he was concerned with
establishing a consistent set of values for
the school community, and he wanted to
staff the school accordingly.
LESTER B.
PEARSON
SCHOOL HISTORIES
As the school entered the 1974-75
academic year, some of the program goals
set for the school seemed very lofty and farreaching. Besides offering a strong academic
program interlaced with the arts and
athletics in a vibrant Catholic milieu where
the Catholic faith was to be both learned
and practised, the school staff also hoped
one day to offer computer skills, restaurant
training and auto mechanics.
St. Jerome’s Catholic High School
in Kitchener-Waterloo served as the
comprehensive high school model for the
new Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School.
2072 Jasmine Crescent
Gloucester K1J 8M5
613-741-4525
www.occdsb.on.ca/lbh
During the first year for the school
in 1973-74, while it was still housed in one
module of four rooms and two portable
classrooms at Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Catholic School, a hiring team of three,
consisting of Principal Obee and two
teachers, Betty Dubien and Gerard Lavelle,
took on the task of bringing together the
“brave new staff” for the new high school.
This staff would consist of teachers one-third
of who were new, one-third experienced, and
one-third “old pros.” In addition, this initial
tiny staff of seven was sent on program
scouting excursions to schools known for
their excellence.
129
In the fall of 1974, the growing
staff moved into the new school facility,
which had been originally designed with
a million-dollar price tag but which, due
to funding cutbacks by the Ministry of
Education, ended up being built on a
reduced budget of only half that. This meant
that many of the features designed for
special programs were eliminated or at least
drastically reduced. The theatre arts space,
for instance, ended up being a corner
platform in the cafeteria. Despite this,
a creative and ingenious staff set about
building a first-class educational institution.
The school was named in honour
of the late Prime Minister of Canada, Lester
Bowles Pearson. On June 15, 1975, Mrs.
Maryon Pearson, widow of the Prime
Minister who had died on December 28,
1972, cut the ribbon to open Lester B.
Pearson Catholic High School. At this official
opening, Mrs. Pearson presented the flag
that had hung in Mr. Pearson’s office the day
that the new Canadian flag was officially
unfurled on Parliament Hill in 1965.
It was also at this official opening
that a school tradition began. This is the
now long-standing practice of having
students take centre stage, especially at
public events. Mrs. Pearson was welcomed
SCHOOL HISTORIES
to the official opening by Masters of
Ceremonies David Turgeon and Lisa
Langlois who read a tribute to her late
husband, highlighting his contributions to
world peace, contributions that earned him
the Nobel Prize for Peace.
From the start, Lester B. Pearson
Catholic High School was on the leading
edge of pedagogy, and developed and
maintained a very close liaison with the
Faculty of Education at the University of
Ottawa. Dr. Pierre Turgeon, whose son
attended Pearson, supervised this liaison.
Many graduate students did practicums in
special education at Pearson while a large
number of student-teachers, under the
tutelage of Dr. Dorothy Ryan, trained at
Pearson as well.
A major problem with regard to
operating a Catholic high school involved
financing. Betty Bernard, a one-time
president of the Pearson Parent-Teacher
Association, has often told the story of
being asked to help with fundraising for the
school. Principal Rachelle Keyserlingk called
Betty to her office one afternoon, asking her
to raise money for the upper grades. Betty
had been long accustomed to Saturday
morning bottle drives and cake sales,
perhaps netting $300 or so to help Catholic
schools. Asking how much money Principal
Keyserlingk needed, Betty was astounded
by the answer, “A million to start with.”
In 1983-84, Pearson welcomed its
first grade 11 students who paid a yearly
fee of $1,000. In the summer of 1984 the
Provincial Government under Premier
William Davis announced the funding of
Catholic schools through to the end of
Grade 13. This ended the fundraising
programs related to financing the upper
grades. However, Pearson was ahead of
schedule, as it graduated its first grade 12
class in 1986 and its first grade 13 class in
the following year. This grades 7 to 13 model
piloted by Pearson became the standard for
all other Catholic high schools in the
Board.
Lester B. Pearson Catholic High
School received additions in 1976, 1985
(science lab and classrooms) and 1994
(gymnasium). Innumerable portables have
been fixtures at the school for many years,
as have its narrow halls. But this has not
deterred the “little school that does” from
excelling. New programs to meet expanded
educational needs have been added over the
years, such as computers, English as a
Second Language, beauty and grooming,
and a program for the developmentally
handicapped.
While Pearson graduates succeed
in university and in life thanks to the
academic excellence of its teaching, the
experience at Pearson remains animated
by a strong liturgical life, encouraging
participation. The Dominican Republic
project, established and spearheaded for
many years by Teacher Michael
O’Callaghan, who was the head of the
school’s Religion Department, has been a
tangible illustration of the commitment to
the Catholic faith and to justice by both
students and teachers.
The success of Pearson can
perhaps best be portrayed not in facts
and figures but anecdotally. One potential
Pearson graduate called the Faculty of
English at Carleton University in the mid
1990s to inquire about “how to get into
Carleton.” The secretary of the department
asked the student where she attended high
school. When she replied, “Pearson,” the
secretary succinctly responded, “there is an
excellent OAC teacher there; just do as she
says and you’ll be fine.”
In 1975, Pearson’s first yearbook
was published, under the supervision of
130
seasoned Teacher Sandie Bender. Fittingly,
it was called Genesis. In the year 2000, at
the beginning of the new millennium, the
Pearson yearbook bore the title No Limits.
Between Genesis in 1975 and No Limits in
2000, the achievement of excellence by eager
students assisted by a talented staff resulted
in much learning and growing in the
Pearson school community.
In 1999, Lester B. Pearson
Catholic High School was the site for the
launching of the Pearson dollar. Lester B.
Pearson’s son, Geoffrey, accompanied by
various government officials, attended the
event. In June 1999, the school and an
alumni committee hosted a 25-year reunion.
Once again, Geoffrey Pearson was on hand
to open the event. After the reunion, the
alumni committee presented school Principal
Peter Linegar with a cheque for $7,000, the
profits from the reunion. The funds were to
be used to help students experiencing
financial difficulty.
School entered the Guinness Book of World
Records as a result of a ten-second hug (Give
Peace A Chance), which the school shared
with St. Matthew High School.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Manon Seguin (2005-present)
Principals
Merle J. Obee (1973-76)
Peter Linegar (1976-80)
Rachelle Keyserlingk (1980-86)
John Shannon (1986-91)
Starr Kelly (1991-96)
Peter Linegar (1996-99)
Ron Chisholm (2000-05)
1973-74
Merle J. Obee, Principal
Teresa Dubien
Gerard Lavelle
Noella Crawford (later Chisholm)
Livvie Elmes (later Scott)
Jan Kolachuk
Ban Hanlon
Sister Barbara Herbert
Micheline Lefebvre-Poirier
Faith Crowley, Secretary
1974-75
Merle J. Obee, Principal
Peter Linegar, Vice-Principal
Teresa Dubien
Gerard Lavelle
Sandie Doyle (later Bender)
Livvie Elmes
Ban Hanlon
Mary Murphy
Susan Weekes (later McCullochDavis)
Anne Marie Stevenson
Patricia McCool
Lionel Spector
Gerry Boyer
Luigi Antonucci
Mary Ann Kazmierski
Thomas Duggan
Douglas Colwill
Micheline Poirier
Jacques Frechette
Michael Mathews, Guidance
Betty Morrow, Librarian
Faith Crowley, Secretary
Lionel McAllister, Custodian
Roger Allard, Custodian
Paul Morin, Custodian
Delphine Cere, Cafeteria
Former student Jason Lachance
won a silver medal in the 400-metre event
at the Paralympics in June 2000.
Chris Potenza is a performer, with
a Listerine commercial to his credit.
Shannon Lawson is a stage actor
and appeared in the film The War Between
Us.
Jennifer Goodhue is a comedian
on Comedy Tonight.
Rob Bockstael is an actor.
Tracey Clark is a businessperson
and founder of eco-friendly Bridgehead,
a fair trade coffee shop.
Steve Guenette has played for the
Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames
of the National Hockey League.
In 1979, a lovely transplanted
American came on staff as librarian at
Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School,
Her name was Elizabeth Patch. Because of
her involvement with social and community
issues, Elizabeth was widely and fondly
respected throughout the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board and became
the President of the Carleton Unit of the
Association.
When she died of cancer in 1985,
the staff at Lester B. Pearson Catholic High
School created a staff scholarship fund in
131
her name, to be awarded to a graduating
student who, in the spirit of Elizabeth,
would attend a community college to pursue
community and social work. In 1987, the
Carleton Unit of OECTA established a
professional award in Elizabeth’s name to
be presented to a teacher in recognition of
commitment to Catholic education, OECTA
and the community.
In 1974, Mrs. Rachelle Keyserlingk
received an Ontario English Catholic
Teachers’ Association fellowship to pursue
a Master’s degree in education, after which
she became Vice-Principal at Lester B.
Pearson Catholic High School and later
its principal.
School Science Teacher Karen Kyle received
the Global Citizen’s Challenge Certificate of
Acknowledgement from the United Nations
Association in Canada in 2006.
Former students who returned to
teach at Lester B. Pearson Catholic High
School include Peter Linegar Jr. (son of
Peter Linegar, the first vice-principal and
later principal), Pamela McCulloch
(daughter of teacher Susan McCullochDavis) and Sean Burke, a 1985 graduate
who returned to teach auto mechanics.
Colours
Blue and gold. These colours are
featured on all team uniforms and on the
school logo.
Logo
The school logo is a giant “P” with
a cross highlighting the circular area of the
“P,” along with the school name and
appropriate symbols such as an open book.
Team Names
“Panthers” is the name of the
Pearson sports teams.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Longtime Teachers
Gerard Lavelle taught at Lester B.
Pearson Catholic High School for 27 years,
as did Joan Burridge. Frank Duggan taught
at Pearson for 26 years and Linda GorayebLeblanc for 24.
Award Recipient
School student Camille Juswik, a founding
member of the school’s smoke-free youth
team, received a Heather Crowe Award in
May 2006. This was a new award created
by the Provincial Government to honour
the leadership and commitment of the late
Heather Crowe who fought for the
elimination of second-hand smoke in the
workplace and in enclosed public places.
The award is given to recognize the efforts
of individuals and organizations in
promoting a smoke-free Ontario at the
local level.
132
M
cMaster Catholic School takes its
name from the street on which it
is located in the Alta Vista area.
The school opened in 1965 as a
kindergarten to grade 8 school, complete
with a home economics classroom. Now
a junior kindergarten to grade 6 school,
McMaster has, over the years, taken in
students from other schools which have
closed, such as Queen of the Angels, St. Leo,
St. Mark and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Portable classrooms appeared on site in the
early 1970s. They were eventually removed
and a port-a-pak added to the school in
2000.
In the late 1990s, McMaster
Catholic School received grants to make the
schoolyard green and inviting. The school’s
concern for the environment was recognized
when it became a Jade school in November
2005. This means that the school community
had completed 250 environmentally-friendly
activities. The schoolyard also benefited
from the fundraising activities of the Parent
Advisory Council at the school which
provided the funding for the construction of
a play structure. Also, a bus lane was built
at the front of the school for the safety of the
students.
McMaster Catholic School has
received its share of publicity and
acknowledgement over the years.
In the late 1970s, the school staged
a spectacular performance of the musical
Annie. The school choir has performed for
former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker as
well as at the school board office. The 1970s
were also a time when the McMaster girls’
gymnastics team won many honours.
In 1978, the school participated in an
artists-in-residence program in which the
students created murals on the school walls,
an accomplishment for which they were
featured on CTV. In 1979, after seeing film
MCMASTER
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
UNICEF in its relief efforts for the victims
of the tsunami. Bilaal Rajan, an eight-yearold who has become a UNICEF
spokesperson, visited the school to thank
everyone for their efforts in this initiative.
He delivered an inspirational speech about
people being able to accomplish anything if
they just try. The event was covered on the
CTV news.
McMaster Catholic School was one
Board schools, which, in the 2005-06 school
in Cameroon.
1760 McMaster Avenue
Ottawa K1H 6R8
613-731-8841
www.occdsb.on.ca/mcm
clips of the murals, Museum of Man officials
contacted the school and the artists involved
with the murals in order to arrange for the
artists to paint the museum’s Dinobus, used
to transport people on field trips. In 2003,
McMaster students participated in a video
linkup with National Arts Centre Orchestra
leader Pinchas Zuckerman and children in
Mexico resulting in a strong relationship
with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
From 2000 to 2005, junior students have
been invited on stage to play their recorders
with the National Arts Centre Orchestra
In January 2005, the McMaster
School community raised over $2,000 for
133
Present Principal
Margaret Skinner
Past Principals
Desmond Lalonde
Patricia Coady
Clifford Foley
Ernest Lefrançois
Brian Brash
Margie Gourdier
Louise Roddy
Mary-Ann Cowan
Valerie Prest
Rita LeGros
Gary Mellor
Mr. Turpin, Custodian
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
Lynn Nightingale, as a member
of the Minto Skating Club, competed both
nationally and internationally.
Fedor Andreev, a figure skater,
has competed both nationally and
internationally.
Staff Accomplishments
Teachers Patricia Coady, Debbie
Griffin and Theresa Jette co-authored books
on children’s liturgies for Novalis, the
Catholic publishing house. These were
approved by the Archdiocese and were
recommended for purchase by school
principals.
School Colours
Teal, navy and white
Mascot
The school has as its mascot a
moose that the students have named
“McMooster.” Each class also has its own
little mascot to cheer the students on and
help them celebrate special events.
Classes each have a circle of
friends for religion tables, and a special
lantern to light the way.
134
F
MONSIGNOR PAUL
BAXTER
rom child to mother in four short years
— this is the experience of Monsignor
Paul Baxter Catholic School in South
Nepean, all due to the booming residential
growth which took place in the Longfields
area between 1999 and 2003, creating severe
overcrowding in the newly-built Monsignor
Paul Baxter Catholic School and bringing
about the construction of St. Andrew. For
Monsignor Paul Baxter School, it meant
going from being a school housed within
another school (St. Luke), while waiting for
a new facility on Beatrice Drive to be
completed, to becoming a host school itself,
providing space for the newly-created St.
Andrew School until that facility was ready.
A junior kindergarten to grade 6
school, Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic
School was originally formed in September
1999, because of booming enrolment at
St. Luke Catholic School. The new school
community was housed at St. Luke until
the new school building on Beatrice Drive
was ready in the spring of 2000. Its official
opening was held on May 29, 2000.
Enrolment grew until it reached
854 students. This growth led to the
formation of St. Andrew Catholic School,
which began in September 2003, sharing the
Monsignor Paul Baxter School facility until
it was ready to move into its own premises
in December 2003.
Monsignor Paul Baxter School is
named after one of the most loved priests
and teachers ever to serve in the Ottawa
area. He taught for years at St. Pius X High
School, where his students held him in high
regard. When he left teaching to become a
parish priest, the same qualities that made
him an outstanding teacher and role model
for his students endeared him to his
parishioners. He was pastor at St. Patrick
Church in Fallowfield at the time of his
death.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
students and thereby foster the love of
education and lifelong learning.” The school
motto is taken from the words of Father
Baxter: “Try your best, be kind to others,
keep the faith.”
Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic
School has quickly established a tradition of
presenting an annual major Arts production
under the direction of Teacher Tammy
Doyle. These amazing theatrical works have
proved very popular with the parent
community as well as with the students.
In 2001-02, the first Arts production was It’s
a Jungle Out There. This was followed by
Stomp Rhythm in 2002-03, The Wizard of Oz
in 2003-04, Dancing Through the Decades in
2004-05, and Angels’ Breath from Heaven to
Earth in 2005-06.
333 Beatrice Drive
Nepean K2J 4W1
613-825-7544
www.occdsb.on.ca/mpb
Father Baxter’s memory and
example were instrumental in the drafting
of the school mission and school motto for
Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic School. The
school mission statement reads as follows:
“In keeping with the teachings and values
of Jesus Christ, as embodied by Monsignor
Paul Baxter, we strive to create a culture
of excellence, honesty and integrity. In
partnership with our Catholic community,
we establish a learning environment that
nurtures the love of God and others. We
celebrate the physical, intellectual, social,
emotional and spiritual aspects of every
child. Realizing the uniqueness of each child,
we strive to meet the diverse needs of all
135
School has a dynamic school council,
providing enriching activities for the school
community, such as an annual barbeque
and family dances. The school council also
undertook fundraising initiatives to help
provide the students with two new play
structures.
Monsignor Paul Baxter School has
four kindergarten classrooms, 18 regular
a gymnasium, a library and a child care
facility.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Marie Boyes (2004-present)
Past Principals
Kevin Mullins (1999-04)
Helen Bergeron, English
Kindergarten
Lise Campeau, French
Kindergarten
Joe Ellen Meech, English and
French Kindergarten
Kate Drummond, English
Kindergarten
Clare Mackey, Grade 1
Margaret Skinner, Grade 1
Nathalie Davidson, Grades 1 and 2
Joanna VanZeeland, Grade 2
Janice Estey, Grade 3
Mary Jo Latour, Grade 3
Carole Polnicky, Grade 4
Glenn Kennedy, Grades 4 and 5
Chris Wakefield, Grade 5and
principal-designate
Rachel Charette, French in
Grades 1 and 2
Monique Lortie, French in Grade 3
Annie Lebeau, French in Grades 4
and 5
Linda Kohli, Resource
Martha Palmer, Resource
Cathy Law, Teacher Assistant
Katie Bosman, Teacher Assistant
Sylvie Delorme, Secretary
Kevin Mullins, Principal
Staff Recognition
Teacher David Dazé received the
Daniel Patrick Kelly Award for Coaching in
2005. The Daniel Patrick Kelly Award is
presented annually for exemplary coaching
at the kindergarten to grade six levels.
Colours
Blue and white
Logo
The school’s initials forming the
shape of a cross.
This logo was designed by a grade
5 student, Carissa Kohene.
Motto
Taken from the words of
Monsignor Paul Baxter:
“Try your best, be kind to others,
keep the faith.”
136
M
other Teresa Catholic High
School was the first high school
in the Barrhaven/Longfields
area of South Nepean when it opened in
November 1998. But it had been a long, long
time in coming, and was built only after
lobbying by the community reaching back
to about 1985. Despite the efforts of the
community and the support of the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board, capital
funding for the project was not approved
for years and, when it was, a change in
government delayed the funding. The
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board, in
the end, had to step in and fund the grades
7 and 8 portion of the facility from its
reserves, because the provincial funding
approval covered only the high school
component of the school.
All of these delays meant that
Mother Teresa Catholic High School would
not open until 1998, when the new
School Board was in place. However, because
of the efforts expended by the former
make the new high school in South Nepean
a reality, the school today has the names of
the trustees of both school boards engraved
on the plaque which commemorates its
opening. The community’s long-term
lobbying efforts to try to get provincial
government approval were undertaken at
a time when such school construction
projects were very much a political decision.
Students from the Barrhaven area
traditionally attended Frank Ryan Catholic
Senior Elementary School for Grades 7 and
8 and then St. Pius X Catholic High School
for high school. However, with the growth
taking place in the Longfields and other
South Nepean areas, these two schools
became overcrowded. The Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board, unable to get the
funding for a new high school in South
Nepean, then offered an option to the
MOTHER
TERESA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
440 Longfields Drive
Nepean K2J 4T1
613-823-1663
www.occdsb.on.ca/teh
community whereby students could attend
St. Paul Catholic High School instead of the
Frank Ryan/Pius combination.
The name “Mother Teresa” was
selected through the school board’s process
where three names were put forward after
community consultation. Mother Teresa,
the founder of the Missionaries of Charity
who work among the poor in Calcutta, had
recently died, and proved to be a popular
choice. The school colours are royal blue
and white. Royal blue is the colour normally
associated with Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta.
137
Mother Teresa High School opened
on November 9, 1998. For the first two
months of the inaugural school year,
students were housed in other Board
schools, with the grades 9 to 11 students
occupying the former St. Raymond’s
Intermediate School site, while the grades 7
and 8 students were housed at Frank Ryan
Catholic Senior Elementary School. The
school became a busy community hub right
from the moment it opened. It was centrally
located, with many of the students within
walking distance. It was adjacent to
municipal recreation fields, adding to its
appeal. But its major attraction was that the
Barrhaven/Longfields area had gone without
a high school facility in the community for so
long that the community embraced the new
facility and used it to a great extent for
community purposes. Mother Teresa
Catholic High School was full virtually from
the first day it opened as a grades 7 to 11
school. Grade 12 and OAC were added in the
two ensuing years.
Continued growth in the South
Nepean area brought about the construction
of St. Joseph Catholic High School in
October 2002. For the same reason, a major
30-room addition has been planned and is
included in the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board’s 2006 capital plan. Completion
is scheduled for 2007-08.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Mary Donaghy (2005-present)
Past Principals
Bogdan Kolbusz (1998-2001)
Camilla Martin (2001-04)
Bogdan Kolbusz, Principal
Betty Craig, Vice-Principal
Joe Mullally, Vice-Principal
Leanne Davis, Chaplain
Sylvie Arseneault
Alex Belloni
Ray Bergin
Pierre Bouchard
Mario Buffone
Margaret Burnett
Mary Byrne
Bonnie Campbell
Terry Carter
Lisa Clermont
Marilyn Conroy
Wade Cotnam
Ashley Coventry
A. Coyle
Carol David
Joe Diffey
Christine Dube
Judy Evans
Steve Evraire
Mario Francoeur
Lise Garneau
Margaret Gartland
Pat Gauthier
Anne-Marie Gleeson
Gabe Godard
Julie Godard
Betty-Ann Grainger
Jim Hallarn
Chris Hanneman
Cathy Harrington-Veryard
C. Healy
Maryann Hodges
Sean Kelly
Dan Kennedy
Sylvain Lamarche
Deb Lawlor
Eric Lehmann
Guy Lemel
Brian Lever
Richard Linke
John Liska
Lee MacKay
Gail Maiorino
Anne Mason
Frank McDonagh
Deb McLaughlin
Tom McSwiggan
Robin Howard
Joanne Mikalauskas
Donald Nault
Gord Norris
Avia O’Connell
Larry Pagliarello
Merlene Reid
G. Roumainis
Ann Latchford-Scot
Gwen Simonds
Shelley Smith-Dale
Christine Spearin
Pat Sterling
James Tucker
Tanya Vick
Mhychajlo Wysoczanskyz
Lorraine Carroll, Head Secretary
Colleen Burns, Secretary
Sharyn Vitalis-Burke, Secretary
Jen Wilson, Secretary
Cindy Allen
J. Kroetch
Kristy Rubino
Wendy Scully
Shirley Munro
Tony Arthur, Head Custodian
Judy Thiverage
Keith Barker
Archie Donaghy
Steve Hogue
George Davis
Denis Grenier
Alex Ticili
Marilyn Valiquette
138
Former Student
Rebecca Abbott, now a professional
singer, made it to the finals in the Canadian
Idol competition.
Colours
The school colours are royal blue
and white. Blue is the colour normally
associated with Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta.
Team Name
The Mother Teresa Catholic High
School sports teams are known as the
“Titans.”
N
otre Dame Catholic High School
may be a fairly new name on the
Catholic education scene in Ottawa
but it has an ancestry, filled with traditions
and ties to the past, going back more than
100 years to 1894.
Present-day Notre Dame Catholic
High School officially opened at its current
Broadview Avenue location in September
1994. This was a cause for great celebration
at that time because, for a number of years
following the extension of full funding for
Catholic schools in Ontario in 1984, the
Catholic community in the west end of the
City of Ottawa had struggled to establish
a secondary school community. Finding and
acquiring an appropriate facility remained
a challenge for almost a decade.
In 1987, faced with a great need for
a new high school in the west end of the city,
Board leased the former Fisher Park High
School on Holland Avenue, opening its doors
to over 1,000 Catholic high school students;
a population drawn from the amalgamation
of St. Raymond’s and St. Joseph’s Schools,
two former junior high schools which were
growing with the advent of full funding. The
school was temporarily and yet appropriately
named West End Catholic High School.
However, a search was undertaken for a new
and definitely more Catholic name. Several
possible names were presented and voted
upon by the students and staff. The
inspiration of the “fighting Irish” won the day
and the new high school was subsequently
named Notre Dame Composite High School.
In 1994, the school board finally
negotiated a new and more appropriate site.
The former Highland Park Vocational High
School on Broadview Avenue, also in the
west end of Ottawa, became the new Notre
Dame. Extensive renovations were carried
out at the new site at that time, but more
physical changes were in store.
NOTRE
DAME
SCHOOL HISTORIES
710 Broadview Avenue
Ottawa K2A 2M2
613-722-6565
www.occdsb.on.ca/ndh
St. Raymond’s Intermediate School
and St. Joseph’s Intermediate School had
integrated on Keyworth Avenue in 2000,
two great school communities and traditions
coming together under one roof as the new
St. Joseph’s Intermediate School. However,
this was short-lived as this new St. Joseph’s
closed in 2002, its students joining Notre
Dame, which then became a full grades 7 to
12 school. Extensive remodeling preceded
this move so that Notre Dame High School
could accommodate everyone. Improvements
included a new gym, new science and tech
labs and renovated classrooms. An official
opening of the expanded and renovated
facility was held in January 2003.
139
The original St. Joseph’s School
opened in 1894, on the University of Ottawa
campus, serving the Sandy Hill community
until 1957 when it burned down over the
Christmas holidays. In 1959, St. Joseph’s
reopened at a Wilbrod Avenue site, where it
served children from Senior kindergarten to
Grade 5, while grades 6 to 8 students were
accommodated for one year in another
building just down the street. In 1960, the
new St. Joseph’s High School was opened,
staffed by the Carmelite Fathers, followed
by the Basilian Fathers and the Sisters of
Holy Cross. A private Catholic high school, it
was located on Broadview Avenue just south
of Carling Avenue, offering the full range of
high school grades.
opened on Fellows Road in 1970. It
remained an intermediate school until 1973,
when Grade 9 was added, and the facility
underwent an expansion. A year later, the
school grew again to include Grade 10, an
arrangement that was unchanged for 12
years. When full funding was extended to
all Catholic schools in Ontario, St. Raymond’s
began to offer Grade 11 in 1985 and Grade
12 in 1986. The senior students moved to the
new Notre Dame Catholic High School on
Holland Avenue when it was formed in 1987.
continued to operate for grades 7 and 8
students until it was closed in 2000, at
which time its students transferred to
St. Joseph’s Intermediate School on
Keyworth Avenue. The grades 7 and 8
students from St. Joseph’s as well as those
from Holy Rosary School moved to a new
facility on Keyworth Avenue, while the
senior students from St. Joseph’s and from
St. Raymond’s Intermediate united to form
the new Notre Dame High School on
Holland Avenue.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
André Potvin
Past Principals
Evelyn Kelly
Walter Hempey
Julian Hanlon
Hazel Lambert
140
O
ur Lady of Fatima Catholic
School owes not only its name
but also its beginning to the
parish of the same name. The formation of
Our Lady of Fatima Parish in 1947 to serve
the needs of the growing Catholic population
of the area, crystallized the need for a local
Catholic school and provided the impetus
to have it established.
The story of Our Lady of Fatima
Parish and, by corollary, Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic School, is intertwined with the
story of the post-war growth of Ottawa
westward along the old “Britannia Line”
streetcar tracks. Prior to this post-war
growth, the area west of what was then
Ottawa included a number of streetcar
whistle stops such as Highland Park,
McKellar, Woodroffe and Britannia itself.
Catholics in this area belonged to the vast
St. George Parish, which had been
established in 1924 outside the western
limits of the City of Ottawa, to care for the
needs of Catholics all the way to Britannia.
Following World War II, Ottawa
began to expand in many directions,
including westward. New residential
housing developments sprang up to unite
the whistle stops into a solid continuation
of the city. In 1947, Archbishop Alexandre
Vachon created a separate parish in the
western half of St. George Parish. Being
especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin
Mary, he chose “Our Lady of Fatima” as the
name of the new church, dedicating it to her
as its patroness.
Woodroffe was chosen as the
location for the new parish because of its
central position between the more built-up
areas of Britannia and McKellar Park.
Eleven lots, part of the historic Honeywell
Farm, were acquired and became the site
for the future church, rectory, parish hall
and school. The parish first constructed a
temporary church building, which eventually
OUR LADY
OF FATIMA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
2135 Knightsbridge Road
Ottawa K2A 0R3
613-722-4075
www.occdsb.on.ca/olf
became the church hall after the
construction of a larger, permanent church
in 1957.
The creation of Our Lady of
Fatima Parish and the building of a church
in 1947 made the new housing developments
in the area attractive to a steadily
increasing number of Catholic families.
The original 168 families of the parish
nearly doubled by 1951, a growth that was
to double again to nearly 600 families by
1957. With more and more Catholic families
moving into the area, the need for a local
Catholic school became increasingly urgent.
141
At the beginning of 1949, a
Catholic school board was formed comprised
of Gordon Bender as Chairperson, Mrs.
Edward Hebert as Secretary-Treasurer and
Edward Hebert and Edward McEvoy as
Board Members. The area of the parish, at
that time, was still not part of the City of
Ottawa and so this small, newly-formed
school board had to reach agreement with
the provincial government, organize all of
the matters regarding the new school and
award the contracts for the construction of
the planned one-storey school building. The
trustees carried out their tasks efficiently
because all of the plans for the school were
approved, the provincial government
financial aid was granted and the school was
in the process of being built when the area
was annexed by the City of Ottawa on
January 1, 1950, with the Ottawa Separate
School Board assuming jurisdiction over
Catholic school matters. The Grey Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception were put in
charge of the new school, with four staff and
120 pupils occupying four of the six rooms
as of September 11, 1950.
On September 17, 1950, His
Excellency Archbishop Vachon was on hand
for the solemn blessing of the new school,
an event attended by clergy, educational
authorities, parents and friends. The next
September, two additional classrooms were
put into use. The three new staff members
were Misses J. Desjardins, A. Rice and S.
Rousselle.
Enrolment in 1951 reached 216
pupils, not only because of the growing area
around the school but also because pupils
from Rockcliffe Air Base attended the school.
This lasted for only one year, but despite
their withdrawal, enrolment at Our Lady of
Fatima Catholic School in September 1952,
was 202 pupils, coming not only from Our
Lady of Fatima Parish, but also from the
Crystal Bay and Bells Corners areas.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
The staff at Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic School in 1952 consisted of Sister
St. Thaddeus, Sister St. Christopher,
Mrs. M. B. Bradley, Miss A. Rice, Miss J.
Desjardins and Mrs. G. Hughes.
As the parish and community
continued to grow rapidly, so did the school
population at Our Lady of Fatima,
outgrowing the six-room facility. In May
1954, construction began on a one-storey
four-room addition on the north end of the
original building, converting Our Lady of
Fatima into a ten-room school. These four
new rooms were completed and occupied on
November 17, 1954. Four new staff members
were also added at this time — D.J.
Lefebvre (who replaced Miss Rice), Mrs. L.
Ferguson, Mrs. N. Morel and Mrs. M.
Charbonneau.
By September 1956, pupils from
the Crystal Bay and Bells Corners areas
were repatriated to their own new schools,
but continued growth in the area meant that
enrolment at Our Lady of Fatima School
continued to soar, peaking at 505 pupils.
This meant another addition. While it was
being built, four classrooms were rented
in the nearby old Woodroffe Public School
building, which was vacant at the time.
Additional accommodation at Our Lady of
Fatima School took the form of a second
storey on the original building, with six new
classrooms. Work on this addition began in
October 1956, and four of the six new rooms
were ready to use on April 1, 1957.
Our Lady of Fatima School, even
in those early years, benefited from a
parent-teacher association whose aim was
to coordinate the spiritual and educational
forces of the home and school and to focus
on the education and training of Catholic
children. The group held regular meetings
of parents and teachers, focusing on
discussions of mutual problems in child
training and education. The parent-teacher
association began in April 1954, with M.L.
Kearney as the inaugural president. The
association also worked to help the school,
arranging for classes in boxing, hockey,
skiing, tap dancing, figure skating and
bowling. Plans were also made to landscape
the school property.
Our Lady of Fatima School built a
tradition of spiritual and educational growth
for its students over the years, maintaining
close ties among home, school and church.
In the late 1960s, enrolment at
Our Lady of Fatima began to decline due
to the aging demographics of the area once
filled with young families. There were also
more schools in the general area resulting
in the decision in 1971 to close Our Lady
of Fatima School, ending this first phase of
its life.
In the mid-1980s, a number of
factors came together which led to the
reopening of Our Lady of Fatima in
September 1985. Several schools in the
general area were facing declining
enrolments, like the decline, which had
forced the closure of Our Lady of Fatima in
1971. At the same time, Father Gerald
Dunnigan of Our Lady of Fatima Parish was
advocating the reopening of the parish
school. As a result, Our Lady of Fatima
School was re-established by the Ottawa
serving students from three closing schools;
St. Leonard, St. Basil and St. Andrew.
Students and staff were housed at
St. Leonard School in Ottawa until the
original building could be refurbished and
made ready for occupancy after its 15-year
hiatus as a school facility. In January 1986,
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School was reoccupied, marking the return of Catholic
education to this facility.
The school now serves a wide area
of the west part of the City of Ottawa. In
142
2004, the school counted among its more
than 300 students a diverse number of
cultures, representing at least 25 different
nationalities and languages. A Catholic
curriculum is offered, along with a variety
of activities such as choir, sports and dance.
Regular events at the school include a family
Christmas night, winter and summer play
days, multicultural activities, a curriculum
night and Education Week activities.
Present Principal
Diane Fournier
Principals
(since re-opening in 1985)
Alan Morissette
Michael Blimkie
Fergus Lyons
Brenda Mulvihill
First Teaching Staff (1950)
Sister Maureen of the Grey Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception,
Principal
Sister St. Christopher
Doris Scott
Florence Salmon
Former Student
Mike Walton, player in the
National Hockey League
School Colours
Blue and white
Logo
The Our Lady of Fatima Catholic
School logo contains the motto “A Place
Where We Belong.”
SCHOOL HISTORIES
A Teacher Remembers
Teacher Theresa Smith began her
teaching career at Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic School. She shares her memories
of her time at the school as well as her
teaching career.
My probationary contract with
“The Board of Trustees of the R.C.S.S.B. for
the City of Ottawa” is dated May 7, 1969.
The salary of $4,600 seemed huge and I was
certain that “Easy Street” was just around
the corner. In June, I hopped a bus from
Toronto to begin a two-week induction with
the Board. On the first day, I was informed
that I would be teaching core French.
Panic set in! For the past year, I had been
immersed in the Hall-Dennis Report, Let
The Child Discover, Living and Learning,
open concept schools and multi-media
learning. Second language teaching had not
been part of my year. After a stressful two
weeks, I went home to New Brunswick and
enrolled in a French conversation course at
the University of Moncton.
year of my probationary contract had ended!
I went on to teach for the Board for five
years and then, after teaching in a
Montessori school and at a private Jewish
school for a number of years, I returned to
teaching with the Board and never looked
back.
My success came with experience,
dedication, my eagerness to learn and my
love of teaching. My constant goal was to
capture the interest of my students at the
beginning of the each day. My energy came
with the knowledge that we were going to
experience each day together and learn
together. Looking back on my years of
teaching makes me feel good, makes
me smile and makes me grateful
to have had such an experience.
Virginia Smith was my first
principal. Our Lady of Fatima was my
first school. I traveled from classroom to
classroom, carrying a huge tape recorder
and the “J”ecoute, je parle” manual and
charts. My survival that year I owe to
Virginia Smith. She was blunt and strict,
but fair. By November, my confidence was
depleted. Missing home and family, I asked
her if I could leave three days before
Christmas break began. She agreed and
I returned to New Brunswick. In January
I managed to get on track. By June, my
confidence was growing and I was registered
for summer courses.
Not having really read my
contract, I was soon to find out that my last
paycheck was in June! The summer of bread
and peanut butter began. Nothing else hit
my stomach until my father picked me up
and we left for New Brunswick. The first
143
T
OUR LADY OF MOUNT
CARMEL
he name “Our Lady of Mount
Carmel” has been part of Catholic
education in the east end of Ottawa
for over 50 years, except for a three-year
period in the late 1970s.
The development of the community
of Manor Park in the years following World
War II created several important services to
meet the needs of Catholics in this new area.
In the religious sphere, this was achieved
through Sunday Masses being celebrated at
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Barracks,
leading eventually to the creation of Our Lady
of Mount Carmel Parish in February 1953.
Educationally, the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board opened a new school
on Gaspé Avenue in the Manor Park area in
1953, naming it Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
It was a basic school with a number of
classrooms which also became the interim
home of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish.
Masses were held at this new school until a
church was built on St. Laurent Boulevard,
completed in 1957, and blessed by Archbishop
Lemieux on March 17.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Catholic School grew with the community
of Manor Park. In 1961, the school had nine
teachers and 354 students. Residential
growth in the east end continued to the
point where, in 1963, the school board
opened another area school on Gardenvale
Road off Cummings Avenue — Gardenvale
School. This two-storey school was enlarged
in the late 1960s with the addition of a
library, more classrooms, a gymnasium,
an administration office and a staff room.
In the early 1970s, French
Immersion classes began at Gardenvale
School, with students bussed to the school
from various parts of the east end of Ottawa,
increasing school enrolment as well as
diversifying the school population. At about
this same time, grades 7 and 8 students
were transferred to junior high schools.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
675 Gardenvale Road
Ottawa K1K 1C9
613-745-4884
www.occdsb.on.ca/olm
By 1977, growth in the area had
slowed and the original Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Catholic School on Gaspé Avenue
was closed because of declining enrolment.
In 1980, Joan O’Toole, Principal
of Gardenvale Catholic School, brought
about a name change, replacing the name
“Gardenvale” with “Our Lady of Mount
Carmel” to ensure that it was not perceived
as a public school, and to reflect the reality
that the school was in Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Parish. The 1980s also saw the
school add classes in special education and
become involved with the Royal Ottawa
Hospital in a “Gateway Program.”
145
Over the years, from the opening
of the original Our Lady of Mount Carmel
School in Manor Park in 1953 until present
day, Catholic education in this part of
Ottawa has reflected the community being
served and its residents. In the mid-1950s,
the Our Lady of Mount Carmel School
population, serving the English-speaking
Manor Park area, had a student composition
that reflected that reality. In the 1960s and
1970s, this changed somewhat as Ottawa
became more bilingual. The Gardenvale
School population was from both English
and French backgrounds, adding to the
diversity of the school community. From
the 1980s to the present, the emerging
cosmopolitan nature of Ottawa has been
reflected in the student population at Our
Lady of Mount Carmel School; it now serves
a community with a wide diversity of
students including many either born in
another country or second-generation
Canadians. This ever-changing enrolment
demographic may be altered again when
new development eventually takes place at
the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe,
an area served by the school.
In the late 1990s, a play structure
was installed in the schoolyard. Over the
years, many other changes have taken place,
such as an expanded library and a new
computer lab. Closed-in classrooms have
replaced the original open-concept design.
School today supports numerous charitable
endeavours, offers a variety of exciting
activities for students and holds a number
of annual events. Charitable causes, which
have been supported by the Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Catholic School community,
include Dystonia Medical Research,
St. Brigid’s Summer Camp, Run For The
Cure, UNICEF, the Heart and Stroke
Foundation, the United Way and the
Ottawa Food Bank.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Co-curricular activities offered for
students include a recycling club, choir and
music activities, a wide range of athletics
including both intramural and Board-wide,
a breakfast club, a library club and Mass
servers. Annual events that enhance the
sense of community at the school include
Education Week activities, hot dog days,
pizza days, a spelling bee, student-of-themonth assemblies, a Halloween fun day
and a walk-a-thon.
Present Principal
Donna Bekkers-Boyd
Principals
Original Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Catholic School
Sister St. Christopher
Sister Jean Goulet
Sister C. McCann
(Gardenvale/Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Catholic School)
Bernice Schulhauser, Junior
Kindergarten
Suzanne Birnbaum, Senior
Kindergarten
Joanne Perrault, Grade 1 (English)
Celine Seguin, Grade 1 (French)
Irene Corrigan, Grade 2 (English)
Solange Shank, Grade 2 (French)
Bernadette Ritz, Grade 3 (English)
Micheline Leroux, Grade 3
(French)
Carole Villeneuve, Grade 4
Lise St. Louis, Grade 5
Morley Labelle, Grade 6
Maureen Monette, Resource
Mr. Monette, Custodian
Mr. Audette, Custodian
Ron Patry, Custodian
Gardenvale School
Desmond Lalonde
Desmond Watt
Lillian Seed
James MacPherson
Walter Hempey
Joan O’Toole
Current Our Lady of Mount
Carmel Catholic School
Joan O’Toole
Francesco Lipari
Emilio D’Errico
Georges Bouliane
Clifford Foley
Michael Keeler
146
Former Students
lawyer.
Michael Henry is now a Toronto
Craig Lauzon is an actor on the
Royal Canadian Air Farce TV show.
School Colours
Blue, white and green
Logo
The school logo features two
children reading a large book with a picture
of Our Lady on the front cover and the
bilingual words “Live, Love, Learn” on the
back cover.
Uniforms
School uniforms featuring the
school colours were introduced a number
of years ago but were discontinued for a
variety of reasons.
O
ur Lady of Peace Catholic School
and its parish church, St. Martin
de Porres, are adjacent to each
other in Bells Corners. But this is one case
where the school preceded the parish
church, although both were the result of
explosive residential growth and
development, which took place in the Bells
Corners area of Lynwood Village in the late
1950s.
OUR LADY
OF PEACE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Bells Corners, up until that time,
had remained a small and relatively stable
rural community, historically a stopping
place along the old Richmond Road where
the road swung south toward Richmond.
A provincial highway, number 15, linking
Ottawa with far-off Toronto, went through
Bells Corners. However, the area had not
seen any of the post-war housing boom of
suburban Ottawa, well into the 1950s.
Developers Lloyd Francis and Don
Sim accumulated land in Bells Corners and
enticed a young builder, Bill Teron, later the
creator of Kanata, to design and build
distinctive homes on the lots of Lynwood
Village. Sketches of these new homes were
taped up in a sales trailer. There was a
newspaper article describing the project,
resulting in hordes of purchasers flooding
the area, snapping up the initial 218 lots in
a couple of hours. By the time Mr. Teron had
completed the Lynwood Village development,
nearly 2,000 homes had been built. His
vision of streets and crescents with modern
houses with large windows, carports and
double garages, with wide paved driveways,
trees and green lawns attracted young
couples to this new area.
The first phase of Lynwood Village
was built in 1958 with the second following
in early 1959.
With this influx of young families
came the need for schools and, in particular,
a Catholic school, since Bells Corners Public
September 6, 1960, the completed Catholic
school, which contained four classrooms,
opened as the new home for both.
On that first day, Principal and
Teacher of Grades 5 to 8, Carl Dujay, called
his new charges to the school by ringing his
hand bell, a predecessor to the electric school
bell, which would be installed later. Canon
Burke of St. Patrick Parish in Fallowfield
blessed the school on September 25, 1960,
with staff, students and parents attending.
There was no Roman Catholic
Church in Bells Corners in 1960. Catholics
attended Mass at St. Patrick Church in
Fallowfield, just down the Richmond Road.
Canon Burke, the Pastor of St. Patrick,
became the chaplain to the new school. First
Communion and Confirmation ceremonies
were held at St. Patrick Church. However,
things changed after the death of Canon
Burke in May 1961.
3877 Richmond Road
Nepean K2H 5C1
613-828-4037
www.occdsb.on.ca/pea
School, a four-classroom facility that had
been serving the previously rural
community, already existed.
In 1959-60, planning was under
way by the small Roman Catholic Separate
School Board of S.S. 4 Nepean for a new
school, even as the children from Roman
Catholic families in the Bells Corners area
were divided into two groups: those in
Grades 1 to 4 attending the little one-room
St. Patrick School in Fallowfield (where Miss
Mary MacDonald was the teacher) and those
in Grades 5 to 8 attending the already
crowded St. Leonard Catholic School in the
west end of the City of Ottawa. On
147
With the arrival of Reverend
Father D.D. McDonald of Ottawa on the
Bells Corners scene, the focus changed
to having a church for the Lynwood
Village/Bells Corners area. The local
Catholic community had begun to attend
Mass in the employees’ cafeteria at
Computing Devices of Canada, a firm
located in Bells Corners.
Plans for the new church evolved
at a fast pace under Father McDonald’s
expert guidance. On July 2, 1963, a sodturning ceremony was held. In December of
that same year, Father McDonald celebrated
Midnight Mass in the new church. The
name “St. Patrick” had been considered,
replicating the name of the Fallowfield
church; however, a new world awareness
was developing in society at that time and,
as a result, the name of St. Martin de Porres
was chosen, honouring the humble servant
of God who ministered to the poor and sick
in South America in the 16th century. This
SCHOOL HISTORIES
new church, which was officially dedicated
by Ottawa Archbishop Marie-Joseph
Lemieux in June 1964, stood on a site
adjoining that of the new Catholic school.
At the suggestion of Father D.D. McDonald,
“Our Lady of Peace” was chosen as the
name of the new school, mainly because
he thought that the name reflected the
commitment of the Church to peace in what
was a worn-torn world at that time.
In 1964, the union of various local
school boards was a topic of discussion
among many parent groups, including
the newly formed parent-teacher association
at Our Lady of Peace Catholic School. At
a meeting of ratepayers in March 1964, a
motion was passed that the Roman Catholic
School Section No. 4 of Nepean form a
united school board with a Catholic board
in the Manordale area of Nepean. This was
expanded to include Goulbourn and Kanata.
All of the Nepean-based Catholic school
boards became part of the new Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board in
1969.
In September 1978, Our Lady
of Peace School became a kindergarten to
grade 6 school, with the grades 7 and 8
students becoming part of the new Bells
Corners Senior Elementary School which
would later become St. Paul Junior High
School and finally St. Paul Catholic High
School. Our Lady of Peace School celebrated
its 25th anniversary with festivities on June
6, 1985. Many former trustees, ratepayers,
teachers, principals and students gathered
for the happy occasion.
Our Lady of Peace Catholic School
today boasts two kindergarten classrooms,
ten regular classrooms, a computer lab and
library, a gymnasium and a schoolyard with
play structures. The school underwent an
extensive upgrading and renovation in the
summer of 2005.
Present Principal
Jody Prevost (2006-present)
Principals
Carl Dujay (1960-62)
Robert Curry (1962-72)
Brian Bourbeau (1972-73)
Greg Peddie (1973-78)
Terry Murphy (1978-82)
Russ Graham (1982-86)
Gerry Leveque (1986-89)
John Power (1990-95)
Bev Murphy (1995-98)
Vincent Iozzo (1998-2001)
Dwight Delahunt (2001-06)
Carl Dujay, Principal and Grades 5
to 8
Lucy Ayers, Grades 2 to 4
Noreen Gibbs, Grade 1
Irene Kaye, Kindergarten
Former Students
David Pratt began his schooling
in Grade 1 in 1960 at Our Lady of Peace
School. He went on to become a City of
Nepean councillor and then an OttawaCarleton regional councillor before being
elected as the MP for the Nepean-Carleton
federal riding. He served as the Minister of
Defence in the federal cabinet prior to the
2004 election in which he suffered electoral
defeat. He developed an interest in Africa
where he worked to alleviate the plight of
the poverty-stricken people in such countries
as Sierra Leone. This interest led to his
joining the Canadian Red Cross following
his years in politics so that he could
continue working to help people in Africa.
Dr. Mark McGowan is a professor
at the University of Toronto and
St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He has
written numerous articles on the history
of the Catholic Church in Canada and is
a past president of the Canadian Catholic
148
Historical Association. He has written the
overview of the history of Catholic education
in the Province of Ontario, which is part of
this historical publication.
School Colours
Blue and yellow
Logo
The round logo features a dove of
peace emblazoned upon the cross of Christ,
the Prince of Peace, surrounded by the
school name.
The Blais Trophy
Don and Beverley Blais of
Lynwood Village were active members of
the young community, volunteering in such
organizations as the Parent-Teacher
Association of Our Lady of Peace Catholic
School and the Catholic Women’s League
of St. Martin de Porres Parish. In 1967,
Canada’s centennial year, they planned to
mark the occasion by taking their family on
its first long auto trip, going to the Pan-Am
Games in Winnipeg. Their four children
were excited about the trip and were looking
forward to returning and sharing their
stories of adventure with their classmates
at Our Lady of Peace School in September.
But tragedy struck on the highway,
when their vehicle collided with another car
as they drove west near Espanola, Ontario
on July 17, 1967. Father Don, mother
Beverley, 13-year-old Michael, who was
going into Grade 8, 11-year-old Joanne who
was in Grade 6, eight-year-old Christopher,
a grade 3 student, and six-year-old Paula,
going into Grade 1, all perished in the crash.
Their bodies were returned to Ottawa for
funeral services at St. Martin de Porres
Catholic Church, beside Our Lady of Peace
School where they had been beloved
students.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Members of the Parent-Teacher
Association of Our Lady of Peace Catholic
School were unanimous in their desire to
institute a trophy in memory of these four
students. Annually in June, a boy and a girl
in the grade 8 graduating class at the school
who has excelled in academics and has
exhibited all-round participation in school
activities are honoured as recipients of the
Blais Trophy. The Blais Trophy was
presented for the final time in June 1978,
the end of the last school year in which
Our Lady of Peace had grade 8 graduating
students. However, although no longer
presented, the trophy remains at Our Lady
of Peace Catholic School as a memorial to
the Blais family of Lynwood Village.
149
O
OUR LADY OF
VICTORY
ur Lady of Victory Catholic
School, serving students from
the Pinecrest-Queensway area
of the City of Ottawa, dates back to 1961.
It was originally referred to as Queensway
School but was renamed “Our Lady of
Victory” at the suggestion of the school’s
parish priest, Monsignor John R. Smith, and
approved by trustees of the Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board at its
January 29, 1962 meeting.
The school opened in 1961, but
a little over 30 years later, it was totally
rebuilt. During the 1992-93 renovation,
a gymnasium and library were added to
the structure. Total cost of this project was
$2,281,351. The students of Our Lady of
Victory School attended St. Raymond’s
Intermediate School during this
reconstruction year, overseen by Principal
James McStravick who made sure that the
relocation went smoothly for students,
teachers and parents. Our Lady of Victory
School received an influx of new students
when St. Andrew Catholic School closed and
its students were transferred to Our Lady
of Victory in September 1973.
One tradition that lasted for many
years at Our Lady of Victory School involved
grade 6 students helping out at the West
End Villa, a nearby nursing home. The
students would visit on Friday afternoons
and would accompany the seniors to Mass,
held in a room at the Villa. Many
friendships were formed as the students
bonded with their senior friends.
Our Lady of Victory Catholic
School was one of the first schools in the
Board to pilot the Classroom 2000 initiative
of the Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board after the amalgamation of the two
boards in 1998. Classroom 2000 is an
innovative multi-media program meant
to familiarize students with the use of a
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Joanne Farquharson
Past Principals
Desmond Watt (1962-66)
Gregory Daly (1966)
Douglas Goodwin (1970)
Brian Brash
Philip Butler
Anthony Duggan
Mary Durst
Michael Nolan
John Shaughnessy
James McStravick
Gail Taillon
Donna McGrath
School Colours
Royal blue and yellow
Logo
1175 Soderlind Street
Ottawa K2C 3B3
613-828-5594
www.occdsb.on.ca/olv
scanner, projector and Power Point
presentations.
Our Lady of Victory School can
trace its name to the 16th century. To
commemorate the victory of the Christian
armada over the Turks on October 7, 1571,
Pope Pius V introduced the feast of the
Blessed Virgin Mother of Victory in 1572.
This reference to victory has been
maintained as a name for churches and
sanctuaries all over the world, particularly
in Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
151
A grade 6 student at the school
first created the logo. The logo has changed
somewhat over the years. It features a cross
superimposed on a dark circle. The name
“Our Lady of Victory” is at the bottom of
the logo.
Historical Point of Interest
The school has had only three
secretaries since opening in 1961 —
Eileen Ardley
Helen Lafortune
Kathy Milks (current)
Some of the school’s longtime teachers
Colette Fontaine
Alexa Lapalme
Cheryl Nixon
Barbara Dalton
Micheline Leroux
Danielle Elie
C
OUR LADY OF
WISDOM
atholic parents canvassing door-todoor in the Queenswood Heights
community of Orléans to encourage
enrolment at the newly opened Queenswood
Catholic School, led to the construction of
Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School. This
new school turned out to be the mother
school for Catholic elementary education
in the Orléans area, as other schools which
opened over the ensuing years, with the
increase in population and new
development, could trace their heritage back
to Our Lady of Wisdom. These include
Convent Glen Catholic School, Divine Infant
Catholic School, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Catholic School and St. Francis of Assisi
Catholic School.
Our Lady of Wisdom School can
trace its lineage to Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Catholic School in Beacon Hill. Many
children from the Our Lady of Wisdom
attendance area attended Thomas D’Arcy
McGee and then moved to Blackburn
Catholic School (Good Shepherd). Finally,
Queenswood Catholic School opened on the
grounds of Ecole Reine des Bois, with both
schools coming under the jurisdiction of the
During the 1972-73 school year,
Catholic parents canvassed the area,
encouraging other Catholic parents to
register their children at the new
Queenswood Catholic School, so that their
goal of having a new school building erected
in Queenswood Heights could be achieved.
This initiative was successful and
construction of the new school on
St. Georges Street began at a cost of
$640,000. It was designed to accommodate
432 students. The new building was situated
in a field within view of just a few houses.
The Tenth Line, now a major thoroughfare,
could be seen at a great distance from the
school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
building for some of their instruction. At one
time, Our Lady of Wisdom had 13 portable
classrooms on site, with a total school
enrolment of nearly 800 students. In 1984,
an eight-room port-a-pak was added. Over
the years, the school has seen a number of
other changes and improvements made to
both the interior and exterior of the school.
In the early years of Our Lady of
Wisdom School, it was associated with
St. Joseph Catholic Parish. In 1983, the
newly created Divine Infant Parish assumed
the responsibility of caring for the spiritual
needs of the school community.
1565 St. Georges Street
Orléans K1E 1R2
613-824-9700
www.occdsb.on.ca/wis
Our Lady of Wisdom School was
built as an open-concept school, having no
walls separating the classrooms, which
surrounded a central library. Only the
kindergarten students had a separate room.
All of the others, ranging at that time from
Grades 1 through 8, had their classes in the
open area.
Our Lady of Wisdom grew along
with the Orléans community that it served.
At one time, student population growth
necessitated the opening of an annex in
an old school on Innes Road. The students
traveled from the annex to the main school
153
Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic
School has had some thrilling moments in
its history. The school was in its infancy
when former Prime Minister of Canada the
Right Honourable John Diefenbaker visited
in April 1976. Other highlight occasions in
the history of the school include a
citizenship ceremony held in 1995-96,
presided over by Judge Suzanne Pinel, and
the school’s 25th anniversary celebration in
May 1999, which featured a blessing and
prayer by Ottawa Archbishop Marcel
Gervais.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Pasquale (Pat) Ferraro
Past Principals
Gerard Leclair
Andrew McKinley
Richard McGrath
Ralph Watzenboeck
John Power
Sheila Fergus
Marilyn Boucher
L. Brazeau
Grace Castonguay
Sam Coletti
A. M. Colwill
M. Cooper
Jane Domokos
Sister Marie Doyle
E. Gariepy
Carolyn Hawley
Nuala Hackett (Durkin)
B. Jette
Norma Menard
Peter Sorrenti
Murielle Nystrand
Paul Barrette
Michel Marcil
School staff who have gone on to become
superintendents are Lucy Miller, Yvonne
Benton and Brent Wilson.
Staff who have become OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board principals
are Deborah Robinson, Cindy Simpson,
Gloria Horan, Austin DeCoste, Faye Powell,
Grace Castonguay-Kenny, Diane Jackson,
Donna Bekkers-Boyd, Dwight Delahunt,
Kevin Mullins, Louise Garby and Nuala
Durkin.
Student Jason Malette became a
player with the Saskatchewan Roughriders
of the Canadian Football League. He visited
the school on May 4, 1998.
School Colours
Blue and gold
Logo
The school logo was designed by
a grade 6 student, Christine Fournier.
It features a dark “O” circle in
which are situated an “L,” a “W” and a cross.
Mascot
School has two mascots: a tooth called
“Willie Wisdom” and an owl named “Wise.”
.
Symbols
Diane Vaughan, a teacher at the
school at the time, donated a framed picture
of Mary, Our Lady of Wisdom.
Line Douglas, a teacher at the
school at the time, donated a wooden statue
of Mary in the front hall of the school.
School staff made the Our Lady
of Wisdom banner.
A statue of Mary in the showcase
at the school was donated by Madonna
House, which is a lay apostolate located
in Combermere, near Barry’s Bay. This
organization works with the poor around
the world.
Melanie McGillivray, a parent of
the school at the time, made a banner of
Mary, Our Lady of Wisdom.
154
Song
The school song of Our Lady of
Wisdom Catholic School was written in 1982
by grade 6 student Joette Dobra. The song,
entitled “Wisdom” is as follows:
This school is caring
This school is Wisdom
From all the teachers
To all the students
From all the classrooms
To our library
Wisdom was made for you and me.
As I was working in my classroom
I saw around me my friends and
classmates
I saw before me my helpful teacher
As I was playing in the school
yard,
I saw so many happy faces
I saw around me a school of
friendship
M
uch has happened at Pope John
XXIII Catholic School on
Knoxdale Road since it opened its
doors in 1963, at that time, one of the new
Catholic schools built to accommodate the
growing suburban development in Nepean.
Trustees of the local school board
at the time of the blessing of the new school
by Bishop J.R. Windle in 1963 were Garfield
O’Gilvie, Paul Marcotte and Georges Nash.
This was one of the local school boards that
existed in Nepean prior to the creation of the
1969.
While it has seen class upon class
of students pass through its doors over the
years since 1963, Pope John XXIII School
has also witnessed a myriad of events and
changes take place as well. The school’s
custodian, Eldon Currell, parachuted into
the schoolyard in the spring of 2001,
certainly not an every day occurrence at any
school.
The school celebrated its
25th anniversary in the spring of 1988. One
of the highlights was a special anniversary
celebration picture that was taken by
photographer Mr. Zwicker. Both his children
and his grandchildren attended the school.
A play structure in the schoolyard became
a reality thanks to the school’s parent
council headed by Paula Cavan. Another
accomplishment that pleased the school
community was the paving of the school’s
courtyard area as well as the schoolyard
area behind the gymnasium. The
Environmental Committee at the school
planted a maple tree at the front of the
school.
Pope John XXIII Catholic School
has provided students to two other new
schools, St. John the Apostle Catholic School
and Frank Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary
School. The construction of St. John the
POPE
JOHN XXIII
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
165 Knoxdale Road
Nepean K2G 1B1
613-226-6223
www.occdsb.on.ca/joh
Apostle School resulted in a boundary
change that saw a number of Pope John
XXIII students move to the new school.
When Frank Ryan Catholic Senior
Elementary School was built in 1980, the
grades 7 and 8 students who had been
attending Pope John XXIII Catholic School
since its opening were redirected. This
meant that an Industrial Arts room for boys
and a Home Economics room for girls, as
well as a lunchroom, all located in the lower
level of the school, were no longer being
used. At one time, grades 7 and 8 students
from various Nepean schools were taken to
Pope John XXIII School for a day of using
these special facilities. After the downstairs
155
space was no longer needed for its original
purpose, it served as a central resource
centre, as well as a home for Kindergarten,
the French Department, a meeting space for
Board workshops and as the Board’s
technology repair depot. When it was first
created, the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board’s education museum was
housed in this downstairs area. The museum
has since been moved to the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board’s
administrative building on Hunt Club Road.
School Board’s central teacher resource
centre, first established at the Board’s
administration building in 1972, was
relocated to the lower level area of Pope
John XXIII Catholic School in a move which
began in July 1978 and completed in March
1979. An official open house was held at the
new premises at Pope John XXIII School in
April 1979 to mark the relocation. In 1996,
this school board central resource centre was
named the “Derry Byrne Teacher Resource
Centre” in memory of Derry Byrne, Director
of Education of the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board at the time of his death.
also housed the first consultants of the
These included Mae Rooney, Consultant for
Primary Methods, Brian Bourbeau,
Consultant for Health and Physical
Education, Harry Bellier, Consultant for
Special Education and Yvonne Beniteau,
French Consultant.
is named after the 261st pope, who reigned
from October 1958 until his death in June
1963. Known affectionately by many as
“Good Pope John” and “the most loved Pope
in history,” he was declared “blessed” by
Pope John Paul II in 2000, the penultimate
step on the road to sainthood.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Brenda Richard (2006-present)
Past Principals
Claire Janney (1963-65)
Earl Hogan (1965-67)
Mae Rooney (1978-83)
Ralph Watzenboeck (1983-87)
Gerard Leclair (1987-92)
Basil Tomlinson (1992-96)
Helen Bogie (1996-97)
Sharon O’Connor (1997-99)
Gail Taillon (2001-06)
First Teaching Staff
Barbara Champagne (1963)
Monique Michaud (1963)
Former Students
Alison Smyth, Music and Drama
Alison is one of Canada’s up-and-coming
singers. In her teen years, she had
consistent first place rankings and six
trophies in the National Capital Kiwanis
Music Festival, covering both classical and
show music. In 1999, she competed at the
provincial level for both the Kiwanis
Festival and the Ontario Registered Music
Teachers’ Association, placing first in both
competitions. As a result, she performed
with the Dofasco Male Chorus in a
nationally televised CTV Christmas special.
Alison moved to Toronto in 2001 to attend
the Glenn Gould School of the Royal
Conservatory of Music. She remained
dedicated to her goal of a professional career.
In early 2004, she landed a role in the
Toronto production of the Broadway musical
Hair Spray, spending nine months in this,
her debut professional production.
Mike Kusiewicz, Triple “A”
baseball player, member of Canada’s
Olympic baseball team in Greece in 2004
and inductee into the Ottawa Sports Hall
of Fame in 2005.
Cam Powell, a.k.a. Scott Rush, the
morning man on Hot 89.9 Radio.
156
School Colours
Green and yellow
Logo
A student in the special education
class taught by Barry Olivier originally
designed the school logo.
The logo is triangular with the
name Pope John XXIII.
Motto
“A School To Believe In”
Mascot
“PJ the bear”
W
hen the new Prince of Peace
Catholic School on Heatherington
Road in Ottawa opened in 1977,
it was believed to be the first of its kind,
linking an elementary school with a chapel.
The roots of the new school and chapel can
be found in the rapid population growth that
occurred in the area of Walkley Road and
Heron Road in the 1960s. This brought
about the need not only for a new school but
also for the formation of a new Catholic
community, St. Peter.
The construction of what would
become Prince of Peace School came as a
result of overcrowding and continuing
growth at Queen of the Angels School on
Heron Road, a school that consisted not only
of a main building but also of 14 portables
located on Briar Hill Road. At the same
time, there were changes and pressures
taking place in Resurrection of Our Lord
Parish, which served the area. Beginning
in 1969, Sunday Mass was celebrated in the
chapel of Campanile School on Heron Road.
When Campanile was closed in 1973, the
location for Mass was moved across the
street to the gymnasium of St. Peter High
School.
Because of the distance from
Resurrection of Our Lord Church and the
increasing size of that parish, a movement
grew for the Archdiocese to create a new
parish in the area. It began as a Catholic
community under the associate pastor of
Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in 1975
and became the new Catholic community of
St. Peter in February 1977, although still
a part of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish.
To provide a home for this new Christian
community of St. Peter, proposals and
negotiations resulted in a joint church/school
venture that saw the construction of
St. Peter Chapel along with the new Prince
of Peace Catholic School. The chapel seated
120 and was connected to the school in such
a way that it could be opened up to the
PRINCE OF
PEACE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
38,000 square foot facility situated on a fiveacre site. The school featured a generalpurpose room, a library resource centre,
three kindergarten rooms, three special
education rooms and 12 regular classrooms,
along with the chapel attached to the school.
The school could accommodate
approximately 500 junior kindergarten to
grade 6 students.
The first draft of the design for the
new school called for a totally open concept
configuration on the second floor of the
school; however, after further consultation,
the open concept component of the school
was reduced to just three rooms.
1620 Heatherington Road
Ottawa K1V 9P5
613-731-4733
www.occdsb.on.ca/pop
gymnasium, thus accommodating an
additional 350 people. The St. Peter
community and the school cooperated, with
parishioners helping to purchase the chairs
and tables for the school gym, while the school
staff and students helped pay for the main
crucifix in the chapel. In May 1981, St. Peter
was proclaimed as a separate parish.
The chapel and school were built
at the same time, with E.J. Cuhaci as the
architect and Paul D’Aoust as the general
contractor. Construction took place in 1976
and the school was occupied in January
1977. It was built at a cost of approximately
$1,300,000, and consisted of a two-storey,
157
The school was officially opened on
Sunday, October 16, 1977, with Bishop John
Beahan blessing the facility, assisted by Rev.
David Corkery, Pastor of Resurrection of Our
Lord Parish, Rev. James Whalen, Associate
Pastor of St. Peter’s community, and Deacon
Stephen Hill, the Bishop’s Secretary. At the
official opening, the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board was represented by
Board Chairperson Frank Gilhooly and
Board official B.J. Kipp, along with Trustees
Roberta Anderson, Rita Desjardins, Paul
Kelly, Jack MacKinnon and Area
Superintendent Paul Brady. The school
choir, under the direction of Mrs. Geraldine
LaRocque, provided the music.
The new school was named “Prince
of Peace Catholic School” as a result of a
public consultation process. The Queen of
the Angels School community was asked in
the 1975-76 school year to submit suggested
names. A selection committee reduced the
list to five and, after further input and
consideration, the name “Prince of Peace
Catholic School” was submitted to the
trustees of the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board, who subsequently
granted approval. In 1976-77, the newly
formed school began occupying the Briar
Hill Road portable site, drawing its students
SCHOOL HISTORIES
from Heatherington Road, Ridgemount
Terrace and surrounding areas. The
students and staff remained at the
temporary quarters until moving into the
new Prince of Peace School in January 1977.
Meanwhile, Queen of the Angels School
continued to operate on Heron Road in 19761977, drawing its students from Heron Gate
and surrounding areas. In June 1977,
Queens of the Angels School closed and its
students were transferred to Prince of Peace
School.
Present Principal
Gail Taillon (2006-present)
Past Principals
James Morrison (1976-81)
Joan O’Toole (1981-83)
James McStravick (1983-84)
Michael Blimkie (1984-89)
Glenda McDonnell (1989-94)
Yvonne Harper (1994-95)
Mary Somers (1995-2000)
Catherine Williamson (2000-02)
Katie Kenny (2002-06)
Margaret Payette
Sister Barbara Prior
Jean Hall
Pam Trudel
Joan MacMillan
Marie-Louise Gauthier
Nina Louli
Jean Charette
Geraldine LaRocque
Frances Blanchfield
Diane Boulerice
Sheila Hadley
Diane Laforge
Nicole Letourneau
Theora Sisk
Roger Gauthier, Custodian
Marian Bowie, Secretary
School Colours
Blue and gold
Logo
The school logo features a dove
hovering over a shield in a circular logo
featuring the crown of the Prince of Peace on
top, with the school name “Prince of Peace”
on a banner below.
First Hot Dog Lunch
The parent-teacher association had
everything ready for the school’s first hot
dog lunch when a malfunction occurred in
the electrical room of the new school. This
caused the fire alarm to sound, forcing
everyone out of the building. The Ottawa
Fire Department arrived on the scene and
extinguished the fire.
Strike and Mud
Several weeks after the school
opened, a custodial staff strike occurred.
Since Heatherington Road was not paved
at that time, there was mud tracked
everywhere in the school. Conditions
deteriorated to such an extent that even the
Board’s educational superintendents arrived
one day to staff the brooms and mops to
clean up the mud.
The Nish
There was a “leftover” space on
the second floor of the new school that was
called “The Nish.” The origin of “Nish” is
from the Mic Mac language, meaning
“gathering place.” The Nish became a
gathering place for staff on the second floor
of the school. It is now used for the school’s
breakfast program and as a meeting room.
158
Day One Song
Here we are gathered, hurray for all
Finally gathered, hurray for all
Hurray for teachers, principal too,
Hurray for movers, for me and you
Hurray for builders, painters and all
For school board members who
carried the ball
Hurray for nurse, Father Whalen
and friends
Hurray for joy, may it never end.
Hurray for learning, especially
here
We’ll come each day in our very
best cheer
Whether it’s Science, Spelling or
Art
We know we’re off to a very good
start.
Good-bye to the “portables”
We loved them, it’s true
Now we’ve arrived at a school
that’s brand new
We’re all at Prince of Peace, you
see
Hurray for our school and for you
and me.
Prince of Peace School Song
You’re a grand old school
You’re a high-ranking school
You’re the best in Ottawa, we all
say
Here the kids are smart
And do their part
We’re loyal to you ev’ry day
Ev’ry heart beats true
For our own colours, too
You’re the best school in ev’ry way
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
But our school is here to stay!
Prince of Peace School
SCHOOL HISTORIES
A Teacher Remembers
In the fall of 1969, I began my
32-year career, with St. Margaret Mary
School being my first assignment, followed
by Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Luke,
Prince of Peace and concluding with my time
in the classroom at St. Thomas More in
2001.
The Hall-Dennis Report was the
educational trend of the day when I first
started teaching, while the Common Sense
Revolution set the trend covering my last
years in teaching. Learning centres and
tables, the introduction of the metric system,
the 50/50 bilingual program and the
teaching of information technology were a
few of the changes that I experienced in my
career.
When I recall rewarding
experiences, I immediately call to mind
Prince of Peace School. I taught the
“unilingual” program and, needless to say,
some days were quite trying and tiring.
“Look, listen and you will learn” was the
motto that I espoused. Seeing students
overcome challenges and meeting with
success is very rewarding. One student
whom I remember in particular arrived in
Grade 3 unable to name all of the letters of
the alphabet. This talented girl was able to
write beautiful poetry by year’s end. She
would say,”I’m listening and looking but I’m
still having trouble.” She always persevered
and was able to re-enter the bilingual
program where she performed very well.
There were many such success stories.
159
Contact with former pupils always
surprises me. The light things that they
remember such as white elephant sales to
raise money for worthy causes, Halloween
parties and a Christmas stocking that I
crocheted for my students.
During my career with the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School Board and
later the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board, I met many super teachers, made
new friends and had the pleasure of having
great French partners along with supportive
principals and vice-principals.
Linda Denison
SCHOOL HISTORIES
160
S
acred Heart Catholic High School
opened its new $18,000,000 facility
in Stittsville in March 2000, but it
was back in December 1992 that the very
first actions were taken to make this school
a reality. Indeed, a Stittsville location was
not originally envisioned as the site for this
Catholic high school. It was only due to the
efforts of the local trustee, a motivated
community and a responsive municipality
that Stittsville was chosen in 1995 by the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board as
the site for its new western area high school.
In December 1992, the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board instructed its
planning staff to conduct a study of the
growth development in the extreme western
section of the Board’s jurisdiction, with a view
to establishing a location for a proposed new
high school to relieve the impending
overcrowding at Holy Trinity Catholic High
School in Kanata. By 1994, this new western
area high school was third on the Board’s
capital priority list. In June 1994, planning
staff presented a report identifying the area
north of Highway 417 in Kanata as the
recommended location for the new school.
Consequently, they were anxious to locate
a specific site in the area. When Goulbourn
Trustee Mary Curry saw the planning report,
she viewed the situation differently, favouring
a Stittsville location, where it could serve
both the town and the western rural areas
of the Board’s jurisdiction. She argued that
Stittsville and rural students deserved to
have a Catholic high school in their home
community, rather than being bussed to
Kanata. As a result, the matter was referred
back to staff for additional study.
This spurred on the community.
A strategy was developed to increase the
identification of the new western area high
school with Stittsville. It began when a brief
was presented to the Board of Trustees in
November 1994, by the new Stittsville
Committee of Catholic Ratepayers and their
SACRED
HEART
SCHOOL HISTORIES
5870 Abbott Street
Stittsville K2S 1X4
613-831-6643
www.occdsb.on.ca/shh
spokesperson, Cathy Collyer. The brief
advocated that the new western area high
school should be located in Stittsville to
serve the Goulbourn and West Carleton
areas, since this was the only area of the
Board’s jurisdiction without its own high
school. In association with this brief, the
Holy Spirit Catholic School Parent-Teacher
Association presented a petition, collected
under the leadership of Carol Traversy,
which contained over 1,200 names of
residents of Stittsville who favoured having
the new western area high school.
Beginning in December 1994,
and extending to the end of March 1995,
161
a letter-writing campaign to the Provincial
Government urging funding for the new
western area high school was undertaken
by the Stittsville Committee of Catholic
Ratepayers, coordinated by Mrs. Collyer.
By 1995, the western area high school had
risen to second place on the Board’s capital
priority list; however, at this point, no
decision had yet been made regarding its
specific location. Another component in this
campaign to have Stittsville chosen as the
site of the new high school was the
involvement of Goulbourn Township and
particularly of Mayor Paul Bradley and
Councillor Allan Ryan. The Township had
been seriously thinking about developing
a recreation complex, and there was a
possibility that some kind of partnership
could be brokered with the school board
regarding a joint, campus-like development.
In March 1995, Mayor Bradley appeared
before the Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board to suggest that if the new western
area high school were located in Stittsville,
it could be associated with the Township’s
new recreation complex. A survey showed
overwhelming support for such a joint
development.
At an April 1995 meeting, the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board voted
unanimously that the new western area
high school would be located in Stittsville.
Staff was authorized to identify a fully
serviced 20-acre site within the community.
The Board hoped at that time that the new
high school could be built and in operation
by September 1997, but provincial capital
funding was needed before the project could
get under way. In the end, it would be four
years between the 1995 decision and the
actual commencement of construction in
1999. The chief obstacle was the lack of
provincial government funding to build the
school, a matter which was further impeded
by the amalgamation of school boards across
the province, including those in Ottawa and
Carleton. With the creation of larger district
SCHOOL HISTORIES
school boards, the province abandoned its
previous funding procedure for new schools
and implemented a new formula in which
financing of school construction was
dependent on a scarcity of pupil places
across the Board’s entire jurisdiction. In
the end, this new funding formula helped,
because the new Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board had a shortfall of pupil places
at the secondary level and so funding
became available for the new Stittsville
Catholic High School.
The municipality identified and
then purchased a 50-acre parcel of land on
Abbott Street for its new recreation complex,
with 20 acres sold to the school board for the
high school site. Sharing the servicing costs
helped reduce the overall construction
expenditures for both parties. In July 1998,
appointed Edward J. Cuhaci and Associates
as the architects for the new Catholic high
school in Stittsville. The school board
wanted to begin the construction because of
extreme overcrowding at Holy Trinity, where
there were 30 portable classrooms in use
and no space for any more. Finally, all
delays were eliminated and the clearing of
the site for the new high school began in
February 1999.
In March 1999, Ron Engineering
and Construction (Eastern) Ltd. was hired
as the construction management firm for the
Stittsville Catholic High School. An official
sod-turning ceremony was held at the site on
Monday, May 3, featuring a blending of soil
by students from Holy Trinity Catholic High
School and representatives from other area
Catholic schools, namely Holy Spirit,
Georges Vanier Catholic, St. Michael
Corkery, St. Philip, St. Mark High School
and St. Paul High School. Father Frank
Scott of Holy Spirit Parish blessed the
project, which had a March 2000 completion
date. In June, a temporary home for the new
Catholic high school, then well under
construction, was found in Confederation
High School on Woodroffe Avenue adjacent
to the Nepean Sportsplex. This would house
the enrolment of 700 students in Grades 7
to 11 until the new facility was completed.
Finally, on Monday, March 6, 2000,
at the dawn of the new millennium, the
students and staff of Sacred Heart Catholic
High School spent their first day in their
new premises. A brighter glow now shone
on Catholic education in Stittsville and in
the western rural areas of the Board’s
jurisdiction. Enrolment at Sacred Heart
grew steadily. In January 2004, a new
$4 million, 31-room permanent addition was
opened, eliminating a plethora of portable
classrooms that had sprouted at the rear of
the school. Despite the addition, portables
once again appeared at Sacred Heart as
school enrolment neared 2,000 students in
Grades 7 through 12 in the fall of 2005.
One exciting feature of Sacred
Heart High School was the inclusion of a
700-seat, state-of-the-art performing arts
theatre. Its presence has encouraged a
steadily growing arts program, including
music, visual arts, drama and dance. School
productions of Anne of Green Gables and
Little Shop of Horrors on the stage have
proven memorable.
Not only has the enrolment at the
school grown steadily from its inception,
so too have its school spirit and traditions.
Many of these spirit and tradition building
events have focused on charitable ventures.
The annual cake auction at Sacred
Heart has grown into the main charitable
fundraising event, with a record $14,000 in
donations realized in 2005 and turned over
to the various deserving charities involved.
This amount was surpassed in 2006 when
the auction raised almost $20,000. The funds
were donated to the various charities that
the school had adopted for the year: the
162
Shepherds of Good Hope, Development and
Peace, Operation Go Home, Waupoos
Foundation, Faith and Light, ALS Research,
Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada,
WaterCan, Judee Orphanage in Haiti and
the Easter Seals Society. Sacred Heart
students also participate in the annual Toy
Mountain initiative and in “Toque Tuesday,”
an event that raises funds for the homeless.
In 2006, Sacred Heart received the “Golden
Toque” award for having raised the most
funds for the homeless of any school in
Canada through the sale of toques in the
annual “Raising the Roof for the Homeless”
event. The “Husky Howl Run/Walk” is now
an annual event, raising funds for the
Stittsville Food Bank. Students have also
been generous in raising money for tsunami
and hurricane relief efforts.
The Sacred Heart Catholic High
School girls’ hockey team won a provincial
high school hockey championship banner
in 2002; the junior cheerleaders became
provincial champions in 2004. Industry
Canada has recognized the technological
innovation at Sacred Heart by conferring
its Innovative Schools Award. Sacred Heart
began its life as a school community that
tried to be on the cutting edge in its use of
technology across the curriculum and
continues to do so to this day. In 2005,
Sacred Heart students placed first in
Ontario in achievement on the provincial
literacy test, an indication of the academic
enthusiasm and focus of its students.
Sacred Heart also offers virtually
every sport available through its athletics
program, fielding teams in most
interscholastic sports while also harbouring
an active intramural sports program. Sacred
Heart has received the platinum award
from the Canadian Association for Health,
Physical Education, Recreation and
Dance (CAHPERD) for the past six years,
indicating the school’s focus on physical
fitness.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Sacred Heart Catholic High School
maintains a close relationship with Holy
Spirit Catholic Parish. Indeed, the
construction of Sacred Heart in the
community was a godsend for Holy Spirit
Parish as it has relocated its Sunday Masses
to the larger gymnasium, having outgrown its
initial home in the Holy Spirit School gym.
The parish now has plans to build its new
church across Shea Road from Sacred Heart
High School. It is scheduled to be built in
2007. These dual pillars of the Catholic faith
in Stittsville will be in full view of each other
as they will undoubtedly continue to work
and worship together in the years to come.
The school has developed “The
Well,” a youth spiritual retreat program,
popular with both students and teachers.
Those involved gather in the school chapel
on Fridays to discuss their faith, to sing and
to pray together.
Present Principal
Valerie McGillis (2005-present)
Principals
John Shaughnessy (1999-2005)
First Teachers and Support Staff
John Shaughnessy, Principal
Sue Henry, Vice-Principal
Tom D’Amico, Vice-Principal
Mark Beaudry, Department Head
Robert Belanger, Department
Head
Carol Bode
Brian Boggs, Department Head
Jeannine Boissonneault,
Curriculum Leader
Larry Brown
Jeannie Cameron, Teacher
Assistant
Sue Camilucci, Secretary
Todd Carley
Lorraine Carney, Department
Head
Glenn Carr, Department Head
Anne Cheetham-Curry
Krista Chisholm
Paul Collins
Matt Dawber
Christine Deschenes
Matt Dineen, Curriculum Leader
Fran Durocher
Rebeccah Erskine
Kathy Fischer
Heather Fraser, Curriculum
Leader
Dave Hanna
Dave Hansen
H.P. Hansen
Frank Harris, Department Head
Denise Hoppner
Kristen Kelly
Jennifer Klatt
Tracey Labreche
Helen Lafortune, Guidance
Secretary
Ron Lakusiak, Department Head
Lynne Langille, Department Head
Malcolm Lawrence, Department
Head
Dayna Lee
Curtis MacNeil, Curriculum
Leader
Heather MacPhee
Mike Maloney
Catharine Manson
Matt McCarthy
Brid McDonald, Department Head
Nora McKnight
Iliana Mican
Debby Moore, Secretary
Jim Murphy
Halia Osadca
Melissa Perrotta
Marion Poyner, Librarian
Linda Raaymakers, Teacher
Assistant
Sil Sanna
Mary Semenchuk
Len St. Clair
Kelly Stephen, Chaplain
Dan Sullivan
163
Robert Tarnoczy, Curriculum
Leader
Josee Turcotte
Brenda Webber, Secretary
Caroline Zentner
Former Students
Alexis MacIsaac, a 2004 graduate,
spent time as a performing member of a
Riverdance touring company. She has a CD
featuring her fiddling and is widely
recognized as an accomplished fiddler and
dancer. While at Sacred Heart, she played
starring roles in the school’s productions of
Anne of Green Gables and Little Shop of
Horrors.
Kyle Wharton, a 2005 graduate,
has played for the Sault Ste. Marie
Greyhounds and also the Ottawa 67’s of the
Ontario Junior A Hockey League. He was
the second pick of the Columbus Blue
Jackets in the National Hockey League’s
entry draft in 2004, the 59th player chosen
over all. In June 2006, he signed an entrylevel contract with the Blue Jackets.
Staff Recognition
Sacred Heart teachers Matt
Dawber and Helen Pat Hansen received the
Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in
2000.
Sacred Heart teacher Matt Dawber
received the Capital Educators’ Award in
2003. Educators from educational
institutions in the Ottawa area are eligible
for this award through a nomination and
selection process.
School Colours
Red, white and silver
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Logo
“Wisdom,” “Faith” and “Purpose”
are the three words that are featured on the
logo of Sacred Heart Catholic High School.
“Wisdom” is on the logo as it
represents a higher level of knowledge and
personal growth. Wisdom allows for the
discernment of right or wrong and permits
the individual to better understand his/her
role with respect to community/academics/
life skills, etc.
“Faith” represents the faith that
each person has personally and the faith
that they have in others. It also represents
the school’s commitment to the Catholic
faith as a way of life.
“Purpose” represents the action
achieved through faith and wisdom. There is
purpose in life/school/growth, both personal
and spiritual, and also contribution to
society when a person has faith and wisdom
combined.
The logo was developed after
Sacred Heart students were asked to
suggest possible designs. A committee,
representative of the school community,
selected the most appropriate ideas and then
these ideas were incorporated into the logo.
Teacher H.P. Hansen was instrumental in
helping convert these various ideas into a
finished product.
Besides the words “Wisdom,”
“Faith” and “Purpose,” the logo features the
name “Sacred Heart” across the top, as well
as several symbols.
An open book symbol represents
learning, knowledge acquisition and
academics. It is also representative of the
Bible and the spiritual direction of the
school.
The cross is the central aspect of
the logo and focuses on the role of personal
and community faith. It represents a
commitment to the principles and practices
of Jesus Christ.
A boy and girl in motion on the
logo represent the movement that young
people have within their development at
school and within their spiritual and
personal growth. It also represents the
strong physical education and attention
to personal development and health that
Sacred Heart Catholic High School
promotes.
The pair of creative arts masks on
the logo represents that Sacred Heart has a
vibrant and strong Creative Arts focus in
music, drama and art. It also represents the
school’s humanities focus. The “traditional”
icon of the drama masks has been used to
represent this focus.
A pair of hands symbol on the logo
represents the individuality of each person
and the concept that what a person does in
life is a result of his or her hard work and
contribution to interaction with the
community.
The shape of the Sacred Heart
Catholic High School logo is in the form of a
shield. The shield has been based on the
shape of the heart but formed into a
standardized shield similar to those used at
many colleges, universities and other
organizations. This is to bring a familiar and
universally accepted mode of design to the
logo, because people identify with what they
know.
The colours used in the logo are
red, white and black.
164
Team Names
“Huskies” is the name of the sports
teams of Sacred Heart High School, selected
after students submitted suggestions.
A committee, with representatives of
parents, teachers and students, narrowed
the choices submitted and then the students
voted on the names on the shorter list, with
“Huskies” winning the vote. In keeping with
the “Huskies” name, the main gymnasium
at the school is called the “Huskydome.”
A Husky dog’s head is the emblem of the
sports teams at the school.
Prominent Visitor
Margaret Trudeau, former wife of
Prime Minister, the late Right Honourable
Pierre Trudeau, visited Sacred Heart in
June 2006 in her role as Honourary
President of WaterCan, an organization that
works to provide wells in countries around
the world, and to educate the populace about
the use and benefits of clean water. At
Sacred Heart, she accepted on behalf of
WaterCan, a donation of $2,500, part of the
funds raised by the school’s annual cake
auction. Her appearance to receive the
WaterCan donation was arranged by
Stittsville businessman Phil Sweetnam who
is a supporter of the organization. He had
told the school that if $2,500 were raised for
WaterCan from the cake auction, he would
try to have Mrs. Trudeau on hand to accept
the donation. The presentation rather
appropriately took place during the
retirement gathering for Sacred Heart
Teacher Mike Maloney, one of the most avid
promoters of the school’s annual cake
auction.
School Chapel
The Grey Sisters donated a
tabernacle and several religious artifacts to
the school after the closure of one of their
convents. These are located in the school
chapel.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Papal Certificate
On the occasion of the official
opening of the school in the spring of 2000,
the school was presented with a certificate
of blessing from Pope John Paul II.
Unusual Events
It happened one day when an
unsuspecting exchange teacher from
Australia, while on his way to the school
along the Trans Canada Trail, winding its
way in front of Sacred Heart, encountered
a bear on the trail. There have been a
number of bear sightings in the area as the
school is located beside a wooded area.
Another unusual happening was
when a gas leak in front of the school forced
a quick evacuation of the building.
Federal Government Grant
School Board received an $80,000 energy
efficiency grant from the Office of Energy
Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada
related to the construction of Sacred Heart
Catholic High School. The grant was the
maximum available under its Commercial
Building Incentive Program. In order to
qualify for the grant, the design of Sacred
Heart Catholic High School had to
demonstrate a reduction in energy use of
at least 25 percent when compared to the
requirements of the Model National Energy
Code for Buildings (1997).
Peace Tower Flag
Trustee Arthur J.M. Lamarche
presented a Canadian flag, which had flown
on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in
Ottawa the week before the official opening
of Sacred Heart Catholic High School on
May 1, 2000, to the school at the official
opening.
Naming of Sacred Heart Catholic High
School
The name “Sacred Heart Catholic
High School” was selected for the new high
school in Stittsville in June 1999, after a
consultative process involving the Catholic
community of the area, parents, high school
students and staff.
Initially, more than 100 names
were suggested. A steering committee
comprised of the principal and chairperson
of the school councils of the schools that
would be feeding the new high school,
narrowed the potential names to five. These
were then submitted to the Catholic
community for the selection of the three
final names, which were then forwarded
to the trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board for a final decision,
as required by Board policy. The name
“Sacred Heart” was selected.
Popular devotion to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus in the Roman Catholic
Church goes back to the seventeenth
century, when Our Lord appeared to
St. Margaret Mary as she prayed before the
Blessed Sacrament. It is believed that all
of Jesus’ love for humanity is enveloped in
His Sacred Heart. In 1856, Pope Pius IX
introduced the feast of the Sacred Heart into
the church calendar. The feast is now
celebrated on the Friday of the third week
after Pentecost.
At the time of the selection, Father
Frank Scott was the pastor of Holy Spirit
Parish in Stittsville. Father Scott enjoys a
special affinity with the Sacred Heart.
He was ordained at his home church,
St. Michael in Corkery, on Friday, June 29,
1984, which was the feast of the Sacred
Heart that year. For the ordination
ceremony, a banner depicting the Sacred
Heart of Jesus was hung on the front of the
church. This four-foot by eight-foot banner
had been especially made for the occasion
by Marie Pierce, an artist at St. John the
Apostle Parish in Nepean. Father Scott
retained the cherished banner and
frequently displayed it at Holy Spirit Parish
Masses. He also took the banner to a Mass
that he celebrated at the new Sacred Heart
Catholic High School in the fall of 1999
while it was located at Confederation High
School in Nepean. The banner’s welcoming
representation of the Sacred Heart evoked
a decidedly positive reaction.
At Sacred Heart Catholic High
School, the Sacred Heart is beautifully and
prominently depicted in a stained glass
window, donated by the school’s architect,
Edward J. Cuhaci. It is located between the
foyer and the chapel.
165
SCHOOL HISTORIES
166
T
he name St. Andrew is fast
becoming associated with Catholic
life in the Barrhaven/Longfields
area of South Nepean. Not only does the
school, which opened in late 2003 bear that
name, but also the new church planned for
the Catholic community. The school predated
the parish, starting in September 2003, with
the new facility housing the students as of
December 15, 2003.
School in the booming new housing area of
Longfields in South Nepean had become
severely overcrowded. This situation was
alleviated with the construction of the new
St. Andrew School. St. Andrew began its life
in September 2003, housed in 17 portable
classrooms at Monsignor Paul Baxter
School. Many of the St. Andrew students
had been attending Monsignor Paul Baxter,
forming the core of the new school’s student
body. Students who had previously attended
St. Monica School also became charter
students at the new school.
The school opened with 544
students, quickly swelling to over 600 in its
first year of operation. Indeed, the demand
for Catholic education in the area has
continued unabated, with St. Andrew
housing 870 students by September 2005.
This brought a decision by the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board to build
another school in the area, to be opened
in the 2006-2007 school year — St. Emily
Catholic School — with the St. Andrew
attendance area being divided to relieve it
of its overcrowded situation, while providing
a strong student enrolment base for the new
school.
St. Andrew Catholic School was
built with 18 classrooms, four kindergarten
rooms, a double gymnasium, a library, a
computer lab, an office/reception area, a
resource room and two child care rooms.
The first formal event at St. Andrew was the
ST.
ANDREW
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
201 Crestway Drive
Nepean K2G 6Z3
613-843-0050
www.occdsb.on.ca/and
blessing of the facility, which took place on
October 23, 2003. The ceremony held a
special significance in that this was the
first new school blessed and opened by the
during the tenure of James McCracken as
Director of Education.
The official school opening
ceremony was held on May 20, 2004, five
months after the students and staff had
moved into the new building. David Pratt,
Member of Parliament for the NepeanCarleton riding at that time, was among the
dignitaries in attendance.
167
Present Principal
Brian Kelly (2006-present)
Past Principals
Brenda Mulvihill (2003-06)
Helen Bergeron
Susan Dunlap
Stacey Mercier
Shauna O’Farrell
Carolyn Razzouk
Christine Awad
Cheryl Brooks
Amy Latremouille
Simone Villeneuve
Martine Beaulne
Carolyn Brambles
Abby Sullivan
Natalie Davidson
Bernard Vigneault
Cleo Hesselink
James McLaurin
Christine Mulvihill
Susan Hanson
Kate Drummond
Chris Nicoletti
K. McEvoy
K. Shannon
Eileen MacPhee
Line Joyal-Culbertson
Chris Buccini
Joan Rowe
Mary Jo DiFilippo
Christina Sutton
Shannon Asquini, Teacher
Assistant
Sylvia Mackenzie, Teacher
Assistant
Sharyn Vitalis-Burke, Secretary
Toni Hoffe, Secretary
Linda Mancini, Vice-Principal
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
The St. Andrew school colours,
which were selected by the community, are
black, red and grey.
Logo
The school logo was designed to
represent the white saltire, or the cross of
St. Andrew. The waves at the top of the logo
represent the school, home and parishes.
Mascot
School mascot is “Andy” the
dragon. The dragon was selected from
submissions entered into a contest by the
students. The dragon was chosen for its
strength.
168
S
t. Anne Catholic School is a beacon
of Catholic education in the South
Kanata community of Emerald
Meadows. The school was built to meet the
continued growth of the area, helping to
relieve enrolment pressures at the nearby
St. James Catholic School. St. Anne, which
is named after the grandmother of Jesus,
began in September 1999, not at the
Stonehaven Drive location of the school then
under construction, but at Georges Vanier
Catholic School in North Kanata. The school
opened with an enrolment of 231 students,
but within four years the population had
reached 500 in Junior Kindergarten to
Grade 6, reflecting the housing growth
taking place in the immediate community.
St. Anne Catholic School provides
its families with a local Catholic school
environment integrating the teachings of
Jesus Christ into the day-to-day curriculum
and social fabric of school life and learning.
The mission of the school is to develop
lifelong learners and problem solvers, while
pursuing academic excellence. The school
consists of 17 classrooms, four kindergarten
classrooms, a state-of-the-art computer lab,
a library, a gymnasium, a unit for
developmentally handicapped children, and
a child care facility housing the Emerald
Meadows School Age Program.
St. Anne has quickly developed an
infectious school spirit thanks to a host of
activities and events held throughout the
school year that complement the learning
atmosphere fostered by the staff. These
activities and events have included the Wake
Up St. Anne News Show, environmental
and sign-language clubs, reading and
drama clubs, participation in Board sports
tournaments, a chocolate fundraiser,
Jump Rope for Heart, a winter carnival and
Education Week open houses. There are also
programs for kindergarten helpers, “reading
buddies” and peer mediators, as well as a
complete intramural sports program.
ST.
ANNE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
500 Stonehaven Drive
Kanata K2M 2V6
613-271-0308
www.occdsb.on.ca/ann
In 2006, the school launched a
PRIDE bully-prevention program. PRIDE
stands for “promoting respect, independence,
diversity and excellence.”
The St. Anne School community
has been involved in supporting the “OK
Clean Water Project” since its inception in
2003. The “OK Clean Water Project” (OK
Cameroon in Africa) is an initiative of the
Congregation of Notre Dame, an
and associates with a strong presence
throughout Canada and a longstanding
dedication to education. The project supports
169
the purchase of water pipes, which are laid
from a clean water source into their
communities by villagers in Cameroon. Since
2003, thousands of people in eight different
villages have been helped and more villages
will be aided in the future. St. Anne School
was one of eight Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board schools, which in 2005-06
raised about $6,000 in total for this project.
St. Anne raised its funds by creating a 540metre-long coin line, the length of about 90
water pipes. The students receive annual
presentations by Congregation of Notre
Dame associates (women and men who
share in the mission of the congregation)
who show what their funds are used for so
that the students can see for themselves
that their efforts in helping the “OK Clean
Water Project” are making a difference.
In June 2006, two grade six
students, Colleen Mahoney and Libby
Lough, developed a five-minute video about
the “OK Clean Water Project” and showed it
to the assembled students. The video
included interviews with students talking
about helping others and also with Principal
Jane Hill talking about the project. The two
students did the video to help raise
awareness among the students about the
conditions in which others in the world live.
St. Anne Catholic School has an
active school council. Among the annual
events sponsored by the council are a
welcome pizza night in September and
a Spring Fling.
The students and staff at St. Anne
have many opportunities to demonstrate
their Catholic faith including school-wide
and classroom liturgies. Father Paul
Shepherd and Father Oliver Rich of Holy
Redeemer Parish visit the school regularly
for these liturgical celebrations, fostering
a strong parish-school link.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
In 2005-06, a schoolyard
improvement plan was developed by the
principal in collaboration with the school
council with the goal of making the
schoolyard a place for positive social and
physical activity for students. The plan
included the addition of a second play
structure, line painting for asphalt games,
equipment and toys to support yard games,
a peace corner for conflict resolution, a quiet
area for play, and trees for shade. The new
play structure was installed in the spring of
2006, at the same time as the new outdoor
equipment and the line painting. The new
play structure was made possible thanks to
a community grant from the City of Ottawa,
funding from the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board and donations from school
families and local businesses.
Present Principal
Jane Hill (2005-present)
Past Principals
Lucy Miller (1999)
Daniel Lahey (1999-2004)
Sonja Karsh (2004-05)
Wendy McKinnon
Suzanne Hetu-Descoteaux
Darlene O’Connor
Lisa Connell
Patricia Fiorino
Anna Ferrabee
Mike Kennedy
Joan Sickman
Caroline O’Connor
Josée Hotte
Kevin Carey
Christine Woodley, Library
Technician
Tara Hudon, Educational Assistant
Carolyn Halley, Resource
Joyce Brulé, Secretary
Jacques Cardinal, Custodian
170
Staff Recognition
St. Anne Catholic School teacher
Michael Kennedy received a National
Capital Educator Award in 2006.
School Colours
Beige, navy and white
Motto
“In Faith We Grow”
Mascot
A lion was chosen as the school’s
mascot as a result of a process in 2006
whereby all students were given the
opportunity to provide suggestions. The top
five suggestions were tabulated and then
narrowed down to two. A lion emerged as
the preferred mascot. A lion is considered
appropriate, as lions are good protectors of
their young and are good mothers.
Team Names
The sports teams of St. Anne
Catholic School will now be known as the
“Lions.”
S
t. Anthony Catholic School today,
just as at its beginnings as the
Dante Academy, is a Catholic school
that serves a high proportion of children
from immigrant families living in the
Somerset Street West area of Ottawa. It has
always enjoyed a close partnership with
St. Anthony Catholic Church and the Italian
community of the area. This partnership
continues today as the school has evolved
into a community blessed with a rich
tapestry of cultures. Many of today’s
students are multilingual, learning both
English and French at school while
maintaining their heritage language in the
home.
St. Anthony School was founded
as the Dante Academy in 1925. On June 8,
the Ottawa Citizen reported on the official
opening of the school as follows: “The official
opening of the Dante Separate School for
Italian children took place yesterday
morning, and a special Mass, honoured by
the presence of Monsignor L.N. Campeau,
representing the Archbishop, was celebrated
by Rev. Father L. Larocque at the Church
of St. Anthony. Luigi Scarcella, Chairman
of the Organizing Committee, thanked the
school board, stating that ‘an opportunity
has been given for preserving our tongue
and for our progeny to retain our native
individuality while training them to become
good citizens and lovers of their country,
which has adopted them.’” Following the
Mass, an imposing and beautiful bronze
statue of Dante, executed by Ruotolo, was
blessed and unveiled by Monsignor
Campeau. Mayor Belharrie spoke of the
dedication to Dante, “whose name is
synonymous with patriotism, religion,
devotion to excellence and poetic
inspiration.” The Dominion horticulturalist,
Mr. W. T. Macoun, responded with a promise
to provide a generous donation of trees to
serve as a background to the statue.
ST.
ANTHONY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
391 Booth Street
Ottawa K1R 7K5
613-235-0340
www.occdsb.on.ca/san
Catholic education in this area of
centretown Ottawa pre-dates the opening of
the Dante Academy.
St. Agnes School on Louisa Street
existed as early as 1890-91 as indicated by
the Ottawa city directory of that time.
St. Agnes School later had an annex on
Booth Street near the current site of
St. Anthony School. This is how the early
Catholic education in the area was
delivered. At around the turn of the century,
approximately 300 people from Italy had
settled primarily in an area that eventually
would be the home both to St. Anthony
Church and the Dante Academy.
171
In 1908, Capuchin priest Father F.
Fortunato responded to the needs of this
growing Italian community by holding
religious ceremonies in a rented chapel on
Murray Street. This continued until the
completion of St. Anthony Church at the
corner of Booth Street and Gladstone Avenue
in 1913. The Servite Fathers, beginning with
Father Aurelio Prosperi, became responsible
for the parish in 1914. The burgeoning
Italian population in the neighbourhood
convinced the Ottawa Separate School Board
to build a school next to the new church.
In addition to English and French, the
school also provided instruction in Italian.
It appears that at first the school was a part
of the French-Catholic school system in the
city but that there was an early transition
to the English-Catholic system thanks to
two early Italian teachers, Gino Tiezzi and
Louise Guadagni.
The school was originally named
after the famous Italian writer Dante
Aleghieri who ranks as one of the greatest
writers in Western European literature and
whose epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy,
was completed in 1307. A bust of Dante
graced the entrance to the school until the
Academy was renamed in the late 1940s at
the request of Father Jerome Ferraro, Pastor
of St. Anthony Parish. It was believed that
“St. Anthony School” would better reflect the
close affiliation of the school with the parish.
St. Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of
the poor and the oppressed. During these
early years of the Dante Academy and later
St. Anthony School, there was a close
association of the area with St. Agnes School
as well, as the schools served the same
community and students flowed between
the two schools at times. In recent years
and even to this day, St. Anthony School
continues a close connection with the parish
including the Servite Priests and the Servite
Sisters of the Addolorata, as well as parish
groups such as the Ladies’ Aid and the
Knights of Columbus.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Over the years, the school has
witnessed many special events. On January
12, 1928, His Excellency Monsignor Cassulo,
the Apostolic Delegate to Canada and
Newfoundland, together with other
distinguished visitors including the ConsulGeneral from Italy, were received as guests
of the Dante Academy by Sister Vincent
Ferrier on behalf of the staff. Six-year-old
Albert Constantini and students Ernest
Dilabbio and Rose Fusi welcomed the newly
appointed representative of the Vatican to
Canada.
In the early years of St. Anthony
Church, the students of the Dante Academy
did their part to help pay off the debt
associated with the building of the church.
One event was a concert presented by
students under the direction of Mrs.
Richards.
Winter carnivals were part of the
life of the school for decades. On February
20, 1950, the Ottawa Evening Citizen
reported, complete with photograph, on
the carnival festivities that took place on
the school rink with students of both
St. Anthony School and St. Agnes School
in attendance. John Curran and Eleanor
Romani of St. Anthony were selected as king
and queen of the carnival that year with
Raymond Verdon and Judy Larocque of
St. Agnes serving as the prince and princess.
March 15, 1955 was a significant
date in the life of St. Anthony School as it
was the day of the blessing of a new sixroom addition, as well as the opening of a
school library. The Grey Sisters of the
Immaculate Conception were responsible for
the school at that time, with Sister Mary Ida
as principal. Father Prosperi, who laid the
cornerstone for the original school in 1925,
was present at this ceremony. There were
also 30 altar boys and 15 teachers present
in addition to various dignitaries.
A student from St. Anthony School
made headlines in the Ottawa daily papers
in December 1956. Daniel Miller, a 12-yearold student, received the Jack Hammell
Traffic Safety Award for the Ottawa District
in recognition of his excellent service as
captain of the school’s safety patrol, which
he had served faithfully and competently
for four years. He was subsequently sent to
participate in the first annual Safety Patrol
Rally in Toronto, thanks to the parentteacher association.
In February 1960, the students
of St. Anthony School sent a pair of baby’s
socks to Queen Elizabeth on the occasion
of the birth of her son, Prince Andrew. They
received a reply from Buckingham Palace on
March 9, 1960, thanking them for their gift,
with the words, “The Queen is most pleased
to accept this gift, and deeply appreciates
their very kind thought, both for her and
for the infant Prince.”
In recent years, St. Anthony School
has received national and international
recognition for its schoolyard transformation
project. In 1998, the students, staff and
parents were determined to plant trees in
the schoolyard. At one time, there had been
trees on the property, but they had died or
had become a safety concern and had to be
taken down. The school, along with dozens
of others, applied to win the “Ugliest
Schoolyard Contest,” sponsored by Earth
Day Ottawa-Carleton, the Canadian
Biodiversity Institute and Nortel Networks.
St. Anthony won the contest, which was held
to encourage schools to take positive
environmental action. The Honourable
Christine Stewart, federal Minister of the
Environment, was present when the school
received the award on Earth Day 1998. By
winning the contest, St. Anthony received
$5,000 to help plant trees and make the
schoolyard greener. This award, as well as
the recognized need, resulted in outstanding
parish and community support for the
172
project. The students of St. Anthony, along
with some from nearby Cambridge Public
School and other youngsters called the
Willow Street Angels, received many local,
national and even international awards and
recognition for the impact of the project on
the school and the community. Awards were
received from the City of Ottawa, the Arbour
Foundation and the Canadian Wildlife
Federation. In its publication Real Leaders,
the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
highlighted the work done by the students,
citing the difference this had made within
the community.
Cambridge Public School students
and parents participated in the project,
helping with the planting of shrubs. They
were involved because the students were
enrolled in the St. Anthony summer day
camp program.
The Willow Street Angels are a
group of young children in the St. Anthony
area, led by community activitist Angela
Ierullo, who regularly donate their spare
time to pick up litter in their neighbourhood.
The group is so named because Angela
collects angel figurines. In helping with the
schoolyard improvement project at
St. Anthony, the Willow Street Angels realized
that they could improve the neighbourhood
not only by picking up litter but also by
planting flowers, shrubs and trees.
Because of this project, St. Anthony
Catholic School has been featured in a
variety of publications including The Green
Teacher and Greening School Grounds –
Creating Habitats for Learning, A Guide to
Transforming School Grounds, and Asking
Children, and Listening to Children, a guide
which includes a video. In 2002, Duke and
Northwestern Universities in the United
States, as part of a special project, sent
teachers to St. Anthony School to learn about
the reasons for its success in serving an
ethnically diverse population.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Theresa Swanson
Past Principals
Sister Joseph of the Sacred Heart,
the school’s first principal in 1925
Sister Bertha Bradley
Sister Francis Morris Tap
Sister Ann of the Cross
Sister Mary Ida
Margaret Wallace
Mary Meagher
Douglas Goodwin
Francesco Lipari
Georges Bouliane
Clifford Foley
John Dorner
Gino Tiezzi
Louise Guadagni
Miss Desormeaux
Mr. Belanger
Miss McCarthy
Miss O’Dare
One teacher of note at the school
was Claire Fox who taught Grade 2 for a
period of 37 years, followed by an additional
three years as a substitute teacher in her
retirement, totaling 40 years teaching at
St. Anthony.
Dennis Boucher won the
CAHPERD (Canadian Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance) award in 1998 for his work in
creating playground materials and activities
for students.
John Dorner, who was principal
of St. Anthony School from 1997 to 2003,
received the Capital Educators’ Award in
2002 and the For the Love of Children
Award sponsored by Child and Youth
Friendly Ottawa in 2003.
Principal Sister Mary Ida was well
known for making donuts to be sold at the
school to raise funds for necessary school
items. She also sent students to the school
board with donuts, requesting funds in
return.
Jean-Yves Paul, the coordinator of
the St. Anthony after-school program, won a
Community Builder Award from the United
Way of Ottawa-Carleton.
Bob Chiarelli is current Mayor of
the City of Ottawa and a former chairperson
of the Regional Municipality of OttawaCarleton. He is also a former Provincial
MLA for the riding of Ottawa West.
Mary Ierullo, a former student of
the Dante Academy, was recognized by the
Italian-Canadian Women of the Village for
her lifetime of service to the people of the
Preston Street area. The award is now given
annually in her name. Mary and her
daughter, Angela Ierullo, also a former
St. Anthony student, opened the doors of
their home to the children who became
known as the Willow Street Angels.
In 1992, Marina Molinari received
a Terry Fox Humanitarian Award for
exemplary volunteerism in a variety of
settings serving children and the aged.
Angelo Sgabellone is an
internationally acclaimed creative director
and art director with Maclean’s Magazine.
Dr. Aurelio (Fred) Sirianni is
a prominent scientist who developed
technology that aided the allied forces
during the Second World War.
Patsy Guzzo, a student of the
Dante Academy, played for the RCAF hockey
team that won the Olympic gold medal for
hockey in 1948.
173
Jennie Prosperine, a student of the
Dante Academy, has served in a leadership
capacity with the Ladies’ Aid of St. Anthony
Parish and has been consistently generous
to the school.
Frank Nasso was the first Italian
Canadian lawyer in Ottawa.
Tony Licari is a well-known hockey
player. A right-winger, he played nine games
for the Detroit Red Wings in the 1946-47
season. He was known as a reliable scorer in
the minor and senior leagues and in Great
Britain. He played in both the American
Hockey League, with the senior RCAF squad
and with the Harringay Racers in Britain
where he scored 134 goals in three seasons.
swimmer.
Johnny Ostipic became a notable
Ivy O was the primary speaker at
the Citizenship Reaffirmation ceremony held
at the National Arts Centre in 2002 with
many dignitaries present. She is the
daughter of Vietnamese-Canadian parents
who were among the boat people who settled
in Ottawa, one of the more recent immigrant
groups to make their home in the
centretown area.
John Chiarelli became a trustee
with the Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate
School Board and then the Ottawa-Carleton
Sister Emelia Testa, a former
student, is now a strong supporter of
St. Anthony School. For years she has
provided daycare for the children in the
neighbourhood.
Italo Tiezzi is a former student
who is a well known supporter of the arts
in Ottawa.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
The original school colours of the
Dante Academy were red, green and yellow,
the colours found on the flag of Italy. The
school colours were changed to blue and
silver after the renaming of the school.
Logo
The school logo is a circle with the
name “St. Anthony School” around the
outside at the top and the motto “We Help
Each Other” around the outside at the
bottom. Inside the circle is a globe-like map
of the world as well as the faces of four
children. This is meant to be a
representation of the entire world with the
children of various cultural backgrounds
representing the diversity of the student
population at St. Anthony and the spirit of
unity, which exists in the school community.
The logo was developed by Theresa Gardner
who was a teacher of English as a Second
Language at St. Anthony.
Motto
The motto of St. Anthony School is
“We Help Each Other.”
174
W
hen it first opened in 1964,
St. Augustine Catholic School was
on the edge of Ottawa’s suburban
growth. There was no housing development
surrounding the school at that time, and
Arnot Road was not paved. Indeed, the new
school was situated in an open field with a
view beyond Fisher Avenue clear through to
Prince of Wales Drive (then the Prescott
Highway) in the east. The Auto Sky Drive-in
at Baseline Road and Fisher Avenue was
clearly visible, as was St. Pius X High
School at Fisher Avenue and Dynes Road.
St. Augustine Catholic School was
the second school to bear this name. The
original, on Admiral Avenue near Carling
Avenue, had been opened in 1955. This
facility later became St. Elizabeth Catholic
School and is now the site of St. Nicholas
Adult High School, operated by the
Continuing and Community Education
Department of the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board. The original St. Augustine
Catholic School on Admiral Avenue quickly
became overcrowded. However, instead of
putting an addition on to the school, the
Board opted to construct an entirely new
building on Arnot Road, naming it
“St. Augustine Catholic School” as it was
located within the boundaries of the parish
of the same name.
When the new St. Augustine
School opened its doors on January 29, 1964,
there were 230 students enrolled from
Kindergarten through to Grade 8. The school
retained its grade 8 students until 1970.
After that, grades 7 and 8 students attended
Frank Ryan Catholic Senior Elementary
School. The school was officially blessed
in a ceremony on September 27, 1964.
Terry Murphy was the first
principal of St. Augustine Catholic School,
but he was much more than that. He was
also the classroom teacher for a combined
ST.
AUGUSTINE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
St. Augustine Church on Baseline Road
near the intersection of Merivale Road.
Rev. Brendan O’Brien was the pastor at
St. Augustine just prior to his appointment
as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of
Ottawa.
The two-storey school has two
kindergarten classrooms, ten regular
classrooms, a computer lab, a library and
a large schoolyard.
Present Principal
Sheila O’Farrell (2006-present)
Past Principals
1009 Arnot Street
Ottawa K2C 0H5
613-225-8020
www.occdsb.on.ca/sau
grade 7-8 class numbering 48 students, 27
in Grade 7 and 21 in Grade 8. In addition,
the school at that time had no secretary, so
office work was totally up to the principal
as well. In 1968, with Norah Jackson as
the principal, the school received its first
portable classroom that was used as a gym.
This stayed in place until 1973 when the
portable classroom was relocated to
St. Joseph Junior High School. In 1981,
an addition and alterations were made to
the school.
Over the history of the school, it
has been blessed to have the guidance and
consistent visibility of the parish priest of
175
Norah Jackson (1968-69)
Doreen A. Hamilton (1970-78)
Ken Kurs (1978-80)
Gilles Doth (1980-84)
Ernest Lefrançois (1989-90)
Lorraine McFaul (1990)
John Kavanagh
Brian Brash
Wayne Moyle
Linda Mosley
Ann Louise Revells
Mary E. Lenahan
Norah Jackson
Marilyn Wolchuk
Viola McAllister
Averil Gomes
Teresa Howard
Mary Kathleen Heffernan
Terry Murphy
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
Siobhan Karam has represented
her country in national and international
skating competitions.
Brendan Bell played for four
seasons for the Ottawa 67’s Junior A Hockey
team of the Ontario Hockey League and was
drafted in the third round (Number 65 overall) in the 2001 National Hockey League
entry draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs and
is now playing professional hockey.
Joseph Tang is an accomplished
pianist and violinist.
Maria DeRosa won a research
grant at Carleton University.
School Colours
Blue and white
Logo
The logo includes a cross centred
in three interlocking circles or rings, with
the school name “St. Augustine School”
below. The rings represent the connection
among home, school and church.
School Clothing
Students adhere to a dress code
reflecting the school colours, namely, a white
shirt or blouse and blue pants or skirt.
Friday is a day on which they may wear
regular clothes.
176
A Story
There is a story told about
St. Augustine Catholic School regarding a
police constable who used to visit the school
on his motorcycle and took great delight in
giving students a ride in the sidecar. One
day, when the constable was visiting
classrooms, the principal slipped out and
hid the motorcycle. When the poor constable
discovered his motorcycle missing, he was in
quite a state, beset by the thought of having
to report to his superior officer that his
motorcycle had been stolen.
I
n 2006, St. Bernard Catholic School
reached its milestone 50th anniversary of
providing Catholic education to its area
of Gloucester. At the time of its opening as
a two-room school, it shared space with
Ecole St. Bernard until the French school
relocated just across the street in the new
Ecole St. Bernadette. In 1956, St. Bernard
had two teachers: Jeanne d’Arc Champagne
taught a grade 1-2 class while Leona
McAllister, who was also the principal of
the school, taught the second class including
students from Grade 3 and beyond.
While St. Bernard School opened
in 1956, the planning for it began the year
before. In November 1955, trustees of the
Roman Catholic Separate School for School
Section No. 2 of the Township of Gloucester
purchased a lot on Sixth Avenue and
Rosebella Avenue from Isaac Halpenny for
$2,778.60. This became the site for the new
school. Because additional land was soon
needed, the Board of Trustees expropriated
land for enlargement of the existing school
site in October 1958. This provided sufficient
space until 1987 when the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board leased land from the
Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of
Ottawa for one dollar a year for ten years
for use as a playground. This arrangement
continues.
The Board embarked on a major
renovation and addition to St. Bernard in
1989, which included a number of new
classrooms, a library and a computer lab.
This expansion of the school facility was
necessary due to new residential
developments within the school’s attendance
boundaries. At its peak, the school’s
enrolment approached 650 students. A fiveroom port-a-pak and two freestanding
portables were later moved on to the site
to handle this increased enrolment.
ST.
BERNARD
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Present Principal
Louise Garby ( 2006-present)
Past Principals
Leona McAllister(1956-57)
Murray Shane (1957-58)
Margaret Sirna (958-60)
Paul Gravel (1960-61)
Frank Matys (1961-65)
James Mallen (1965-69)
Claude Dubois (1969-73)
Marie Kennedy (1973-78)
Margaret McGrath (1982-88)
Raymond Lussier (1988-89)
Lloyd Ambler (1989-93)
Paul Fortier (1993-97)
Sherry Swales (1997-2000)
Pat Jennings (2000)
Gerry Gilmore (2000-05)
Former Student and Staff
1722 St. Bernard Street
Gloucester K1T 1K8
613-521-5894
www.occdsb.on.ca/ber
that had been housed at St. Mary Catholic
School in South Gloucester was relocated to
St. Bernard and has been an integral part
of the school ever since. Its presence in the
school very much captures the spirit of
inclusion which pervades the St. Bernard
School family, a diverse community whose
students represent over 35 different
nationalities and languages.
Following this 1989 expansion of
the school, a developmental education class
177
In 1957, Mary Lee Jennings was
the first and only grade 8 graduate of the
school. She was also the only grade 8
student in the school that year. She later
became a teacher on staff at St. Bernard
(1974-89).
Principal Marie Kennedy (1973-78)
was Provincial President of the Ontario
during part of her time at St. Bernard.
School Colours
Navy blue and green
Logo
The St. Bernard School logo
includes the image of a torch, which
symbolizes truth and knowledge. Other
symbols on the crest are those of an open
book and a cross, representing learning and
the Catholic identity of the school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Bernard Catholic School
presents its grade 6 graduating students
with a lapel pin embossed with the school
logo, with the message to carry the spirit of
St. Bernard with them as they continue on
the next part of their Catholic education
journey.
Mascot
A very loveable, cute, furry and
cuddly “Bernie,” a rather large toy St.
Bernard is the school’s mascot. Bernie often
accompanies school teams to tournaments
and other events and also comforts children
in the office area when they are feeling
under the weather. Over the years, through
the kindness of parents and other friends of
St. Bernard, Bernie’s family has grown to
include a number of puppies.
Television News Show
Wake-Up, St. Bernard has been a
weekly television news show that was first
broadcast in 1995 and became a very
popular part of life at St. Bernard,
celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2005.
The show is broadcast live to all classrooms
in the school every Friday morning. Selected
grade 6 students, under the direction of the
program’s founder, Teacher Hugh Connolly,
serve as anchorpersons, interviewers, sports
and special event reporters and technicians.
During the week leading up to the show,
students seek out news items of interest to
the student population and conduct
interviews, tape newsworthy segments and
compile it all for the Friday morning
broadcast.
178
T
he history of St. Brigid Catholic
School is linked with the history of
St. Brigid’s Parish, which has been
a Lowertown beacon of the Catholic faith
since the church opened in 1890. It served
the Irish Catholic community of the area
and was named in honour of the patroness
of Ireland, and a saint who devoted her life
to the service of the poor through her efforts
as a nun, abbess and foundress of an Irish
congregation. It was not long before the
thoughts of the congregation turned to
education for the children of the parish.
Catholic education in St. Brigid
Parish can be traced back to the early 1890s,
although records from that time are sketchy.
An early minute book contains an entry
dated October 11, 1892 showing a request
from Brother Patrick, Director of St. Brigid
School, for a clock and benches. An old
account book contains a December 31, 1892
item for heating expenses for St. Brigid
School. Another dated December 31, 1895 in
an old account book refers to the salaries for
William Burke, Miss M.E. O’Meara, Miss M.
E. Cassidy and Miss Annie McCready of
St. Brigid. Another minute book entry
dated October 9, 1906 makes it clear that
Mr. Burke, principal of the school, was to
receive a maximum salary of $1,000.
An entry dated October 29, 1918
for the period 1913-1918 notes that Principal
Burke was being transferred to St. Joseph
School due to the death of Principal
Moriarty. The same minute book also
contains an entry dated November 8, 1918,
in which Mr. Phelan is appointed Principal
of St. Brigid School. Finally there is an
entry dated October 26, 1932, noting a
contribution of $7,000 from the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation
after a fire at the school.
An early Catholic school in
St. Brigid Parish was Our Lady’s Primary,
which was built in 1904 at the corner of
ST.
BRIGID
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
200 Springfield Road
Ottawa K1M 1C2
613-746-4888
www.occdsb.on.ca/sbr
Murray Street and Cumberland Street in
close proximity to the church. A new
St. Brigid Catholic School was built in 1924,
to provide additional access to a Catholic
education for Lowertown families. Located
at the corner of King Edward Avenue and
Murray Street, this is the present-day site
of the Shepherds of Good Hope soup kitchen
and emergency shelter for the homeless,
which was started in 1983.
Our Lady’s Primary was designated
as a Catholic school for girls, under the
guidance of the Grey Sisters. St. Brigid
School, meanwhile, was a school for boys,
originally operated by the Christian Brothers.
179
Eventually, in the early 1950s, the
two schools became coeducational, providing
Catholic education to area families. Our
Lady’s Primary housed the grades 1 to 3
students while St. Brigid accommodated
those in Grades 4 to 8.
This continued until 1971 when
Our Lady’s Primary was closed and the
original site of St. Brigid School was
abandoned in favour of a new location,
occupying a former girls’ high school facility
at the corner of Maple Lane and Springfield
Road in Rockcliffe Park. This building was
originally designed in 1966 as a French girls’
high school run by the Sisters of Charity,
whose convent next door was the home of
the staff of teaching sisters. Since it was
built as a high school, the school featured
lockers, wide hallways and a number of
oversized rooms, which had been used as the
high school cafeteria. With this move in
September 1971, St. Brigid Catholic School
flourished under the guidance and
leadership of Principal Sister Eleanor
Hennessey who was in charge of the school
from 1968 to 1984. It truly lived up to its
mission statement of “fostering learning and
growth in a caring Christian community.”
The Sisters of Charity supported this new
school in their former building by allowing
the student body to utilize their adjacent
land for athletic and physical education
purposes. This arrangement continued until
a new gymnasium was built at the school in
2001.
Throughout the years, St. Brigid
School has benefited from the caring and
supportive work of the priests of St. Brigid
Parish as well as from the involvement of
many religious Sisters. Many former
principals were members of the Grey Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception. Sister
Eleanor Hennessey, after her years as
principal, remained as the parish liaison
person with the school from 1985 through
to 1998. Her spirit and love of education are
SCHOOL HISTORIES
very much viewed as symbolic of the
tradition of a strong link between the school
and the parish that has existed at St. Brigid.
This relationship between school and church
is also exemplified by the efforts of Sister
Jean Goulet, a Sister of Holy Cross, who has
been involved in sacramental preparation
at St. Brigid in recent years, starting in
the early 1990s on an invitation from Sister
Eleanor Hennessey.
The school-parish relationship,
going back over 100 years to the opening
of the first parish school in the fledgling
St. Brigid Parish, continues today, with one
of the shared parish-school activities being
the celebration of the feast of St. Brigid on
February 1. The school participates in this
celebration by providing student liturgical
dancers and altar servers as well as the
voices of the school choir. A display of
religious artwork by students is also a
feature of the celebration.
Throughout the school year, a
number of Masses are celebrated today in
the school gym, with students, staff, parents
and parishioners in attendance. Retired
Sisters of Charity from the neighbouring
convent also attend these school liturgies.
The reception of the sacraments of the
Eucharist and Confirmation by students is
a highlight of spring at St. Brigid Church
today, as is a children’s pageant on
Christmas Eve. The parish and school also
collaborate on holding a “Spring Fling”
which sees students and their families have
fun on the school property, with games and
activities, while celebrating together as a
Catholic community.
Present Principal
Former Students
Past Principals
King Clancy, Ottawa Senator and
Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player, long-time
Toronto Maple Leaf executive and member
of the Hockey Hall of Fame
Geoff Burridge
Lionel J. O’Connor (1945-48)
Sister Maureen (1949-50)
Sister Mary Lawrence (1951-56)
Sister St. Brendan (1957-59)
Sister Mary Gregory (1960-67)
Sister Eleanor Hennessey (1968-84)
Mary Durst
Yvonne Harper
Philip Butler
Peter Daly
Teaching Staff 1971-72
(First year at the 140 Springfield
Road location)
Lynda Pollex
Carol Greer
Susan West
Yvonne Harper
P. Vervaeke
Morley LaBelle
Sister Teresa O’Reilly
Diane Lorbetskie
Donna Burke
Michael Newton
Lorraine Keyuk
Dalia Naujokaitis
Teaching Staff 1972-73
(Second year at the 140 Springfield
Road location)
Francis Kiem
June Domokos
Lynda Pollex
Carol Greer
P. Vervaeke
Yvonne Harper
Barbara Gutz
Morley LaBelle
Susan West
Donna Burke
Anne McCready
Michael Newton
Lorraine Keyuk
180
Wayne Rostad, television host and
country singer
Jason Lachance, a Canadian
paralympic track athlete
Elder Marques served as a student
trustee with the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board during the 1997-98
school year. He has earned a Masters degree
from the London School of Economics.
Having entered the field of law, he is
presently articling at the Supreme Court of
Canada and plans to practice law in Toronto.
School Colours
Gold and green
Logo
The school logo is a stylized
version of a famous Celtic symbol, the cross
of St. Brigid.
Motto
Grace”
“Growing Together in Wisdom and
Remembering a Grey Sister
Carmel Maloney started her
education at Our Lady’s School. When it
was closed, she was among those students
who were sent to St. Brigid School where
the Grey Sisters were teaching at the time.
Carmel especially remembers Sister Mary
David, who later taught her once again at
Immaculata High School.
W
hile St. Catherine Catholic School
itself is nearing 50 years of
providing education in the
Metcalfe area, Catholic education has even
deeper roots in the community, reaching
back about 150 years. The first settler in
the area was Lt. Col. Archibald McDonell,
a veteran of the War of 1812, who received
a large grant of land in Osgoode Township,
settling south of present-day Metcalfe in
1827, with his wife Catherine and eight
children. His ninth child was the first child
born in Osgoode Township. By 1831,
33 other families had settled in the area,
most as a result of Archibald McDonell’s
involvement.
In 1834, Archibald McDonell
moved to what is now Metcalfe village where
a frame Roman Catholic church was built in
1838 on land donated by his wife Catherine.
A new church, built in approximately 1859
on the site of present-day St. Catherine of
Siena Catholic Church, replaced this early
chapel, located just west of Metcalfe village.
At some point between 1840 and 1859,
a school was built just south of this new
church site. There was a period of time after
the original chapel was razed and the new
church built when Mass was celebrated in
that schoolhouse.
It is reasonable to assume that
this first school was in essence a Catholic
school, since Catherine and Archibald
McDonell had 13 children in total, and since
Mrs. McDonell was such a devout Catholic
that the early churches were known as the
Mission of St. Catherine, a name that was
retained when the Catholic community
became a full-fledged parish in 1898, and
renamed “St. Catherine of Siena.” By 1880,
the population of Metcalfe had grown to
80 families, 20 of whom were Catholic. The
parish drew from a wider area as it counted
65 families in its congregation in 1885, most
of them of Irish descent. Just how long this
early Catholic school continued in Metcalfe
ST.
CATHERINE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
2717 - 8th Line Road
Metcalfe K0A 2P0
613-821-1002
www.occdsb.on.ca/cat
is unknown, although it was definitely
closed by the turn of the century. In 1884,
a two-room brick school was built where
Metcalfe Public School now stands. It is
possible that Catholic students in the area
were then attending this school, since it is
known that, by 1890, the parish was
providing Catechism classes on Sundays
to the Catholic children of the area.
It is indisputable that there was
a strong and active Catholic presence in the
Metcalfe area right from its earliest days
and that this included a Catholic school, at
least for a period of time. This, though, was
not the only Catholic education presence in
181
the area. In 1876, Patrick Herbert donated
land for use by Osgoode School Section No.
14, on which was built an elementary
school to serve an Irish settlement of
approximately 13 Catholic and five
Protestant families who lived in the vicinity.
The teachers in this S.S. No. 14 school were
of Irish Catholic descent but no religion was
taught at the school because some of the
students were Protestants. The children
received their religious instruction at home,
as well as at St. John the Evangelist
Catholic Church, where Catechism classes
were taught.
Following World War I, the area
around this school attracted a number of
French-Canadian families and their children
attended this English public school.
However, a dispute arose when the FrenchCatholic parents wanted the rosary and
Catechism introduced into the school.
Eventually, a compromise was reached
whereby Catholic students stayed in class
at noon to say the rosary and remained
after school when a teacher taught them
Catechism. Finally, the French-Catholic
parents purchased S.S. No. 14 and the
school became a French-Catholic bilingual
school called R.C.S.S. No. 14 of Osgoode. It
remained a flourishing school for a number
of years, attracting as many as 50 students.
St. Catherine Catholic School
opened in Metcalfe village in 1961. By 1966,
the Roman Catholic S.S. No. 14 Osgoode
School Board had dissolved because an
overwhelming majority of its Francophone
ratepayers voted to support St. Catherine
Catholic School where their children could
be educated. A population influx in the
Metcalfe area in the 1950s following the
Second World War saw numerous Dutch,
Irish, British, Scottish and French families
join St. Catherine Parish. Many of these new
parishioners had received their education in
Catholic schools in their native countries
and, as a result, were eager to have their
SCHOOL HISTORIES
children given the opportunity to attend a
school where the Catholic faith could be an
integral part of school life.
This idea was also attractive to
long-time parishioners, so the parish priest,
Father Pierre Martel, was approached about
the possibility of having a Catholic school in
Metcalfe. Father Martel fully supported the
concept. In 1960, a meeting was held in the
basement of the church. There emerged
some concerns about whether such a
Catholic school in the community would
prove to be a tax burden for the residents,
but these were overcome as a majority
favoured going ahead with the idea.
The members of the parish elected
a school board consisting of Gerry Mullins,
Jim Rowan and Bert van Rens. The project
got underway immediately, with the new
board meeting with school inspector Leo
Dupuis to gain guidance and advice on how
to accomplish their aim of having a Catholic
school in Metcalfe. The school board
purchased a parcel of land next to the
existing Metcalfe Public School, paying one
dollar to the parish. The Board arranged
the financing for construction of the new
St. Catherine Catholic School at a cost of
$45,000. Henri D’Aoust was the contractor
for the construction of this new school,
which consisted of three rooms. It opened
its doors in September 1961.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Windle
visited the school for its official opening and
blessing, which was a true parish effort. The
ladies of St. Catherine of Siena Church, for
instance, raised funds to provide for the
learning materials needed. The parish also
helped out in the early years of the school
by purchasing items such as venetian blinds,
clocks, paint and sports equipment.
An early hurdle for the Board, once
the school was constructed, was hiring
teachers. Most new teachers wanted to teach
in the city rather than in a distant rural
area like Metcalfe. Interviews at the Ottawa
Teachers’ College in downtown Ottawa
proved fruitless, but then the school board
heard about Miss Madeleine Bourbonnais, a
former nun who was living in Embrun. She
was hired, as was Miss Gisele Boisonneault,
another former nun who was living on
Snake Island Road near Metcalfe.
The latter part of the 1960s saw
changes in the governance of local schools.
This affected St. Catherine because the
local school board was replaced, first by a
township board representing a wider area
and then, in 1969, by the newly-formed
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board,
on which a single trustee, Mike Kelly,
represented the Osgoode area.
One problem emerged in those
early years: the school had been built too
low, with the result that in the springtime,
the septic weeping bed backed up into the
school. This resulted in some quick action in
which school board member Bert van Rens
and another man took to the shovels,
digging a drainage ditch to relieve the
situation. This obstacle was overcome
permanently in 1965 when an addition with
new classrooms was added to the original
building, built at a higher elevation and
joined to the original school by a ramp.
Over the years, St. Catherine
Catholic School has maintained a unique
and close relationship with St. Catherine
of Siena Catholic Church, which is located
directly across the Eighth Line Road.
Students walk across the street weekly for
Masses and special liturgies. A tradition has
evolved where the priests visit the school
almost every day, bringing the Gospel and
love of Christ right into the classrooms and
hallways of the school. The parish priests
who have been involved with the school
include Father Pierre Martel (1958-65),
Father L. Frappier (1965-70), Father A.
Fortin (1970-71), Father M.A. Minvielle
(1971-84), Father R. Lafleur (1984-90),
Father J. E. Vayalil (1990-99), Father
Lindsay Harrison (1999-2002), Father
Glycerio Jiminez (2002-03) and Father Giles
Joly (2003-present).
Initially, St. Catherine Catholic
School had three classrooms, serving
students from Grades 1 through 8. There
was one class for students in Grades 1, 2
and 3, another class for those in Grades 4, 5
and 6, and a third for Grades 7 and 8.
St. Catherine Catholic School
continued to grow. In 1966, three more
classrooms were added. This was followed
by another expansion in 1968, adding
another three classrooms and a gymnasium.
St. Catherine School had grown from a
three-classroom facility when it opened in
1961 to an 11-classroom school in 1968,
complete with gymnasium, kitchen facilities,
staff room, principal’s office and supply
room, staffed by 12 teachers, a principal
and a full-time secretary.
St. Catherine School underwent an
extensive renovation project in 2005, which
included a new library and a state-of-the-art
computer lab for the school.
182
St. Catherine remained as a
kindergarten to grade 8 school until 1980,
when grades 7 and 8 students were
reassigned to the new Southern Area Junior
High School (now St. Mark Catholic High
School) near Manotick.
This special church-school
relationship is but one of a variety of
traditions and activities that have developed
at St. Catherine Catholic School. Students
annually attend and participate in the
Metcalfe Fair. Other events include
breakfast with Santa, a Halloween
spooktacular, Christmas shopping in the
gym, a “Spring Fling,” a Christmas concert,
a float in the community’s Christmas
SCHOOL HISTORIES
parade, an Advent food drive, public
speaking contests and the “Jump Rope For
Heart” fundraising activity for the Heart
and Stroke Foundation.
Academic excellence has always
been at the forefront of life at St. Catherine.
This reached a peak in 2005 when the
Ontario Ministry of Education named
St. Catherine School as one of two
exemplary schools in Eastern Ontario,
because the school’s Education Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO) test results
had improved progressively over a five-year
period, indicating strong student academic
achievement. Anna Yates, principal at the
time, credited this success story to the
school’s approach to shared responsibility for
student learning. “We have excellent team
effort at all levels – home, parish, school and
board – in sharing responsibility for student
learning,” she told Ministry officials when
explaining the school’s achievement.
While academic success has been
paramount at St. Catherine School, so too
has athletic and sports effort and
participation. From 1999 through 2005,
the school received various gold, platinum
and diamond awards from the Canadian
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) in
recognition of its quality daily physical
education programs. In 2006, St. Catherine
was awarded an Outstanding Intramural
Recreation Achievement Award from the
Canadian Intramural Recreation Association
– Ontario (CIRA), a national organization
that recognizes excellence in recreation and
extra-curricular programs for students.
Students enjoy intramural sports programs
and participate in Board-wide athletics
tournaments.
Thanks to the commitment of the
staff and to community involvement, the
school has been able to offer numerous extra
activities such as piano, music and drama.
An active and involved parental community,
going right back to the initial support from
the parish when the school was first built,
has supported all this over the years.
The parents of St. Catherine play
a role in the life of the school on a daily
basis. They are curriculum helpers in the
kindergarten classes as well as in the
French program and assist overall with
reading and writing initiatives. Parent
volunteers prepare hot lunches on certain
days, help maintain the school grounds and
are continually involved in school activities.
Every fall, for instance, parents assist the
grade 6 graduating students in planting
tulip bulbs at the school.
The school council at St. Catherine
consistently raises funds to purchase special
resources to help improve the learning
environment. In 2003, St. Catherine School
families raised the funds for a new sun
shelter in the school playground and then
undertook its construction. In 2006, families
became involved in a fundraising effort to
build a new play structure that is to be a
joint enterprise with the adjacent Metcalfe
Public School. Indeed, St. Catherine Catholic
School maintains a cooperative working
relationship with its neighbour and the two
schools attend each other’s special events on
occasion.
183
Present Principal
Donald Kearnan
Past Principals
Madeline Bourbonnais
Andrew McKinley (1966-73)
John Delorme
Gary Valiquette
Lyle Bergeron
Gerry Coulombe
Basil Tomlinson
Judy Sarginson
Brenda Mulvihill
Jean-Marie Stewart
Anna Yates
Eileen Maychruk
Mrs. Curran
Miss Zappia
Miss Scanlon
Ray McShane
Linda Bekkers
Kathy Kelly
Michelle Mazarole
Cathy Coletti
Noella Crawford (Chisholm)
Al Micus
Cathy Robillard
Mr. Joseph
Linda Groves
Elizabeth Rock
Jackie Graham
Carol King Bourdeleaux
Dorothy Pickering (Collins)
Leslie MacDonald
Michelle Desjardins
Elaine Barr
Antoine Joinette
Gwen Blais, Secretary
Catherine Clennett, Secretary
Darlene Longchamps, Secretary
Agnes Lee, Secretary (current)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Student
Heather Purcell, a member of the
Canadian gymnastics team in the 2004
Summer Olympics in Greece
Former Trustees
The school colours are blue and
light blue.
Trustees who served on the local
school board for St. Catherine School prior
to the formation of the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board in 1969
included Jim Rowan, George Van Berlo, Joe
Rowan, Gerald Mullins, Bert Velthuis and
Bert van Rens.
Logo
Student Memorial Awards
School Colours
A halo with the letters “SCS”
under it was a logo first used in a yearbook
design in 1978. A later logo consisted of a
book with a heart and a cross in the middle.
The school’s latest logo is a scholar holding
an interlocking “St. C,” in the school colours
of blue and light blue.
Sean Patterson Christian Leadership Memorial
Award
Sean Patterson was a grade 1
student at St. Catherine Catholic School
who died with his grandmother in a car
accident in Metcalfe in July 2004. In his
honour, a medal for Christian leadership is
presented annually to a student in each
grade who has demonstrated respect for
others and who has demonstrated kindness
to everyone, both within the school and in
the wider community.
184
Kristy MacDowell Memorial Award
Kristy MacDowell attended
St. Catherine Catholic School from Junior
Kindergarten through to Grade 6. In March
1996, Kristy was diagnosed with leukemia.
She and her classmates were preparing
for their Confirmation during the year
that Kristy was ill, and, as part of their
Confirmation project, they raised money for
leukemia research. St. Catherine School also
hosted a bone marrow donor clinic in hopes
of finding a match for Kristy or someone else
on the waiting list. Unfortunately, Kristy
died a few days before the clinic, but it went
ahead as planned in her memory. After
Kristy’s death, her parents donated a trophy
case and trophy. The Kristy MacDowell
Memory Award is presented annually to
a St. Catherine student who has shown
courage and determination in academics
or in other areas of endeavour.
S
t. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi
are two saints who had a strong
relationship with each other, and
so it is no coincidence that St. Clare Catholic
School and St. Francis of Assisi Catholic
School, both serving the Orléans area, bear
their names.
St. Clare School, built to
accommodate a growing student population
in the area, causing serious overcrowding at
St. Francis of Assisi, opened its doors in
1994. The name “St. Clare” was chosen for
the school because she was a good friend and
associate of St. Francis of Assisi and because
there was a desire within the area to
maintain a strong relationship between the
St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare School
communities. (St. Clare founded the Order
of Poor Ladies. Born in 1194 in Assisi, Italy,
she gave her life to God after hearing
St. Francis preach in the streets).
St. Clare School has shown in its
community outreach over the years that,
like St. Clare, it has helped the less
fortunate in society through such programs
as Christmas hampers, a Lenten drive and
Habitat for Humanity, as well as supporting
UNICEF, the United Way, the Red Cross, the
Terry Fox Run and the victims of the
tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in
2005.
The school was formed in
September 1993, and spent the first months
of its existence in premises at St. Francis of
Assisi School, moving to its new location on
March 3, 1994, after construction was
completed. During the building of the new
school in the fall of 1993, Teacher Mrs.
Lynne Charette and her grade 4-5 class
planted a time capsule in the central office
area. The plan is to open this time capsule
at the school’s 25th anniversary in 2019.
St. Clare Catholic School has
always benefited from strong parental
ST.
CLARE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Environment Award, the Ecological Literacy
Award and the EcoKids Award for 19992000. The EcoKids Award is sponsored by
Earth Day Ottawa as part of its Earth Day
Canada focus. Ann Jarnet, Senior Manager,
Environmental Learning, Environment
Canada presented the Ecological Literacy
Award to the school in the spring of 2003, in
recognition of the school’s efforts to support
the Framework for Environmental Learning
and Sustainability in Canada.
St. Clare School has a talented
choir who has taken part in recent Boardwide musicals. In addition, the school has
annually produced its own major shows for
the past decade. St. Clare Catholic School
partners with a variety of other
organizations, such as the Ottawa 67’s
Adopt-a-School program, co-op students from
local high schools and student teachers from
Potsdam University, the University of
Ottawa, Nipissing University and Algonquin
College.
2133 Gardenway Drive
Orléans K4A 3M2
613-834-6334
www.occdsb.on.ca/cla
support, with an average of 150 parent
volunteers helping out annually at the
school. The school council at St. Clare is an
active group working tirelessly for the needs
of all of the students. A recent fitness
structure in the schoolyard that enhances
the natural and aesthetic appearance of the
area was created with the recent efforts of
their work. This schoolyard includes a
number of trees planted by the school’s
Earth Club.
The school has supported the
Ottawa Wild Bird Care Centre and has
received recognition for its good works by
becoming recipients of the Board’s
185
Parish priests from Divine Infant
Church, the parish for the area in which the
school is located, are involved in the faith
life of the school, celebrating liturgies and
helping prepare the students for their
sacraments.
Present Principal
Joanne Meredith
Past Principals
Dorothy Collins
Dianna Gardner
Vice-Principals
Gloria Horan
Madelaine Soulière-Brown
Carmel Horan
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Francine Marleau
Jo-Ellen Meeck
Alveta Goguen
Mary-Lee Jennings
Kim Whattam
Lynne Charette
Cheryl Tymchuk
Catherine Roy
Yvonne Smith
John Weir
Donna Keating
Gabriel Massicotte
Helen O’Hara
Michel Rozon
Gerald Breau
Barbara St-Pierre
Dorothy Collins
School Colours
The school colours are purple and
grey. These colours were chosen by the first
group of grade six students who were given
this privilege because there were only 12 of
them, including only one boy.
Logo
The school logo is circular with
a banner with the name “St. Clare” going
across the centre of it, and a cross in the
background. The words “Catholic School”
are at the bottom of the crest.
Mascot
The school mascot is a stuffed
elephant that the students named “Elphis
the Elephant.”
Former Students
Courtney Pilypaitis was captain of
the Ontario juvenile team, winning a gold
medal at the Canada Games.
Kyle Chin D’Aoust played for the
Little League baseball team that won the
Canadian championship and placed sixth in
the world.
186
Song
The St. Clare School song was
written by parent Tim Mouchet and his son
Benjamin, who was a student at St. Clare.
Lines in the song, which capture the essence
of the school, are as follows:
“It’s great to know why, St. Clare
by my side, her loving spirit of love guiding
me. My family and I feel so happy inside,
‘cause I’m the best that I can be, at St. Clare
Catholic School.”
A
school that bears a saint’s name
but may really be named in
memory of a departed student;
a school that for years stood as a symbol of
Catholic education along a busy street and
is now in a new home; and a school that
owes much of its beginning to the Basilian
fathers of St. Basil’s Parish — this is
St. Daniel Catholic School.
ST.
DANIEL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
The school, originally called
Maitland Avenue Catholic School, opened
in September 1961, although its official
naming, opening and blessing didn’t take
place until February 1962. Construction
of the school was not fully completed until
February 1966. An addition consisting of
four classrooms and a general-purpose room
was constructed in 1965.
The school community chose the
name “St. Daniel.” This may have been due
to the fact that a young student named
Danny was involved in a fatal car accident
near the school, with the community
choosing the name in his memory. As well,
Father A.J. Ruth, Pastor of St. Basil Church,
submitted the name of St. Daniel to the
Ottawa Roman Catholic School Board in
February 1962. In the final analysis, the
school was formally named after Daniel,
the great prophet of the Old Testament.
On February 23, 1971, at 4:30
a.m., Raymond Groulx, the Administrator
and Secretary-Treasurer of the Ottawa
received a call from a district chief of the
Ottawa Fire Department telling him about
a serious explosion at St. Daniel Catholic
School. The glass block panels on the first
floor were shattered by the blast. Walls had
collapsed and ceilings were cracked. Doors
on the second floor were broken. However,
the building was found to be structurally
sound. Investigators believed that a buildup of carbon in the furnace caused the
explosion. While repairs were being made to
1313 Field Street
Ottawa K2C 2P9
613-225-4603
www.occdsb.on.ca/sda
the damaged school, the students had to be
accommodated elsewhere. As of Monday,
March 1, all of the students from St. Daniel
were housed in four neighbouring schools
and transported by bus. The grades 5 and 6
students attended St. Leonard School on Rob
Roy Avenue, while Our Lady of Fatima
School on Knightsbridge Road housed the
grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 students. St. George
School on Piccadilly Avenue was the
temporary home for two kindergarten
classes, and St. Basil School took two other
classes. The minister at Trinity United
Church on Maitland Avenue near St. Daniel
offered his church basement as temporary
accommodations as well. The students
187
remained in these temporary quarters until
May 10 when everyone returned to their
refurbished school.
St. Daniel School continued to
operate at its Maitland Avenue site until
September 2001, when it moved to the
former Ecole Gaston Vincent on Field Street
near Woodroffe Avenue. This French
Catholic elementary school was in better
condition than the 40-year-old Maitland
Avenue facility and was of a more
appropriate size. With renovations and
improvements, it became the new home of
St. Daniel. A dedication of the site took place
on October 30, 2001.
In 2005-06, St. Daniel Catholic
School had 142 students, representing 106
families, as well as a staff of 17, including
ten teachers, one teacher assistant, one
secretary, one library technician, two
custodians, one English as a Second
Language teacher and a principal. St. Basil
Church is still involved with the school, with
Father Bosco Wong visiting the school
regularly.
St. Daniel Catholic School was one
Board schools that in 2005-06, raised
approximately $6,000 in total for the “OK
Clean Water Project.” This project (OK
in Cameroon.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
C. Raymond
Catherine Leblanc (1966)
Rita Olson (1968-69)
Mae Cini (1968)
Present Principal
Madelaine Soulière-Brown
Past Principals
Madeleine Scissors (1962)
She later became a longtime
personnel officer with the Ottawa
Board.
Mary Meagher (1963)
Douglas Goodwin
Gregory Daley
Fergus Lyons
Gilles Doth
Wayne Carroll
Douglas Goodwin
James Morrison
Yvonne Gliege
Eileen Moriarty
Teaching Staff between 1961 and 1969
Norah O’Donnell (1966)
Alice Coffey (1965)
Jean Marie Enright (1969)
Carol Ann Tobin (1966-69)
Carol Tyers (1964)
Geraldine LaRocque (1965-67)
Carmelita Dencer (1966)
Linda Rusch (1968-69)
Susan McParland (1967-69)
Bernard Bridgeman (1967)
Barbara Burant (1965-68)
Mary Cameron (1968-70)
B. Thomas
Rita Hendrick (1962-63)
Margaret Williams (1963-79)
Kathleen Stanton (1969-82)
Brenda McKernan (1961-66)
Gertrude Chartrand (1962-63)
C. Ross
Audrey Cowan (1962-65)
Gertrude Burrows (1961-64)
C. Schultz; Irene Parama (1967-68)
R. Jordan
Mary Murphy (1966-69)
Doreen Hamilton (1965-66)
Rita Vallance (1963-65)
Long-time Staff Member
Dan Donlan was a dedicated and
highly respected teacher on staff, having
spent his entire 31-year teaching career at
St. Daniel Catholic School, from 1970 to
2001.
School Colours
Green and gold
School Logo
The logo features a cross, an open
book, two maple leaves and the silhouette of
four children, two of them sitting on swings,
with the school name “St. Daniel School” at
the bottom.
Mascot
The school mascot is a stuffed
animal named “Dandy Lion” which
accompanies the students to all sports
tournaments.
Fond Memories
The following are the memories
of John Woodard, a former student at
St. Daniel School, as provided in 2005.
I attended St. Daniel (or
affectionately known while I was there –
St. Danny’s) from 1971 to 1975. The
memories I have from that school have been
retained and will always be with me. It
wasn’t simply a structure of bricks and
mortar holding up a room and housing a
yard. No, St. Daniel was a witness; host to
history. St. Danny’s was my comfortable
constant companion growing up.
In short, here are some of the
memories.
188
I remember watching the fire
trucks at the school due to the boiler room
fire and the students getting bused to Our
Lady of Fatima School. I remember the first
floor boys’ washroom with the round basins
to wash your hands. You had to stomp on the
bar underneath it to activate the water,
which would inevitably start a water fight
all the time. We were boys! I remember the
“beveled” bricks of glass in the lower floor
classes. This prevented the students from
gazing outside into the schoolyard. I recall
reading my first book ever, that was signed
out of the library on the second floor on the
northeast side of the school. The library was
no bigger than a teacher’s lounge. I recall
the Bookmobile arriving and parking at the
north end of the parking lot. It would come
in the morning and the kids had to wait in
line outside of the truck because it could not
accommodate us all at once.
Recess was spent playing dodge
ball, baseball or hopscotch in the summer
and “soccer” hockey (no sticks were allowed
at the school), snow fort building or playing
“King of the Snow Mountain” in the
wintertime. I can recall one specific recordbreaking snowfall that gave us a couple of
snow days (school was closed) and when we
returned, the snow mountains were so large
you could not see what was on the other
side. I recall having an extended Christmas
break in 1973-74 (?) due to a teachers’ strike.
With regard to teachers, my
teachers were: Grade 3 - Mrs. Webster (my
first crush on a teacher) and our class was
the second one on the left hand side on the
first floor with windows facing the back of
the school; Grade 4 - Mrs. Stanton (who
lived in the neighbourhood – she prayed
at St. Basil and knew all of our parents!)
and our class was on the second floor at the
north end of the school with the windows
facing the back of the school; Grade 5 Mrs. Phyllis Menton (who would make the
class laugh with her memorable laughter)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
and our class was at the very top of the
south stairs on the second floor with windows
facing Maitland Avenue; and Grade 6 Mr. Daniels (who had the hard exterior of a
drill sergeant but once he got to know you, had
a heart of gold) and our classroom was across
the hall from Mrs. Menton’s. I believe the
principal’s name was Mr. Goodwin. With his
size (to us kids he was a giant), intimidation
worked very well for him, considering you
never wanted to be sent to his office!
Father John Ruth from St. Basil
came to say Mass every Christmas and Easter
and it was always a competition to see who
would serve as his altar boys for the Mass
because it meant you got out of class early.
I remember playing ball hockey
every winter morning in the gym before
class. I believe the games started at some
ridiculous time like 7:30 a.m. You could just
imagine how cold it was in that gym!
No student ever went through the
front doors to the school because our main
entrances were on either side of the school
in the schoolyard. I think it was not until
Grade 6 that I actually walked through
those front doors.
The school organized “fun days”
when the field and the hill facing Navaho
Drive were filled with kids doing all sorts
of games and activities — it was almost
carnival-like. We got ribbons and there
were competitions between the classes.
I remember watching the 1972 Hockey
Summit Series on a small TV in the gym
and the elation that resulted throughout
the school –— everyone, kids, teachers and
parents hugging each other.
I remember being part of the first
generation that received “Sex Education” in
Grade 6. I can recall the uneasiness my folks
had whenever I would ask them about
something I did not understand in the book.
For the grade 6 graduation, we
held a party at lunch time in the gym and
it was catered by the just-recently-opened
(and only the second one in Ottawa at the
time) McDonald’s Restaurant on Carling
Avenue at Maitland Avenue.
The skating rink at the bottom
of the hill towards Navaho Drive always
provided fun after school. I remember the
disappointment when not being nominated
as a crossing patrol guard because it meant
that you got hot chocolate in the wintertime,
a movie in the summer and a visit to the
Governor-General’s mansion (it was Roland
Mitchener at the time). I remember having
my parents called at work because I was
stuck inside the school on one very cold
winter day with a broken zipper on my onepiece snowmobile suit. I remember having
Mrs. Stanton tearfully explain to us about
the crisis at the Munich Olympic Games
when guerrillas stormed the housing and
assassinated the Israeli athletes. As kids, we
were uncertain about the term guerrilla and
thought that she was crying about the apes.
I remember putting on school plays for the
Christmas assemblies in the gym. Inevitably,
Grade 6 always put on the Birth of Christ
play, so when in Grade 6, there was always
a competition to see who would play Joseph
and Mary.
Our grade 5 class visited a
retirement home and sang Christmas carols.
There was a picture published in the Ottawa
Journal or Citizen of some of us singing.
I remember watching the Apollo 13
touch down on TV. We said prayers every
morning for the astronauts’ safe return to
earth. I remember spending recess trading
Bobby Orr and Bobby Hull hockey cards.
I can still recall the day when in the
schoolyard during recess, the sky was filled
with a cloud of horrible black smoke that
was coming from the Revlon factory fire on
Carling Avenue.
189
And, of course, I remember my
classmates. Names like Mike and Stephen
Stefanison, Mark Imbesi, Colleen and Paul
Ryan, Bruce Perry, Stephen Calagoure, Jim
Maclean, David Ladd, Mark and Cameron
Lepine, Debbie Kent, Anne Whitely, Vincent
McMahon, Darcy Jenkins, Wendy Lawruk,
Janet Dancey, Donna Neirenhausen, Mark
Veitch, Paul and Tommy Galvin, Lynne
Nault, Dave King, Veronica Anderson,
Jennifer Powell, the Morins, Colleen
Berrigan and Caroline McCarthy. Although
I have not talked to or seen any of these
folks in decades, because of the fondness
of memories at St. Danny’s, I can still list
close to 20 of them at the drop of a hat.
I apologize if I forgot anyone.
S
t. Elizabeth Catholic School did not
start its life as St. Elizabeth, nor is
it now located where it started.
Nonetheless, the story of
St. Elizabeth Catholic School goes back to
1955 when a site at 893 Admiral Avenue
was purchased. In September 1954, after
Board had received approval from the Ontario
Department of Education, a nine-classroom
school was built and called Admiral Street
School. It opened its doors in September 1955,
with Angus McDonald as the principal. The
official blessing of the school took place on
Sunday afternoon, November 27, 1955. Later,
the school was called St. Augustine Catholic
School, because it was affiliated with
St. Augustine Church. It was only in 1964,
when the new St. Augustine Catholic School
was opened on Arnot Street, closer to the
church, that this Admiral Street school was
renamed St. Elizabeth.
St. Elizabeth, a cousin of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, was the mother of
St. John the Baptist. Her husband, Zachary,
was a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Her feast day is November 5.
In 1965, three classrooms and
a general-purpose room were added to
the facility. Not long afterwards, in 1971,
another addition was needed and built.
The school expanded again when St. Louis
Catholic School was closed and was merged
with St. Elizabeth.
In 2002, the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board acquired a former
French-Catholic school on Coldrey Avenue,
west of Merivale Road and the Admiral Road
site. After extensive renovations, it became
the new home of St. Elizabeth School. The
former Admiral Avenue premises were then
utilized by the Board’s Adult High School
and its Continuing and Community
Education Department.
ST.
ELIZABETH
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Present Principal
Linda Gilmour
Past Principals
Angus McDonald (1955-58)
Lionel J. O’Connor (1959-68)
J. P. Coulter (1968-70),
Francesco Lipari, Vice-Principal
Virginia Smith
Glenda MacDonell
John Burns
Alex Nagel
Wayne Carroll
Anthony Charbonneau
Kari Burke
1366 Coldrey Avenue
Ottawa K1Z 7P5
613-728-4744
www.occdsb.on.ca/sel
Over the years, many annual
drama and musical presentations have been
held at St. Elizabeth. It has also hosted
several well-known performers, including
Dominic D’Arcy, the singing policeman. A
school album was produced by Fran King
and the school choir.
191
Laura Anderson, Grades 3 and 5
Sheila Forbes, Kindergarten
Alice Moss, Grade 3
Mrs. J. Clothier, Grades 1 and 2
Rose-Marie Turpin, Grades 2 and 3
Eunice Archibald, Grades 5 and 6
Judith LaSalle, Grade 1
Kathleen Smith, Grade 7
L. Mulherin, Grade 2
Mary T. O’Keefe, Grade 5
Joel Rochon, Grade 8
Mrs. Kenney, Grade 6
Teachers from the 1960s
Alice Cannon
Doreen Brash
Patricia Doyle
Donna Tierney
Charlotte McNulty
Louise McEachern
Allen Young
Mike Therian
Mrs. Shannon Dean
Vivian Vivaldi
Lorraine Legris
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
Light blue and dark blue
Logo
The school logo is a pair of hands
holding up an oval in which there are
three figures holding hands. The name
“St. Elizabeth School” is written in a scroll
beneath the hands.
Mascot
A student designed the school
mascot, an eagle, in 2000.
192
W
ST. ELIZABETH ANN
SETON
hen the Barrhaven community
of South Nepean started to grow,
so too did the Catholic school
population. St. Patrick Catholic School, the
first Catholic elementary school to serve the
community, became overcrowded. This led to
the construction of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Catholic School, named after the foundress
of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph, the
first new community for religious women
established in the United States.
Born in 1774, St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton not only founded the Sisters of
Charity but also established St. Joseph’s
Academy, the first free Catholic school for
girls in the United States. It was staffed
by members of her religious community.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton became a great role
model for others as she demonstrated a
special interest in the education of children
within the teachings of Jesus Christ. Her
legacy now includes six religious
communities with more than 5,000 members
in total, hundreds of schools, social service
centres and hospitals throughout the United
States and around the world. She was
beatified in 1963 and canonized in 1975 by
Pope Paul VI, and is the first native-born
North American saint.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School
was opened in 1987, with the students and
staff sharing space at St. Patrick School
beginning in the fall of 1986 until the new
facility was completed. The school
community lost no time in choosing school
colours, a crest and a motto to establish a
unique identity. In addition, a time capsule
was created and it has become a tradition
that each year’s mementos of life at the
school are added to it.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School
grew quickly, reaching a student population
of about 850 students, making it the largest
elementary school within the jurisdiction of
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
41 Weybridge Drive
Nepean K2J 2Z8
613-825-3596
www.occdsb.on.ca/eli
School Board. This ended when other
Catholic elementary schools were built in
the Barrhaven/South Nepean area, such as
Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic School and
St. Luke Catholic School.
Over the years, St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton School has been committed not only to
a high calibre of learning but also to social
justice, both within the community as well
as through outreach initiatives. Its staff and
students have generously supported “Jump
Rope for Heart” for the Heart and Stroke
Foundation and the Terry Fox Run for
cancer research. Other fundraising and
community-support initiatives have included
193
the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
“Wear Your Bear” program, canned food
drives for the Barrhaven Food Cupboard,
the Canadian Hunger Foundation, the “OK
Clean Water Project” which develops wells
in African communities, the Snowsuit Fund,
the United Way, the Shepherds of Good
Hope, Pennies for Pakistan, Christmas
hampers, school supplies for St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton School in Louisiana after
Hurricane Katrina, and more than $5,000
for the victims of the tsunami in Southeast
Asia.
The school has organized special
events and hosted tournaments.
Extracurricular activities have abounded,
including athletics, liturgies, dance and
drama events, visual arts projects and
musical and theatrical productions. The
production Our Country Canada Notre Pays
1900-2000 in 2000 involved 300 actors and
100 parents helping backstage. In 2001, it
was Twelfth Night for Kids while Moses and
the Freedom Fanatics was the 2002 offering.
This was followed by Puzzling Parables in
2003, Marvelous Multicultural Event in
2004 and Let’s Pier into the Past in 2005,
a production about Pier 21 in Halifax
through which immigrants came when
arriving in Canada. The production
involved 127 grandparents as well as
parents and students. It also honoured the
60th anniversary of the war brides coming
to Canada and was attended by GovernorGeneral Adrienne Clarkson.
The school has received platinum
and gold awards from the Canadian
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) for its
school fitness initiatives. It has also offered
a host of intramural sports during
lunchtime.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School has
become an integral part of the Barrhaven
community, with the school facility used
SCHOOL HISTORIES
after hours by many community groups
including Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Sparks,
Brownies, Girl Guides, sports groups,
Christmas craft shows and special events
such as silent auctions.
The school continues to be the site
for a Sunday morning Mass in the parish
centre, which is affiliated with St. Patrick
Parish in Fallowfield. When St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton was in the planning stages, the
congregation of this parish undertook
fundraising activities so that money would
be available to provide a parish centre
within the school consisting of kitchen
facilities, an office for the priest, a meeting
room and a place for the celebration of Mass.
The Catholic Women’s League of St. Patrick
Parish collected Canadian Tire money to
help furnish the kitchen. The Parish Centre
was blessed in 1987.
Present Principal
Dwight Delahunt
Past Principals
Julie Tuepah
Gerry Leveque
Andrew McKinley
Marjorie Hinds
Jean-Marie Stewart
Gail MacDonald
Shelley Major-Wood
Barbara Heggie
Heather Seeler
Linda Legault
Marthe Graveline
Irene Doth
Louise Lapalme
Carole Laflamme
Patricia Scrim
Antoinetta Bastianelli
Deborah Wensley
Staff Recognition
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic
School Teacher Joy Forbes was a finalist for
the Governor-General’s Award of Excellence
in Teaching Canadian History in 2003. She
received the Sharon Hiscott Memorial Award
for Leadership and Excellence in
Elementary Creative Arts in 2002. This
award, presented by the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board’s Educational
Programs Department, recognizes an
individual from a Board elementary school
who has made a significant contribution
in the creative arts. She also received the
Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation
Capital Educators’ Award in 2003.
School Teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Dean received
the Daniel Patrick Kelly Athletic Award for
leadership in school fitness and sports in
May 2003. This award is presented by the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board’s
Educational Programs Department.
194
School Colours
The school colours are royal blue,
deep pink and white. The vibrant royal blue
was chosen to represent boys while the
strong pink hue was chosen to represent
girls. White was chosen to represent the
Holy Spirit’s purity and holiness.
Logo
Teacher Sonia Patrice designed
the school logo in 1986 when the school was
established. The flame and the cross
represent Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The
doves represent students soaring to new
heights. The motto “Courage and Faith” on
the logo was chosen because a person needs
courage to stand strongly for the faith and
also because faith gives a person courage
to do what he or she needs to do to succeed
through life. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
demonstrated both of these qualities in
her life. The logo has the dates 1818 and
1986 —1818 representing the year that
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton established her first
school and 1986 the date that St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton Catholic School was established.
T
he newest elementary school of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board, St. Emily Catholic School
opened in September 2006, albeit in
temporary premises while the new school
facility on Chapman Mills Drive in South
Nepean is under construction. It is expected
that the new school will be completed by
December 2006 or January 2007.
The sod-turning ceremony for
St. Emily School took place on Monday,
May 29, 2006, at the six-acre site, adjacent
to a future park. The ceremony included a
blending of the soil, where students from
St. Andrew School, the mother school for
St. Emily, combined the soil of their school
with that of the new one. Young students
taking part in this ceremony were Danica
Toscano, Thomas Stevens, Nicholas
Beaudette, Emma Beaudette, Patrick
Stevens and Kristian Toscano.
Taplen Construction Ltd. was
awarded the contract for the construction
of the new 52,000 square foot building,
submitting the lowest of ten tenders at a
cost of $6,765,400. This is the same firm
that constructed St. Anne School in Kanata
and a portable complex at St. Matthew High
School, and also renovated Our Lady of
Mount Carmel School. Bryden Martel
Architects Inc. was chosen as the architect
for this new school, which is being built on
the same plan as the Board’s most recently
completed school, St. Jerome School in
Riverside South. The only major change is
that the location of the child care facility is
being switched with the kindergarten rooms
because of the location of the parking lot.
The Board approved the
construction of this new junior kindergarten
to grade 6 school in September 2005. It will
have a capacity of 502.5 pupil places. The
new school is needed because of continuing
and substantial residential growth in South
Nepean and will alleviate overcrowding at
ST.
EMILY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
School logo
not yet available
500 Chapman Mills Drive
Nepean
613-825-4300
www.occdsb.on.ca/chm
St. Andrew School. It is also designed to
accommodate the continuing growth in the
area. It will include a child care facility
called the “Chapman Mills School Age
Program,” serving children between the ages
of four and nine.
The new St. Emily Catholic School
was necessary because, without it,
enrolment at St. Andrew would have
exceeded 1,000 students (878.5 full time
equivalent pupils) in 2006-07. St. Andrew
had 11 portable classrooms on site in 200506. With the formation of the new St. Emily
School, the expected enrolment breakdown
will be 244 students at St. Emily and 635
195
students at St. Andrew. The projections for
the two schools show that enrolment at
St. Andrew will remain in the 600-pupil
range (120 percent of the school’s capacity,
thus requiring four portable classrooms) for
the 2007-11 period. After that, the enrolment
is expected to drop to 100 percent of capacity
by the year 2015 as its attendance area
becomes more stable and mature. St. Emily
School is expected to see increasing
enrolment in the coming years, growing
to 550 students in the year 2009 and
continuing to expand to 700 in the year
2011. Construction of another new Catholic
elementary school in this area of Nepean
South will probably be required, most likely
some time after the year 2011.
A motion of the Board at its June
13, 2006 meeting named St. Emily Catholic
School. A list of names had been proposed
through a consultation process that included
parents, teachers, students, and Father John
Whyte, Pastor of St. Andrew Parish. Five of
these names were selected by a steering
committee in consultation with the school
board chaplain, Father Peter Sanders. These
names were then circulated among the
school community and input was sought
about the most appropriate choice.
St. Emily Catholic School is named
after St. Emily de Rodate, who was born
near Rodez, France, and became a nun at
Maison St. Cyr when she was 18 years old.
In 1815, Emily decided that her vocation
was to teach poor children. With the aid of
three young assistants, she began her work
in her room in St. Cyr. This was the start of
a teaching institute called the Congregation
of the Holy Family of Villefranche. It grew
rapidly, establishing its own motherhouse
and branches. Over time, Emily extended
her activities to caring for unfortunate
women, orphans and the aged. A total of
38 institutions were established before her
death in 1852. St. Emily was canonized in
1950. Her feast day is September 19.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Micheline Harvey
First School Staff
Micheline Harvey, Principal
Joan Rowe
Christine Gulas
Karen Kealey
Lynda Lapointe
Jenny Ng
Ardyth Correia
Tammy DeGagne
Catherine House
Sarah Eady
Lucy Huisman
Anna Maria Strizzi
Lloyd Armstrong
Michaela Ahearn
Mary Jo DiFilippo
Lyne Kohut
Carol McBride, Secretary
196
S
t. Francis of Assisi Catholic School
in Orléans opened in September
1988 with students and staff housed
at two campuses while the new facility on
Watters Road was under construction. It
was a happy time in early May 1989, when
everyone came together, 300 students and
staff, at the newly completed school.
Many of the students and staff had
been at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School
before the creation of the new school, which
was formed to serve the Fallingbrook and
Cumberland communities. For the first
months of its existence, St. Francis of
Assisi School existed in two places. Junior
kindergarten, kindergarten and grade1
students were housed at Chapel Hill Catholic
School while the grades 2 to 6 students were
at Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School.
On October 4, 1989, the Feast of
St. Francis of Assisi, the school celebrated
its official opening. St. Francis of Assisi
School, along with Holy Spirit Catholic
School in Stittsville, which was built at the
same time, were the first new schools of the
have a child care facility incorporated into
the plans and available to the community.
It was also the first school in the newly
School Board to open a class for dependently
handicapped students. These students take
part in regular classroom and school
activities.
The school was named after
St. Francis of Assisi following a consultation
and selection process involving students,
staff and parents. The name was selected
because St. Francis of Assisi was considered
a saint of the times, a person concerned with
the underprivileged, children and things
of nature. He is considered the original
environmentalist, a great fit with the
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School
community, since one focus of the school
ST. FRANCIS
OF ASSISI
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
795 Watters Road
Orléans K4A 2T2
613-830-3215
www.occdsb.on.ca/fra
from the outset has been caring for the
environment. Another focus has been
building community, something which has
been fostered through the school’s “Catch
The Spirit” awards recognizing good
citizenship and through an active presence
within the Orléans community, holding food
drives, welcoming visitors from the Rideau
and Perley Veterans’ Health Centre, the
school choir performing at community events
and twinning with less fortunate school
communities. Indeed, care for others seems
to have been built into the mortar of
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School because
it has been and continues to be an example
of living Gospel values.
197
Participation in athletics is also
a significant part of life at St. Francis of
Assisi, with all students involved. The daily
physical activities program at the school
encourages healthy living.
St. Francis of Assisi is located
within Divine Infant Parish and, while not
geographically close, the two are spiritually
united with a strong bond, as witnessed by
the many school liturgical celebrations held
both at the school and at the church. A
nativity scene appears in the rotunda of the
school during the Christmas season. It was
created by Frank DaCosta, a member of the
school community, who, in so doing, followed
in the footsteps of Saint Francis himself who
did the same for his community of Assisi.
St. Francis of Assisi School has
been a busy and welcoming community over
the years since its formation in 1988, as
indicated by this representative list of
special events and activities at the school:
a citizenship ceremony celebrating new
Canadians receiving their Canadian
citizenship; talent shows; a Christmas
hamper program; donating to the tsunami
relief fund; hosting an African children’s
choir; holding an Ottawa 67’s anti-bullying
rally; hosting the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police Band; enjoying performers and artists
from the community; holding events such
as barbecues and family breakfasts during
Education Week; initiating a “Gift of
Reading” program; and hosting a cultural
fair.
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic
School has always been blessed with an
active and vibrant school council. A school
beautification plan, conceived and
implemented by the council is one example
of this involvement.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Maurene Atherton
Past Principals
Joanne LaPlante
Bert O’Connor
Julie Tuepah
Louise Roddy
Former Students
Keisha Chanté, music; Lou
Dickenson, hockey; Kevin Friday, politics;
Cory Roque, golf; Bill Keating, golf; Matt
Lavallee, football
Pierre Monfils, a member of the
original staff at the school, wrote the school
song, “Saint Francis, Bless Our School.”
The “Prayer of Saint Francis” is also sung
at school liturgies.
School Council
Tony DeMelo was the first
president of the school council.
Joanne LaPlante
Joyce Kealey
Catherine Brown-Roy
Joan MacKinnon
Alveta Goguen
Anne Walsh
Margo MacDonnell (Gautreau)
John Weir
Patrick Shaughnessy
Margo Pearce
Clareen Prabhu
Simone Oliver
Dianne Taylor
Mary Major
Cheryl Tymchuk
Vivian Kelly
Rachelle Giroux
Pierre Monfils
Pat Carrière
Michel Rozon
Song
School Colours
Green and white
These colours were chosen to
represent the school’s caring for the
environment.
Logo
Student Troy Mallett designed the
school logo. It features hands holding a dove
with an olive branch, representing the
promotion of peace in a healthy
environment.
198
Banners
Banners in the rotunda area of
the school depict the many facets of the life
of Saint Francis of Assisi and reflect the
school’s commitment to the community.
Parents and staff made the simple designs
of children into the banners.
School Entrance
A striking wooden relief at the
entrance to the school depicts Saint Francis
and St. Clare. It was designed and created
by a Romanian architectural student from
Algonquin College.
T
he year 1923 saw a flurry of
Catholic activity in the Ottawa
West area of what was then still
a part of Nepean Township as Catholics
witnessed the creation of St. George Parish
and, at virtually the same time, the first
step towards the establishment of a Catholic
school in the parish.
ST. GEORGE
The Ottawa Archdiocese
established St. George Parish in 1923 to
serve the large geographic area from
Holland Avenue west to Britannia, and from
the Ottawa River south to Manotick, an area
previously served by St. Mary Parish farther
east, which had been founded in 1891. This
new St. George Parish had 160 families at
the time. Monsignor George Prudhomme,
pastor, celebrated the first Masses on
September 30, 1923, at the convent of the
Sisters of the Visitation, which was located
on Richmond Road near the site of the
proposed new St. George Church. The parish
rented the convent’s chapel until completion
of the new church a year later. The
architectural firm of Noffke, Morin and
Sylvester designed the new church that
cost $63,000 to build. Its location near
the Ottawa west station of the Britannia
street car line meant convenient public
transportation access to the Piccadilly
Avenue site of the new church for Catholics
along the line from Holland Avenue
westward, as far as Britannia.
It can be seen how the founding
Catholic families of St. George Parish closely
linked church and school. While the first
churchwardens were elected at a parish
meeting on October 14, 1923, it was only a
month later, on November 22, 1923, that
the first meeting was held to establish a
Catholic school in School Section No. 2 of
the Township of Nepean (Police Village of
Ottawa West). The convent of the Sisters of
the Visitation on Richmond Road was the
site of this meeting, just as it had been the
site of the first Masses celebrated in the
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
grew. Eventually, an extension was built at
the rear of the church, providing space for
a new sacristy on the main floor and a
basement area for the first kindergarten
class.
Much of the success of the new
Catholic school could be attributed to the
hard work and dedication of the Grey Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception who began
teaching at the school in 1926. Initially they
traveled by streetcar to the Ottawa west
site from their residence in Sandy Hill.
Eventually, in 1941, they established a
permanent residence in St. George Parish.
Indeed, except for a two-year span in 193233, every principal of St. George School from
1925 to 1976, a period of over half a century,
was a Grey Sister of the Immaculate
Conception.
130 Keyworth Avenue
Ottawa K1Y 0E6
613-728-8291
www.occdsb.on.ca/sge
parish. At this November 1923 meeting, a
group of Roman Catholic ratepayers decided
to establish a Catholic school.
A temporary site, a stone building
known as the Chamberlain property on
Hilson Avenue, was selected. The new
Catholic school operated from this site from
January 1924 to June 1924. In June, plans
were drawn up by the pastor, Father
Prudhomme, and the Section School Board
for a four-room school to operate in the
basement hall of the new St. George Church.
This was to be the location of the school
from September 1924 to June 1939. During
this time, the school and parish populations
199
From their beginnings in 1923,
both St. George Parish and St. George
School flourished, serving the Catholic
families of the area. Students entered their
basement school by way of the parking lot
on the north side of the church. This parking
lot also served as the schoolyard. In the late
1930s, when Father Michael O’Neil was the
pastor of St. George Parish, the school
moved out of the church basement and into
a new building which had been constructed
at 401 Piccadilly Avenue immediately north
of the church, at a cost of $45,000, the result
of collaboration between the local school
trustees and the Provincial Department of
Education. This new school consisted of ten
classrooms and two extra rooms as well as a
fully-equipped shop and home economics
rooms for Grade 9. School enrolment at that
time was approximately 350 students but
there was more growth coming, as reflected
by an expansion of the school in 1943 and
a further, major addition in 1949.
Residential growth in the whole
area led to the establishment of Our Lady of
Fatima Parish, farther west, as well as
SCHOOL HISTORIES
continued growth for both St. George Parish
and the school. During the 1950s, there were
about 1,000 Catholic families in the parish,
with St. George School enjoying an
enrolment of 500 to 600 students. It was
during this time that this Ottawa West area
of Nepean was annexed by the City of
Ottawa. As a result, the Ottawa Roman
Catholic Separate School Board assumed
responsibility for St. George Catholic School.
In September 1970, St. George
School became a kindergarten to grade 6
school, with the grades 7 and 8 students being
sent to Holy Rosary Intermediate School on
Melrose Avenue. In September 1973, there
was another redeployment of the grades 7
and 8 students, this time to St. Joseph Junior
High on Broadview Avenue. Ten years later, in
September, grade 6 graduates from St. George
School were enrolled in an intermediate school
on Keyworth Avenue.
St. George School on Piccadilly
Avenue saw its last major addition in 1986
when a gymnasium was added to the
complex. The school continued at this
location until it was closed by the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board in June
2002, with the agreement of the school
community. St. George was relocated to the
former intermediate school premises on
Keyworth Avenue where it now operates as
a junior kindergarten to grade 6 school. The
intermediate student body formerly housed
at this location moved to Notre Dame
Catholic High School on Broadview Avenue,
where a new addition and renovations had
taken place to accommodate the influx.
One long tradition at St. George
Catholic School at its Piccadilly Avenue
location was a “May Day” procession from
the school to Mary’s grotto located on
Piccadilly Avenue next to the former
St. Michael’s Convent. Today, the school
continues with a variety of activities and
events that maintain the school spirit and
sense of community that has characterized it
since first established in those opening years
of the parish. School Masses, play days,
Christmas pageants, concerts, fun fairs,
sacramental celebrations, student awards,
Thanksgiving food drives, hot dog and pizza
days, school patrols, visiting drama groups
and graduation ceremonies have all added
to school life over the years.
There has always been a strong
link between the parish and the school,
strengthened no doubt by the close
proximity of one to the other for so many
years. Parent-teacher associations and, more
recently, school councils have strengthened
this link. St. George parishioners, in the
past, willingly paid separate school taxes,
even if they were higher, because they
wanted their children to be educated in a
Catholic school where Gospel values
permeated the curriculum.
At its present location, St. George
School has two kindergarten rooms, six
primary classrooms, eight junior classrooms,
a resource classroom, a computer lab,
library, music room, art room and
gymnasium, with a student enrolment of
over 300 students. It also has a school-age
child care program.
200
Present Principal
Michael Keeler (2004-present)
Past Principals
Margaret Roche (January-June
1924)
C. McIntosh (1924 interim)
Sister Mary Patrick (1925-26)
Sister Mary Regis (1926-31)
Sister St. Austin (1931-32)
Geneva Prud’homme (1932-33)
Sister Ignatius of Loyola (1933-50)
Sister Elizabeth of the Cross
(1950-55)
Sister St. Helen (1955-58)
Sister Mary Aloysius (Sister Mary
Stanton) (1958-65)
Sister Mary Josephine (1965-67)
Sister Anna Clare (1967-70)
Sister Catherine McCann (1970-73)
Sister Mary Stanton (1973-76)
John Burns (1976-84)
James Morrison (1989-93)
Alex Nagle (1994-95)
Yvonne Gliege (1995-97)
Georges Bouliane (1997-2004)
First Teaching and Support Staff (1924)
Gertrude Gleeson
Clara Pothier
Jas Hall, Custodian
(January-June 1924)
W. Gillisie, Custodian
(September 1924)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
With over 80 years of history,
St. George Catholic School has had many
of its students go on to play roles of
prominence in society.
Archbishop Brendan O’Brien of
St. John’s, Newfoundland. He grew up at
St. George Church and was Assistant Pastor
under Monsignor John MacDonald who
served from 1967 to 1985. After serving
as an auxiliary bishop of Ottawa, he was
appointed Bishop of Pembroke in 1993.
In 1997, he was named Chaplain for the
Ontario Knights of Columbus.
Rev. Brian Swords, Superior
General of the Scarboro Foreign Missions
Rev. Michael Gillissee, Rev. Glen
Clarke, Rev. D’Arcy Coulson, Rev. James
Noonan, O.M.I., Rev. Jack McCann, O.M.I.,
Monsignor Paul Baxter, Rev. Tom Farrell,
Rev. Tom Cassidy, O.M.I., and Rev. John
Massell, O.M.I.
Terry Marcotte, CJOH-TV sports
announcer
Pat Marsden, a sports broadcaster
who was sports director at CKOY radio in
Ottawa before joining CTV as the play-byplay voice of the network’s Canadian
Football League coverage. He later became
sports director at CFTO-TV in Toronto
before finishing his career at The Fan 590
radio station in Toronto, retiring in 2004.
He is a member of the Football Reporters
of Canada Hall of Fame. In 1972, he was
a studio host for telecasts of the CanadaSoviet Summit Hockey series.
Ottawa Citizen reporter Susan
Riley
School Colours
Tim Higgins, National Hockey
League player
Logo
Sportswriter Eddie McCabe
Julie Maloney, 1970 Miss Canada
Tony Graham, Toyota automobile
dealer
Jake Dunlap, General Manager of
the Ottawa Rough Riders Football
Club
Dr. Tom Anderson, Ophthalmologist
Dr. Edward O’Brien, Cardiologist
Dr. Jim Casserly
Dr. Owen Kealey
Michael Neville, Attorney
Brian Mulvihill, Chartered
Accountant
Colleen Swords, Director General,
Legal Bureau, Department of
Foreign Affairs
School Principals Tom Duggan,
Bernard Swords, Wayne Carroll
and James McStravick
Hon. Allan Rock, MP, Federal
Cabinet Minister and Canadian Ambassador
to the United Nations
From the 1990s to the present —
Navy bottom, red/white top with
the St. George Catholic School logo
The St. George Catholic School
logo, in the form of a shield, features a
picture of a dragon reading a book, flanked
by two crosses, with the name “St. George”
at the top. The dragon refers to the
traditional story about St. George.
Motto
The motto of St. George Catholic
School is “School for All Children.”
School Uniform
The first school uniform, worn
from 1963 to 1967 and only by girls, was a
green jumper with the St. George Catholic
School logo and a white blouse. The second
school uniform worn only in 1967 (one year
only) was also exclusively for girls, and was
a centennial plaid jumper and a white blouse.
Outstanding School Trustee
His Holiness Pope Pius XII named
Francis M. Peters a “Knight of St. Gregory
the Great” for outstanding service to
St. George Catholic School, St. George Parish
and the Nepean and Ottawa Separate School
Boards. He was Chairperson of the Board of
Trustees for Separate School Section No. 2
in Nepean Township for 17 consecutive years.
Following the annexation of the area by the
City of Ottawa in 1950, Mr. Peters became
a Trustee of the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board where he served as
Chairperson of the Board and Chairperson of
the Finance Committee, alternatively every
two years until at least 1963.
Child Care Program
St. George Catholic School offers
a school-age child care program.
201
S
t. Gregory Catholic School is one
of the schools established in the
former Nepean Township prior to
the creation of the county-wide Carleton
Roman Catholic Separate School Board.
Opened in 1960, it was part of the
blossoming of Catholic education in the
growing township in the two decades from
1950 to 1970.
Most Rev. J.R. Windle, Auxiliary
Bishop of Ottawa, blessed the new school in
City View on June 18, 1959, assisted by
Rev. Father Allan Charnon of St. Augustine
Parish. L.J. Dupuis, Auxiliary Inspector of
separate schools in Ottawa West, unveiled
the plaque. At this blessing and official
opening, V.R. “Brud” Zinck, former
Chairperson of the local Catholic school
board, explained that the school was named
St. Gregory in honour of Sister M.
St. Gregory (Bertha Cruikshank) of the
Sisters of Holy Cross who was the founding
principal of nearby St. Nicholas Catholic
School. Sister M. St. Gregory was the
principal and teacher of the senior grades
at St. Nicholas School from its opening in
September 1953 until 1958 when she left
for mission work on Moricetown Reserve in
British Columbia. She had endeared herself
to the students and school community
during her time at St. Nicholas.
In 1951, there was only one Catholic
elementary school in Nepean, with about
200 students. By 1970, there were ten Catholic
elementary schools in Nepean and the
enrolment was more than 3,000. These schools
were administered by six separate Catholic
school boards, which had long debated uniting
into one. This became a reality when the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board was
established by provincial dictum in 1969.
When Our Lady of Good Counsel
Catholic School on Bowhill Avenue, which
had opened in 1965, was closed in 1983,
students, staff and equipment moved to
ST.
GREGORY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
148 Meadowlands Drive West
Nepean K2G 2S5
613-224-3011
www.occdsb.on.ca/gre
St. Gregory. In the 1980s, the school was
twinned with the nearby St. Nicholas
School, sharing a principal. When
St. Nicholas was closed in 1990, the
students and staff moved to St. Gregory.
St. Gregory School itself moved
for the 2001-02 school year after the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board acquired
and then renovated the former Brook Lane
Public School on Meadowlands Drive. This
move resulted in St. Gregory moving into
a single-storey building with updated
classrooms and a larger playground. The
school was officially blessed and rededicated
in its new location on February 7, 2002.
203
As in the past, St. Gregory
continues to meet the challenges of a
changing world, implementing programs
and activities that embody the Gospel
values that are so much a part of Catholic
education. A Life Skills class was established
during the 1980s. Barry Olivier, the teacher,
implemented Friday luncheons with his
group. Each week his students shopped for,
prepared, served and interacted with their
paying guests, practicing all the related
skills. Staff and students always eagerly
anticipated these feasts. Teachers Pat
Switzer and Pat Bednarz started an
Environment Club in the 1980s. One of the
criteria behind the formation of the club was
that there would be a relationship with a
third world country. This was the origin of
the school’s Kakinada Connection. Michelle
Dussault, a French teacher at the school,
lived next door to Dr. Chandra Sankurathri,
a biologist who had lost his family in the
tragic Air India crash of 1982. Dr. Chandra
established the Manjare Sankurathri
Memorial Foundation in his home village
of Kakinada, India. This foundation sponsors
a school and an eye clinic. St. Gregory
School supports his work through its Lenten
project fundraising each year. In December
2004, St. Gregory School Principal, Theresa
Kryski, traveled to Kakinada where her visit
became part of a CBC-TV documentary on
the work of Dr. Chandra.
An Advent family Mass was
implemented at St. Gregory School during
the 1990s to encourage a closer connection
among school, church and home. It became
a highly successful and well-attended annual
event, with parents and teachers sharing the
organizational responsibility.
A fun fair is currently the primary
fundraiser at the school, taking place every
spring under the guidance of the school
council with the support of the staff and
community. A huge raffle with prizes galore
is a main drawing card for the event, as are
SCHOOL HISTORIES
the food and the games. This has been a
highlight of the school year at St. Gregory
for almost 15 years.
Both the arts and sports are also
important to the school community. Visits
by Friends of the National Gallery were
inaugurated during the principalship of
Helen Anderson. Her legacy with regard to
promotion and encouragement of the arts
at the school can be found in the school’s
annual Fine Arts Award. School sports
teams and programs really came into their
own under the leadership of Principal Pat
Jennings. Dedicated student athletes and
enthusiastic teacher-coaches combined to
develop successful school teams and
personal-best performances by students.
St. Gregory Catholic School
today has an enrolment of approximately
275 students, encompassing Junior
Kindergarten through Grade 6. The school
has 14 regular classrooms, a resource area,
a junior special needs classroom, a computer
lab, a library, a gymnasium with a stage,
and two unique courtyards, as well as a
schoolyard. The school enjoys a strong
partnership with St. Maurice Catholic
Parish, which is served by priests of the
Order of the Companions of the Cross.
Present Principal
School Colours
Past Principals
Logo
Kari Burke
Mary Doyle
Gerard LeClair
Bob Slack
Peter Gravelle
Joan Gravel
John Power
Sister Rita McBane
Helen Anderson
Pat Jennings
Gerry Gilmour
Theresa Kryski
Mary Doyle, Principal
Rima Bakunas, Grade 1
Lots Ryan, Grade 2
Teresa Doyle, Grade 3-4
Bernadette Ryan, KindergartenPrimary
204
Blue and gold
Designed by teachers Pat Switzer
and Barry Olivier, both now retired, the logo
includes the name “St. Gregory” diagonally
across the crest. Symbols on the logo include
an open book, sports equipment, two joined
hands, and a cross.
W
hile St. Isidore Catholic School
in South March has provided
Catholic education for families in
the area for half a century, the history of
Catholic education in this part of the Board’s
jurisdiction goes back more than 130 years.
The exact date of the construction of the
first Catholic school in March Township is
not known, but township minute books refer
to a grant given to a Roman Catholic School
Section as early as 1872. There did exist,
following the devastation caused by the
Carleton County fire of 1870, two Catholic
schools in the area, one in the vicinity of the
present-day St. Isidore School and the other
in the northwest part of the township,
known as Separate School Section No. 3.
This latter school also drew some pupils
from the southern portion of the adjacent
Torbolton Township to the north.
While dates are uncertain, a story
of the beginning of the school does exist,
one that seems to have more to do with its
location rather than with its denominational
status, although there is no doubt that the
religion of the parties involved played a role.
Those who lived on the Third Line in March
Township felt that the school should be built
on that road. These residents were mainly
Protestant. However, residents on the first
and second concession roads in March
wanted to see the school built on the Second
Line, believing such a site would be most
central for all of the students involved.
Most of the residents of the first and second
concession lines were Roman Catholic.
When S.S. No. 3 in March Township ended
up being built on the Third Line, the Roman
Catholics of that section decided to open
their own school. The Carroll family
permitted the school to be built on a part of
their farm. As there was no money available,
each family brought a pine log for the
construction of the building. In addition,
each family contributed to the salary and
board of a teacher. Jim Armstrong of
Dunrobin built the blackboard and desks.
ST.
ISIDORE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
likewise, goes back to the 1870s; however,
the St. Isidore School of today was originally
built as a one-room schoolhouse in 1956 on
land donated by Joseph and Helena
Scissons. This modern red brick school was
built because the local Catholic families —
the Foleys, Majors, Maxwells, Monaghans,
Nashs, Nugents among others — wanted the
best possible Catholic education for their
children.
James More & Sons Ltd. was the
contractor for the school, following the plans
of professional engineer, W.G. More. There
were just two teachers, Anne Szabo and
Charles Sherritt, and an initial enrolment
of about 20 students, covering Grades 1 to 8.
The students either walked to school or were
driven by their parents.
1105 March Rod
Kanata K2K 1X7
613-592-1798
www.occdsb.on.ca/isi
Later, the original log building was clad with
wood. In 1905, the original school building
was demolished and a slightly larger brick
schoolhouse was erected, featuring a raised
platform at the front, which also served as
a stage for Christmas concerts, a popular
annual event at the school.
In June 1965, the doors of this
Catholic school, Separate School Section
No. 3 of March Township, were shut forever,
because its students would be attending an
enlarged St. Isidore Catholic School near
St. Isidore Church, ending the presence of
a Catholic school in the northern part of the
township. St. Isidore School in South March,
205
In 1965, the two separate school
sections in March Township, S.S.S. No. 3 on
the Second Line and S.S. No. 2 (St. Isidore)
amalgamated, with the former being closed
and St. Isidore receiving a three-classroom
addition built by W.N. Construction. That
marked the end of the one-room schoolhouse
for Catholic students in March Township,
and the first of several additions and
improvements at St. Isidore. In 1968, there
was another major addition to the school,
including a gymnasium, a library and five
classrooms. In 1996, changes were made
to the kindergarten area, followed by
renovations to the administration section
in 1997. In 2000, a major addition and
extensive alterations reshaped St. Isidore.
Included were the administration area, the
school library and eight new classrooms.
Mechanie Construction was the contractor
for this project and the firm of Edmundson
Matthews served as the architect.
The present day school, which
has a 2005-2006 enrolment of 456 students,
many from the urban growth areas in
Kanata, sports 15 classrooms, a computer
lab, a library, a resource room, a
SCHOOL HISTORIES
gymnasium, an office area and staff room,
a welcoming foyer and four portable
classrooms, all served by a fleet of 12 school
buses. While the facility has been altered,
nothing really has changed with regard to
the desire by today’s parents and teachers to
have the best possible Catholic education at
St. Isidore. The school maintains a strong
partnership among parish, home and school,
with everyone working together to nurture
the truth and values of the Catholic faith.
Present Principal
Theresa Kryski
Past Principals
(since 1955)
Anne Szabo
Charles Sherritt
Noreen Murphy
Carmel Murphy
Peter MacKinnon
Peter Phelan
Richard Dittmann
Julie Tuepah
Yvonne Benton
Mary Armstrong Moss
Gerry Gilmour
Roberto Santos
Linda Gilmour
Former Students
Raymond Zahab, a fitness
instructor and cross-country runner who
would like to run across the Sahara Desert
Todd White, former Ottawa
Senators player now with the Minnesota
Wild
School Colours
Blue and gold
Logo
Kathy Sheridan designed the logo
for the letterhead of the school. The three
people represent child, home and school. The
three hearts and the three people represent
love – to love one another, to reach out in
love in the home, school and parish/
community. The cross represents Catholicity.
Mascot
“ISI,” the sand shark
206
Thoughts of Former Principal Julie
Tuepah
I was made Principal of St. Isidore
Catholic School in South March in 1982 …
population 125. It was a wonderful place to
begin my career as a principal. I also began
teaching the Principal’s Course at Queen’s
University and continued teaching this
course over the next ten years, both at
Queen’s and at the University of Ottawa.
I was a half-time teaching principal at
St. Isidore and during this time helped to
develop the Science/Social Studies/Health
integrated curriculum. This was a total
package for teachers and was intended to
be an activity-oriented program for students.
All of the activities, tapes, books, films, etc.
listed in the binder were provided for
teachers in activity kits available through
the Teacher Resource Centre.
G
rowth in the Bridlewood area of
Kanata led to the opening of
St. James Catholic School in
January 1994. Previously, the students from
the area had been attending Georges Vanier
Catholic School in the Beaverbrook area.
The school community was actually
established in September 1993, and was
housed at Georges Vanier while the new
school was under construction. It was not
until January 3, 1994 that the students and
staff of the school moved into the new
facility. The initial student population was
299 students, ranging from Junior
Kindergarten to Grade 5. Grade 6 was added
in September 1994.
The school was named after
St. James, one of the apostles, through a
selection process that saw parents and
others in the school community suggest
names for the new school. The official
opening took place on Thursday, May 5,
1994, when it was blessed by the Most
Reverend Marcel Gervais, Archbishop of
Ottawa. Guest speakers on this occasion
included Trustee June Flynn-Turner, ViceChairperson of the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board, Lanark-Carleton MP Ian
Murray, Lanark-Carleton MPP Norman
Sterling, Mrs. Merle Nicholds, Mayor of the
City of Kanata, Maynard Valois, President
of the St. James Parent-Teacher Association,
and Kanata Trustee Arthur J.M. Lamarche.
School grounds beautification,
recycling, quality daily physical education
and environmental awareness have all been
focuses at St. James School since it opened,
as have academic achievement and faith
development. School-wide and classroom
liturgies, sacramental celebrations and
regular school visits from parish priests
have provided opportunities to pray and
demonstrate Catholic faith development.
ST.
JAMES
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Present Principal
Mary Anne Cowan
Past Principals
Lloyd Ambler
Helen Anderson
Robert Benning
Debbie McGiffin, Junior
Kindergarten (English)
Marie Dummond, Junior
Kindergarten and Grade 2
(French)
Eileen Painchaud, Senior
Kindergarten (English)
Line Gauthier, Senior
Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2
(French)
Susan Kelso-Martin, Grade 1
Brenda Jolicoeur, Grade 1
Brenda McDonald, Grade 2
Anne-Marie Ronan, Grade 2
Priscilla Hossick, Grade 3
Dayna Bedecki, Grade 3-4
Laurie DiLabio, Grade 4-5
Glenn Kennedy, Grade 5 and
Principal-Designate
Raymonde Ibrahim, Grade 1
(French)
Paul Boulet, Grade 3-5 (French)
Bernadette Murphy, Resource
Colleen McKee, Library Technician
Marilyn O’Connor, Music Itinerant
Susan Leblanc, Secretary
Neil Gosselin, Head Custodian
Wesley Hacker, Night Custodian
50 Stonehaven Drive
Kanata K2M 2K6
613-599-6600
www.occdsb.on.ca/jam
The school supports such
charitable initiatives as the Kanata Food
Cupboard, the Canadian Hunger
Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Jump
Rope for Heart and the United Way.
St. James Catholic School has
received the Canadian Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance (CAHPERD) awards frequently
through the years as well as the
Environmental Award given by the school
board.
207
School Colours
Gold and maroon
Logo
The school logo is maroon in
colour, with a large cross through it. In the
centre is a book with pictures of a fish and
a dove. Below the book are silhouettes of
four children holding hands. The words
“St. James” are above the crest.
S
t. Jerome, a noted scholar, found
time in his life of devotion to God
and the Church to open a school.
It is thus quite fitting and
appropriate that the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board, which likewise has a
devotion to God and the Church by ensuring
that the teachings of Jesus Christ are
integrated into the day-to-day curriculum
and social fabric of school life, should have
a school named after him. This became a
reality in 2004 when a new Catholic
elementary school opened in the growing
Riverside South urban development area of
Gloucester South. It was named “St. Jerome
Catholic School” following consultation with
parents and the community.
St. Jerome School opened its doors
for the first time on September 7, 2004, with
a student population of 190, most having
previously attended Uplands Catholic
School. This first day was a day of
celebration, with members of the school
community on hand to mark the event and
to participate in the celebrations, including
a special blessing and attendance by local
dignitaries who stopped by to offer their
congratulations and best wishes for the new
school, built by Frecan Construction Ltd.
The media were also on hand to mark the
opening of this first new elementary school
in the Riverside South community.
Having a Catholic elementary
school in the community had been a goal
of Catholic parents and of residents of the
community in general, as represented by
their community association, for several
years. The community had made
presentations to the trustees of the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board, outlining
the growth in the community and its
burgeoning population of school-aged
children. These presentations made the
trustees and Board staff aware of the
situation, but other construction priorities
ST.
JEROME
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
4330 Spratt Road
Gloucester K1V 2A7
613-822-1116
www.occdsb.on.ca/jer
and a desire to wait until student number
projections ensured the viability of the new
school, meant that the decision to build the
school would not be made until 2003.
Enrolment increased from the initial 190
students to 340 in the fall of 2005 and
continued growth is expected as
development in the Riverside South
community proceeds as planned.
St. Jerome School has quickly
become a vibrant Catholic beacon in this
new subdivision area.
The official opening ceremony for
the school was held on December 2, 2004,
209
with the highlight being the presentation
of banners, created by each grade level,
to the school. These banners now hang in
the gymnasium. The vital nature of the
St. Jerome School community was much in
evidence in the first year, as the school
raised enough funds to purchase a topquality dynamic play structure. Other
additions that were provided to the
schoolyard included basketball nets, asphalt
games and an infinity loop. All of this has
allowed the students to have fun while being
physically active in the outdoors. The main
fundraising event for the play structure was
a walk-a-thon, which promoted physical
fitness and camaraderie. Indeed, the event
was so popular that it has become an annual
event.
St. Jerome School is a place where
concern for others, especially those in need,
has become a guiding principle. In 2004,
the school chose to direct this concern to
tsunami relief and to “sponsor-a-child,”
inaugurating a tradition of “giving back,”
which will continue in the future. St. Jerome
Catholic School was one of eight OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board schools in
the 2005-2006 school year that raised about
$6,000 in total for the “OK Clean Water
Project.” The “OK Clean Water Project”
(OK stands for Ottawa-Kumbo, a town in
international religious community of
Sisters and associates with a strong
presence throughout Canada and a
longstanding dedication to education. The
“OK Clean Water Project” supports the
purchase of water pipes that are laid from
a clean water source into their communities
by villagers in Cameroon.
St. Jerome has quickly become
an integral part of the Riverside South
community. The Ottawa Public Library’s
Bookmobile, which serves the area, makes
a weekly stop at St. Jerome, enhancing
SCHOOL HISTORIES
student access to the world of literacy and
complementing the school’s own resources,
while helping to instill a love of reading and
learning in the students.
The school provides opportunities
for students and staff to pray and
demonstrate their Catholic faith, through
both school-wide and classroom liturgies.
Father Geoff Kerslake, the parish priest
at St. Leonard Catholic Church in nearby
Manotick, the parish which includes
Riverside South, leads these liturgical
celebrations and visits the school on a
regular basis.
St. Jerome Catholic School offers
a junior kindergarten to grade 6 curriculum
as well as a variety of co-curricular activities
such as environment, dance, chess, peacemaker and multicultural clubs. It also
provides for a wide range of athletic
activities.
Present Principal
Gerry Gilmore (2005-present)
School Colours
Blue and gold, as chosen by the
students in the fall of 2004.
Past Principals
Bert O’Connor (2004-05)
Angela Marcantonio
Chantelle Woods
Paule Blais, Kindergarten
Carolina Anton;
Delta Jones, Grade 1
Elizabeth Fata, Grade 2
Connie Drew, Grade 3
Samara Somers, Grade 3-4
Lisa Ricciuti, Grade 5
Penny Zorn, Grade 5-6
Tina Dicembre
Antoinette Abi Khalil, French
Susan Schroeder, Resource
Kelly Fahey, Educational Assistant
Carole Hausser, Secretary
Pierre Larocque, Head Custodian
Phil Kelly, Head Custodian
Marcel Pharand, Custodian
Romeo Robinson, Custodian
210
Logo
The school logo is a lion
emblazoned with the name “St. Jerome,” the
school motto “Today’s Believers, Tomorrow’s
Achievers,” and the school’s initials “SJCS”
flanking a beacon-like cross. The lion is
linked with St. Jerome. In church history,
he is often pictured with a lion as he was
reported to have drawn a thorn from a lion’s
paw after which the lion stayed loyally at
his side for years. The lion is thus
considered an appropriate symbol to have on
the logo of the school named after so fearless
a champion of the Catholic faith.
Motto
“Today’s Believers, Tomorrow’s
Achievers”
S
ST. JOHN THE
APOSTLE
t. John the Apostle Catholic School
in Nepean began as a school
without a building. It opened its
doors to 275 students from Kindergarten
to Grade 8 in 1969, created by the newly
formed Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board, to meet the expanding growth in
such Nepean neighbourhoods as TrendArlington, Arlington Woods, Leslie Park,
Briargreen, Graham Park, Qualicum and
Bells Corners.
However, the doors that were
opened in 1969 were not the doors of a school
building, but rather those of eight portable
classrooms situated at the Costello Avenue
site of the future school, as well as two
classrooms housing grades 7 and 8 students
at Pope John XXIII Catholic School on
Knoxdale Avenue. The actual school building
for St. John the Apostle School was not ready
for occupancy until the spring of 1971, at a
cost of $950,000 for a first phase consisting
of eight classrooms, a kindergarten area,
a library, a general purpose room, a health
room, a teachers’ lunch room and lounge,
a principal’s office, a general administrative
office, janitorial facilities and washrooms.
The design of the school, by
Architect Edward Cuhaci, won first prize
in an architectural design contest for
elementary schools, thanks in part to being
the first elementary school designed to
feature the “pod” concept. This open area
concept, featuring four pods, each of which
contained four classrooms, was considered
unique at the time.
In September 1971, St. John the
Apostle School community was truly able
to enjoy its new building. Terry Murphy was
the school’s first principal, and Father John
Whalen, Pastor of St. John the Apostle
Catholic Parish on Baseline Road, was the
first priest to serve the school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Nuala Durkin (2004-present)
Past Principals
Mae Rooney (1973-78)
Gerard LeClair (1978-83)
Lyle Bergeron (1983-87)
Gary Valiquette (1987-91)
John Delorme (1995-99)
Edward Rogan (1999-2004)
30 Costello Avenue
Nepean K2H 7C5
613-828-0644
www.occdsb.on.ca/apo
At the end of the 1978 school year,
grades 7 and 8 students attending St. John
the Apostle were transferred to Frank Ryan
Catholic Senior Elementary School and,
subsequently, to St. Paul Catholic High
School. From 1979 to the present day,
St. John the Apostle has operated as a
kindergarten to grade 6 elementary school.
St. John the Apostle Catholic
School is named after St. John, the apostle
who is the patron saint of charities.
211
Terry Murphy, Principal
Jim O’Brien, Vice-Principal and
Grade 8
Jean Desormeaux, Grade 6
Mary Jean Thompson, Senior
Kindergarten
Sandra Boyer, Grade 1
Tom McGurn, Grade 7
Sandra Stafford, Grade 2
Georgia Morissette, Grade 4
Lynne Garston, Grade 3
Margaret Pappin, Grade 5
Former Students
Corey Smith plays for the
Canadian national wheelchair basketball
team.
Grade 2 student Daniel Stanton,
who is battling cancer, presented flowers to
current Governor-General, Her Excellency
the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean at her
swearing-in ceremony on Parliament Hill.
Julia Hicks is a track athlete who
received an athletic scholarship to a United
States university.
Geoffrey Kerslake is now the
parish priest at St. Leonard Parish in
Manotick.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
The school colours are burgundy
and yellow.
Logo
Gina Ourney, a supply teacher at
the school, designed the school logo as part
of a contest open to students. The round logo
features a cross, three outstretched hands
and the words “St. John The Apostle School,”
“Together In Faith” and “Together In
Friendship.”
Other Interesting Facts
Teacher Vicky Jacobson took her
class to see Prince Charles where the class
had an opportunity to have a picture taken
with the Prince.
The school placed second in a
gingerbread house competition sponsored
by Habitat for Humanity. The entry was
created by the school’s “Circle of Friends”
program. Close to $500 was raised.
212
S
t. Joseph Catholic High School in
South Nepean bears a name that
was previously used in the Ottawa
area, and is best known as the name of a
Catholic high school on Broadview Avenue
beginning in the late 1950s when there was
no government funding beyond Grade 10.
The name itself though, was not being used
for any school under the jurisdiction of the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board in
2002 when a new Catholic high school was
planned to serve the growing South Nepean
community to relieve an overcrowded
situation at Mother Teresa Catholic High
School. So the name of Saint Joseph, patron
of workers, was selected. It was built
following the design first developed by
architect Edward J. Cuhaci in 1990 for Holy
Trinity Catholic High School in Kanata and
replicated at other subsequent new high
schools, albeit with alterations and
improvements each time.
The school opened on October 11,
2002. Previously the student body and staff
had been housed at Mother Teresa High
School since the start of school in September
while the new school was being completed.
The official opening ceremony took place on
February 5, 2003. On opening day, the school
boasted an enrolment of 1,000, growing to
over 1,500 students by the fall of 2005.
The school facility includes a
chapel, four gymnasiums, a staff room, three
teacher preparation rooms, five computer
labs, a library, biology, chemistry, physics
and science labs, a fully-equipped exercise
room, two art rooms, and labs for
photography, transportation, communication
and construction, as well as numerous
regular classrooms.
In its first three years of existence,
St. Joseph High School has had six sports
teams go to the Ontario Federation of
Secondary Schools Athletic Association
provincial championships. In April 2006,
ST.
JOSEPH
SCHOOL HISTORIES
The school’s mission statement
reads — “At St. Joseph Catholic High
School, faith, dedication, respect and justice
are the cornerstones of our community.
We stand to uphold Christian values and
promote a positive and progressive learning
environment. Through dedication and
perseverance, we hope to achieve excellence
within ourselves and our community.”
St. Joseph High School has
demonstrated its commitment to the
community by fundraising for the Children’s
Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Waupoos
Foundation, the United Way, the Heart and
Stroke Foundation and the Multiple
Sclerosis Society. Students also deliver the
ABC Literacy Program to St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton School in Barrhaven. St. Joseph
students help one another through
leadership development camps, a peer
helpers program, a liturgical team and a
peer pals program.
3333 Greenbank Road
Nepean K2J 4J1
613-823-4797
www.occdsb.on.ca/sjh
the St. Joseph Junior Cheerleading Squad
won the provincial championship, competing
in the highest of four levels in the category.
The 31-member team consisted of grades 7
and 8 students. Besides participating in
more than 25 high school sports within the
Ottawa area, St. Joseph High School has
also won each year the Canadian Association
for Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance (CAHPERD) and Canadian
Intramural Recreation Association (CIRA)
awards for its daily quality physical
education program and its intramural sports
program respectively.
213
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principals
Greg Mullen (2002-present)
Past Principals
N/A
Greg Mullen, Principal
Rasa Augaitis
Frank Bastianelli
William Barrett
Robert Belanger
Karin Bellavance
Emily Brazeau
Guilia Briglio
Scott Broadhurst
Carole Brooks
Damien Brown-Graham
Kristine Burgoyne
Bonnie Campbell
Sandra Cappelletti
Lisa Clermont
Chris Copley
Wade Cotnam
René Coutu
MaryLou Dean
Rick Farrah
Sean Flynn
Anne-Marie Fraser
Robert Garnett
Michelle Gauthier
Sharon Gilmour
Gerald Guzzo
Patricia Harris
Darlene Hickman
Robin Howard
Toni Ienzi
Stephen Kenny
Robert Lackey
Tracey Labreche
Sylvain Lamarche
Cathy Landry
Eric Lehmann
Brian Lever
Rosetta Licandro
Carrie Lindsay
Rosemary Marshall, Head
Secretary
Anne Mason
Michael McCloskey
Tracy Mercy
Claire Montpetit
Cleary Morris
Tara Murphy
Sarah Murray
Donald Nault
Mario Panetta
Shelley Pankow
Dan Pilon
Helen Prince
Merlene Reid
Jennifer Rusch
Rae Salter
Isabella Santini-Cousineau
Wendy Scully
Louise Shaughnessy
Jennifer Simpson
Judith Smith
Mary-Lou Tirabasso
Rosario Vidosa
Anna Vincent
Lorraine Vlcek
Debra Wallingford
Virginia Winfield
Fiona Weir
Carol Young
214
Logo
A stylized anchor in the form of
a “J” with the school motto, a cross and the
name “St. Joseph.”
Motto
“Dedication Today, Success
Tomorrow”
Team Name
Jaguars
S
t. Leonard Catholic School in
Manotick opened in 1965 with six
rooms, but just two years later
a major addition was built encompassing
a library, gymnasium and four more
classrooms. School board trustees when
the school opened were Percy Macdonald,
Stephen Brownrigg, Des McEvoy, Patrick
Bergin and Clarence Curry.
St. Leonard School, on Long
Island Road in Manotick, was part of the
momentous change which took place at the
time of its opening in 1965 when the former
one-room country schools were being
replaced by larger, central schools serving
a wider area. In the case of St. Leonard,
students were bussed in from areas of four
different townships: Osgoode, Gloucester,
Nepean and North Gower. One of the
country schools, which closed at the time
of the opening of St. Leonard, was Roman
Catholic Separate School No. 1, Osgoode
(St. Brigid), which was near St. Brigid
Church on River Road. It began in 1874, but
by 1902, the school’s population had grown
beyond the capacity of the original small,
one-room school, so it was replaced by a
larger one-room building, which served
faithfully until it was closed in 1965 when
St. Leonard was established in Manotick.
Another Catholic rural school that
closed at that time was Roman Catholic
School Section No. 4, Osgoode, known as
Herberts Corners School. The original
school was a log structure, which opened
in November 1844 with an enrolment of
28 students. The teacher was Catholic. A
new school replaced the log schoolhouse in
1890, located on a nearby site purchased
from Michael Herbert and his wife Ellen
Nash for $35. Andrew Doyle, Patrick O’Brien
and James Herbert signed the agreement of
purchase. In the 1950s, a new and modern
classroom was added to this frame building
to meet the needs of the growing student
population. Once St. Leonard in Manotick
ST.
LEONARD
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
The name of the school comes from
the fact that the school and the adjacent
church are built on the former Leonard
Driscoll family farm. Leonard died in World
War II and his family donated the land in
his memory. St. Leonard, whose name the
school bears, was a charismatic Franciscan
priest whose efforts converted thousands.
He died in 1751 and is the patron saint of
parish missions.
St. Leonard Catholic School has
a history of growth. Classrooms had to be
rented at the nearby Manotick Public School
in the early days of the school. There was an
addition in 1967, and a further fiveclassroom expansion in 1968. Z.J. Nowak
was the architect and Robert Construction
the contractor.
5344 Long Island Road
Manotick K4M 1E8
613-692-3521
www.occdsb.on.ca/leo
became the school for the area in 1965, this
Herberts Corners School was used briefly in
the late 1960s by the public school board. It
was then reopened by the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board and used for Home
Economics and Woodworking classes until
1980. In September 1980, the Community
Christian School Association rented the
building for use as a school.
St. Leonard School opened in 1965
with Principal Bob Slack and a staff of five,
including three teachers. What a change the
years would bring, as evidenced by the fact
that in the 2003-04 school year, enrolment
reached 694 students and a staff of 50!
215
In the late 1970s, St. Leonard had
an annex on River Road, which housed
kindergarten pupils. In 1989, the school
received a major facelift that improved and
updated the appearance of the front of the
building. Westeinde Construction undertook
this work on behalf of the Carleton Roman
St. Leonard continued to grow
along with Manotick and the surrounding
community. This brought about the need for
the addition of a portable complex in 1997,
with Garvey Construction Ltd. serving as
the contractor for the project. This was
followed by the addition of a new library
the following year. Rham Construction
performed the construction work according
to the plans laid out by the architectural
firm, Bryden Martel.
In 1998, St. Leonard School
received $2,300 in funding from Canada
Trust to improve the schoolyard. This
funding came about thanks to a presentation
made by teacher Anne Moore and parent
Mrs. Lenjosek.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Leonard Catholic School is
known throughout the community for its
spirit. This is evident at the school’s various
spirit days and by the school’s ability to call
on over 100 volunteers. School events such
as Christmas concerts, parent nights,
Halloween and winter parties, end-of-theyear barbecue and Education Week and
Advent activities are all well attended.
Parent volunteers regularly organize hot
dog/pizza/sub lunches as fundraising
initiatives for the school council. The school
choirs have entertained seniors, church
congregations and others in the community
over the years. The school mascot, Lenny
the Lion, is a source of much student
enthusiasm and spirit. Lenny’s face can be
found on many objects around the school.
St. Leonard has won several
environmental awards as the school stresses
the importance of caring for the world. This
has led to litterless lunches, waste audits,
electricity preservation, creating beautiful
gardens and a child-friendly schoolyard.
Students are responsible for the planting
and upkeep of the gardens at the school.
During the millennium year, more than
2,000 tulips were planted at the school.
The Anne Morre Peace Garden was created
and many trees have been planted. Students
have planted trees and cared for the
community park on the Rideau River across
the street from the school. They have
entered floats in the Dickinson Day event in
Manotick and in Christmas parades in the
community. The school is always represented
at the Remembrance Day service at the
Manotick cenotaph.
Besides school spirit, St. Leonard
School is also known for its high academic
standards and its sports teams. Intramural
sports are played daily and the school has
collected numerous trophies, as well as
much praise for the sportsmanship of its
student athletes.
The close proximity of the school to
St. Leonard Catholic Church next door gives
the students the opportunity to attend
weekly Mass in addition to helping in
preparation for the sacraments.
St. Leonard School also has a
caring heart as evidenced by its charitable
activities. Students have collected cans,
clothing, money, Canadian Tire money,
mittens, toys, socks, and blankets for the
less fortunate during Advent and Lent. The
Youville Centre, St. Brigid’s, the Cantwell
Centre, St. Mark Dominican Republic
Project, Development and Peace and the
Samaritans’ Purse are among the many
organizations that have benefited from this
charitable fundraising work at St. Leonard.
The school has had hunger lunches of bread
and soup to raise funds for the needy.
Present Principal
Jim Rogers
Past Principals
Robert Slack
Andrew McKinley
Greg Peddie
Richard Dittman
Russ Graham
Ralph Watzenboeck
Bert O’Connor
Paul Fortier
First Teaching and Support Staff (1965)
Robert Slack, Principal
Claire Loughlin
Judy Van Zant
Regina Kelly
Anita McGuire, Secretary
Mr. Reynen, Custodian
Teachers at Roman Catholic School
Section No. 1, Osgoode ( St. Brigid’s) which
operated from 1874 to 1965
216
(After it was closed, students from
the area were bussed to the new St. Leonard
Catholic School in Manotick)
Hanna Foran
Agnes A. Loughlin
Julia McMahon
Miss J. McGahey
John Loughey
John Brennan
Miss M. McDonald
Nellie McMahon
Miss M. McKenna
Miss M. McDermott
Miss A. Joyce
Miss J. O’Malley
Miss J. Ryan
Miss E.J. Loughlin
Miss Daverin
Miss E. McGill
Miss K. Cummings
Miss F. Hayes
Miss G. Gleason
Miss T. Daley
Miss A. Dewan
Miss V. Redmond
Miss L. Scott
Miss M. Kelly
Marion Mulville
Miss V. Rooney
Kay Pageau
Miss B. Donnelly
J. J. O’Donnell
Rita O’Neil
Mary Quigley
Mary Forest
Regina Girouard
Mary Kennelly
Rita Conway
Vivian Kitts
Ethel Dillon
Ruth MacCormack
Mrs. D. Curren
Mrs. T. Thibert
Mrs. D. Kelly
Mrs. E. Kelly
Geneva Dupuis
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Some of the teachers who taught
at Roman Catholic School Section No. 4,
Osgoode (Herberts Corners) which operated
from 1844 to 1965 when it closed.
Michael Wallace
Martin Brophy
Miss Doyle
Mary Forrest
Miss Scanlon
Miss Nagle
Millie Day
Miss O’Grady
Miss McStraveck
Loretta Ryan
Myrtle Allen
Bernadette McKiernan
Hilda Kennedy
Sarah Steffler
Peggy Donnohue
Mrs. Pete Bax
Miss O’Brien
Mrs. Scissons
Jimmie O’Brien
Neil Kelly
Frank Leonard
Dorothy Kennedy
Sheila McPhail
Ethel Anderson
Teresa McGahey
Mrs. Kealey
Peter McEvoy
Bruce Topping
Mr. Curtis
Gayle Barr
Mrs. Legroes
Miss Blimpki
Patrick McEvoy
The last students to attend Roman
Catholic School Section No. 1, Osgoode
(St. Brigid) in 1965
Kevin Kelly
Carol Martin
Paddy Smith
Gerry Martin
Debbie Kelly
Kristeen French
Evelyn Martin
Maureen Martin
Jean Kelly
Wendy Latimer
Kathleen Kelly
Wayne Latimer
Kenny Kelly
Cathy Martin
Carmen Martin
Hugh Doyle
Pat Kelly
Randy Latimer
Steven Boyer
Gerry Labelle
Phil LeGeyt
Peter Kelly
Marty Kelly
Sharon Kelly
Linda Labelle
Graham Kelly
Suzanne Marcotte
Helen Martin
Suzie Boivin
John Kelly
Students at Roman Catholic School
Section No. 4, Osgoode (Herberts Corners) in
1963, just before it closed.
Robert Shields
Terry O’Brien
Aurel Albert
Michael Vilandre
Neil McDermid
Peter Vriend
Brenda McDermid
Bonny Allard
Madeline Vilandre
Leonard Lapensee
Jimmy Dewan
Dennis Daley
David Derwin
Marlene O’Rourke
Norma Tubman
Gisele Sparrow
Lynn Daley
Sharon Dewan
Jimmy Cleasy
Larry McEvoy
Alan Zirk
217
Diane Dumoulin
Bobby Dewan
Karen Zirk
Danny O’Brien
Connie Vriend
Louise Poirier
Jimmy Soubliere
Chris Vriend
Norman Dewan
Andre Lapensee
Danny O’Rourke
Nelkie De Rock
Margaret Ann Burns
Barry Daley
Former Students
Brad Fritsch, a golfer on the
Canadian Professional Golf Tour who
qualified to play in the 2006 United States
Open at the Winged Foot Golf Club in
Mamaroneck, New York
Elisa Kurylowicz, a member of the
Canadian Freestyle Ski Team. She retired
from the team in 2006 after four full seasons
and another three as a part-time member.
She competed in a total of 44 World Cup
meets, posting 13 top-ten results in
individual moguls and five top-ten finishes
in dual moguls. Her only World Cup gold
medal finish was in January 2004 in British
Columbia, where she won the dual moguls
competition. She also had three top-ten
results at two world championships and was
the first freestyle skier to land a back flip
with a full twist in competition.
Liam Maguire, a sports author and
hockey trivia expert
Greg McEvoy, an author of
children’s books (Alfie’s Long Winter)
John O’Brien, owner of O’Brien’s
Bus Company
Ian McCrae, a published author
of children’s literature
SCHOOL HISTORIES
School Colours
Red and white
Mascot
“Lenny the Lion”
218
S
t. Luke Catholic School has been
another stepping stone on the
pathway of Catholic education in
the Barrhaven/South Nepean growth area.
Opened in 1994 by the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board, it followed in the
footsteps of its predecessor schools,
St. Patrick and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton,
and in turn provided the formative footprint
for the future Catholic elementary schools
of Monsignor Paul Baxter and St. Andrew
in this fast-growing suburban community.
Indeed, it has been the growth of the
Catholic school system in the community,
with five elementary schools and two high
schools that helped accelerate the formation
of the new Catholic parish of St. Andrew in
the Barrhaven/Longfields/South Nepean
area in 2001.
St. Luke School now maintains a
strong relationship with St. Andrew Parish.
Father John Whyte, the current pastor,
visits St. Luke regularly for liturgical
celebrations. This Catholic focus of the
St. Luke School community can also be
seen in its numerous charitable endeavours
including helping food and clothing shelters,
supporting Christmas baskets, Lenten
projects and support of the Canadian
Hunger Foundation, among others. There
are school-wide and classroom liturgies and
the celebration of the sacraments of First
Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation
all take place at the grade 2 level each year.
St. Luke School has received the
school board’s Environmental Award
regularly and is a gold and platinum award
recipient for physical education.
ST.
LUKE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(NEPEAN)
guide the entire school population to Mother
Teresa High School where they were housed
for the day. This truly was the day that
St. Luke Catholic School was “skunked.”
One of the traditions that was
created at the school is the St. Luke TV
Show. The program was initiated by Teacher
Julian Hall and continued by Teacher Don
Burke. Held on Friday afternoons, this show,
produced by students, involved interviewing
staff, writing up interviews and filming.
Students gathered in the gymnasium every
Friday to view the week’s production. The
program ran from 1998 to 2000.
The school council at St. Luke has
been the source of numerous special events,
including barbecues, school dances,
Christmas fairs and book fairs.
60 Mountshannon Drive
Nepean K2J 4B8
613-825-2520
www.occdsb.on.ca/luk
At the school’s grand opening
ceremony, the St. Luke community came
together to make the event truly memorable.
Many of the guests and visitors chose
kindergarten-made corsages over
commercial ones, showing in this small
gesture, how St. Luke has its focus on its
students, their achievements and successes.
One event in 2005, which provided
a unique experience to the students and
staff, was the evacuation of the school on a
day in early March when a family of eight
skunks decided to move into the school. This
caused considerable turmoil but, with the
assistance of police, the staff managed to
219
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Ben Vallati
Past Principals
Yvonne Benton
Sam Coletti
Lyle Bergeron
Roberto Santos
Yvonne Benton, Principal
Don Burke
Bonnie McLaurin
Santina Palumbo
Claire Paquin
Maureen Speer
Lynne Bedard
Marie Tanguay
Lianne Doherty
Joanne Blake
Janice Estey
Joyce Brule
Carole Polnicky
Natalie Arellano
Joyce Brulé, Secretary
Richard Francis, Custodian
George LaFramboise, Custodian
Former Students
James Valitchka, a former
St. Luke student who now lives in the
Toronto area, was the guest speaker at the
elementary schools’ Peace Conference at the
Nepean Sportsplex in May 2006. An antibullying activist, the 11-year-old has written
six books including I’m Not Brown I’m
Human, which celebrates differences and
talks of eliminating hurtful discrimination,
and Superheroes Don’t Have Dads about
building self-esteem, the evils of bullying
and the trials of single parenting. The books
have been translated into French and
Spanish and have enjoyed widespread
readership. He has done a national book
tour and makes regular guest appearances
in schools.
220
School Colours
The school colours are hunter
green, cream and silver.
Logo
Jennifer Wood, a grade 5 student,
designed the school logo in 1994. Her
submission was selected as the winning
design by a panel of teachers and student
teachers. Jennifer drew a cross with the
school name and four symbols: a medical
symbol signifying health of the body, a scroll
representing health of mind, a dove for
peace and a maple leaf for Canadian culture.
The logo is meant to show that the school
builds a healthy mind and a healthy body.
S
t. Luke Catholic School opened in
1963 at a site on Furby Avenue, and
was originally known as Hawthorne
Meadows School. It was renamed in 1965.
It later moved to its current address on
Dwight Crescent, where it shared a threestorey facility with Ecole St-Luc. An
addition was built in 1998 as school
enrolment grew due to the closing of
Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School
in 1999. In 2002, Ecole St-Luc was closed
and its students moved to Ste. Genevieve
School next to Resurrection of the Lord
Church on Saunderson Drive. The McHugh
School now occupies the space in the
building, which was previously used by
Ecole St-Luc.
St. Luke School has become a
community of students, staff and parents
working together for academic excellence,
social justice and equity for all, in the
spirit of the teachings of Jesus. Within a
vibrant learning environment, the school
demonstrates exemplary practices in the
areas of physical fitness, energy
conservation and waste reduction. A “Fit
Kids” exercise and games program operates
every day before and after school. A number
of parent and community volunteers help
the staff in supporting early literacy and
numeracy initiatives, especially by working
one-on-one with students.
But the St. Luke School
community is about more than just
academics and learning. It is also about
living the Gospel values by helping and
caring for others. A breakfast program
supported by the Ottawa Centre for
Research and Innovation provides a
nutritious meal for students who may
require such assistance. The St. Luke school
council provides financial support through
a variety of fundraising activities, helping
to cover the cost of student bus trips, audiovisual equipment and special classroom
supplies, among other things. The school
ST.
LUKE
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(OTTAWA)
Present Principal
Glenn Kennedy
Past Principals
James Coulter
Brian Bourbeau
Douglas Goodwin
Philip Kelly
James MacPherson
Gilles Doth
Emilio D’Errico
Richard Schmaltz
Yvonne Harper
Francesco Lipari
Johanne Clouthier
Marcel Lafleur
Francis Kenny
James Coulter
Audrey Misericordia
Monique Foubert
Angela MacDonald
Anne Marie MacKinnon
Grace McDermott
Monica Paynter
Carolyn Racicot
Eva Konopacki
Lorraine Beauchamp
Mike Erdelyi, Custodian
2485 Dwight Crescent
Ottawa K1G 1C7
613-731-3541
www.occdsb.on.ca/slu
council members also coordinate hot lunch
and milk programs.
The parish of Resurrection of the
Lord, within whose boundaries the school is
located, also plays a key role in the life at
St. Luke Catholic School. There are Masses
and liturgical celebrations held over the
course of the school year. These are
augmented by regular visits by one of the
priests of the parish as well as by a member
of the parish team.
221
School Colours
Green and gold
Logo
The school logo is a cross with
the words “Saint Luke” across the top and
“Catholic School” across the bottom. In the
centre of the cross are the three words
“Caring, Sharing, Preparing.”
Mascot
The St. Luke school mascot is a
Lion named “Maximus.”
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Team Names
The school teams are called the
St. Luke Lions.
Staff Note
Terry McGuinty, wife of Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty, taught at the
school.
222
“W
ST. MARGUERITE
D’YOUVILLE
e Share, We Care, We Dare.”
This is the motto of St.
Marguerite d’Youville Catholic
School characterizing the school’s approach
to an education that integrates the teachings
of Jesus Christ into its day-to-day
curriculum and life.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
The school, located in Hunt Club
Park off Conroy Road and Hunt Club Road,
began in September 1990, although the first
month for its 512 students was spent in
temporary quarters at St. Leo and
St. Marguerite Bourgeois Catholic Schools.
The official opening of the school was held
on November 15, 1990, less than a month
before the canonization of St. Marguerite
d’Youville, the first Canadian-born saint and
foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters
of Charity of Montreal, more commonly
referred to as the Grey Sisters. A six-room
addition was built on to the school in 1991.
The school’s unique architectural
design provides an environment that allows
students the opportunity to work as separate
classes within a pod while still maintaining
a sense of community. These pods are
currently delineated according to age groups.
This permits the students to interact more
readily with age-appropriate peers. In
addition, the students and teachers have
the opportunity to come together as a
school community in the multi-purpose
gymnasium, which, besides being a venue
for sporting events, is also used for school
assemblies and for dramatic productions.
In the tradition of its patron saint,
St. Marguerite d’Youville offers itself as a
community hub. A very active child care
program is located at the facility and many
after-school programs have been established.
A variety of community groups make use of
the school, with activity taking place most
evenings. On the weekends, the school is the
host of a hugely successful international
language school in which the Chinese
John McGrath
Past Principals
Lucille Pummer
Bernard Swords
Theresa Pugliese
Sam Coletti
89 Lorry Greenberg Drive
Ottawa K1T 3J6
613-737-1141
www.occdsb.on.ca/smy
community offers, in conjunction with the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board,
many elementary levels of language
instruction for those interested in
maintaining an ancestral language, as well
as for those who simply wish the experience
of learning another language.
The sharing, caring and daring
referred to in the school motto are reflected
in many of the activities undertaken at
St. Marguerite d’Youville Catholic School,
such as annual food drives, Lenten projects
and various charity fundraisers such as
tsunami relief and the Terry Fox Run.
223
Lucille Pummer, Principal
Hazel Lambert, Vice-Principal
(half-time) and Grade 2
Carolyn Deschamps, Resource
Brigitte Guay, Non-Contract
Lorraine Leblanc, Non-Contract
Mary Nash, Librarian and
Non-Contract
Leslie McCarthy, Teacher Assistant
Ole Bisch, Student Teacher
Lucien Bolduc
Patricia Brown
Rosemary Burgess
Margot (Lapointe) Canough
Andre Carrigan
Agathe D’Errico
Anna Dorner
Alain Dumontier
Dorothy Hauck-Ozimkowski
Louise Joncas
Diane Kurs
Sister Constance Lacroix
Florence Lamrock
Marcia Lynch
Gina McAlear
Frances McGilchrist
Luce Paquette
Lucy Reynolds
Patricia (Hines) Rhodes
Sylvia Rodrigues
Mary Vermette-Apostle
Carol Villeneuve (half-time)
Louis Beaulne, Custodian
Cicely Berry, Secretary
Marilyn Turner, Secretary
(half-time)
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Virginie Werlen-Ball, Teacher
Sanna Abu-Dawood, Lunch Room
Monitor
Carol Araujo, Lunch Room Monitor
Sonja Hutchins, Lunch Room
Monitor
Murielle Lacroix, Lunch Room
Monitor
Najwa Taweel, Lunch Room
Monitor
Joe Goulay, Custodian
Louis Beaulne, Custodian
Staff Recognition
Alain Dumontier received the
Prime Minister’s Award for involvement and
innovation with technology.
Anna Dorner, grade one English
teacher, won the Tip of the Hat Award from
the Council for Exceptional Children, Rideau
Chapter, in 1997 for providing exemplary
contributions and commitment to students
with exceptionalities; she was recognized
as part of the writing team for the National
Religious Education program, Born of the
Spirit Catechetical Program, We Belong to
God. Her students' artwork was used in
both the grade one and grade two program,
namely, We Belong to God and We Belong to
the Lord Jesus; and she was also recognized
as a special contributor to the Novalis
Sacramental Preparation Resource for
Parishes, Come Join Us at the Table.
Cicely Berry, School Secretary, won
the Director of Education Commendation
Award.
Logo
The school logo features a
rendering of St. Marguerite d’Youville with
the name of the school and the school motto.
Motto
“We Share, We Care, We Dare”
Significant Events
As stated earlier, St. Marguerite
d’Youville School was constructed with a
new design fostering active, collaborative
learning. With this type of education in
mind, the school community embraced many
new initiatives with great fervor and
sustained energy, which enriched the lives
of the students and teachers.
Teacher – Professional Development:
St. Marguerite d’Youville School, in its first
year, joined ten other elementary schools
that were participating in the project From
Vision to Reality: Teacher Education for the
Nineties and Beyond: the CooperativeLearning Schools Project. This project,
coordinated by the ORCCSB and involving
selected schools in five outlying boards, was
part of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s
School Based Projects to Promote Excellence
in Learning Skills in Ontario Elementary
Schools. With this initiative the school had
two division heads (one primary/French and
the other junior/English and then viceversa). These individuals worked with staff
using a coaching process and a professional
development program offered by the project,
to implement the new common curriculum
and cooperative learning during the period
from 1990 to 1995.
SchoolNet Project: St. Marguerite d’Youville
School was one of two schools in the Ottawa
area, and part of the initial group of
300 schools in Canada, chosen by Industry
Canada (then known as Industry and
Science Canada) to participate in the
SchoolNet Project: Plugging Kids into
the World. This was a cooperative federal/
provincial/territorial initiative announced
by the Prime Minister in August 1993. It
enhanced educational opportunities and
provided electronic connectivity across
Canada and made national and
international resources available to the
teachers and students. Further resources
were provided by Carleton University such
224
as access to FreeNet, in servicing of staff in
networking and available resources and
programs. The Faculty of Education at the
University of Ottawa also provided support.
The students participated in local and global
initiatives in the area of language/writing,
science/technology/mathematics and the
social sciences. Not only their academic and
networking skills were enhanced, but also
their social and communication skills.
Computers for Education: Thanks to Industry
Canada’s Computers for Education program
in the early 1990s and Bell Canada, the
school was able to enhance their computer
laboratory and provide a cluster of five
computers in each of five junior division
classrooms and a cluster of three computers
in each of the grade three classrooms. This
provided more possibilities to enhance the
integration of Design and Technology across
the curriculum, an initiative then being
promoted for the first time by the Ministry
of Education. In addition to this, the school
set up a special design and technology
classroom with all the resources (funded
in part by the school, the Vision to Reality
Project and the School Parent Council) to
support the teachers’ work in integrating
language development, science, mathematics
and art.
Integration: In the first year of existence,
St. Marguerite d’Youville School determined
that they should offer a more systematic
approach to integrating children from the
full range of exceptionalities as it was a
large school with a very diverse population.
The school developed and implemented an
Integration Plan, which was based on an
adapted version of the Cascade Model that
best met students’ needs. Collaborative
planning involving parents, teachers,
administrators, teacher assistants, care staff,
secretary, lunch monitors, Board resource
personnel, the parish priest, and the school
police constable, was one of the cornerstones
of the model. Besides the in-class
SCHOOLS HISTORIES
programming which was offered, intensive
small group programming was provided with
special programming including the use of the
Circle of Friends program, special noon-hour
activities and ongoing in-service for the
teachers and teacher assistants. In 1995
St. Marguerite d’Youville School was given
special recognition by the Ministry of
Education and received the Exemplary
Practice in Integration Award.
Conflict Resolution Program: Early on the
school introduced a very successful “WinWin” initiative, i.e. a conflict resolution
program, which was supported and funded
by the school board, parent council, a local
business – Southgate Loeb — and the staff.
It consisted of staff development with the
assistance of specialists from various
Canadian Conflict Resolution Institutes,
special in-class programs and student
conflict resolution mediators on the
playground, the latter being trained each
year. School rallies and the school board’s
“Peace Conference” recognized the work of
the children.
Global Education: For several years a Global
Education program was offered. Part of the
initiative involved the Literacy Skills
program run by the Canadian Organization
for Development and Education (CODE),
which twinned us with a school in Malawi.
As part of the project the school donated
Literacy Kits consisting of items the
students purchased from fundraising, and
which they packaged before being shipped
by CODE to Malawi.
Enrichment Program: A Junior Division
Enrichment Program was developed by
several staff members of the school to
further enhance literacy skills. Students had
creative writing and publication workshops
resulting in the production of student novels
that were read at the “Authors Tea” for
parents, grandparents and siblings, and
then placed in the school library. The project
also involved the grade four story-writing
exchange with a school in Nova Scotia.
Theatre Workshops: Theatre workshops
for the Junior Division were offered and
resulted in the amazing and professional
production and performance of the Wizard
of OZ. The backdrops, chorography,
costumes, lighting and arrangement of
music selections were prepared by the staff
and parent volunteers.
Adult Education: For several years
St. Marguerite d’Youville School offered a
series of Adult Education Programs for
parents in the community with an emphasis
on child and parent self-esteem, positive
behaviour, problem solving, conflict
resolution programs, and communication
skills.
Significant Staff, Students & Other
Successes (Academic, Arts and/or
Sports)
In 1993, together with two other
schools, St. Marguerite d’Youville raised
funds to build an entire playground for
children in Barreo Recreo in Managua,
Nicaragua; as well, some staff members
funded, for a year, a kindergarten teacher’s
salary for the same community in Managua.
A play structure volunteer building
group for St. Marguerite d’Youville School,
organized by a kindergarten teacher, raised
funds from the school council, school board
and City of Ottawa and erected a
kindergarten play structure in a weekend
which was later improved again with the
assistance of parent volunteers and a
donation from Wood Gundy Inc.
225
The students of grade five were
involved in a Senior Citizens’ Buddy
Program with the seniors at St. Patrick’s
Residence consisting of monthly visits at the
senior home and shared celebrations, such
as Thanksgiving Dinner and a Spring Tea at
the school.
The entire school had a ReadingBuddy Program involving junior division
students reading to kindergarten and
primary students twice a month.
The grade six students
participated in the Skills Canada Marsville
program, which integrated their skills in
science, mathematics and technology and
provided the opportunity for teamwork and
interaction with other elementary schools
and scientists from the Canadian Space
Centre.
The school had many active clubs
— Student Council, Ukulele Club, Primary
and Junior Choirs, Drama Club, Library
Club, Writers’ Club, Ski Club, Computer and
Photography Club, Environmental Club,
Safety Patrol Club, as well as an Intramural
Sports program.
For some years the Junior Choir
competed in the Ottawa Kiwanis Music
Festival.
The school had a very active
Parent Volunteer group from the day it
opened, in fact for several weeks before it
opened. Not only did they help in the
kindergarten classes and the first days of
school by assisting teachers and bus drivers,
but they also assisted with outdoor activities
such as skating, skiing, snowshoe events,
Winterlude, school trips, fundraisers and
outdoor education programs, pizza days and
musical performances.
226
SCHOOL HISTORIES
S
t. Mark Catholic High School
outside Manotick has grown in a
quarter-of-a-century from a small
rural junior high school to a vibrant,
energetic, bursting high school, one of the
largest in the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board. Through all of this growth and
change, St. Mark has developed and built on
the traditions of the community, of caring, of
athletic prowess and of academic excellence
that have made it a beacon not only of
education, but of community life itself in the
rural southern area of what is now the City
of Ottawa.
Past Principal Ron O’Toole, writing
in the school’s 25th anniversary reunion
booklet in May 2005, summed it up best
when he wrote, “The school has certainly
changed and has grown. From a junior high
school in the first few years, it has become
one of the largest Catholic high schools in
the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board.
One of the many features of the St. Mark
community that has made the school so
successful is the tremendous school spirit
that defines St. Mark. You can always feel
the positive energy that seems to permeate
the corridors of St. Mark. St. Mark has
served as a meeting place for rural South
Ottawa — a place where people meet and
a place where we become good friends.”
The school opened in September
1980. It had been referred to during
construction as the South Gloucester Senior
Elementary School, and became known as
Southern Catholic Junior High when it first
opened with 250 grades 7 and 8 students
coming from the feeder schools of
St. Bernard, St. Catherine, St. Leonard,
St. Mary and St. Philip. A grade 9 program
was added in September 1981, increasing
the school’s enrolment to about 450 students.
Grade 10 was included in 1982. The original
building, built for the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board by Paul Daoust
Construction, cost $1,913,610.11. The firm
ST.
MARK
the renovation. A beautician laboratory and
a new chaplain’s office were both created in
1988, while an elevator was installed in 1989.
Continued population growth
in the school resulted in another major
construction project in 1993. This $6,391,000
endeavour, executed by Nicolini
Construction, involved both an addition
and alterations.
The growth and changes at
St. Mark did not stop there. In 1997, the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board
installed a 12-classroom portable complex at
the school to meet the continuing enrolment
growth. In 2005, the school had 33 portable
classrooms to accommodate its student
enrolment of 1,746 students, a far cry from
the 250 who were registered in 1980. The
20 teachers and support staff of 1980 had
increased to more than 100.
1040 Dozois Road
Manotick K4M 1B2
613-692-2551
www.occdsb.on.ca/mrh
of Craig, Kohler, Dickey was the architect
for the project.
The coming of full funding for
Catholic education in the Province of
Ontario in 1984 meant that St. Mark, which
the school was then called, would add Grade
11 in 1985, Grade 12 in 1986, and a Grade
13 in 1987. This greatly increased the
student enrolment at the school, a growth
that was met by two expansion projects.
A 12-classroom addition was built in 1985,
with Nicolini Construction Ltd. carrying
out the work. This was followed by a major
project involving an addition and alterations
in 1987. This time, MCY Construction did
227
In 2006, the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board began a two-stage
project that will see St. Mark receive major
upgrades and improvements to its facilities.
A renovation-conversion program for specific
areas of the school was carried out in the
summer of 2006. This included provision of
a new weight room and high-needs
classroom, expansion of the dependently
handicapped classroom, a new resource
classroom and teachers’ work room, along
with improvements to the senior science
labs, plumbing, heat control in computer
rooms and teachers’ rooms, handicapped
access, electrical supply, the cafeteria floor,
and new exterior doors. Cost of this work
was in the neighbourhood of $300,000. Still
to come is the construction of a major twostorey addition at an estimated cost of
$2,200,000, to be ready for September 2007.
This addition, along with the opening of a
new high school in the Riverside South area
planned for September 2008, which will
become the new high school home for
St. Bernard School graduates, should result
SCHOOL HISTORIES
in the elimination of the free-standing
portables currently in use at the school.
Enrolment and infrastructure
growth over the years at St. Mark, while
impressive, tell only a small part of the story
of St. Mark Catholic High School. Over these
same years, the school community has
developed a spirit that is best manifested in
a number of ongoing traditions: the end-ofyear outdoor Masses, the annual trips to
the Dominican Republic, the annual canned
food drives and the successful school teams
and athletes. For the past decade, senior
students at St. Mark High School have
traveled to the Dominican Republic for a
week, where they experience first-hand the
culture and way of life in a Third World
country. While the trip lasts only seven days,
its effects endure for a lifetime in the hearts
of those involved, as it usually proves to be
a life-changing experience.
Since 1988, St. Mark Catholic
High School has held an annual canned food
drive. Over a period of 17 years, more than
688,000 cans have been collected to help the
less fortunate and the needy in the greater
Ottawa community. The St. Mark canned
food drive has become one of the most
successful such events anywhere, annually
reaching over 50,000 cans in the past few
years.
Present Principal
Joseph Veryard
Past Principals
Peter Linegar
Starr Kelly
Julian Hanlon
Don Doyle
Ron O’Toole
Rosanne Mullins
Betty Craig
Margaret Ironstone
Eileen Sametz
Marilyn Kelly
Val Cassaratto
Linda Bekkars
Ben Vlutebeld
Dave MacDonald
Denis O’Brien
Wendy Reynolds
Marg Sampson
Bernadette Ryan
Sam Colletti
Ken Souliere
Peter Linegar
Doug Charland
228
Former Students
Evan MacDonald, wrestler for
Canada in the 2004 Summer Olympic
Games in Athens
Heather Purnell, Olympic gymnast
in 2004, Canadian national champion in
vaults and recipient of a full scholarship to
Stanford University
Elisa Kurylowicz, a member of
the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team for four
seasons, retiring in 2006. She won a gold
medal in dual moguls in a World Cup
competition in British Columbia in 2004.
Motto
“Respect and Responsibility”
School Mascot
St. Mark Lion
Team Names
Lions
S
ST. MARTIN DE
PORRES
t. Martin de Porres Catholic School
in the Glen Cairn area of Kanata
opened in September 1975, sitting
alone in a field, accessible only by a street
extension past the adjacent Glen Cairn
arena (now the Jack Charron Arena). The
school, built with a capacity of 420 students,
sat on a seven-acre site fronting on the
future McKitrick Drive. At the time of its
construction it was considered to be a
modern and well-designed school with many
unique features, making it one of the most
advanced schools in the province. For
instance, there was an entrance to the
gymnasium directly from the outside,
meaning that the gym could be used by the
community and others while the rest of the
building remained secure. The school had
seven entrances and exits, ensuring rapid
access and egress for both recess and in
emergencies. Each group of classrooms had
its own set of washrooms. The gym was
designed with exceptionally large equipment
storage areas and there was also a special
storage area included in the kindergarten
area. This proved particularly beneficial for
the storing of the large playthings used by
kindergarten students. They also had direct
access to a special fenced-off play area at the
front of the building. The classrooms were
designed with separate areas for cloakrooms
while the primary class section was built in
an open-area format, with two walls jutting
out 12 feet. These walls cut down the noise
in the open area and effectively made it into
three separate classrooms, while still
theoretically maintaining an open design.
The school actually had its
beginnings in September 1972 as a couple of
portables housing primary grades only, and
called “Glen Cairn Catholic School,” located
on land that is now a playing field at the
nearby A.Y. Jackson Secondary School.
While the primary grades attended the
portable complex, the junior students shared
space at Georges Vanier Catholic School in
the Beaverbrook area of Kanata. In June
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
at that time, part of the St. Martin de Porres
Catholic Parish with its church in Bells
Corners. St. Martin de Porres was a 16th and
17th century lay helper and then Brother of
the Dominican Order of Preachers with a
special devotion to the plight of the poor and
to orphans. He lived in Peru from 1579 to
1639. He was canonized by Pope John XXIII
in 1962 and is the patron saint for social and
inter-racial justice.
By June 1976, the school’s
enrolment had grown to 370 students,
taught by a staff of 17, with a further
increase in students expected in the fall.
20 McKitrick Drive
Kanata K2L 1T7
613-836-4754
www.occdsb.on.ca/mrt
1974, the school’s enrolment was
82 students. In September 1974, Brian
Bourbeau became the school’s first resident
principal as the school expanded to nine
portables linked together.
In September 1975, the “real”
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School opened
for students in Junior Kindergarten to
Grade 8. The children came from the
surrounding Glen Cairn subdivision as well
as from the Stittsville and Fallowfield areas.
The school was formally named
“St. Martin de Porres Catholic School” in
early 1976 because the Glen Cairn area was,
229
The presence of St. Martin de
Porres School in the community was a key
ingredient in the formation of Holy
Redeemer Catholic Parish, which would
serve the South Kanata area as well as
Stittsville in its early years. A regular five
o’clock Saturday evening Mass was held at
St. Martin de Porres School starting in 1977,
celebrated by priests from St. Martin de
Porres Parish in Bells Corners. In the fall of
1980, a mission of St. Martin de Porres
Parish was established at the school, with
regular Saturday evening and Sunday
morning Masses held in the gymnasium. On
June 25, 1981, the Ottawa Archdiocese, with
Masses still being celebrated in the school
gymnasium, established a new parish, Holy
Redeemer. The parish grew from these
beginnings, with the cornerstone for the new
church being blessed by Pope John Paul II
during his visit to Ottawa in September
1984.
The gymnasium at St. Martin de
Porres School, the site of so many Masses in
those years, was often referred to as the
“basketball church” because of the hoops in
the gymnasium. Student artwork decorated
the walls for such gatherings. These
gymnasium Masses ceased with the opening
of Holy Redeemer Church in December 1985.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Besides being the original home of
Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish, St. Martin
de Porres School was also the mother of two
new schools, Holy Redeemer Catholic School
in the Hazeldean North/Katimavik area of
Kanata which opened in January 1988, and
Holy Spirit Catholic School in Stittsville,
which commenced operations in September
1988, sharing space at St. Martin before
moving into its new building in Stittsville
in May 1989.
St. Martin de Porres now serves
a stable population base in the mature Glen
Cairn subdivision of Kanata, with enrolment
hovering at around the 400 mark. The school
has two kindergartens, seven primary and
six junior classrooms, as well as a special
education classroom, a computer lab, a
library and a gymnasium.
A parent-teacher association was
formed at the school in 1975. In 1976 it was
instrumental in launching a Block Parent
program in the Glen Cairn subdivision.
St. Martin de Porres, which had
its official opening on June 6, 1976, has been
the home school to 12 teachers, student
teachers and vice-principals who went on
to become Board principals: Helen Anderson,
Robert Benning, Lyle Bergeron, Theresa
Swanson, Sherry Swales, Gloria Sterling,
Anna Yates, Paul Wubben, Sonja Karsh,
Eileen Moriarty, Mary-Anne Cowan and
Jane Hill. The first principal of the school,
Brian Bourbeau, went on to become an
Acting Director of Education with the
Windsor-Essex Catholic District School
Board. Former Vice-Principal Paul Wubben
is now a Superintendent with the St. Clair
Catholic District School Board.
The year 1994 was significant for
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School because
it marked the beginning of the “Friends of
the Awesome Outdoors,” a committed group
of parents, students and teachers who
helped develop and maintain the gardens,
trees and bird feeders on the school grounds.
The school has been an annual recipient of
the school board’s Environmental Award
and, in 2004, was recognized when it
received the prestigious platinum-level
award for quality daily physical education.
Every November for the past
decade, St. Martin de Porres Catholic School
has held a craft fair, which has become a
community favourite.
Present Principal
Lynne Charette (2005-present)
Past Principals
Brian Bourbeau
Audrey Bayles (from the Ministry
of Education, who did a one-year
exchange with Brian Bourbeau)
Andy Groulx
Greg Peddie
Mae Rooney
Brent Wilson
Mary-Pat Kelly
William Tomka
Jane Hill
Brian Bourbeau, Principal
Helen Sheehan
Sandra Boyer
Grace Anderson
Lynn Forget
Helen Anderson
Nancyjane Cawley
Kit Fraser
Elizabeth Mahan
John Demormeaux
Sheila Quinlan
Patricia O’Connor
Anna Schilebeeck
Colleen Laliberté, Secretary
Valentino Gervassi, Custodian
230
Former Students
Sean O’Connell, National Hockey
League player
Pat Woodcock, Canadian Football
League player
Father Paul Shepherd, current
Pastor of Holy Redeemer Catholic Parish
Logo
School Principal Mae Rooney and
Teacher Sherry Swales helped develop the
first school logo.
Principal Jane Hill and parent
Susan Skinner assisted in updating the logo
in 2004.
Mascot
Principal Jane Hill introduced
“Marty” as the school mascot. Marty is a
condor from South America who promotes
school spirit with the Marty Awards, given
monthly to students who demonstrate
positive social skills.
Song
Principal Jane Hill invited
musician Julie Krick to work with students
to develop the school song in 2004.
Teaching at St. Martin de Porres
Catholic School
Ann Heide is a former teacher and
Program Department Consultant with the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board, and
then with the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board. She taught at St. Martin de
Porres Catholic School in Kanata in the late
1970s and provided this story about openconcept teaching at the school at that time.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Brian Bourbeau had a gift for
gathering energetic and creative young
teachers, undoubtedly one of the reasons he
finished his long career in education as a
superintendent for the Essex County Roman
In 1976, upon my returning to the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board after
two years as a consultant in the Northwest
Territories, Brian managed to get me a
teaching position at St. Martin de Porres
where he was principal. I was so very
privileged to join the ranks of talented
teachers like Ruth Dempsey, Sherry Swales,
Helen Anderson, Gloria Sterling, Bob
Benning, Theresa Swanson, Louise Turcotte,
Loretta Enright, Phyllis O’Neill and Helen
Sheehan. I learned many valuable lessons
from them over the years.
The “primary pod” in St. Martin
was Brian’s pride and joy. The three
“classrooms” were separated only in their
front corners, where we would gather our
group for lessons, stories and discussions.
“Open concept” was floundering in many
places but Brian was determined
to make it work, starting by joining only two
of the three areas (the third was “walled off”
with bookcases), and staffing it with
teachers whose styles were well suited to
one another.
He paired me with Sheila
Livingstone to team-teach Grade 1. That
Sheila and I became best friends and still
remain so after 30-plus years is proof of his
good judgment. We had such fun working
together and still treasure our time with one
another! Our enthusiasm carried over to our
students, making our pod a happy beehive of
activity. It was rarely a quiet place but lots
of learning was going on all the time. We
were each ultimately responsible for our own
30 or so students but they were crossgrouped for reading and math. We took
turns teaching whole-group lessons in
science, social studies and health, but kept
our own “class” for family life, stories, showand-tell and the beginning and end of each
day. Sheila was happy to take half the
students off to the gym or outdoors while
I used the whole open space for mucking
around with art or drama, so that worked
out perfectly. We worked thematically and
did all our planning together, each Thursday
evening meeting at one or the other of our
homes. We used a combination of learning
centres and teacher-directed activities and
were always cognizant of balancing wholegroup, small-group and individual pursuits.
Parent interviews were a bit more grueling
than usual as we both wanted to meet all
the parents of our collective 60 or so
students.
At the end of our second year,
Brian invited us to keep our students and
take them on into Grade 2. That was a
memorable time as we had wonderful
supportive parents and a terrific group of
students who were all adjusted to the
routines of the pod. One year just flowed on
into the next and we became more and more
of a team. Sheila and I often talk of those
particular students and have happily
encountered many of them or their parents
over the years. I recall that one of my yearly
aims and objectives was to greet and leave
my students with a smile each day. It was
easy that year!
Brian bought us a “log house”
which served as a getaway place where our
little ones could curl up with a book or lie
on the floor to work in peace. I often wonder
what became of it.
Visitors would traipse in and out
to observe the open area in action. I vividly
recall the day a newly-hired school board
superintendent named John McGuinness
came to meet us. We were just beginning
a new unit about aboriginal peoples. Our
students and we were sitting cross-legged on
231
the floor in two very long rows with a sheet
of butcher paper in between. Each student
was painting the face of the student across
the paper. As a little girl reached the
paintbrush toward my cheek, I looked up
and there was Mr. McGuinness. “Would you
like your face painted?” I asked him. Luckily,
he laughed.
For Sheila and me, the 1970s at
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School was
a time of pure delight in teaching and
learning. Open concept provided the
challenge but also the flexibility to maximize
each day.
A
Catholic elementary school has
existed at the corner of Bank
Street (Old Highway 31) and Mitch
Owens Drive in South Gloucester near
Greely for over 115 years. But the story of
Catholic education in South Gloucester goes
back farther than that, as the first school
built there, near the site of the present
St. Mary Catholic School, was in existence
at least in the 1850s. Indeed, this common
school, as distinguished from a specific
separate school, had about 40 pupils in 1857.
It was not unusual for such a school, serving
an adjacent Catholic population, to operate
as a common school since virtually everyone
was Catholic. There was no need to form a
separate school board.
In 1890, this original log school
building housing St. Mary and its property,
were sold for $50. The school trustees at the
time were Virgil McKenna, Chairman, Peter
Stackpole, Treasurer, and Patrick Fagan,
Trustee. The building was sold because the
separate school board had purchased a halfacre of land at the corner (the current school
site). There, a new one-room schoolhouse
was built and opened in September 1889.
This schoolhouse was used until 1950 when
more property was purchased and a new
two-room brick schoolhouse was built. Once
again, the old school building was sold and
removed from the site.
The newly built two-room brick
school opened its doors in 1950. The school
board at that time consisted of Mike Millar,
Chairman, James Downey, Secretary,
Nicholas Tierney, Treasurer, and Joseph
Leahy. A number of additions were made to
St. Mary over the years between 1950 and
the formation of the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board in 1969. In 1958,
there was a one-room addition added. This
was followed by the construction of two
additional classrooms and a gymnasium in
1963, and then a further addition of six
classrooms in 1966. In 1968, the school saw
ST.
MARY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(GLOUCESTER)
200 students. St. Mary School came under
the jurisdiction of the newly amalgamated
1998.
In 2003, following presentations by
the St. Mary School Council to the Board of
Trustees and a resulting assessment of the
school facility by the Board’s planning and
facilities staff, St. Mary received another
addition. This time, the $1,079,800
enhancement consisted of five classrooms, a
computer room and a library. The addition
was opened in September 2003. An official
dedication and blessing took place on
November 5, 2003, with Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board Director of Education
James McCracken, whose children had
attended St. Mary at one time, in
attendance.
In 2005, St. Mary had an
enrolment of approximately 400 students
and 32 staff members.
5536 Bank Street
Gloucester K1X 1G9
613-822-2985
www.occdsb.on.ca/mry
the addition of two more classrooms, a new
gymnasium and an administration area.
Some of the trustees who served
St. Mary in this 1950-69 period included
Michael Quinn Jr., Pat Ryan, Bert Bekkers,
Robert Thompson, Bryan Cassidy, Stella
Owens and Ted Jennings.
The next major change at St. Mary
School happened in September 1980, when
it became a kindergarten to grade 6 school,
as its grades 7 and 8 students were to be
part of the new Southern Area Junior High
School (later St. Mark) in Manotick. This
left the enrolment at St. Mary at about
233
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Paul Lahey (2006-present)
Past Principals
Kent McSwaine
Peter Johnson
Ralph Watzenboeck
Richard McGrath
James MacPherson
Bert O’Connor
Monique Michaud
Lloyd Ambler
Marilyn Gorman
Judi Sarginson
Linda Bevan
(in 1950)
Mary McKenna
Peggy Dennis
Some of the Other Past Teachers
Michael Creghan (c. 1857)
Miss Cameron (c. 1866)
Frances Dugal
Barbara Kennedy
Margaret Kelly
Anne Rodier
Anne Kavanaugh
Peter Johnston
Richard McSewyn
Dorothy Christian
Sandra Shaw
Mary Kessels
R.G. Morris
Verna Moloughney
Anne Kennelly
Eleanor McEvoy
Principal and Teachers in 1981
Richard McGrath, Principal
Mrs. Beckstead
Mrs. Bruce
Mrs. Donaldson
Mrs. Laviolette
Mrs. Maley
Mr. McEvoy
Mr. Mailot
Mrs. O’Farrell
Mrs. Tisher
Mrs. Brown
Stella Owens, Secretary
234
Long-time Teacher
On December 23, 2005, Mrs. Diane
Spenard-Bruce, a very influential teacher at
St. Mary, retired. She worked at St. Mary for
32 years, having spent her whole teaching
career at the school. She helped shape the
future of many students with her passion for
teaching.
School Colours
Originally red and white; later,
blue was added.
Logo and Motto
In the 1980s, parents, students
and staff at St. Mary came up with the logo
and motto “St. Mary’s In Action.”
S
t. Mary Catholic School owes its
long existence to the important
place that Catholic education held
for the clergy and parishioners of St. Mary
Parish, one of the oldest parishes in Ottawa.
Officially titled Our Lady of Good Counsel
Parish, St. Mary was the first parish to be
carved out of St. Patrick Parish, which
extended from the Rideau Canal all the
way west to Britannia. An expanding city
brought about the creation of St. Mary
Parish in 1889, with the brick church on
Bayswater Avenue built and blessed in May
1891. Father T.J. Cole was the first pastor.
The original population of the
parish was primarily Irish in origin with
most being poor labourers. Despite their lack
of affluence, education was an important
issue for them. The minutes of the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School Board from
July 12, 1892, just a little over a year after
the blessing of the church, note that Rev.
Father Cole of St. Mary Parish requested
that a school be established in his parish.
It was agreed that $500 would be provided
to pay for a site, and on December 30, 1892,
Rev. Cole was permitted to establish
St. Mary School. However, this did not
happen, probably for financial reasons. In
1901, though, Father John Sloan deplored
the fact that many Catholic students were
attending a predominantly Francophone,
one-teacher school in Hintonburg. This led
to the opening of the first school in St. Mary
Parish, St. Malachy. Soon, a second school
was needed in the parish and, in 1909,
St. Mary Elementary School was erected at
the corner of Young Street and Breezehill
Avenue at a cost of $12,632. It opened as a
parish school, sharing its name, with both
boys and girls in attendance and the Grey
Sisters of the Cross in charge, in
collaboration with the parish.
The school prospered, so a fourroom addition was built in 1911, followed by
another in 1915 and eight more rooms in
ST.
MARY
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(OTTAWA)
175 Beech Street
Ottawa K1Y 3T1
613-729-1774
www.occdsb.on.ca/sma
1916. This growth of the school resulted in
the operation of St. Mary School annex on
Preston Street, which existed for several
years but was closed on June 30, 1918.
Father J.T. Brownrigg, who
became Pastor of St. Mary in 1923, was a
particularly zealous supporter of Catholic
schools. He lobbied the archbishop for school
improvements, part of his strong campaign
to persuade parishioners not to send their
children to the public schools, which were
often better equipped than their Catholic
counterparts.
235
In September 1931, two Grey
Sisters of the Cross as well as six lay
teachers taught at the school in a time of
growth and school change. It was not
possible at that time to accommodate all of
the girls in the main St. Mary building, so,
in September 1931, students in Grades 3, 5
and 7 were located at St. Gerard, an
adjacent French school. Grade 1 girls were
accommodated at St. Malachy School, while
other grades were housed in the St. Mary
building.
In 1935, the rotary system was
introduced into Grades 6, 7 and 8 at
St. Mary. The following year, the Ottawa
decided to retain grade 9 students in its
parish schools. Two grade 9 classes were
formed at St. Mary School to accommodate
students not only from St. Mary but also
from St. George, St. Agatha, and Dante
Schools. In June 1937, the first grade 9
graduation exercises were held. It was also
in 1937 that a household science room was
built at St. Mary to accommodate Grades 7
through 9.
In 1950, the Sisters of St. Joseph
arrived, and began teaching at the school,
just after tragedy struck St. Mary Parish
when the church was destroyed by fire in
January 1949. A new stone church was built
on Young Street and blessed in June 1951.
In 1955, St. Mary got a new
addition to help accommodate its student
enrolment. It was during this time that
St. Mary School and the adjacent French
St. Gerard School shared the same
schoolyard. A skating rink was built in the
yard for the students of both schools to
enjoy in the winter.
The life of St. Mary Catholic
School took a drastic turn in 1979 when the
school site was sold to a developer for a
housing project. However, St. Mary School
SCHOOL HISTORIES
did not close but rather began a new chapter
in its life. It moved a few blocks away to the
corner of Beech Street and Breezehill
Avenue in the former Notre Dame du Bon
Conseil School, which had been built in 1964
as a French senior elementary school. This
new school was a two-storey facility
complete with a gymnasium and a large
playground. The school community
supported the move. Parent volunteers,
led by Sylvia Armstrong, the chairperson
of the parents’ group, built reading lofts in
the kindergarten classrooms. Later, parents
raised funds and helped build a play
structure in the schoolyard. Soon
afterwards, the yard was provided with
a reading area marked by benches and
surrounded by trees and flowers.
Currently, St. Mary Catholic School
is a junior kindergarten to grade 6 school.
Over the years, numerous and
varied events and activities have taken place
at St. Mary, including a music festival,
school plays, winter camping, skating,
swimming, skiing, Christmas bazaars, food
drives, winter carnivals and family picnics,
among others. St. Mary Catholic School
remains very much a community school,
staying true to its parish roots. Parents,
staff, students and church all work together
in a family atmosphere, emphasizing
community and learning in a Catholic
environment.
1914
Miss A. Slattery
Sister St. Augustin
Present Principal
Paul Kelly (2006-present)
Past Principals
Sister Angela Guiry
Anthony Duggan
Georges Bouliane
Anthony Charbonneau
Brian Brash
Donald Lenaghan
Mary Somers
Marie Boyes
Carole Parent
Micheline Harvey
1915
Miss A. Slattery
Carrie L. Jordan
Sister St. Edith
1916
Sister St. Edith
Carrie L. Jordan
1920s
I. Murtagh
Secretarial Staff
Catherine Winters
Patricia Ogden
Betty Shields
Lucille Gagnon
Helen Mahoney
Diane Crete (current)
1909
Sister St. Malachy
1910
L.J. Skelly
Mrs. R.V. Robert
Miss A. Slattery
Miss T.E. Ryan
1911
Miss A. Slattery
Sister Marguerite
Sister Geraldine
K. Fortune, caretaker
1912
Charles Burke was the teacher at
the Preston Street annex
Sister Mary Alexis
Carrie L. Jordan
Miss A. Slattery
Miss T.E. Ryan
Sister Mary Gertrude
1913
Sister Mary Gertrude
Sister St. Austin
Carrie L. Jordan
236
First Kindergarten Teacher
In 1970, Mrs. J. St. Jacques was
the first teacher of Junior Kindergarten at
St. Mary School.
Former Student
His Excellency Most Reverend
John C. Cody, Co-Adjustor Bishop of the
London Diocese, received his elementary
education at St. Mary Catholic School.
School Colours
White and blue
Logo
The school logo is a stylized “M”
with a cross rising from it. Principal
Anthony Charbonneau designed this school
logo in 1982.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Mascot
Teacher Mrs. Susan Grainger and
her enrichment group of students in 2003
were responsible for choosing the school’s
mascot, a stuffed wolf. This mascot is taken
to all school sports games.
Flag
One year in the 1990s, all Catholic
students made their Confirmation together
at the Corel Centre in Kanata. For this
event, Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais
requested that each school attend with its
flag or banner. Grade 6 Teacher Theresa
Normoyle decided to hold a flag-designing
competition in her class. The class held a
vote to select the winning design, created
by Krista D’Angelo.
“From Vision to Reality” project
From the late 1980s into the early
1990s, St. Mary Catholic School was
involved in the “From Vision to Reality”
project in which some teachers from the
school became demonstration classroom
teachers. Throughout this project, these
teachers shared their experiences and
expertise and utilized peer coaching in
response to the need for teacher-centred
professional development.
237
Breakfast Program
Principal Carole Parent developed
partnerships with local businesses to provide
food donations for a breakfast program at
the school. She also created the school’s first
website.
W
hen St. Matthew Catholic High
School opened in 1981, it was
without a formal name. Not until
June 1982, was the school officially named
“St. Matthew” after the writer of one of the
four Gospels of the New Testament. Despite
this slow start, St. Matthew Catholic High
School is now known and highly regarded
far and wide.
Indeed, this renown even extends
to the Guinness Book of World Records as
well as across the country due to a national
achievement. On April 23, 2004,
St. Matthew Catholic High School made it
into the Guinness Book of World Records
with the world’s largest bear hug, an
endeavour led by school Principal André
Potvin and an achievement which resulted
in June 9, 2004 being officially declared
“St. Matthew High School Day” by Ottawa
Mayor Bob Chiarelli. The world’s largest
bear hug involved 5,117 students hugging
for ten seconds. This world record was tied
in with the school’s fundraising for cancer, as
students and staff, with the support of local
businesses and residents, raised more than
$108,000 in four days in April of that year,
surpassing the previous provincial record of
$40,000 and setting a Canadian record for
cancer fundraising by a high school.
St. Matthew High School has
become widely known not just because of
this headline-grabbing achievement, but
also by being a caring Christian educational
community known for both its academic
and athletic accomplishments. The whole
spectrum of academic achievements has
flowed from St. Matthew High School over
the years, ranging from computer science to
geography, public speaking, mathematics,
science and writing. The school has an
extensive cooperative education program
involving numerous business partners who
accept co-op students for field placements.
ST.
MATTHEW
SCHOOL HISTORIES
6550 Bilberry Drive
Orléans K1C 2S9
613-837-3161
www.occdsb.on.ca/mth
St. Matthew has mounted a long
list of annual drama productions, starting in
1986-87 with An Evening of One Act Plays.
Since then, productions have included
Grease (1989-90), Bye Bye Birdie (1993-94),
Little Shop of Horrors (1995-96), The Diary
of Anne Frank (1998-99), Godspell (2001-02)
and Les Miserables (2003-04). At the same
time, the school’s two gymnasiums proudly
display banners representing championships
won in numerous sports, and at various
levels, including the provincial level. The
sports programs extend not just to
interscholastic play but also to intramural
activities where St. Matthew has an active
and full program. The annual Bill Wren
239
Basketball Tournament, named after a
teacher who died of cancer, draws high
school teams from across the area. In the
summer of 2006, a new wooden gym floor
was installed at St. Matthew.
The school opened on September 1,
1981, with about 300 students. In its first
year of existence, it was affectionately
known by its first principal, Joseph Ryan, as
“the far eastern school.” It was built by the
firm Kearney and Coles with Edward Cuhaci
as the architect, on property on Bilberry
Drive in Orléans, straddling two sides of
Bilberry Creek. The school’s first yearbook
was entitled, perhaps appropriately,
EMANON which is “NO NAME” spelled
backwards. It did have a name but since it
was the wordy “Eastern Area Elementary
Junior High School,” it was, in a sense,
nameless. This all changed at the official
opening on June 16, 1982, when it was
formally named “St. Matthew Catholic High
School.”
The school underwent two
expansions over the years to accommodate
an ever-growing student population, which
peaked at close to 1,800 students. In 1985,
the first phase of a two-part expansion took
place, adding a number of classrooms. This
was followed by a second extension in 1987
that included more classrooms, specialty
areas such as an automotive shop, music
room, drama room and art room and a
second gymnasium/cafeteria. The
construction of St. Peter Catholic High
School in 1992 provided spaces for some
students previously at St. Matthew, relieving
some of the enrolment pressures at the
school.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
André Potvin (2001-present)
Past Principals
Joseph Ryan (1981-85)
Rev. Leonard Lunney (1985-86)
Bogdan Kolbusz (1987-91)
Jamie McCracken (1991-95)
Mars Bottiglia (1996-97)
Denise André (1997-2001)
Marie Anstis
Lou Antonucci
Lillian Bertrand
Helene Dubois
Aline Duchesne
Brian Filion
Cathy Flynn
Sharon Gravelle
Brian Harrison
Julian Hanlon
Joseph Kelly
Bogdan Kolbusz
Rollie Lapointe
Mary Lemoine
Katie McDevitt
Kathy McVean
Isobel Menard
Connie O’Connor Duff
Mary Ann Walsh
Charlotte Kozij, Secretary
Staff Achievements
Logo
Teacher Robin Messinger received
the Prime Minister of Canada’s Teaching
Award of Excellence in Science in 1995.
Mascot
Father Leonard Lunney, a former
principal of St. Matthew Catholic High
School, now a Monsignor, has worked
tirelessly with the Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops. He is currently the
Episcopal Secretary for the Archdiocese
of Ottawa.
Teacher John Bradley received the
Prime Minister of Canada’s Teaching Award
of Excellence in Mathematics in 1997.
Former Students
Andrew Holt was a bronze medal
winner at the Canadian Biology Olympiad
in Bejing, China in 2005.
Antonio Sanchez was 35th in the
Canadian Mathematics Olympiad in the
2001-02 school year.
Michael Curran is the editor of the
Ottawa Business Journal.
Gary Dimmock is a writer with the
Ottawa Citizen.
St. Matthew graduates who
became teachers at the school include
Jennifer Brisson, Cory Ell, Chris Fauteux,
Genevieve Lussier, Elisa Robson-Toreja,
Ian Taylor and Jason Wren.
School Colours
Black and gold (similar to the
colours of the Hamilton Tiger Cats of the
Canadian Football League).
240
The school logo is a cross inside
an oval, with four symbols, one in each
quadrant formed by the cross. The four
symbols are a quill representing writing,
a book representing reading, a flame
representing the spirit of sport and folded
hands representing prayer. The name
“St. Matthew” is on a banner at the bottom
of the logo.
The school mascot is a tiger.
Team Names
All St. Matthew sports teams are
called Tigers, symbolizing speed,
ferociousness and the ability to dominate
and win over other teams, no matter what.
Cheer
The main school cheer is “Go,
Tigers, Go!!”
True Stories Which Illustrate the School
Spirit of the St. Matthew Staff
Unbelievable “rookie reviews” such
as one of Mars Bottiglia who was portrayed
as “The Godfather” by Cory Ell.
A rooftop water dousing as a
farewell to Teacher Jim Ricci.
Friday afternoon intercom
broadcasts of “Allelujiah,” initiated by
Richard Johnston.
E
ducation in the Corkery area of
Upper Huntley goes back to the
earliest days of settlement, and
Catholic education in particular dates back
to 1919. In 1823, Peter Robinson led a group
of more than 500 settlers to the Upper
Huntley area, nearly all of them Roman
Catholic. St. Michael Parish was established
in 1824 with visiting clergy who said the
first Masses in the homes of settlers such
as John Manion, John Kennedy and Patrick
Meehan. In 1837, St. Michael Catholic
Church was built as a log structure. In 1845,
this building was enlarged and covered with
clapboard. It endured until 1864 when the
present stone church was erected.
In these earliest days of
settlement, there were not even school
sections established to build and operate
schools; schools were built as needed. One
of these was the Manion’s School, which
was built in 1840 and became S.S. No. 6
Huntley when the school sections were
eventually introduced in 1851. Four schools
served the Upper Huntley area, which had
become an enclave of Irish Catholics, in the
years from 1840 into the 20th century. There
was S.S. No. 6 at Manion’s Corners, S.S.
No. 7 at the Old Almonte Road and the 12th
line of Huntley, S.S. No. 8 on the Dwyer Hill
Road west of the Vaughan Sideroad and S.
S. No. 9 and No. 16, a Union School with
Goulbourn in the southwest corner of
Huntley. The Union School ceased
operations in 1938, while S.S. No. 7 and
S.S. No. 8 both continued until 1965 when
they ceased at the time of the creation of
larger Catholic and public schools to serve
the area. S.S. No. 6, meanwhile, is the direct
ancestor of the current St. Michael Catholic
School in Corkery. It was closed in 1919
when a Roman Catholic school was
established in the community.
The first organizational meeting
for the new Catholic school was held in
St. Michael Parish hall on June 2, 1919. At
ST.
MICHAEL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(CORKERY)
1572 Corkery Road
Carp K0A 1L0
613-256-3672
www.occdsb.on.ca/mic
that meeting, a resolution was adopted
which clearly indicated the purpose and
outcome of the gathering: “…that we, the
Roman Catholic freeholders of Public School
Section No. 6, gathered in parish hall,
Huntley, call a meeting for the election of
trustees and the establishment of a Roman
Catholic Separate School.” A general
meeting was held in the same parish hall
two days later, on June 4, 1919, during
which Tim N. Scott, William J. (Big Bill)
Egan and Frank Forrest were elected as
trustees for the new Catholic school. The
motions passed at this meeting were
forwarded to the Department of Education
in Toronto and, subsequently, Father Austin
241
Stanton, the parish priest of St. Michael,
announced that the Archbishop had
consented to erect the new school on church
property. The school was built of wood and
was erected as quickly as possible, with
Richard Sawyer as the builder, following
a plan approved by the Department of
Education inspector for the area. When the
school opened in 1919, Miss Ethel Golden
was the first teacher, a position that she
held until 1922.
The students walked to school.
Teachers at times boarded with the priest at
the church rectory. Father Austin Stanton,
who hailed from nearby Fitzroy and was
involved in the building of the new Catholic
school in 1919, also proceeded with church
improvements such as a bell tower, pews
and a new altar. The parish hall became
the site for meetings, Catechism classes on
Sunday afternoons and school plays. In the
1920s and early 1930s, students would
attend weekday funerals and weddings at
the church, originally because the teacher
usually played the organ for these occasions.
Over the years, however, it was common for
the entire school to take part in such events,
especially funerals. This practice continued
on and off until 1964, certainly long after
any teacher served as the church organist.
By the late 1920s and for the ensuing
decades, this Catholic school at Corkery
became part of a centre of religious, social
and educational Irish Catholic activity and
life in Upper Huntley.
In 1965, the old one-room schools
in Huntley were consolidated when larger,
more modern structures were built. The
Catholic school in Corkery was consolidated
with the S.S. No. 7 and S.S. No. 8 areas,
with a new, modern three-room school,
St. Michael Catholic School, being built
beside the church. The new school received
a semi-permanent addition in 1967, built
by Halliday Homes Ltd. In 1982, a fiveclassroom portable expansion was added to
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Michael, with R.J. Nicol Construction as
the contractor and E.J. Cuhaci & Associates
the architect for this project, which was
carried out by the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board. In 1996, St. Michael
School in Corkery received a facelift and
renovations including a 7,000 square foot
addition.
The school currently features
two kindergarten classrooms, five primary
classrooms, five junior classrooms, a
computer lab, a library, a resource centre,
a staff room and a gymnasium. Its current
student enrolment is in the range of
300 pupils.
Present Principal
School Colours
Past Principals
Logo
Roberto Santos (2006-present)
William Tomka
Jim O’Connor
Sam Coletti
Edward Rogan
John McGrath
Valerie Wright
St. Michael Catholic School in
Corkery not only offers an academic
program grounded in a Catholic-based
curriculum, but also provides a variety of
activities such as intramural sports, an
environmental club, a publishing house,
reading buddies and a no-bullying program.
Special events at the school include liturgies,
a book fair, recognition assembles, a milk
program, winter and summer play days and
attendance at the annual Carp Fair. In 1996,
St. Michael Catholic School at Corkery
produced a music CD, Christmas in Corkery,
featuring the voices of all of the students.
The actual recording was done at the
adjacent St. Michael Catholic Church, with
Pastor Rev. Paul Shepherd singing with the
children on the CD.
242
Green and gold
The school logo is in the form of a
shield, with a cross at the top and a dove in
flight in the middle. The words “St. Michael
School” are between the cross and the dove
while the word “Corkery” is at the bottom of
the logo.
W
hile the history of St. Michael
Catholic School in Fitzroy
Harbour dates back more than
four decades, the story of education and of
the Catholic faith in the area go back more
than a century and a half. Fitzroy Harbour
itself had a public school, possibly as early
as the middle of the nineteenth century.
Indeed, in 1864, the school had an
enrolment of about 40 pupils. There is
no doubt that some of these pupils were
Catholic, since Fitzroy Harbour had an
established Catholic community by 1850.
The first Catholic services were held in the
houses of parishioners. From 1852 to 1864,
Fitzroy Harbour was a mission established
by the pastor of the Pakenham church.
The present stone St. Michael Catholic
Church in Fitzroy Harbour was built in 1860
on donated land.
The traditions of education and the
Catholic faith came together in September
1961, when a Catholic school opened there,
built to accommodate Catholic students from
the Fitzroy and Constance Bay areas. Two
Catholic school boards had been established
to bring about this new school. The first
trustees for the Fitzroy Catholic Board were
Earl Stanton, Jim Lunney and Jack Doyle,
and the original trustees for the Torbolton
Catholic Board were Tom McHale and
Orville Wilson.
Schools in Torbolton existed as far
back as 1842 when the township was divided
into two school sections, east and west of
Constance Creek. There was an historic
Catholic presence in Torbolton. Most of the
Catholic residents lived in the northern area
of the township and were served by St.
Michael Parish in Fitzroy Harbour. In fact,
in 1851, almost 30 percent of Torbolton’s
population was Roman Catholic. However,
none of the historic Torbolton-area schools
were Catholic, although Catholic ratepayers
in the southern part of the township did
access a separate school education through
ST.
MICHAEL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(FITZROY)
159 Kedey Street
Fitzroy Harbour K0A 1X0
613-623-3114
www.occdsb.on.ca/mif
an agreement with the adjacent March
Township. The two Catholic school boards
created in 1961 continued to exist until they
became part of the new county-wide
1969.
Rev. Monsignor Francis French of
St. Michael Catholic Church did much of the
groundwork to bring about the creation of
this new Catholic school in Fitzroy Harbour,
which bore the same name as the local
parish. Rev. Orloffe Dorion, who was the
parish priest when the school opened,
carried on Monsignor French’s groundwork.
Father Dorion and a parent, John Muldoon,
243
were responsible for student transportation
from the opening day, with both of them
driving the students to the new school. Mr.
and Mrs. Fred Lawrence donated the land
for the new two-room, grades 1 to 8 school.
Principal Gerry Leveque and Teacher Anne
Leveque taught a total of 49 students in this
inaugural year. At first, all of the school
furniture and books came from the surplus
items of the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board. A teenager did the
cleaning of the school.
By 1965, the enrolment at
St. Michael had risen to nearly 70 students.
In 1969, the two-room structure was
transformed into a seven-room complex
with the addition of a small gymnasium,
a kindergarten room with all-new furniture,
two more classrooms, an office and a staff
room. Z.J. Nowak was the architect for this
addition. St. Michael Catholic School saw
another major building project a decade
later when a full-sized gymnasium with
change rooms, four additional classrooms
and a library expansion were built in 1980.
Pye & Richards was the architectural firm
for this project, and the contractor for the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board was
William S. Burnside (Canada) Ltd. In 1999,
the playground at St. Michael was rebuilt,
and primary and junior play structures were
added. A shade structure was installed
during the summer.
In 2000, a millennium garden was
established. The students planted more than
100 tulips to add spring colour to the school
grounds. This beautification process has
continued in recent years by means of a
number of landscaping projects such as the
planting of trees and shrubs, and the
installation of planters at the entrance to
the school.
Currently, St. Michael Catholic
School in Fitzroy Harbour consists of nine
classrooms and two additional portable
SCHOOL HISTORIES
classrooms. The school’s 2005-06 enrolment
was 206 students, ranging from Junior
Kindergarten to Grade 8. It is the only
school within the jurisdiction of the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board that offers
a junior kindergarten to grade 8 program. It
has retained the full program because of the
school’s location in the far northwestern area
of the Board’s jurisdiction.
In 1970, St. Michael School
welcomed its first school secretary, Leona
Watters. She remained at the school for
28 years. The first paid custodian was Ed
Sawyer. In 1983, Mike McHale, a former
St. Michael student, became custodian,
remaining until 2002. Students often
thought that the school was named after
him.
In April 1986, St. Michael Catholic
School celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Students released blue and white heliumfilled balloons into the air with messages
attached to them. They were thrilled when
some messages were returned to the school
with details about where the balloons had
landed.
Present Principal
Caroline O’Connor (2003-present)
Past Principals
Gerald Leveque (1961-64)
Anne Levesque (1962)
Adele Muldoon (1964-65)
Mary Lunney (1965-66)
Marion Stanton (1966-67)
Patricia Noonan (1967-69)
Gerald Leveque (1969-75)
Andy Groulx (1975-79)
Joan Gravel (1979-82)
Brent Wilson (1982-85)
Robert Benning (1988-91)
Paul Wubben (1991-94)
Diane Jackson (1994-98)
Anne Havey Blier (1998-2000)
Theresa Swanson (2000-03)
Staff Recognition
Craig Skinner, a grade 6 teacher at
St. Michael Catholic School in Fitzroy
Harbour, was one of 16 winners of the
Capital Educators’ Award in 2006. The
award is presented to educators who have
made a significant impact on the lives of
their students in acting as positive role
models using innovative teaching strategies
and instilling a passion for learning. In
2006, more than 350 educators were
nominated for the award, with the judges
narrowing the list down to 65 finalists and
eventually to the 16 winners. Mr. Skinner’s
teaching style includes trying to relate his
lessons to a topic that he knows every
student can appreciate, namely the Ottawa
Senators.
School Colours
Blue and white
244
Logo
The school logo is circular with the
name “St. Michael School Fitzroy” on the
upper part of the circle, with the words
“Family,” “School” and “Church,” the three
pillars of the Catholic faith, in the lower
part of the circle. The interior of the circle
features two youngsters in silhouette, hand
in hand, as well as a figure holding a cross
and a number of books.
Mascot
The mustang (St. Mike’s
Mustangs).
A Former Principal Remembers
Anne Havey Blier was Principal
of St. Michael Catholic School at Fitzroy
Harbour from 1998 to 2000. This is how she
remembers her time at the school.
A profound privilege was bestowed
upon me when appointed principal of
St. Michael School in June 1998. I found
myself reunited with classmates from
high school, their children and even their
grandchildren! St. Michael drew from a wide
and varied community and when called
upon, every one of these wonderful families
stepped forward to offer support in
fundraising, constructing a new yard and
play structure, celebrating our faith and
guiding their children’s education. The job
of educating their children was made so
much easier due to the outstanding staff,
the dedicated members of the Catholic
school council and the spiritual support of
the parish priest. Oh, I will never forget
St. Michael School — steeped in tradition,
yet ready to accept any new challenge or
change. And when they challenge you at
St. Michael, they follow through. I did, after
all, kiss that pig after losing a bet with the
students!
S
t. Michael Catholic School has been
a beacon of Catholic education in
the Overbrook area of Ottawa for
half a century. The school was built in
1956-57 on Bernard Street and opened in
September 1957, under the direction of
Principal John McClave. Before the school
was built, students from the area attended
St. Paul School on Donald Street. It is
noteworthy that 44 years later, St. Michael
Catholic School was relocated from its
Bernard Street site to a Donald Street
location, occupying the former Ecole St. Paul
premises. For a time, French students
shared the new St. Michael school facility
until Ecole St. Laurent was built in a field
across from the school. In the mid 1960s,
two portable classrooms were installed at
the rear of the school. At one time, growing
enrolment meant that some St. Michael
students were housed at the nearby French
school due to lack of space at St. Michael.
In 1970, the grades 7 and 8 students were
redirected to the Heron Road Intermediate
School, and afterwards to Grade 9, either at
St. Patrick’s High School or at other nearby
high schools.
The school was threatened with
closure during the consolidation efforts by
the newly amalgamated Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board in 1999-2000. But the
parents of the community rallied to the
support of the school, presenting persuasive
arguments for keeping the school as a
Catholic presence in Overbrook, just as it
had been for more than four decades. The
school board responded positively to this
outpouring of support and, instead of being
closed, the school was moved from its
Bernard Street site to the former Ecole
St. Paul on Donald Street as of September
2001. At long last, St. Michael Catholic
School had a gymnasium. The old school on
Bernard Street was sold to a development
company in 2002 and was demolished.
St. Michael Catholic School today serves
a culturally and linguistically diverse
ST.
MICHAEL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
(OTTAWA)
437 Donald Street
Ottawa K1K 1L8
613-749-1642
www.occdsb.on.ca/smi
community, representing those from over
30 countries around the world.
In December 2001, St. Michael
Catholic School received a three-year
literacy grant from the Ontario Ministry of
Education as a pilot initiative to help
improve provincial test reading levels among
the students. St. Michael was one of only
16 schools identified by the provincial
government to take part in this “turnaround
project.” It was chosen because the reading
test scores of its students were very low. The
principal at the time, Sonja Karsh, and her
staff, with the support of the school council,
developed a strategy for the project that was
245
based on the acceptance of the fact that the
students could do better despite perceived
drawbacks such as issues of poverty,
language and varied ethnic backgrounds.
The staff had to be open to suggestions, and
they were, spending much of the first year
reading and receiving in-service training
so that they could implement the best
practices possible. Various high-yield
strategies were put in place, such as having
an uninterrupted literacy time each day,
providing many “leveled” texts for reading,
and doing a precise individual assessment
of each student, so that instruction would
be appropriate to his or her level of reading.
The reading test scores went from
22 percent in 2002 to 59 percent in 2005. A
plan to sustain this improvement in reading
by the students, along with the continued
efforts of the staff in this regard, mean that
the “turnaround project” should have longlasting, positive benefits for students at
St. Michael School.
A caring attitude and strong
commitment to the community continue to
prevail at the school in its new premises,
just as they did in its prior existence on
Bernard Street. Students at St. Michael
have enjoyed a wide variety of activities and
events in recent years. They have listened to
members of the Ottawa 67’s junior hockey
team speak about bullying when they visited
the school. They have enjoyed a wellattended hockey night out at an Ottawa 67’s
game, and an Ottawa Lynx baseball game.
They have re-enacted the Christmas story
annually for several years and have held a
peace rally. They have hosted a
demonstration visit to the school by police
dogs and by Little Ray’s Reptiles. They have
held talent shows and skating evenings. In
2004, students, staff, parents and volunteers
gathered on a weekend to improve the
schoolyard by planting flowers and shrubs
and painting designs and games on the
asphalt pavement, followed by their
enjoyment at a barbeque.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Michael School has had its
share of visiting dignitaries in recent years.
In the 1999-2000 school year, GovernorGeneral Adrienne Clarkson visited the
school, as a part of a celebration of Book
Week, to advocate for literacy. In the
following year, national librarian and noted
author Roch Carrière also visited the school
to speak to the students and to read to them.
He brought with him several boxes of books
donated by the Canadian Book Exchange for
the St. Michael School library. In 2002-03,
author Brian Doyle corresponded with a
grade 4 class whose students were reading
his book Angle Square. Subsequently, he too
visited them and read from his books.
Books have played an increasingly
important role at St. Michael in recent
years. In 1999, the school received donations
from the Starbucks All Books For Children
Ottawa Book Drive. Books were picked up
from various Starbucks locations in Ottawa,
resulting in the acquisition of 147 used or
new books for the school library. Fifty-five
storybooks went to the kindergarten classes
and a whopping 17 boxes of books were
distributed among various classrooms.
The involvement with Starbucks
led to a charity auction benefiting the
St. Michael School literacy initiative, which
was hosted by Starbucks in Gloucester.
In addition to providing the venue for the
auction, Starbucks also provided dessert
trays, specialty drinks, and coffee and tea for
the guests. Starbucks staff members also
volunteered their time to help school council
members obtain donations for a raffle held
in conjunction with the auction. During the
evening of the auction, the St. Michael
School Choir performed to the accompaniment
of a jazz ensemble that volunteered to
perform at the event. Television personality
Max Keeping was the Master of Ceremonies
for the evening, with a total of $5,000 raised
for the school.
While the students were the
recipients of books to assist in their literacy
initiative, they did not forget others. In the
winter of 2004, they held a drive to collect
books for First Nation communities in
Ontario’s remote northern area, an activity
that was being promoted by the LieutenantGovernor of Ontario. In recent years,
St. Michael School has received donationsin-kind from publishers in the form of book
donations. By the spring of 2005, the school’s
literacy effort had received high quality
reading materials from book publishers and
distributors to the value of $25,773.
Once the school had received its
provincial literacy grant, which provided
extra funding for literacy initiatives in the
primary grades, the focus for these ongoing
book donations shifted to satisfying the
needs of the readers in Grades 4 through 6.
All of the books donated through this
initiative were stamped on the cover page
as being the donation of a publisher to
St. Michael Catholic School. The books were
also marked with happy face stickers on the
upper spine. These donated books were
placed in the school library as well as in
classrooms. The publishers and other donors
who contributed these books to St. Michael
included Annick, Candlewick Press,
Capstone Publishing/National Book Service,
Crabtree, Fenn Group, Firefly, Fitzhenry &
Whiteside, Golden, Harcourt Brace, Harper
Collins, Heinemann/Seedling, Key Porter
Books, Kids Can Press, Lobster Press,
Madison, McClelland and Stewart Inc.,
Michelin, Ocra Books, Oxford University
Press, Pearson Canada, Penguin Canada,
Random House, Raincoast,
Riverwood/Usborne, Scholar’s Choice,
Scholastic, Scholastic Canada, Simon &
Schuster, Stoddart and Tundra.
246
Present Principal
Teresa Maloney (current)
Past Principals (since 1980)
Philip Kelly
Wayne Moyle
Francesco Lipari
Vincent Iozzo
Sonja Karsh
Principals in the Early Years
John McClave (1957-69)
Monica Lennon (1969-71)
Teachers in the Early Years (1957-1971)
Marilyn Mulvihill
Miss Mitro
Doreen Chisholm
Mrs. S. Carty
Frances Campeau
Marie Thibodeau
Rita Boyd
Brian O’Neill
Greg Daly
Claudette Besner
Miss MacDonald
Mrs. Currans
Joan Mahoney
C. McAllister
Miss D. Brady
Doris Seus
Mrs. A. Schafer
A. Fink
Lorraine McFaul
Miss L. Quinn
Miss A. Howard
M. McClory
Terry Mangan
Mary Hunt
Miss Howe
Joan Knudson
Miss Garvin
Mr. Miles
Mrs. Schoehauser
Ann Androvich
Helen Lambertus
Dorothy Prior
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Sally Ogilvie
Valerie Preston
Anita McGovern
Paul Brady
Maureen Farell
Cathy McCarthy
Staff Achievement
Principal Vincent Iozzo helped
start a Board-wide peace conference.
Former Students
Former student Brigitte Montsion
is a teacher at St. Michael.
Former student Julian Hanlon is
now Deputy Director of Education of the
A Student Remembers
The following are some
reminiscences provided by Wanda Matton
Proulx, who graduated from Grade 8 at
St. Michael Catholic School in 1963. Four
members of the Matton family attended
St. Michael.
There was a school uniform of
Black Watch plaid which we wore with a
white blouse (jumper style with a belt).
The uniform was not compulsory but most
mothers who invested in them made their
children wear them. We also had a school
pin.
Of course, there was no gym. We
had what we called “PT” which happened
outside. This consisted of jumping jacks
and other exercises. German ball was a very
popular game that everyone, both boys and
girls, got involved in. We did a lot of
skipping and played a lot of softball.
Who could forget the “scribblers”
which all had a picture on the front and the
times tables on the back which really came
in handy a lot. I always thought “scribbler”
was a pretty funny word as nowadays it is
always “notebook.” We were taught to put
“J.M.J.” on the top of each page, standing
for “Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”
Spelling bees were a very common
occurrence at school. For home economics,
we had to walk from St. Michael down to
St. Ignatius on the River Road. Doreen
Chisholm taught us home economics in
Grade 8 in 1962-63.
One rule at St. Michael was that
when you arrived at the school, you had to
go directly into the schoolyard. No one was
allowed to stay at the front of the school.
A hand bell was rung to bring the students
into the school in the morning and at
recesses. This was the practice for many
years until an electric bell system was
installed.
The school library was housed in a
small room leading into the principal’s office.
There was also an art room with long tables
and benches on either side.
The Scarboro Missions was a big
thing for us and we all brought stamps off
envelopes with a bit of paper around them
and they all went to help support the
missions.
Perfect attendance for the year
was rewarded and was something that some
students tried to achieve. Punctuality was a
necessity.
Cod liver oil pills were handed out
to the students at times. There was always
a school nurse around.
247
The parish priest for our school at
the time was Father Raymond Burke. The
Matton family lived less than a block away
from him for a time as he lived in a double
on Queen Mary Road in Overbrook until
St. Ignatius Church was built on Donald
Street. As a young girl, he let me help serve
Mass in one of the classes at the school. This
was a time long before girls were allowed on
the altar. We would walk to St. Ignatius
Church on Donald Street for First Friday
Mass or for other Masses when required.
None of the girls or women teachers could
enter the church without a hat on. If you
forgot a hat, a piece of tissue was held in
place on your head with a bobby pin.
Believe it or not, we had swimming
lessons. In the earlier years, we went to the
Champagne Bath on King Edward Street
and in the later years, we went to the
Centennial Pool on St. Laurent Boulevard.
A school picnic was held every year with the
whole school being bussed to the picnic site.
One of my favourite school trips was to
Upper Canada Village.
At lunchtime, I would go to the
teachers’ room and then run up to the
restaurant to get the lunch orders for the
teachers. I remember getting ten cents and
was so excited as I could buy a chocolate bar
with it. One teacher had a punishment if
you got caught chewing gum. You had to
stand on your tiptoes and she drew a circle
on the blackboard and you had to keep your
nose in it.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
248
S
t. Monica Catholic School, on
Merivale Road in Nepean, was the
third new Catholic school to open in
the City View area of Nepean within a threeyear period in the 1950s, all staffed by the
Sisters of Holy Cross.
First, there was St. Nicholas
Catholic School, opened in September 1953.
This was followed by St. Rita Catholic
School, which opened in February 1955 and
then by St. Monica Catholic School which
opened in September 1956. Sisters of Holy
Cross were the initial staff in all three of
these schools.
The first staff members assigned
to the school were Sister M. St. Gladys
(Kathleen Martin), who had opened St. Rita,
and Sister Francesca (Jean Shago). The
Sisters teaching in all three of these schools
resided at the Congregation of Holy Cross
residence on Daly Avenue in Ottawa and
traveled back and forth daily by taxi, a
distance of some nine miles. In 1957, the
Congregation of Holy Cross bought land and
built Our Lady of Holy Cross Convent on
Baseline Road, a combined house that
served as a novitiate, a scholasticate and
a convent. Indeed, in a sense, the
establishment of this new convent, while
springing from the need for larger quarters
for the novitiate, also came about because
of the need for the teaching services of the
Sisters in the adjacent area of Nepean where
Catholic schools were being established in
the 1950s.
St. Monica Catholic School was
officially blessed on September 16, 1956.
It was named “St. Monica” after the mother
of St. Augustine. This was appropriate as
at that time the school was located in
St. Augustine Parish, which had been
officially established in 1953.
ST.
MONICA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
St. Monica Catholic School
preceded St. Monica Parish, which was
created as a mission in 1964. The
kindergarten room at the school served as
the location for a local mass in the years
until St. Monica Chapel was built in 1965.
At that time, the new Catholic community
was under the spiritual guidance of a team
from St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary, along
with an active laity. St. Monica became a full
parish in 1988.
Present Principal
Elizabeth Murphy
Past Principals
2000 Merivale Road
Nepean K2G 1G6
613-226-5174
www.occdsb.on.ca/mon
When the school was established,
it was under the jurisdiction of a selfcontained Catholic school board known as
Roman Catholic School Section No. 13,
Nepean. Some of the early trustees were
Joe Wernakowski, Norman Wilson, and
Bud LeClair. The original school consisted
of a two-room building plus one washroom.
Subsequently, a kindergarten room and
two more classrooms were added as the
enrolment increased with continuing
residential growth in the area. A new
addition including a gymnasium was opened
in 1966. In 2006, an addition housing a new
library/computer lab was built on the north
end of the school.
249
Sister Gladys of the Sisters of Holy
Cross was the first principal at St. Monica.
Bill Bergin
Derry Byrne
Joanne Laplante
William Tomka
Mrs. Gravelle
Gerard LeClair
Deborah Robinson
Pearl Lavigne-Dimillo
Brenda Wilson
(in the early years of the school)
Sister Francis Ann (Bea Keegan)
Sister Francesca (Jean Shago)
Ernie Gauthier
Bill Bergin (who taught Grades 6
through 8)
Sister Gladys
Starting in 1963
Mary MacNeil
Bernadette Roy
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
George Langill is the former Chief
Executive Officer of the Royal Ottawa
Hospital.
Peter Ruiter played on the Ontario
basketball team at the 1987 Canada Games.
Father John Vandenakker and
Father Roger Vandenakker are now priests
in the Companions of the Cross.
School Colours
white.
The school colours are red and
Logo
The St. Monica Catholic School
logo is a shield featuring a central cross and
three students in silhouette — one playing,
one praying and one learning.
Uniforms
Mascot
Early Families
The school mascot is a bulldog
called “T-Bone.”
Team Names
The school teams are the
“Bulldogs.”
250
In 1959 and 1960, the school had
uniforms. Girls wore a green uniform with a
white Peter Pan collar. The boys wore white
turtlenecks with blue or grey pants.
Among the founding families of
St. Monica Catholic School are the families
of Maurice Labelle, Ferguson Murray and
Ted Stone.
S
t. Patrick Catholic School was the
first Catholic elementary school
to be built in the blossoming
Barrhaven community of South Nepean by
the Carleton Roman Catholic School Board
in 1978, in a field on Larkin Drive. Once it
was built, the school was quickly occupied
to capacity.
The new school building was not
quite ready for opening day in September
1978. The students, who had been attending
various schools, were housed at St. John the
Apostle School and at St. Gregory School
until the new building was completed in
November 1978. The new school had been
named “St. Patrick” after Ireland’s patron
saint because it was located within the area
served by the historic St. Patrick Parish of
nearby Fallowfield. Founding Principal
Ralph Watzenboeck and Vice-Principal
Kevin Mullins received strong support from
St. Patrick’s Parish Priest, Father Bourque,
from an involved parental group, and from
an energetic staff.
In 1981, enrolment growth
precipitated the need for an addition of
a six-room portable annex to St. Patrick
Catholic School. But the students did not
stop coming, as Barrhaven continued to
grow. By 1984, St. Patrick, which had been
built for 250 students, was serving about
800. By the time a second Catholic
elementary school was built in Barrhaven,
the ten-classroom St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
School on Weybridge Drive, which opened in
February 1987, the yard at St. Patrick was
a sea of 14 portable classrooms.
St. Patrick School has been asked,
over the years, to pilot new programs in
technology and religion. The first
communications class in the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board was
established at St. Patrick.
ST.
PATRICK
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Present Principal
Eileen Moriarity
Past Principals
Ralph Watzenboeck
Mae Rooney
Lyle Bergeron
Russ Graham
Yvonne Benton
Robert Curry
Mary-Pat Kelly
Marie Boyes
68 Larkin Drive
Nepean K2J 1A9
613-825-4012
www.occdsb.on.ca/pat
It was not only in educational
matters that St. Patrick Catholic School was
a leader. It was also the first school to hold
a “welcome back” barbecue for its school
community when school began.
Over the years, St. Patrick’s choirs
have participated in school board events. It
has fielded teams in various sports. Grade 6
students make retreats at Waupoos Island
and the school has been known for its
charitable support of such worthy causes as
the Snowsuit Fund, the Food Cupboard and
seasonal programs like the mitten tree and
Christmas baskets.
251
Janet Meyers, Junior Kindergarten
Helen Tremblett, Senior
Kindergarten
Linda Legault, Senior
Kindergarten
Marguerite Bouliane, French
Senior Kindergarten
Elizabeth Bolton, Grade 1
Marina McGinley, Grade 1-2
Eleanor Bellefeuille, Grade 2-3
Priscilla Hossick, Grade 3
Sharon McKenzie, Grade 4
Norma Webster, Grade 5
Kevin Mullins, Grade 5-6 and
Vice-Principal
Francine Chartrant, Office
Assistant
René Ryan, First Custodian
Staff Recognition
St. Patrick School Teacher Brenda
Mulvihill, who is now a retired principal
with the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board, received a TVO Technology
Innovations Award.
Michelle Desjardins, a St. Patrick
School teacher, received the Prime Minister’s
Award for Education.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Students
Vicky Jenkins, author
Nicole Didyk, doctor
Meagan Hammil, doctor
Chad Conway, editor
Donna Casey, writer for the
Ottawa Citizen
Emily Wong, Olympic swimmer
Logo
A parent, Greg Conway, judged
a contest for the design of the school logo.
It is green and white, with a snake
representing St. Patrick (who, it is thought,
rid Ireland of snakes) wrapped around a
cross representing Catholicism. The crest
also features a shamrock on behalf of the
Irish heritage of the school in its name. The
crest also contains the words “St. Patrick
School” and “Barrhaven.”
Song
St. Patrick Catholic School had its
own song, composed by teachers Ann Everett
and Tina Rudkoski. Students would chime in
on the chorus. It was also played at the
grade six graduation ceremony. The chorus
was “Wherever I may go, whatever I may
see, St. Patrick’s will be a part of me.”
Statue of St. Patrick
Mr. and Mrs. George Tessier were
two of the parents who strongly supported
the school. Mr. Tessier received a statue of
St. Patrick from Father John Whelan;
however, it needed to be restored. Mr.
Tessier restored and painted the statue and
presented it to the school at the official
opening ceremony. The statue now sits in
the front lobby of the school.
252
First Custodian
After he died, a tree was planted
in honour of René Ryan, the first custodian
at St. Patrick Catholic School. Mr. Ryan was
a quiet, gentle man who delighted in helping
others.
S
t. Patrick’s Catholic High School has
a long history, stretching back over
75 years, with more than 40 of them
linked with the Oblates of Mary
Immaculate. Because it was originally
associated with the new St. Patrick’s
College, it was called St. Patrick’s College
High School when it was established in
1929. In the beginning, St. Patrick’s College
High School was housed in St. Joseph Parish
Hall on Laurier Avenue East in Ottawa. The
two-storey, red brick hall accommodated the
135 students registered in the first year of
the high school, and was staffed by seven
teachers.
In the following year, St. Patrick’s
College High School moved to join the new
St. Patrick’s College at a joint campus on
Echo Drive. The full complex of buildings
envisioned for this campus never
materialized because of the onset of the
Depression, but the impressive main building
facing Echo Drive and the Rideau Canal
would remain the home of St. Patrick’s
College High School for almost four decades.
Total enrolment at the Echo Drive
campus in 1930 for both St. Patrick’s College
of the University of Ottawa and St. Patrick’s
College High School was 392 students,
taught by a faculty of 22. At this Echo Drive
campus, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate
(St. Peter’s Province) became associated with
Canadian Martyrs Parish. Masses were held
in the college chapel until the church was
built in 1931.
St. Patrick’s College High School
took in boarders from the Ottawa Valley
area as well as from farther afield. This
practice continued until 1964, which marked
the end of “Boardertown” at St. Patrick’s.
In 1968, after St. Patrick’s College
became affiliated with Carleton University,
St. Patrick’s College High School was
relocated to the Campanile Campus at
ST.
PATRICK’S
SCHOOL HISTORIES
The school was temporarily
renamed St. Jude’s Junior High School for
the 1972-73 school year, before readopting
its previous, historic name in the fall of
1973. Because the higher grades were no
longer accommodated, it became known as
St. Patrick’s Junior High School. The name
St. Patrick’s High School returned in 1986
when the school once again became a fullfledged secondary school with the extension
of full funding to Catholic high schools by
the Provincial Government.
St. Patrick’s High School remained
at the 1485 Heron Road site until 1993,
when it was moved once again, this time to
the nearby 2525 Alta Vista Drive site that it
currently occupies, previously the location
of the former Charlebois High School of the
French Catholic School Board.
2525 Alta Vista Drive
Ottawa K1V 7T3
613-733-0501
www.occdsb.on.ca/sph
1485 Heron Road, where St. Patrick’s shared
the location with Notre Dame High School,
run by the Sisters of the Congregation of
Notre Dame. Notre Dame had just moved
there from its century-old site on Gloucester
Street in Ottawa. The Campanile campus
was designed as a multi-building site
connected by underground tunnels. This
1968 move also saw the school change its
name from St. Patrick’s College High School
to simply St. Patrick’s High School. The
Oblates of Mary Immaculate continued to
manage and teach at the school but those
days were numbered. In 1973, the Oblates’
active involvement in the administration of
the school came to an end.
253
St. Patrick’s High School has
developed a number of traditions. The school
band trip to New York City every two years
is one, as are the semi-annual school band
concerts, which are staged at the school.
St. Patrick’s holds an annual stage
production as well as a variety of charity
events such as clothing drives, a 30-hour
famine and involvement with food baskets.
In recent years, St. Patrick’s has
inaugurated a major annual fundraising
event, a “Breakfast for Cancer Research”
raising $4,137 in 2003. This has been
surpassed in each successive year by totals
of $8,824 in 2004, $14,255 in 2005 and
$15,000 in 2006. These funds go to the
Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre Foundation.
St. Patrick’s also has student ambassadors,
senior students who wear green blazers
with the school crest, and function as
representatives of St. Patrick’s both within
the school and amid the community-at-large,
often volunteering with charitable
organizations.
St. Patrick’s sports teams are also
a formidable force in high school leagues.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Ronald Chisholm (2005-present)
Past Principals
Albert Meereboer, O.M.I. (1929-30)
J. Harold Conway, O.M.I. (1947-63)
Frank Kavanaugh, O.M.I. (1964-69)
Carl Kelly, O.M.I. (1969-72)
Frank Kavanaugh, O.M.I.
(1972-73) (as St. Jude’s Junior
High School)
John Knobel (1973-76)
(as St. Patrick’s Junior High
School)
Robert Kendall (1976-83)
Michael Nolan (1983-84)
Georges Bouliane (1984-85)
Sister Anna Clare Berrigan
(1985-86) and (1986-89 at
St. Patrick’s High School)
Walter Hempey (1989-93) and
(1993-96 at St. Patrick’s High
School on Alta Vista Drive)
John Shaughnessy (1996-2000)
Joseph Mullally (2000-05)
Rectors
(St. Patrick’s College High School)
Thomas M. Kennedy, O.M.I.
(1929-30)
Edward Killian, O.M.I. (1929-30)
Denis J. Moriarty, O.M.I. (1930-32)
Patrick Phelan, O.M.I. (1932-35)
Leo Corrmican, O.M.I. (1935-44)
Lawrence K. Poupore, O.M.I.
(1944-53)
Gerald E. Cousineau, O.M.I.
(1953-59)
John J. Kelly, O.M.I. (1959-68)
Deans
(St. Patrick’s College High School)
Farrell E. Banim, O.M.I. (1948-61)
Hugh A. MacDougall, O.M.I.
(1962-68)
Oblates who taught at St. Patrick’s
High School during the period 1929-1973
F. Banim
L. Bartley
F. Beck
W. Bernardo
J. Beveridge
L. Beveridge
R. Boucher
S. Bowers
J. Burns
L. Burns
D. Cahill
C. Callanan
C. Campbell
F. Campbell
K. Campbell
M. Campbell
J. Cardo
P. Carpenter
T. Cassidy
E. Clark
P. Collins
E. Connolly
H. Conway
C. Coppens
L. Cormican
G. Cousineau
H. Cromey
J. Curtin
A. Daley
H. Dalton
L. Devine
D. Devoe
W. Doran
J. Dourley
G. Dowsett
D. Driscoll
H. Dunlop
W. Elliott
N. Enright
F. Finley
D. Finnegan
K. Forster
R. Gallagher
D. Galvin
D. Gillen
254
A. Gillis
J. Greene
E. Greene
A. Hall
W. Hanley
J. Hattie
F. Hennessy
F. Hobart
P. Howard
T. Hughes
G. Irving
N. Jette
A. Jordan
F. Kavanagh
L. Keighley
C. Helly
J. Kelly
T. Kennedy
B. Kerr
E. Killian
J. Lambert
C. Lavigne
V. LaPlante
P. Linehan
J. Linnehan
P. Little
W. Loftus
A. Macrae
E. MacDonald
L. MacDonald
H. MacDougall
A. MacInnes
A. MacKinnon
E. MacNeil
E. Marcuk
G. Mason
J. Massel
J. McAllister
H. McCabe
J. McCann
J. McCart
F. McCormack
J. McDonald
L. McDonald
A. McDonnell
J. McGrath
D. McIntosh
B. McKenna
SCHOOL HISTORIES
B. McLean
D. McLeod
K. McNamara
J. McNeil
E. McSheffrey
A. Meereboer
B. Megannety
J. Michael
P. Miller
T. Mitchell
T. Moreau
M. Morgan
D. Moriarity
D. Morin
J. Mullany
J. Mulligan
J. Mulvihill
T. Murphy
J. Noonan
T. O’Beirne
J. O’Connor
P. O’Dwyer
F. O’Grady
O. O’Regan
P. O’Reilly
L. Paradis
M. Peake
M. Pehlan
P. Phelan
J. Pollock
L. Poupore
M. Power
D. Pruner
O. Rich
C. Rushton
J. Ryan
F. Salmon
M. Schroeder
D. Schumph
A. Sheehan
J. Sheehan
J. Sherry
R. Smith
H. Sorenson
P. Spratt
F. Stafford
J. Stanton
N. St. Louis
P. Sutton
L. Sweeney
T. Swift
F. Tedrow
W. Thompson
P. Tobin
J. Trainor
T. Usher
J. Vaneden
F. Wallis
D. Walsh
E. Watson
B. Wren
J. Zachary
These 155 names are engraved on
a plaque that was mounted on an Oblate
cross and presented to the students and staff
of St. Patrick’s High School on the occasion
of the renewal of the traditional links with
the Oblates of St. Peter’s Province on March
17, 1986.
Staff Recognition
Rev. J. Harold Conway, former
teacher and principal, received the Order of
Canada in 1976.
Laura Gillespie, Department Head
of Physical Education, received the National
Capital Secondary Schools Athletic
Association Fellows Award in 2004. This
award is presented to a person who has
contributed to high school sports in a noncoaching role.
Thomas M. Cassidy, O.M.I. (1956),
former teacher and principal who received
the Order of Canada and who wrote Roots
and Branches: A Diary of St. Peter’s
Province.
Former Students
John Turner, Prime Minister of
Canada in 1984
Dan Aykroyd (1969), an Oscarnominated and Emmy-winning actor, writer,
director and musician
Bob Chiarelli, Chairperson of the
Regional Municipal of Ottawa-Carleton and
first mayor of the new amalgamated City of
Ottawa (2001)
Jim Kyte, National Hockey League
player with the Winnipeg Jets and an
advocate for the deaf community
Dalton McGuinty, Premier of
Ontario and Leader of the Liberal Party of
Ontario
Wilbert Keon (1957), founder of the
Ottawa Heart Institute and a senator
justice
Roydon Kealey, a provincial court
Peter Wright (1972), a provincial
court justice
Garry Guzzo (1963), a former
provincial court justice and former MPP for
the Ottawa area
Michael Chambers, President of
the Canadian Olympic Committee
author
Chris Nihmey (1992), children’s
Valdy (Valdemar Horsdal), Juno
award winning folk singer
Claude Pilon (1970), a gold medal
winning wrestler in the 1974 Commonwealth
Games
255
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Mark Pilon, son of Claude Pilon,
and a Canadian Football League player with
the Calgary Stampeders, Grey Cup winners
in 2001
Angelo Gavillucci (1977), a silver
medalist in sledge hockey in the
Paralympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998
Mary Dalipaj (2003), who received
an outstanding employee award from the
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Logo and Motto (Armorial Bearings)
In September 1999, Rev. Thomas
Cassidy, O.M.I., who graduated from
St. Patrick’s in 1956 and was a staff member
from 1964 to 1973, had a chance meeting
with the Chief Herald of Canada, Robert
Douglas Watt. From Mr. Watt, he learned
about the function of the Chief Herald,
which is the issuing of royal crests and coats
of arms for Canadian institutions and
individuals.
St. Patrick’s High School has had
a crest and motto since its founding in 1929,
most probably drawn by Brother John
Pollock, O.M.I., a British-educated staff
member. Mr. Watt suggested that these
could be submitted for official recognition.
Father Cassidy did this. Although it took
two years of research and work, the efforts
proved worthwhile, as the armorial bearings
of St. Patrick’s High School in Ottawa was
granted by the Canadian Crown under
powers which are exercised by the GovernorGeneral and which are “entered in the
Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges
of Canada” were formally presented to the
school on Wednesday, March 6, 2002.
Official notice of these armorial
bearings was published in Part 1 of the
Canada Gazette under the title “Government
House.” All armorial bearings are honours
from the Canadian Crown. They provide
recognition for Canadian individuals and
corporate bodies of the contribution that
they make both in Canada and elsewhere.
The eligibility of St. Patrick’s High School in
Ottawa was thoroughly researched from its
founding in 1929, and the armorial bearings
were approved by the Chief Herald of
Canada and were granted by the Chancellor
of the Canadian Heraldic Authority in the
name of the Governor-General, the Right
Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. The
Governor-General issued the approval for
the armorial bearings on July 5, 2001. It
must be noted that all grants of armorial
bearings are made by the Crown to be valid
forever and can be changed only by that
same Crown.
Other Events
In one of his first public
appearances as Premier of Ontario, Dalton
McGuinty, a St. Patrick’s High School
graduate, visited the school in 2003 and
addressed students and staff.
The school celebrated its
75th anniversary in 2004. A video to mark
the occasion was produced by Roy
Ketcheson, a creative arts teacher at
St. Patrick’s.
The school enjoyed a visit by
entertainers Dan Aykroyd, a former student,
and Jim Belushi, in 1996.
The school logo bears the name of
the school, St. Patrick’s High School, as well
as the motto “Religio Alit Artes.”
The first St. Patrick’s High School
newspaper, The Patrician, was published in
1934 under the editorship of Leo Devine,
O.M.I.
School song
World War II
Students wrote a school song in
1996. The words of the song are:
Green and Gold
Our Spirits Bold,
Here at St. Pat’s High.
Come and see us,
Come and hear us,
Raise your spirits high.
Here we learn
To be Our Best,
We Reach Towards
The sky.
Years will come and go,
But we’ll keep the flow
At St. Pat’s High.
256
A total of 86 former students of
St. Patrick’s gave their lives in World War II
(1939-45).
Alumni Association
The Alumni Association is known
as “The Friends of St. Pat’s.”
Dress Code
The current dress code at
St. Patrick’s High School is black dress
pants, white dress shirt or polo shirt with
the St. Patrick’s name, green plaid kilt or
black skirt, green sweat shirt with plaid
letter “P,” green cardigan or pullover with
St. Patrick’s crest, green blazer with
St. Pat’s crest, green rugby shirt with
St. Pat’s and the letter “P.” It is not
necessary to wear all of these items at once.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
From a Teacher at St. Patrick’s Catholic
High School
I was hired as Head of Social
Sciences at St. Patrick’s High School by
Principal Sister Anna Clare in the fall of
1987. I was keen on initiating two specific
projects — to launch a student field trip to
Washington, D.C. and to resurrect a football
program at St. Pat’s.
At lunch one day, I mentioned my
field trip idea to a colleague, whereupon
I heard Sister utter, “Over my dead body!”
to Vice-Principals John Shaughnessy and
Bernie Swords with whom she was having
lunch. However, I proceeded with a plan and
presented it to Sister. On the day in May
1989, when I was leaving for Washington
with a busload of senior students, Sister met
me at her office door with $300 in cash,
telling me to ensure that the students who
might run out of money would have food for
the duration of the trip.
When I informed Sister about the
plan my colleague Larry Patterson and I had
to bring football back to St. Pat’s, Sister
curtly informed me that she did not want
football and that there would never be a
football program at the school. Larry and I,
however, continued, along with colleagues
Marc Mes and Dave Waterhouse, to put
together a detailed plan extolling the
benefits of football to the school as well as
other information including research on
sports injuries in high schools and financial
details about the program. After we made
this presentation, Sister passed by me in the
lunchroom and with a slight smile said,
“Very interesting.”
In September 1989, the “St. Pat’s
Fighting Irish” hit the field for the first time
since 1975, defeating Laurentian High
School in the process.
257
The Washington trip and the
football team would not have happened
without Sister Anna Clare’s ability to adjust
to credible and legitimate information and
without her concern for her students’
interests and complete education. It was a
pleasure and a privilege to work with her.
Michael Nihmey
SCHOOL HISTORIES
258
S
t. Patrick’s Catholic Intermediate
School has only existed as a
separate entity since 1993, but its
history as a junior high school goes back to
1972, and one can even trace its lineage to
1929 when St. Patrick’s College High School
was founded.
The new St. Patrick’s College
High School began on September 5, 1929
in temporary quarters beside St. Joseph
Church on Laurier Avenue in Ottawa East,
with an enrolment of 135 boys and seven
faculty that first year. The Oblates of Mary
Immaculate, St. Peter’s Province, founded
the school. Plans were made for the
development of a complex of buildings on a
site known as Patterson Field on Echo Drive
overlooking the Rideau Canal. The facility
would house not only a high school but also
a college offering Bachelor of Arts and
Bachelor of Science programs. The first
wings of the new St. Patrick’s College
complex were completed in September 1930,
at a cost of over half a million dollars. A
$150,000 addition was built in September
1931. This was an immense outlay of funds,
all for the sake of providing Catholic
education at the high school and university
levels.
However, the Depression of the
1930s struck and the final phase of
construction of the planned campus complex
was never completed. This did not stop
St. Patrick’s from offering the best of
education delivered in a close-knit community
with an identifiable Catholic atmosphere.
In 1967, the St. Patrick’s College
High School moved from its original site
to the Campanile campus on Heron Road,
which it began sharing in 1968 with Notre
Dame High School, run by the Congregation
of Notre Dame. The Oblate Fathers
contributed to the building of a gymnasium
at the Campanile campus to make it a
proper facility for a high school. However,
ST.
PATRICK’S
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC
INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
Because of an increasing
enrolment at St. Pat’s, Board trustees made
the decision to move the grades 9 to 13
students to nearby premises on Alta Vista
Drive, the current home of St. Patrick’s
Catholic High School. The grades 7 and 8
students remained at the Heron Road site,
which was then called St. Patrick’s Catholic
Intermediate School.
Present Principal
Gerald Mikalauskas
Past Principals
N/A
Staff Recognition
Rev. J. Harold Conway, a former
teacher and principal at St. Patrick’s, is
a recipient of the Order of Canada.
Former Students
1485 Heron Road
Ottawa K1V 6A6
613-733-3736
www.occdsb.on.ca/spe
financial constraints plagued St. Patrick’s
and Notre Dame High Schools in this
location and so, in 1972, both had to close
their senior divisions. Two of the buildings
though, remained operational as a junior
high school with Grades 7 through 10. This
school was called St. Jude’s Junior High
School for the 1972-73 school year, later
reverting to St. Patrick’s Junior High School.
With the announcement of full
funding for the Catholic school education
system in 1984, St. Patrick’s Junior High
School was able to add Grade 11 in
September 1985, and Grades 12 and 13 in
the following two years.
259
Dan Aykroyd is an Oscarnominated, Emmy-winning actor, writer,
director and musician.
Dalton McGuinty is the current
Premier of Ontario and Leader of the
Ontario Liberal Party (1996-present).
The Rt. Honourable John Turner
was the 17th Prime Minister of Canada.
Bob Chiarelli was Chairman of the
Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton
and the first mayor of the new amalgamated
City of Ottawa (2001-present).
Jim Kyte played for the Winnipeg
Jets of the National Hockey League.
Dr. Wilbert Keon is a worldrenowned heart surgeon, founder of the
Ottawa Heart Institute, officer of the Order
of Canada and member of the Senate of
Canada.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
justice.
justice.
Roydon Kealey is a provincial court
Peter Wright is a provincial court
Garry Guzzo is a former provincial
court justice and a former member of the
provincial parliament.
Michael Chambers was President
of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Chris Nihmey is the author of the
children’s book Quarter Past Three.
Valdemar Horsdal (a.k.a Valdy) is
a Juno award-winning folk music artist.
Thomas M. Cassidy is an author,
legal counselor and apostolic nunciature.
Claude Pilon is a wrestler who won
a gold medal at the 1974 Commonwealth
Games.
Garfield Thomas Ogilvie is the
author of the book Once Upon A Country
Lane.
Mark Pilon played for the Calgary
Stampeders of the Canadian Football
League, winning the Grey Cup in 2001.
Angelo Gavillucci won a silver
medal as a member of the Canadian sledge
hockey team at the 1998 Paralympic Games
in Japan.
Dalton McGuinty Sr. was a
member of the provincial parliament and
a founder/first director of the Terry Fox
Scholarship.
Laura Dwyer, a grade 8 student
in the 2005-06 school year, was one of
165 students from across Canada and the
only one from the Ottawa area, chosen to
participate in the National Historica Fair in
Halifax in July 2006. Her project, which was
exhibited in a public showcase at the Halifax
Citadel, was about the history of Chinese
immigration in Canada, particularly focused
on the Gold Rush, the head tax and the
Chinese Exclusion Act. Her Halifax trip
experience also included visits to museums
and historical sites. The National Historica
Fair is held in a different location every
year, sponsored by Historica, a foundation
dedicated to helping Canadians learn the
stories that make their history unique and
encouraging Canadian history education.
The Historica Foundation works in
partnership with school boards including the
260
School Colours
Green and black
Logo
The school logo is a Celtic cross
with the name “Saint Patrick’s Intermediate
School” and four symbols.
Team Names
St. Patrick’s Intermediate Catholic
School sports teams are called the
“Shamrocks.”
I
n the fall of 1978, the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board opened
its second junior high school. This came
six years after the establishment of the
Board’s first junior high school in the east
end of its jurisdiction, Lester B. Pearson, in
1972. This new school would serve students
in the western region of the Board’s
jurisdiction and was initially called “Bells
Corners Senior Elementary School.”
Construction delays meant that the school
did not open until October, so the first
month of that school year found the students
and staff in portables back at their home
schools. In October 1978, the new school
opened.
ST.
PAUL
SCHOOL HISTORIES
LL
FI
UR
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L
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Later that school year, the school
community unanimously requested that
the school be named after the evangelist
St. Paul — the school board concurred.
Initially, feeder schools for this
new junior high school were Our Lady of
Peace, Bayshore Catholic, St. Martin de
Porres, Georges Vanier and St. Thomas.
In later years, St. Paul drew students from
other schools as well, such as St. Philip in
Richmond, St. Isidore in South March,
St. Michael in Corkery, St. Michael in
Fitzroy Harbour and St. John the Apostle.
The school’s first principal, Robert
Curry, and his enthusiastic and gifted staff
quickly made St. Paul one of the more
progressive schools in the Ottawa area,
but it was not too long before the school saw
a major change thanks to the full funding
provided for Catholic schools by the
Provincial Government. In 1985, Grade 11
was added, followed by Grades 12 and 13 in
subsequent years, as St. Paul grew to be a
complete Catholic high school. With this
extension from a junior high school to a
full grades 7 to 13 school came major
renovations and additions. From 1985 to
1991, this inclusion of the higher grades
added to continued growth, with the result
Barrhaven. Approximately 350 students and
20 staff members from St. Paul were
affected by this move.
AL
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IS
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L
2675 Draper Avenue
Ottawa K2H 7A1
613-820-9705
www.occdsb.on.ca/pah
that more than 75 teachers were hired in
a six-year period.
The opening of Holy Trinity
Catholic High School in Kanata in 1990,
as the Catholic high school for most
Kanata and Stittsville students, and the
construction of Mother Teresa Catholic High
School, heralded the beginning of a number
of changes, which would impact St. Paul.
In the spring of 1997, students and staff at
St. Paul were informed that students in
Grades 7 to 10 who lived in the Barrhaven
area would be moving in the fall to become
members of the first student body of the new
Mother Teresa Catholic High School in
261
In the spring of 1999, students in
Grades 7 to 10 who lived in the Emerald
Meadows area of Kanata and the Richmond
area were advised that they would be
leaving St. Paul to become part of the new
Sacred Heart Catholic High School opening
in Stittsville. Fourteen staff members as
well as about 250 students left St. Paul in
this exodus to Sacred Heart. In the spring
of 2000, the St. Paul Catholic High School
community was once again required to
relocate, this time to the former Sir John A.
MacDonald High School on Draper Avenue
in the west end of Ottawa. The OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board invested five
million dollars in refurbishing the facility to
bring it up to current standards. What a
facility it was! It had two gymnasiums with
hardwood floors, a university-style lecture
hall, a cafeteria, new science and tech labs
and an auditorium that could hold
750 spectators, ideal for both school and
Board-wide performing arts initiatives.
St. Paul High School celebrated its
25th anniversary in May 2004, with many
former students returning to reflect on the
good days that they had spent there. The
enthusiasm exhibited by these graduates
was testament to the great school spirit,
which has been a hallmark of St. Paul over
its history, no matter what its grade
offerings, no matter where its students came
from, and no matter where the school was
located. Such events as “Cassa Café,” open
houses, spaghetti dinners and school plays
have been venues for the development of
this school spirit. In the early years of the
school, some members of the staff and
students made sandwiches after school for
the Shepherds of Good Hope shelter. There
were also canned food drives and school trips
to the Dominican Republic to help the less
fortunate. The more recent efforts at
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Paul for tsunami relief in Southeast Asia
and for assistance for victims of Hurricane
Katrina are examples of the school’s resolve
to reach out to help others and to assist,
where possible, with the ultimate goal of
encouraging world peace.
St. Paul High School was one of
eight Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board schools, which, in the 2005-06 school
pipes that are laid from a clean water source
into their communities by villagers in
Cameroon.
St. Paul has become known for its
athletics, its community work, its drama,
its music, its debating (the St. Paul
Debating Club won the all-Ontario
championship), its peer helpers, its support
of the Snowsuit Fund and the Waupoos
Foundation project, and its apostolic work
in the Dominican Republic since 1991.
Indeed, a permanent exhibit of the work
that St. Paul students have accomplished
over the years in the Dominican Republic
is on display at the Canada and the World
Museum. In athletics, the school has hosted
the Ontario Federation of Schools’ Athletic
Association Provincial Girls’ Basketball
Tournament in 2003, the Provincial Girls’
Rugby Tournament, also in 2003, and the
Provincial Boys’ Rugby Tournament in 2004.
St. Paul has won the Canadian
Recreation and Dance Award (CAHPERD)
for its quality daily physical education
program every year from 1994 through 2005.
It has also received a provincial Outstanding
Intramural Achievement Award.
The St. Paul Catholic High School
yearbook has been recognized for its
excellence both locally and nationally. This
recognition has included numerous firstplace awards in the Ottawa area as well as a
first-place in the Canadian Yearbook Review
in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and a first-place
rating in the American Scholastic Press
Association judging in both 2004 and 2005.
In all of this, academics have not
been overlooked. Over the years the school
has graduated well-rounded and educated
individuals, successful not only in various
subjects but also in personal growth,
assuming a sense of responsibility for the
world in which they live. St. Paul students
have entered the J.A. Titan Business
Competition at Carleton University, winning
five times. The grad retreat is always a
highlight of the students’ years at St. Paul,
giving them an opportunity to reflect on
their years at St. Paul and on what lies
ahead in life. Priests such as Father Edward
Lunney of St. Martin de Porres Parish,
Father Peter Schonenbach of Holy Redeemer
Parish, and Monsignor Paul Baxter of
St. Patrick Parish have worked closely with
the school to encourage and promote the
prevailing atmosphere of Catholicity.
The spiritual leadership in the school from
chaplains such as Sister Shelly Lawrence
and Nicole Levesque further bless the
school.
St. Paul Catholic High School
became a leader in the development of
special education programs with a focus
on inclusion of all students in the school
community as paramount. A dependently
handicapped unit was opened at the school
in 1987.
The school holds a welcoming
barbecue during the last week of August
for the new grade 7 students.
262
In 1992, Principal John Shannon
initiated the St. Paul Leadership Camp
where students learn to recognize and
develop their leadership talents, helping
them to take ownership and responsibility
for the life in their school.
Present Principal
William Barrett (2006-present)
Past Principals
Michael Baine (1985-91)
John Shannon (1991-97)
Greg Mullen (1997-2002)
Eugene Milito (2002-06)
Robert Curry, Principal
Michael Matthews, Vice-Principal
Bill Murphy
Gary Yates
Margaret Imbleau
Aubrey Ayer
Douglas White
Audrey Lamarche
Alan Dickinson
Celia Groulx
Nancyjane Cawley
Lynne Langille
Pat Richards
Faiz Griplas
Maurice Sullivan
Francine Berthiaume
Remo Zuccarin
Jane Buck, Head Secretary
Jeannie Gorgichuck, Secretary
Staff Achievements
Former Teacher Terry Anne Carter
(1981-2000, English) was Ottawa’s “Random
Acts of Poetry” poet for 2005. She has been
the Education Chair of the League of
Canadian Poets and was Vice-President of
Haiku Canada and participated in the Basho
Festival in Japan in 2004.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Former Teacher Margaret Imbleau
(1978-2002, English/Religion) contributed to
two Family Life high school textbooks for
Catholic schools in Ontario sponsored by the
Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Former Teacher Audrey Lamarche
(1978-91), Vice-Principal (1991), Department
Head in Contemporary Studies (1989-91),
Subject Advisor Family Studies (1986-89), and
Special Project Assignment Teacher (SPAT) for
Family Studies (1990). She was Vice-President
of the Ontario Family Studies/Home
Economics Educators’ Association (OFSHEEA)
in 1990. She received the OFSHEEA Award of
Excellence in 1991 for her contributions to the
promotion of family studies in Ontario.
Former Teacher Jeri Lunney
(1987-98), Vice-Principal (1987-88) and
Department Head in Mathematics (1988-98)
has co-authored grades 9 and 10 basic-level
textbooks with Nelson Canada and grades 9,
10, 11, 12 and 13 advanced-level texts for
Houghton Mifflin Canada. She received the
Don Attridge Award for teacher excellence
from the Ontario Association for
Mathematics Education, the Prime
Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in
Mathematics, and the Descartes Medal for
Signal Service to Mathematics in the schools
of Ontario from the René Descartes
Foundation of the University of Waterloo.
Former Teacher Jan Connors
Matthews (1980-2003) received the Ottawa
Centre for Research and Innovation Award
as one of the top educators in the OttawaCarleton region.
Science Teacher Ralph Carney
received the Prime Minister’s Award for
Teaching Excellence in 2000.
English Teacher Linus Shea served
as President of the local unit of the Ontario
English Catholic Teachers’ Association from
2001 to 2005.
Teacher Erika McCarthy (1995-99)
wrote an anti-racism curriculum for the
study of immigration to Canada in 1998. In
1999, she received the Roy C. Hill Provincial
Award for Innovations in Curriculum.
Principal John Shannon received
the Order of Merit For Exceptional Service
from the Archdiocese of Ottawa in 1997.
Principal Eugene Milito (2002-06)
was one of 28 recipients of the Canada’s
Outstanding Principal Award.
Former Students
Sean O’Donnell plays for the
Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey
League.
Scott Cashman, a goalie, played at
Boston University and was drafted by the
National Hockey League.
Lisa Bergin played basketball at
the University of Ottawa.
Heather McAlpine played
basketball at Carleton University while her
sister Suzanne McAlpine played basketball
at the University of Toronto.
Declan Bonner played soccer at
St. John’s University in the United States
and then returned to play soccer at Carleton
University.
Kelly Vandenberg played soccer at
Carleton University.
Christine Murphy played
basketball at Bishop’s University and is now
an assistant coach there.
Emily Murphy played basketball
at the University of New Brunswick.
263
Alison Smyth is a singer of opera,
classical music and Broadway musicals. In
2004, she made her professional debut in the
Toronto production of the Broadway musical
Hair Spray.
School Colours
The original school colours were
brown and gold. The colours were changed
to blue and gold in the mid-1980s.
Logo
The school logo is in the shape of
a pentagon, with the two angled sides
converging at the bottom. It has a blue
border on a white background. In the centre,
there is a blue cross with the school name
“St. Paul” printed vertically on the cross in
white letters. A gold maple leaf in the
background silhouettes the cross. The crest
is draped with a gold banner having a blue
border. Written on the banner are the words
“Fill Your Minds With All That Is True.”
Symbols
The symbol that distinguishes
St. Paul athletics teams is the golden bear.
The grizzly bear is the school’s mascot. The
bear paw is the logo on the school’s sports
wear. Everything from t-shirts to track
pants have the bear paw stamp. The bear
paw is also painted on the gym floor and on
the walls of the gym, as well as in a number
of other places throughout the school.
Making Science Fun
Teacher Ralph Carney arrived at
St. Paul Catholic High School in 1984 to
teach his favourite subject, science. Head of
the Science Department from 1986 to 2000,
Ralph makes science fun for his students. He
has motivated many to take part in Science
Fairs, the Science Olympics at Carleton
University and the Newton Contest organized
by Waterloo University. His extracurricular
efforts have been centred around the Science
Club, ping pong and the Electronics Club.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Over the years, he has taken a
number of his science classes to Canada’s
Wonderland to analyze the roller coaster
rides. His classes have had lots of fun
building roller coasters, Rube Goldberg
machines, catapults and hovercrafts.
The science lab is one stop that
students do not allow their parents to miss
at the open houses. On these occasions,
Mr. Carney is only too happy to crank up
the Van de Graff machine and watch a
somewhat startled mother stand before it
while the intense static makes her hair
stand straight up. The student invariably
goes home knowing that his or her mother
has enjoyed one of Mr. Carney’s fine
scientific experiences.
Mr. Carney creates an exciting
playing field for science, whether it be in
his lab or in the hallway where students
are often seen testing the machines that
they have built as part of the science
program at St. Paul.
What Makes St. Paul a Special Place?
Former Principal Eugene Milito
provides an insight into the special
character of St. Paul Catholic High School
in his response to the frequently asked
question about what are some of the positive
features of the school.
264
Without hesitation, my answer
always begins with the dedication that is
shown by the students, staff and parent
community towards the school. We believe
in working with all of our stakeholders in
developing each student spiritually,
academically, physically and emotionally.
We believe that everyone here will
experience success while walking the halls.
We believe in preparing our students to
become positive role models in the
community. Success should not always be
measured on what someone knows. We must
ask, ‘What have you become?’”
S
t. Peter Catholic High School in
Orléans opened in September 1992,
utilizing the design employed for
the first time in the construction of Holy
Trinity Catholic High School in Kanata.
Eventually, 40 portables were required on
the site to accommodate continuing student
population growth until a 30-room, threestorey addition to the school was completed
in February 2004.
ST.
PETER
SCHOOL HISTORIES
The school began to take shape
even before it opened, when the newly
appointed first principal, Peter Linegar, met
with his department heads in a supply room
at St. Matthew Catholic High School to plan
the spirit and shape of the new school. What
emerged from this meeting and others like
it, was a high school named after the first
pope, which would support and bask in the
glow of academic success, sports
achievements, arts encouragement and an
overall caring environment, all taking place
in a faith-filled atmosphere.
The academic success rate at
St. Peter is high; for example, one-third of
the graduating class of 2004 were Ontario
scholars and the school enjoyed a 94 percent
success rate in the Education Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO) literacy test
in 2004-05.
St. Peter has over 40 sports teams,
continues to build on its record of athletic
achievements, and has won numerous
championships. At the grades 7 and 8 levels,
St. Peter has produced championships in
soccer, softball, football, track and field and
basketball. Indeed, St. Peter won the grades
7 and 8 girls’ basketball city championship
three years in a row from 2001 to 2003.
At the high school level, St. Peter has had
success over the years in swimming, crosscountry running, track and field, basketball,
volleyball, rugby and football. The school has
won football championships at both the
junior and senior levels as well as titles in
750 Charlemagne Boulevard
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613-837-9377
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basketball, volleyball and rugby. Students
have attended provincial high school
championship events in cross-country, track
and field, basketball and soccer. In 2006, the
St. Peter School community undertook a
project to refurbish its battered sports field,
the scene of many of its sports victories.
This project, initiated by the school council,
involved new drainage, a more effective
sprinkler system, improved grading and a
reseeded field at a total cost of $25,000. The
school council raised $23,000 for the project
through a silent auction and a golf
tournament.
265
Arts and music programs thrive at
St. Peter, with success and enthusiasm
displayed in musicals, band concerts and
plays.
St. Peter Catholic High School
is a caring school community, with over
300 special-needs students among the
population in 2005. The Canley Cup canned
food drive and walk, the Children’s Hospital
of Eastern Ontario Telethon, Run for the
Cure, the Nordion Run and tsunami relief
efforts all show the caring attitude that
pervades the St. Peter High School
environment.
Faith runs throughout the life of
the school as well, and there are frequent
liturgies. School spirit is enhanced by such
events as spirit week, career days, law day,
service days, multicultural club assemblies
with guest speakers, student exchanges and
trips, academic and athletic award
ceremonies, a leadership camp, French
cultural events such as the annual
Christmas reveillon, a peer support program
(the Patriots) and the provision of Christmas
hampers for the needy in the community.
Graduates past and present
treasure their days at St. Peter Catholic
High School. As evidence of this, an alumni
association is being planned.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Sue Arbour
Past Principals
Peter Linegar
Brent Wilson
Anne Marie McGillis
John Karam
Peter Linegar, Principal
Don Doyle, Vice-Principal
Frances Ilugunas, Vice-Principal
Michael Dallaire, Chaplain
Alain Allard
Bruce Burgess
Jacques Cardinal
C. Deevy
G. Levesque
Denis Lortie
M. Pharand
Marc Thivierge
Gilles Villeneuve
Lou Antonucci
Peter Bean
Kathy Constantine
Danielle Davidson-Seguin
Mary Donaghy
Andrea Doyle
Helene Dubois
Anne Marie Ellis
Dave Faloon
Bill Fox
Marion Fuder
Bing Gallant
Bill Gartland
Pius Gratwohl
Teresa Guella
Mike Heney
Donus Houlihan
Joyce Kealey
Anne Marie Kent
Sheila Kerwin
Barry Lemoine
Mary Major
Ignazio Maniscalco
Irene Marotta
Lisa McLean
Jim Mick
Pierre Monfils
Jean Morin
Mary Murphy
Susan Obertreis
Tom Pakenham
Helene Picard
Dawn Quigley
Sue Rheaume
Ronald Rheaume
Tony Rino
Liz Rollwage
Ron Schiavo
Kim Schreider
Mike Scott
Manon Seguin
Ann Smallian
Danielle Theriault
Angele Tilson
Maura Tubridy
Susan Vail
Lorraine Hubbs, Library
Technician
Claudette Lavoie, Head Secretary
Liz Julien, Guidance Secretary
Vivian Langford, Secretary
Melinda Lefebvre, Secretary
Former Students
Keshia (Harper) Chanté, pop star
Allison Paiano, women’s hockey
player with Ontario provincial hockey team
and National Collegiate Athletic Association
Division One with Colgate University
Jennifer Ashley Scott, a figure
skater who placed sixth in the Canadian
junior championships
Mark Dumalski, a vision-impaired
student who graduated with top honours
School Colours
Blue, grey and white
266
Motto
St. Peter, the Apostle: “Upon this
rock I build my Church.”
Logo
A shield topped by a medieval
knight’s mask, with “St. Peter Catholic High
School” in a scroll across the bottom. The
logo bears the phrase “Dedicated to
Excellence.”
Mascot
The school mascot is a “knight” in
armour. In sports, St. Peter is the “Home of
the Knights.”
Flag
A school flag bears a picture of a
medieval knight’s mask and plumage.
School Fight Song
Stand up, St. Peter’s Knights
Fight, Fight, Fight!
We’ve got the
Team with all the
Might! Might! Might!
We’ll meet the challenge of our
coming foes
Marching right on to victory,
Fight, Fight, Fight!
We never quit until the game is
won
That’s why we are number one –
one!
Shock ‘em, rock ‘em, knock ‘em
with all our might!
We will fight, and we’ll win
For the blue and the white – HEY!
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Staff Remembered Posthumously
Susan Davis, an art teacher, for
whom a memorial tree was planted on the
school grounds.
Bing Gallant, a religion teacher,
deacon and rugby coach
Cheri Kernohan, a school secretary
Great Year for Athletes
St. Peter Catholic High School
teams won five National Capital Secondary
School Athletic Association championships
in the 2005-06 school year, as well as one
city title in track and field. The Knights
competed in four Ontario high school
championships in the 2005-06 school year,
capturing one gold and one bronze medal.
The athletic success has been attributed to
a combination of quality coaching from the
teachers, the outstanding athletes who
attend the school and the mission statement
which stresses “education through sport,”
challenging each participant to become
“a complete individual, disciplined athlete,
dedicated student and responsible, caring
person.”
267
SCHOOL HISTORIES
268
S
t. Philip Catholic School in
Richmond sits adjacent to St. Philip
Catholic Church, but the
relationship between the two is more than
just geographic proximity or a name.
Granted, the school does bear the same name
as that of the parish, a name that goes back
to the very earliest settlement in the area.
St. Philip is the second-oldest Catholic parish
in the Ottawa Archdiocese, dating back to
1819. The school was created because of the
enthusiastic interest and involvement of the
parishioners and clergy of St. Philip Parish.
In 1959, two parishioners of
St. Philip, H.F. Beingessner and Les
Jennings, approached Father T. O’Rourke,
the parish priest, with the idea of forming a
school board and building a Catholic school
in the Village of Richmond. Not only was
Father O’Rourke supportive of the initiative,
but the parish, with the approval of the
Archdiocese, provided the site for the school.
After being contacted about this idea, Father
O’Rourke approached parishioners living
within a three-mile radius of the proposed
school site, since they were eligible to
transfer their school taxes to the new
Catholic school board. A school board was
formed whose members included J.A.
McKiel, Chairperson, H.F. Beingessner,
Secretary-Treasurer, and J.J. Duffy,
W.D. Evans, Doug McNaughton and Des
Stapleton. The parish, with the approval
of the Archdiocese, deeded a portion of its
property to the school board for a token sum.
The contract for the construction of the new
school, which included four classrooms,
washrooms, a furnace room, a principal’s
office and a teachers’ room, was awarded to
John Coady Construction. Roger Thibault
was the architect for the project.
There were no doors on the building
on the scheduled first day of school in
September 1960, so the teachers and students
met in the nearby church to get organized,
then returned home until the following
ST.
PHILIP
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Monsignor John O’Neil, Vicar-General of the
Ottawa Archdiocese, assisted by Father Leo
Blanchfield and Father Thomas O’Rourke.
Among the special guests at the ceremony
were L.J. Dupuis, Inspector of Separate
Schools for Ottawa District No. 4, Canon J.J.
Burke, the parish priest at St. Patrick
Church in Fallowfield and J. Edgar Gamble,
the reeve of the Village of Richmond.
The phrase “if you build it, they
will come” proved true in this case as more
and more parishioners of St. Philip and
St. Clare at Dwyer Hill opted to send their
children to this new Catholic school in
Richmond.
79 Maitland Street
Richmond K0A 2Z0
613-838-2466
www.occdsb.on.ca/phi
Monday. The new school was ready for
occupancy on Monday, September 12, 1960,
even though there were still no classroom
doors. On that day, St. Philip Catholic School
began, with three classrooms available for the
80 students in Grades 1 to 8. The majority of
the students had been previously enrolled at
Richmond Public School, while others came
from School Section No. 10 Goulbourn, School
Section No. 4 North Gower, and School
Section No. 3 Marlborough.
Sunday, October 23, 1960 was a
great day for Catholic education in
Richmond and area as the new St. Philip
School was officially opened and blessed by
269
In 1962, Catholic ratepayers of
School Section No. 1 Goulbourn in Dwyer Hill
joined the new school board, making it
necessary to open a fourth classroom in the
new building to accommodate the increase in
student enrolment to 117. The next year saw
Catholic ratepayers in School Sections No. 4, 5
and 6 of Goulbourn redirect their school taxes
to the newly formed Catholic board and send
their children to St. Philip Catholic School.
Catholic ratepayers in the Union School
Section No.10 of Beckwith, Marlborough and
Montague joined the new Catholic school
board in 1964, further increasing the school’s
enrolment. All of this growth meant that
St. Philip School had to expand. In 1965, two
more classrooms and a gymnasium with a
large kitchen doubling as a teachers’ room
were added to the original building. W.N.
Construction was the general contractor.
Parishioners’ support of the school
continued and was in evidence in this project,
as they contributed $7,000 towards the
construction costs with the proviso that the
parish could use the new gym and kitchen as
a parish hall, something which it lacked at
that time. The Catholic Women’s League of
St. Philip Parish purchased a quantity of
kitchen equipment for the new facility. More
Catholic ratepayers in the area continued to
SCHOOL HISTORIES
sign on and support the new school. In 1967,
the Catholic ratepayers of School Section
No. 9 Marlborough joined the new Catholic
school board. This, combined with the impact
of a new housing project under construction
in Richmond, resulted in another significant
increase in enrolment at the school.
January 1, 1969 was the date of the
creation of the new county-wide Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board. This meant the
dissolution of the Combined Roman Catholic
Separate School Board of Beckwith, Goulbourn,
Marlborough and Richmond. Thereafter,
St. Philip became one of the schools of the new
county Catholic school board. H.F. Beingessner,
who was so instrumental in the launching of
St. Philip Catholic School, became the
representative for the local area on the new
board of trustees. In 1970, St. Philip received
an addition, which included seven classrooms,
a science room which doubled as a classroom,
a library, storage areas, a principal’s office, a
nurse’s room, a teachers’ room, gym change
rooms, an instructor’s office, and washrooms.
W.N. Construction again served as the general
contractor.
The additional space was needed as
enrolment at St. Philip grew, reaching nearly
500 by the 1980s. An additional three portable
classrooms were required to accommodate the
increased population. The school experienced
some enrolment relief when the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board opened St. Mark
Catholic High School in the fall of 1980.
Grades 7 and 8 students, who had been
attending St. Philip in Richmond, were
transferred to St. Mark that offered these grades
in addition to their high school programs.
Sunday, December 1, 1985, marked
the 25th anniversary celebration of St. Philip
Catholic School. More than 250 people
attended the event and were treated to
reminiscences by first principal Anne Casey,
who was still teaching at the school, and Harry
Beingessner, one of the original trustees. The
Board trustee at that time, Hugh Connelly, in
his remarks at the celebration, said that the
existence of St. Philip School was a tribute
to the local Catholic ratepayers who had the
foresight, courage and basic gumption to
ensure that their children were educated in
a Catholic environment.
St. Philip received a facelift in
1991, when the older section of the building
was extensively renovated and upgraded.
W.N. Construction was, once again, the
general contractor.
In 2004, a library/computer lab
complex was added, giving the school a
state-of-the-art high-tech information centre.
McDonald Bros. Construction Ltd. carried
out this project for the Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board with the firm of
Pye & Richards as the architects.
Present Principal
Edward Rogan (2004-present)
Past Principals
Anne Casey (1960-62)
Dennis O’Brien (1962-72)
Carolyn Arbour (1972-75)
Peter Gravelle (1975-80)
Gerry Leveque (1980-85)
Sister Rita McBane (1986-91)
Helen Anderson (1991-95)
Joan Gravel (1995-96)
Lucy Miller (1996-99)
Joanne Farquharson (1999-2004)
First Teaching Staff
Anne Casey
Rodrique Boivin
Carol Montabone
Former Students
Dan Murphy, who played in the
Canadian Football League with Edmonton,
Toronto and Ottawa
270
Brad Tierney, who played in the
Canadian Football League with the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Ottawa
Rough Riders
Rev. Michael Ruddick, current
pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Corkery
School Colours
Green, white and gold
The Beginnings
Harry Beingessner, speaking at
the 25th anniversary celebration of St. Philip
Catholic School in Richmond in December
1985, recollected the beginnings of the school
as follows:
In 1959, he was driving into
Ottawa with another Richmond resident,
Les Jennings, when Mr. Jennings remarked
that his wife Gertrude had suggested that
there should be a Catholic school in
Richmond. Mr. Beingessner was intrigued by
the suggestion and began investigating how
to start such a school. The parish priest,
Father O’Rourke, was approached and
supported the idea and Mr. Beingessner was
given the task of finding out how a school
was to be established.
A school board was formed in
Richmond in January 1960, with the rest
of the parish being added over the ensuing
years through the creation of various rural
boards, all coming together to form the
Combined Roman Catholic Separate School
Board of Beckwith, Goulbourn, Marlborough
and Richmond. This school board became
part of the new Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board in 1969.
Dr. J.A. (Bob) McKiel was the first
chair of the school board, and the trustees
were Bill Evans, Jack Duffy, Harry
Beingessner, Des Stapleton and Doug
McNaughton.
S
t. Pius X Catholic High School has
been one of the brightest beacons for
Catholic education in the Ottawa
area for almost 50 years. It was founded in
1958 at its current Fisher Avenue site as a
preparatory seminary for boys of high school
age, aimed at fostering vocations to the
priesthood. Archbishop Lemieux named it
after Pope Pius X whom he considered an
appropriate role model for boys interested
in the priesthood.
The original teachers
were priests, mainly from the Ottawa
Archdiocese, but also assisted by a number
from the Antigonish Archdiocese in Nova
Scotia. The priests lived on site, as did some
of the students who boarded at the school,
including some from as far away as
Hamilton. St. Pius X at that time was the
closest preparatory seminary to Hamilton,
so the Hamilton Diocese made arrangements
for a number of students, usually about
eight, to board at the Ottawa facility.
Hamilton students stopped traveling to
St. Pius X around 1967, although the school
continued to have other boarding students
until 1971. The school also drew students
from all parts of the City of Ottawa,
although there was no school busing.
Right from the beginning, religion,
academics and sports all played an
important role in school life, a tradition
that has carried on to the present day.
In the 1960s, increasing enrolment
and demand from the community brought
about the construction of a stand-alone
gymnasium as well as the construction
of a cafeteria, a chapel and a residence.
In addition, lay teachers, as well as priests,
were hired. In the early 1960s the school’s
drama guild offered its first production and
an adult training centre program was
established to help support and entertain
disabled adults in the community. This
program, now a 40-year tradition, enables
ST.
PIUS X
SCHOOL HISTORIES
1481 Fisher Avenue
Ottawa K2C 1X4
613-225-8105
www.occdsb.on.ca/pih
disabled adults to participate in socials
hosted by St. Pius X students on a bimonthly basis. Both of these initiatives have
continued to thrive over many years.
St. Pius X athletes have proved to
be formidable in sports, beginning with the
school’s first city championship, the 1962
bantam boys’ basketball title. There would
be many more to follow in ensuing years.
Dramatic changes and challenges
ruled the 1970s for St. Pius X Catholic High
School. The Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board was established in 1969, becoming
responsible for grades 9 and 10 students
271
at St. Pius X in 1972. The grades 11 to 13
section of the school continued to be
privately run. Female students were
accepted beginning in 1972. As a result,
the student population grew to over 1,000.
The challenge of operating a large,
comprehensive high school with no
government funding for the senior grades
meant financial problems for the school.
This led to the first meeting of the St. Pius X
Parents’ Foundation in December 1974. Over
the next several years, this parents’ group
raised over one million dollars in support of
the school, organizing bingos, lotteries,
spring fairs and other events. Meeting this
financial challenge led to the development
of a strong and special bond among the
teachers, parents and students of St. Pius X
High School, fostering a strong sense of
community and pride in the school. In 1984,
full and fair funding was announced by the
Provincial Government, resulting in Grades
11 to 13 being funded and included under
the jurisdiction of the Carleton Roman
Catholic School Board. Thus ended more
than 25 years of private funding of Catholic
education at St. Pius X.
In the 1980s, daily Mass was
still celebrated at the school. The school’s
academic program was enhanced by a
plethora of sports and school activities,
instilling spirit, enthusiasm and goodwill
throughout the school community. The
school won a total of 56 championship
athletic banners during the 1980s alone.
In the early 1990s, a major
reconstruction and renovation was necessary
at St. Pius X. A new atrium, cafetorium and
chapel became part of a new inter-connected
complex. The opening of new high schools in
the 1990s by the Carleton Roman Catholic
School Board meant that some St. Pius X
students and staff were relocated, but
St. Pius continued to flourish and excel.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
In 1998, St. Pius X came under
the jurisdiction of the new Ottawa-Carleton
Catholic School Board, an amalgamation of
the former Carleton Roman Catholic School
Board and the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board.
With the new millennium came
more changes in education, such as the
elimination of the Grade 13 year and new
curricula. But St. Pius X Catholic High
School continues to be, as it was when it
was established nearly half a century
earlier, a well-known and strong bastion for
Catholic education in the Ottawa area.
The school is now approaching its
50th anniversary year in 2008. The facility
currently includes 40 classrooms,
20 classrooms in two port-a-paks, five
computer labs, two gymnasiums, a library,
an in-school chapel, a multi-functional
cafetorium and several playing fields.
Enrolment currently stands at around
1,100 students.
Students in Grades 9 through
12 continue to participate in more than
25 high school league sports, as well as in
over 30 clubs and activities at the school.
The school supports a variety of charitable
causes including the Terry Fox Run, Walk
for the Cure, St. Vincent de Paul Society,
Development and Peace, the Children’s
Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Catholic
Missions in Canada, the Shepherds of
Good Hope, Toy Mountain and the Waupoos
Foundation. Since 1975, the Waupoos
Foundation (a registered charitable
foundation) has welcomed families with
children under the age of 16 who have no
other opportunities for holidays, apply for
a vacation at Waupoos Farm or Waupoos
Island.
Present Principal
Jennifer Oake (2006-present)
Past Principals
Rev. John Capstick
Rev. Robert Bedard
Monsignor Leonard Lunney
Peter Linegar
Bogdan Kolbusz
Lise St. Eloi
Bernard Swords
Tom Duggan
Rev. John Capstick,
Principal/Teacher
Rev. Murdock J. MacLean,
Rector/Teacher
Rev. William Allen, Bursar/Teacher
Rev. Paul Baxter
Rev. Robert Bedard
Rev. Don Gavan
Rev. Leonard Lunney
D. Gavan, Office Manager
Mrs. K. Terry, Secretary
Companions of the Cross
Rev. Robert Bedard, who was a
teacher and then principal at St. Pius X
Catholic High School, founded the
Companions of the Cross, a community of
priests.
Former Students
Rev. C. Monaghan, Rev. J.
Vandenakker, Rev. R. Vandenakker and
Rev. J. Muldoon, are now priests in the
Ottawa area.
Dr. Patrick McGrath, is a professor
of psychology in the Psychiatry Department
at Dalhousie University in Halifax and
recipient of the Order of Canada.
Dan Aykroyd, an actor and
comedian.
Jim Foley, played for the Ottawa
Rough Riders of the Canadian Football
League.
Jesse Palmer, a quarterback,
played for the powerhouse Myers Riders
amateur minor football club in Ottawa in
the mid-1990s. He went on to play major
university football on a scholarship at the
University of Florida and then played for
the New York Giants of the National
Football League. In December 2003, Jesse,
while playing for the New York Giants,
became the first Canadian-trained
quarterback to start a National Football
League game.
School Colours
Green and white
Motto On Crest
“To Establish All Things In Christ”
272
I
n February 1955, St. Rita Catholic
School, in the Carleton Heights area of
Nepean, opened with 45 students in two
classrooms. Sister Aimée (Sister Simone
Huot) was the principal who taught
Grades 5 to 8 while Sister St. Gladys (Sister
Kathleen Martin) taught Grades 1 to 4. The
Sisters of Holy Cross remained as the only
teachers at the school until the enrolment
grew and lay teachers were added to the
staff. Other Sisters of Holy Cross who
taught at St. Rita in these early years were
Sister St. Angus (Sister Kathryn Cameron),
Sister Mary Columban and Sister Gerald
James (Sister Norah Phelan). Among the
early lay teachers were Bernard Reitz,
Genny MacLean, Pat MacDonald Campbell
and Francis Kenny.
St. Rita School was the second
new Catholic school to open in the City
View/Carleton Heights area of Nepean in the
booming early 1950s. St. Nicholas Catholic
School had opened in September 1953, also
under the guidance of the Sisters of Holy
Cross. In October 1955, the official opening
of St. Rita School took place. It was blessed
by Monsignor John O’Neil, Vicar-General of
the Archdiocese of Ottawa, assisted by Rev.
Father Oswald.
When the school opened, students
who lived far from the school traveled by
shared taxi, while students closer to the
school walked.
It was not long before enrolment
grew. By September 1958, an addition of
four classrooms, a meeting hall and kitchen
area were completed. In 1964, there was
additional expansion, with another four
classrooms added, as well as a state-of-theart gymnasium. Because of continuing
increased enrolment, an eight-classroom
port-a-pak was added to the school in 199697, along with two portable classrooms.
In November 1976, the school library was
formally dedicated to the memory of Sister
ST.
RITA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
in Spoleto, Italy in 1381, and is considered
the patroness of impossible cases. While
St. Rita School has brought Catholic
education to the Carleton Heights area, it
has also been a setting for religious services,
both Catholic and non-Catholic. The
gymnasium, built in 1964, served as the
gathering hall for Sunday Mass for the
Italian community of the area for about a
decade. On the ecumenical side, St. Mark
Anglican Church used classrooms at St. Rita
for Sunday school.
Over the years, St. Rita School has
enjoyed active parental support, with funds
being raised for a play structure, to plant
trees and to supply computer programs,
electronic equipment, gym supplies and
extra classroom supplies. An annual family
barbecue, a family Advent Mass and
educational class trips have all become
traditional highlights of the school year.
1 Inverness Avenue
Nepean K2E 6N6
613-224-6341
www.occdsb.on.ca/rit
M. St. Aimé Martyr (Simone Huot), the
school’s first principal. She taught at the
school for 17 years in total, serving for ten
years as principal and French specialist and
then as librarian for seven years. She died
in November 1975. The Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board honoured
her years of service by the dedication of the
St. Rita library to her memory at a
memorial Mass celebration.
St. Rita is associated with
St. Augustine Parish, which was founded
by Augustinian priests and Brothers. It is
appropriate that the school was named after
St. Rita, an Augustinian nun who was born
273
St. Rita celebrated its 50th
anniversary with a special celebration of
the Eucharist, followed by an open house,
on Friday, June 16, 2006. The anniversary
celebrations included a slide show put
together by the school staff, featuring many
old photographs and news clippings from the
school’s first half-century of providing
Catholic education in the Carleton Heights
area. Special speakers at the celebrations
included June Flynn-Turner, OCCSB
Chairperson, area Trustee Gordon Butler,
Director of Education James McCracken,
and Principal Linda Mancini. In her
remarks, Principal Mancini specifically
thanked Father Vincent for all of his support
over the past 11 years. In recognition of
their gratitude the school presented him
with a cheque for $500. This money will be
used by Father Vincent at his new parish,
St. Theresa, to assist with work in India
helping to feed and send poor children to
school. The school with the help of its school
council, led by Chairperson Rhonda Hogle,
organized the 50th anniversary celebration.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
The school, which now offers a
junior kindergarten to grade 6 program,
currently has two kindergarten classrooms,
seven primary classrooms, eight junior
classrooms, a computer lab, a library and
a gymnasium. Enrolment currently exceeds
400 students.
Present Principal
Linda Mancini
Past Principals
Sister M. Aimée Martyr
(Simone Huot)
Ralph Watzenboeck
Richard McGrath
Bernadette MacNeil
John Delorme
Beverley Murphy
Robert Benning
Gary Valiquette
Philip Butler
Marcia Lynch
Staff Achievement
Lise St. Eloi, a teacher at St. Rita
Catholic School, became Director of
Education with the French Catholic Board of
Eastern Ontario.
Former Students
Chris Simboli, freestyle skier,
Canadian Olympic Team
Shaun McEwan, Chief Operating
Officer of Breckenridge Manufacturing
Solutions
Jamie Fraser, musician in
Broadway and Toronto musicals
Dan and Mark Sims, State Farm
Insurance
Rev. Ross Finlan
Sonja Rusch, downhill skier,
Canadian Olympic Team
Joanne Faloon, surgical podiatrist
Jeremy Akeson, player for the
Ottawa 67’s junior hockey team
Danny Quinn, National Hockey
League player
principal
Anne Louise Revells, OCCSB
Kevork Andoninin, pianist and
composer, New York Philharmonic Orchestra
and Los Angeles Orchestra
John Summers, lawyer
274
Leroy Renault, first custodian
School Colours
Bright cobalt blue and gold
Logo
The symbols on the logo are a
quill, a bottle of ink, a bible and a cross.
S
t. Theresa Catholic School in
Orléans has blossomed into a
beautiful example of Catholic
education at its best. A painting in the foyer
of the school features floating flowers that
is symbolic of all of the simple but beautiful
things that surround every day life. Indeed,
St. Theresa herself believed that the
ordinary things in life are just as important
as great heroic deeds, when they are done
with love. This is what happens regularly at
St. Theresa School. Even though the school
is still young, opening in September 2002,
members of the school community have
already shown through their activities that
they believe, like the patron saint of the
school, that every child is a child of God and
that all people are flowers in God’s garden.
Good acts, done simply and with love, can
become the greatest of deeds.
St. Theresa School came about
because of continuing residential growth
in the Orléans-Cumberland community in
the eastern region of the jurisdiction of the
Both St. Clare Catholic School and
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School
provided the first students for St. Theresa.
It now draws students from both urban
and rural settings since it is located at the
eastern tip of the metropolitan area.
The official opening ceremony took
place on Wednesday, October 23, 2002.
More than 350 staff, students, parents and
dignitaries gathered in the gymnasium for
the occasion. The ceremony began with a
procession led by students dressed up as
flowers in honour of “Little Flower,” the
patron saint of the school. Speakers included
Board Chairperson Thérèse Maloney
Cousineau, local Trustee Des Curley,
Director of Education Philip A. Rocco and
the first school council chairperson, Kim
Beaudoin. Father Gerard Monaghan, Pastor
of Divine Infant Parish in Orléans, formally
blessed the new school. Priests from Divine
ST.
THERESA
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
funds collected going to a variety of
charitable organizations. The students have
food drives for the Cumberland Food Bank
and collect toys for Toy Mountain, as well
as mitts and scarves for the Snowsuit Fund.
Besides these annual fundraising initiatives,
students and staff at St. Theresa rose to the
challenge and supported the victims of the
tsunami and hurricane disasters of 2004-05.
In the fall of 2005, St. Theresa
Catholic School became a French as a
Second Language Immersion Centre,
welcoming to its ranks junior students from
Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School.
2000 Portobello Blvd.
Cumberland K4A 4M9
613-837-4114
www.occdsb.on.ca/the
Infant Parish celebrate Masses at the school
and preside over special celebrations such as
the commissioning of the teachers every fall.
The priests also assist in the sacramental
preparation of the students.
The students and staff at
St. Theresa School try to follow St. Theresa’s
example of doing simple acts of kindness.
These include collecting funds for
organizations such as the United Way,
UNICEF, the Red Cross and the Canadian
Hunger Foundation. They participate in the
Terry Fox Run while staff members “Run for
the Cure” every year. Staff members also
pay to “dress down” on Fridays, with the
275
St. Theresa School benefits from
an active and hard-working group of
volunteers who are involved with the school
council. Funds raised by the council support
the acquisition of books, mathematics
manipulatives and physical education
equipment. Basketball hoops, benches and
gardens adorn the schoolyard thanks to
their efforts. Activities such as a family
barbecue, family dance and a fun fair allow
the community to celebrate fellowship
together. The school also partners with other
organizations for the benefit of the school
community. These include the Ottawa 67’s
Adopt-a-School program, co-op students from
local high schools, Big Brothers and Big
Sisters of Ottawa and student teachers from
various educational institutions.
The St. Theresa Catholic School
Choir sings at Mass at Divine Infant
Church. A no-bullying program with its
peacemakers and an environment club are
two examples of how the students and staff
are trying to make a positive impact on the
atmosphere at the school.
The school, which sits on a
6.98 acre site, has 16 classrooms, a double
gymnasium, a library, a computer lab, a
resource room and two child care rooms.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
School Colour
Past Principals
Logo
Cindy Simpson (2004-present)
Johanne Cloutier (2002-04)
Johanne Cloutier, Principal
Lise Powell
Miriam Bullen
Jennifer LeBelle
Linda Walker
Renee Critchley
Irene Powidajko
Kate Goodine
Anne-Marie Hupé
Loretta DiEugenio
Erin Forman
Julie Kerr
Paul Gautreau
Donna Keating
Susan Gwyer
Chantal Lalande-Lefebvre
Danielle Drouin
Chantal Thauvette, Educational
Assistant
Scott Officer, Educational
Assistant
Jill O’Malley, Educational
Assistant
Kim Dunlop, Secretary
Lorraine Hall, Library Technician
Denis Marcil, Custodian
Blue and yellow
The school logo features an open
book with a flower across it, as well as a
cross, and the school name.
Origin of School Name
The name of the school was chosen
by a committee of parent and teacher
representatives from the founding schools
of St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi, as well
as by representatives from the OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board. The
committee considered a list of names
suggested by parents of the school
community. In honour of St. Thérèse of
Lisieux, also known as St. Theresa of the
Little Flower, the name “St. Theresa” was
recommended to the Board of Trustees,
and approved by the Board.
Members of the school naming
committee were Johanne Cloutier, founding
Principal, Michael Baine, Superintendent of
Schools, Des Curley, Trustee, Father Peter
Sanders, Board Chaplain, Dianna Gardner,
Principal of St. Clare, Louise Roddy,
Principal of St. Francis of Assisi, Anne-Marie
Hupé, teacher at St. Clare, Lise Powell,
teacher at St. Francis of Assisi, Carol Hunt,
parent at St. Clare, Fran Vanden
Hanenberg, parent at St. Clare, Kim
Beaudoin, parent at St. Francis of Assisi,
and Gwen Despatie, parent at St. Francis
of Assisi.
276
T
he construction of St. Thomas
Catholic School came about in 1962
as the result of new residential
development in both the Crystal Beach and
Lakeview communities. This was part of the
burgeoning housing growth taking place
throughout Nepean in the early 1960s.
St. Thomas School was originally a
rectangular building, designed to
accommodate approximately 180 students.
Later, the school was enlarged with a new
wing, forming the L-shape, to accommodate
a new French language school with its own
separate entrance, washrooms and principal.
ST.
THOMAS
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
In the mid 1970s, a beautiful new
gymnasium was added to the south side of
the building. Every week, Mass was held in
the school gymnasium; a great asset to the
people since there was not a Catholic church
in the community.
In 1977 the Francophone Board
built a new school in Kanata, moving
students out of the St. Thomas building,
leaving the space empty. For approximately
25 years, the OCCSB used this vacated area
as office space.
In June 1986, the Carleton Board
of Education closed Sir John A. Macdonald
Public School in Crystal Beach, resulting in
many community protests. David Pratt, later
a municipal councillor and then a federal
Member of Parliament, chaired a community
group that tried to convince the Carleton
Board of Education and the Carleton Roman
Catholic Separate School Board to share the
St. Thomas School facility. Although the
CRCSSB at that time had no thought of
closing the school, it was operating at less
than one-quarter of its pupil capacity.
After the amalgamation of the
Board and the Carleton Roman Catholic
Separate School Board to form the new
9 Leeming Drive
Nepean K2H 5P6
1998, school rationalization brought about
by the funding formula for new school
construction, was undertaken by the
OCCSB. One of the schools examined closely
for closure in this rationalization process
was St. Thomas Catholic School in Crystal
Beach. However, community opposition to
the closing, together with the presentation
of the community viewpoint and the value
of the school to the Catholic community of
the area, convinced the Board of Trustees at
the time to forego the possible closure of the
school. In fact, the Board of Trustees even
committed to ensuring that the school would
remain open for at least three years.
277
Due to declining enrolment,
students at St. Thomas School were
redirected to Our Lady of Peace School
in Bells Corners in September 2005.
Present Principal
N/A
Past Principals
Earl Sonnenburg
Jim Mallen
Paul Fortier
Garry Valiquette
Floriana Argento
Bev Murphy
Mary-Pat Kelly
Dorothy Collins
Hellen Bogie
Greg Peddie
Sharon O’Connor
DanLahey
Jo-Ann Blake
William Tomka
Linda Mancini
Highlights from 1962 to 2006
“Jump Rope for Heart,” Club 2000,
FAMSAC, Peer Mediators, St. Vincent de
Paul, Cookies for Comfort, Scholastic Book
Fair and “OK Water Project” were but a few
of the projects in which the students were
involved.
A St. Thomas student won MPP
Jim Watson’s Christmas Card Contest.
Mr. Watson used the card that Christmas
to send out his annual holiday greetings.
Students from the choir at
St. Thomas participated in the Boardwide productions of Annie and Music Man,
sponsored by the Catholic Education
Foundation of Ottawa-Carleton.
The strength of the school council
and the many parent volunteers made
SCHOOL HISTORIES
St. Thomas truly unique and led to a tightknit community school. Additionally, parent
volunteers helped organize many school
social events, including the Fall Craft Fair,
Family Advent Mass, Pancake Supper,
Community Barbecue and Plant Sale and
a visit to St. Brigid’s Camp.
EQAO results were consistently
above the provincial average.
School Awards
Over the years, St. Thomas has
enjoyed partnerships with the following
organizations:
Ottawa Police Service - VIP
(Values, Influences and Peers),
Safety Patrols
Riverpark Seniors' Residence
Crystal Bay School
Crossroads/McHugh
Academic Achievement
French Achievement
Top Female/Male Athlete
Humanitarian
Christian Spirit
Public Speaking
Citizenship
Environment
Most Improved Student
Monthly recognition for Christian
values and outstanding school
work
St. Thomas students have also
consistently performed well at Board-wide
sports competitions including soccer,
basketball, volleyball, handball, track and
field and cross-country running.
Recipient of the Environmental
School Award 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000,
2001, and 2002, and the Quality Daily
Physical Education CAPHERD Award in
1995-2004.
Former Principal Jo-Ann Blake
sums up the spirit of St. Thomas as...
“A strong, caring Catholic community
dedicated to its children’s education.”
278
S
ST. THOMAS
MORE
t. Thomas More Catholic School
officially only opened in September
1994, but it takes its name from one
of Catholicism’s most heroic figures from five
centuries ago. St. Thomas More (1478-1535),
an English lawyer, writer and politician,
was a leading humanist scholar who also
occupied many public offices, including that
of Lord Chancellor from 1529-1532. He is
known for coining the word “Utopia,” a name
that he gave to an ideal imaginary island
nation whose political system was described
in a book. He is chiefly remembered and
honoured by the Church for his principled
refusal to accept King Henry VIII’s claim
to be the supreme head of the Church in
England. This refusal ended his political
career and led to his execution as a traitor.
The Catholic Church acknowledged
St. Thomas More by canonizing him in 1935
and later declared him to be patron saint of
statesmen, lawyers and politicians.
St. Thomas More Catholic School
in the Hunt Club Park area of Ottawa South
not only carries on the name of St. Thomas
More, but also shares his dedication to the
Catholic faith, encouraging students to
develop a way of living that embodies the
life of Jesus Christ. The strength of the
school comes from the Catholic faith,
as the St. Thomas More School community
integrates His teachings with the day-to-day
curriculum and social fabric of school life.
Liturgical celebrations, sacramental
preparation, classroom involvement in
charitable endeavours and a partnership
with St. Bernard Parish all allow the
students and staff of St. Thomas More
School to demonstrate their Catholic
identity. No doubt, St. Thomas More would
be proud of his namesake school and this
commitment to the Catholic faith for which
he gave his life.
St. Thomas More Catholic School,
in 2005-06, had an enrolment of
approximately 450 students of diverse
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
foundation of this dress code. In 2002, the
school was chosen as one of the pilot schools
for the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School
Board’s dual-track French as a Second
Language delivery model. This model was
fully implemented across the jurisdiction
of the Board in September 2004.
celebrated its tenth anniversary in October
2004, with a number of special anniversary
activities.
1620 Blohm Drive
Ottawa K1G 5N6
613-739-7131
www.occdsb.on.ca/stm
cultural backgrounds in its modern twostorey building. It offers a wide range of
extracurricular activities for its students.
School choirs, athletics, peacemaking, an
environmental club and participation in
Board-wide athletic competitions make for
an active, vibrant school. Annually,
thousands of dollars have been raised for
the Heart and Stroke Foundation through
the participation of students in the “Jump
Rope for Heart” skipping event.
In 1994, its inaugural year,
St. Thomas More School initiated a student
dress code which is still in effect. The school
colours of blue, green and white are the
279
The school council has played
a vital role in the development of the
St. Thomas More community. Family fun
day in June has become an annual
community-building social event. Through
the dedicated efforts of the school council,
St. Thomas More has enjoyed a steady
upgrade of playground and physical
education equipment over the years. In
2002, additional playground equipment was
donated and in 2005, a gym divider was
installed, allowing the scheduling of more
indoor physical education classes. Other
school council initiatives have included hot
lunch programs and other fundraising
activities.
has four kindergarten classrooms, 16 regular
a library and a gymnasium.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Valerie Wright (2006-present)
Past Principals
Glenda McDonell
Margie Gourdier
James O’Connor
Past Vice-Principals
Michael Keeler
Liette Lacourcière
Madeleine Soulière-Brown
Lynne Charette
Glenda McDonnell, Principal
Bonnie Steele, Junior
Kindergarten
Christine McGee, Junior
Kindergarten
Kimberly MacDonald, Senior
Kindergarten/Technology
Joanne Chayer, Senior
Kindergarten/Physical Education
Micheline Sum, Grade 1
Linda Dennison, Grade 1
Anne-Marie McGuinty, Grade 2
Genevieve Comeau, Grade 2
Louise Vincelli, Grade 3
Andrea Green, Grade 2-3/
Physical Education
Liette Hotte, Grade 3
Joanne McLean, Grades 4 and 4-5
Lise St-Louis, Grades 4 and 4-5
Madeleine Soulière-Brown,
Grades 5-6/6 and Grade 6
Mary Dunning, Grades 5-6 and 6
Katherine MacDonald, Remedial
Jean Burke, Resource
Kimberly Giles, Teacher-Librarian
Grace Zagorska, Junior Special
Needs
Kathy ----, Educational Assistant
Larry Carroll, Educational
Assistant
Sharon Murphy, Secretary
Marcel Lemire, Custodian
280
School colours
Blue, green and white
Logo
The school logo represents the
school’s strong Catholic foundation and its
emphasis on academics to help create wellrounded citizens for the future.
The logo features the school
motto “We are the Future,” the school name
“St. Thomas More,” and a figure with a
background of three crosses, meant to
represent St. Thomas More and the Catholic
community supporting him.
Motto
“We are the Future”
Mascot
“Rocky,” the big brown bear.
T
THOMAS D’ARCY
MCGEE
homas D’Arcy McGee Catholic
School bears the name of the
Confederation-era politician who
fought for the right of Catholics in Ontario
to have a religious-based education system.
Perhaps better known as a Father of
Confederation and a Member of Parliament
who was assassinated on Sparks Street in
Ottawa, he may have made his greatest
contribution to public life by his support
of Catholic education in Ontario. It was
in honour of this support that the school,
originally slated for the French-speaking
community, was named after him when it
opened in September 1969.
Located in the Beacon Hill North
section of the former City of Gloucester,
the school was built in conformity with the
“open concept” educational philosophy
prevalent at that time. Originally, it had a
population of over 1,200 students, ranging
from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8,
housed in a building featuring seven pods
of four classrooms each as well as a number
of portables. In the 1972-73 school year,
the Beacon Hill South Senior Elementary
School, later to become Lester B. Pearson
Catholic High School, was housed at Thomas
D’Arcy McGee, using several classrooms and
portables until construction of the new
school was completed in January. With the
opening of this new high school, the grades 6
to 8 students attending Thomas D’Arcy
McGee were directed to the new school.
A year later, the grade 6 students were
repatriated to Thomas D’Arcy McGee.
In 1985, a unit for dependently
handicapped students was established at
the school.
On May 1, 1994, the school
celebrated its 25th anniversary. The
ceremonies included a Mass presided over by
Monsignor Robert Huneault. Special guests
at the anniversary ceremonies included: the
first principal, William Roach; Anne
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Examples are school-wide and classroom
liturgies, fundraising for charities, and
community service.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
In the late 1990s, the school
became known for its musical productions
directed by teachers Janet Bentham and
Peggy O’Meara. These included Godspell,
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream
Coat and Jesus Christ Superstar, which was
presented in May 1999 in the auditorium
at Gloucester High School.
Present Principal
Marcel Lafleur (2005- present)
Past Principals
635 LaVerendrye Drive
Gloucester K1J 7C2
613-749-2251
www.occdsb.on.ca/mcg
Stankovic, Chairperson of the Carleton
Roman Catholic School Board; Claudette
Cain, Mayor of Gloucester; Gilles Morin,
the area MPP; and Eugene Bellemare, the
federal MP for the area.
By 2005-06, the enrolment at
Thomas Darcy McGee Catholic School had
dropped from its heady initial student
population of 1,300 students down to only
193, encompassing Junior Kindergarten to
Grade 6.
The school provides many
opportunities for prayer and for a
demonstration of the Catholic faith.
281
William Roach (1969-75)
Starr Kelly (1975-80)
Robert Slack (1980-85)
Richard McGrath (1990-91)
Sam Coletti (1991-94)
Thomas Duggan (1994-97)
Paul Wubben (1997-98)
Jane Hill (1998-2001)
Francis Kenny (2001-05)
Nicole Chartrand, Senior
Kindergarten
Mary Whittenburg, Senior
Kindergarten
Sarah Boudreau, Grade 1
Janet Laba, Grade 1
Barbary Jette, Grade 1-2
Linda McGue, Grade 1-2
Norma Menard, Grade 2
Caroline Renko, Grade 2
Daniel Lahey, Grade 3
Christine Maxwell, Grade 3
Wilma Vullings, Grade 3
Nancy Cochran, Grade 4
Anne Kiefl, Grade 4
Sue Lavigne, Grade 4
Anne Marie Gauvreau, Grade 5
Roderick Grant, Grade 5
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Bernie Boudreau, Grade 6
Rolland Lapointe, Grade 6
Carolyn Bordeleau, Grade 7
Donna Turcotte, Grade 7
Theresa Dubien, Grade 8
Robert Laplante, Grade 8 and
Vice-Principal
Claudette Racine, French Teacher
Nancy Charbonneau, Librarian
Ruth Cosstick, Secretary
Jean-Marie Dagenais, Custodian
Former Student
Amanda Labelle, a local country
and western singer who graduated in 1998
282
U
plands Catholic School opened
as a Catholic elementary school
under the jurisdiction of the
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board on
November 22, 1989, introducing Catholic
education to the Canadian Forces Base
Uplands, adjacent to the Ottawa
International Airport. However, this was not
the beginning of education at this site as the
school building dates back to the mid-1950s
when it began as a Department of National
Defence primary school for kindergarten
to grade 3 students. The junior school for
Grades 4 to 8 was housed at an adjacent
facility, which is now Elizabeth Park Public
School. In the early 1990s, Canadian Forces
Base Uplands was decommissioned as a
fully functioning military base and was
renamed the Canadian Forces Support Unit
Uplands. Therefore, the school facilities
became redundant and available to the local
Catholic and public school boards under
lease arrangements.
In the spring of 1989, just before
the Carleton Roman Catholic School Board
assumed educational responsibility for the
children of Catholic military families,
projected enrolment at the new Uplands
Catholic School was 84 students; however,
when the school formally opened later that
year, actual enrolment reached 120. The
boundaries for this new Catholic school
included the military base, known as
Elizabeth Park, Windsor Park and a section
of the Bridlepath South community that was
severed from the St. Bernard Catholic School
area. Uplands Catholic School also became
the school for the new community of Riverside
South until the opening of St. Jerome Catholic
School in that community in September 2004.
Uplands Catholic School falls
under the auspices of the military bishop,
currently Bishop D. Theriault, and has
always been served by military chaplains.
Therefore, Uplands Catholic School is the
only school in the jurisdiction of the Ottawa-
UPLANDS
SCHOOL HISTORIES
CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Because of the residential growth
in the new Riverside South community in
recent years, enrolment at Uplands Catholic
School reached nearly 300 students in 200304. With the opening of St. Jerome Catholic
School in Riverside South, enrolment at
Uplands Catholic School is now about the
same as when it opened.
School boundary adjustments, an
increase in military personnel stationed at
the Uplands site and some new residential
construction in the adjacent area are signs
that the school should retain a viable
enrolment base well into the future.
One mainstay at Uplands Catholic
School is Margaret Tobin, the school’s office
administrator. She is the only current staff
member who has been at the school since it
opened as a Catholic school.
17 De Niverville Drive
Gloucester K1V 7N9
613-523-5807
www.occdsb.on.ca/upl
Carleton Catholic School Board, which does
not fall under the governance of the Ottawa
Archdiocese and, as a result, has retained
practices common to other military bases
across Canada.
For example, students attending
Uplands Catholic School receive the sacrament
of Confirmation in Grade 6 while those in all
other Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board
schools are confirmed in Grade 2.
The Uplands Catholic School
community shares a multi-denominational
chapel, Our Lady of the Airways, with other
religious groups on the former base.
283
Uplands Catholic School was one
Board schools that, in the 2005-06 school
year, raised about $6,000 in total for the
“OK Clean Water Project.” This project
(OK stands for Ottawa-Kumbo, a town in
Cameroon in Africa) is an initiative of the
Congregation of Notre Dame, an
and associates with a strong presence
throughout Canada and a longstanding
dedication to education. The “OK Clean
Water Project” supports the purchase of
water pipes, which are laid from a clean
water source into their communities by
villagers in Cameroon.
The school has two kindergarten
classrooms, four primary classrooms, three
junior classrooms, a resource room, a
computer lab, a library, a conference room
and a gymnasium. Students also enjoy a
large playground at the rear of the school.
The building also houses the privately run
Elizabeth Park Child Care Centre.
SCHOOL HISTORIES
Present Principal
Andrea Green (2005-present)
Past Principals
Grace Kenny-Castonguay
(1989-93)
Marilyn Gorman (1993-97)
Faye Powell (1997-2001)
Pasquale Ferraro (2001-05)
284
A
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
IN
OTTAWA
SCHOOLS
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
clergy. They were the glue that held the
system together and made it work.
reading of this compilation of the
histories of the existing Catholic
schools in the City of Ottawa,
along with the record of Catholic education
in Ontario and of institutionalized Catholic
education in the area, provides an historic
vantage point for witnessing the struggles
made in the past by both lay and religious
educators to establish and sustain Catholic
schools.
Indeed, any reading of this
publication reveals an evolution that has
occurred over the years, not in the
fundamental reason for having Catholic
schools, but certainly in its form and
presence. As Father Carl J. Matthews, a
noted writer on Catholic schools in Canada,
wrote in his article on Catholic schools in
Ontario included in the booklet Catholic
School Systems Across Canada, published
by the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’
Association in 1990, “The struggles of our
forefathers to establish a Catholic school
system may have been different in some
ways from our struggles today, but the goals
have not changed…”
This very publication demonstrates
these changed struggles over the years. In
the beginning, it was parents themselves
who largely saw to it that Catholic schools
existed. This was in the early years of the
19th century here in Ottawa and Carleton
when education was very much a local
concern, whether in the rural concessions
of March Township, Upper Huntley,
Fallowfield, West Osgoode and Metcalfe, or
the bustling area of Lower Town in Bytown
and then the new Ottawa. Education was
important to these early settlers, and for
Catholic settlers, it was a Catholic education
they were familiar with in their home
countries, such as Ireland, that was
paramount. Right from the very beginning,
because of the faith that early settlers of the
area brought with them, there was the drive
for Catholic schools.
As settlement in the area
flourished, education became more
formalized, especially in the more developed
areas such as Ottawa, the new capital of
the new country. Religious orders, of both
Sisters and Brothers, became involved in
the delivery of Catholic education, supported
and encouraged as the years progressed by a
growing number of priests. A “parish school”
became part of the Catholic infrastructure of
a neighbourhood. This is evident in schools
such as St. Mary and St. Brigid, which were
launched at the instigation of the parish
priest and supported and encouraged by the
Archdiocese. For several generations, this is
how Catholic education was delivered and
grew in the Ottawa area. It was very much
the purview of the clergy and religious,
aided and abetted by a supportive and loyal
Catholic populace.
As early as 1856, organizations
such as the Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board and other smaller
Catholic school sections in fairly isolated
locales in the rural area of Carleton emerged
to support Catholic education; but the
influence of the religious and clergy was
undeniable. In fact, it is difficult to see how
Catholic schools could have continued in
light of their chronic underfunding and other
ongoing struggles had it not been for the
dedication and support of the religious and
285
Slowly before the Second World
War, and more rapidly afterwards, school
boards came to play a more important role
in the delivery of Catholic education in the
area. A growing post-war population meant
more and more schools opened, with those
such as Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady
of Mount Carmel springing up to meet the
demand. Religious and clergy were still
involved with Immaculata High School
and St. Patrick’s College High School,
established as bastions of Catholic
education, fed by a network of Catholic
schools, many of which still had involvement
by members of religious orders. St. George
Catholic School, for instance, benefited from
having a Sister serving as a principal for
virtually the entire first half-century of its
existence.
The suburban boom of the 1950s,
60s and 70s, combined with a provincial
direction to larger school boards, saw
Catholic schools develop throughout the
Ottawa and Carleton areas. More and more,
the involvement of the religious and clergy
diminished in an increasingly secular world,
with lay teachers dedicated to the goals of
Catholic education becoming, to a larger
degree, the leaders of the system.
The larger boards, ultimately the
Ottawa Roman Catholic School Board and
the Carleton Roman Catholic School Board,
were administrations that ran a more formal
Catholic education system. The challenge
for this more secular system, which was
successfully met, was to maintain the basic
reason for having Catholic schools, namely,
to provide the framework for the delivery
of an education that is based on Catholic
philosophy. This presented, as it still does,
significant challenges because, quite simply,
the visual reminders of the distinctive
Catholic nature of the schools are not so
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
obvious as previously. No longer are there
religious and clergy universally present in
the schools as daily reminders of the faith
mission of Catholic schools. Since the
formation of the larger school boards in
1969, Catholic education has been
increasingly in the hands of lay educators.
In the early years of the larger
school boards, the exterior challenges and
interior struggles were still sufficient to
ensure support from the Catholic
community. With insufficient funding from
provincial grants, Catholic communities,
particularly in growth areas, had to rally
to get new Catholic neighbourhood schools.
This resulted in a strong partnership
between Catholic parents, supporters and
their school boards. They were fighting
together to maintain their Catholic schools.
In some respects, the extension of
full funding to Catholic schools announced in
1984 brought with it not only more financial
resources for Catholic schools but also a new
challenge. No longer did Catholics have a
rallying point on which to focus their actions
and show their support for Catholic
education. The common goal of fighting for a
complete Catholic school system was no more.
Egerton Ryerson, the Chief
Superintendent of Schools for Ontario for a
large part of the 19th century, believed that
Catholic schools could be allowed because in
his view they would die of their own accord.
He was wrong: they flourished! So, in some
way, this extension of full funding for
Catholic schools had the danger inherent in
it that Catholics would view the battle as
having been won, that there was no longer
any reason to struggle for Catholic schools
and that their place was assured in Ontario
society. In other words, Egerton Ryerson’s
view might come true at long last.
It is not coincidental, then, that
the Institute for Catholic Education was
established in 1986 to ensure that the
Catholic characteristics of Catholic schools
would continue and flourish even more.
Michael Power, in his book A Promise
Fulfilled: Highlights in the Political History
of Catholic Separate Schools in Ontario,
summarized the creation of the Institute for
Catholic Education as follows: “Catholic
trustees and their educational partners were
acutely aware that they could no longer rely
on priests and religious to assure the
Catholicity of their schools. They also
recognized the corrosive effects of the
increasingly aggressive forces of
secularization coupled with a declining level
in religious practice and a loss of credibility
in Church teaching among the Catholic
population.” This, then, was the challenge of
the final years of the 20th century. It remains
the challenge facing Catholic education
today, particularly in light of the 1998
provincial government decision to further
amalgamate school boards, while also
eliminating any financial inequalities by
instituting an equal funding formula for
schools based on a per-student allocation.
Whereas under the old funding
arrangements the Catholic populace still had
to agitate and lobby for provincial funding,
particularly capital dollars for new schools,
the new funding model of 1998 eliminated
even this role for the Catholic ratepayer and
parent. This has meant that the Catholic
education system in Ottawa and Carleton
has come full circle, as it were, over the past
century and a half. It has evolved from a
system where local parents launched their
own Catholic schools to one where a
bureaucracy of Catholic educators deliver
Catholic education to the children among the
Catholic populace. The system has evolved
through periods where parish priests and
religious steered the ship of Catholic
education, through an era where Catholic
school boards assumed more control, to a
time where Catholic educators relied on the
support and political involvement of their
286
ratepayers to make advances to the point
that the Catholic education system would
reach parity with the public. Now that
parity has been reached, the current
challenge is to ensure that Catholic schools
continue to serve the needs of the Catholic
community and continue to foster that
philosophy of Catholic education, which
has remained consistent over the years.
This philosophy is captured in the
Believing, Discovering, Achieving document
where, in reference to faith, it proclaims that
“our Catholic schools have a fundamental
right to support and enhance the Catholic
faith throughout the entire school
community by proclaiming the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.”
The Catholic Graduate
Expectations, as developed by the Institute
for Catholic Education in consultation with
representatives of the Catholic community
across Ontario, lay out the expectations of
Catholic graduates not only in terms of
knowledge and skills but also in terms of
values, attitudes and action.
With regard to faith, a Catholic
school graduate is expected to be a
discerning believer formed in the Catholic
faith community who celebrates the signs
and sacred mystery of God’s presence
through word, sacrament, prayer,
forgiveness, reflection and moral living. It
is this development of the Catholic faith in
students that remains at the core of Catholic
education today, just as much a concern and
focus as it was 150 years ago when one
Catholic parent got together with neighbours
to create a Catholic school so that children
could flourish in a Catholic environment.
The booklet Build Bethlehem
Everywhere, a statement on Catholic
education published by the Canadian
Catholic School Trustees’ Association, puts it
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
this way: “When we go out to bring the
Gospel to the world of our students, we ask
ourselves a serious question. What is the
essence of what we wish to transmit to the
next generation? The answer is actually
quite simple: Christian faith. Faith is the
deep concern of our Catholic educational
communities today.” This means that
Catholic schools today, besides ensuring that
the academic, social and physical needs of
their students are met in accordance with
provincial government standards, have a
unique and distinctive mission related to the
broader mission of the Catholic Church.
The mission of the Catholic school today,
as it has been in the past, is to evangelize
youth so that they will become not only welldeveloped persons and good citizens, but
also faithful disciples of Christ and
witnesses to the Faith.
In the early days of Catholic
education in Ottawa and Carleton, the
mission of Catholic schools was undeniably
and obviously faith development. The
presence of religion in the schools was a
constant visual reminder of this mission.
As society has become more secularized,
the challenge has arisen of fulfilling the
special mission of Catholic schools in faith
development. The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board of today acknowledges and
recognizes this special mission. Its mission
statement decrees, front and centre, that
“in partnership with home, parish and
community, the Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board ensures that the teachings and
values of Jesus Christ are integrated in all
aspects of school life.”
This is accomplished through a
variety of approaches and initiatives. There
exists in all Catholic schools, of course,
visual reminders and evidence of the special
mission of Catholic schools. There are the
symbols of Catholicity such as crucifixes
and prayer corners in the classrooms.
Sacramental preparation remains a major
focus in Catholic elementary schools. Parish
priests regularly visit most Catholic schools.
But the Catholic education system of today
does more than this. It tries to ensure that
Catholicity and faith formation are
addressed across all subjects and disciplines
so that students come to realize that all
learning speaks to the integration of faith
and life.
Catholic schools provide students
with the opportunity to engage in the formal
study of religion through the delivery of
comprehensive religion and family life
programs across all grades. But the formal
study of religion is only part of the mission
of Catholic schools today. As the Ontario
Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in the
1989 pastoral letter on Catholic education
in Ontario, entitled This Moment of Promise,
“Religious education should not be reduced
to one course in our schools. Rather, our
whole educational process should become a
religious activity. Faith should infuse every
subject and aspect of our curriculum.”
Catholic schools today ensure that student
formation is grounded on a foundation of
faith, and that curriculum is aligned with
Gospel values. In Catholic schools, there is
a continuous striving to put religion into
practice. Students must examine all learning
in the light of the teachings of the Gospels
and the Catholic Church.
Larry Trafford, writing in Notes on
Catholic Education in Ontario, published by
the Council of Ontario Separate Schools,
puts it this way: “Catholic education and its
educational philosophy can be summarized
as follows: its purpose is to direct the learner
to the person of Jesus Christ as the centre
from which relationships with God, self,
others and society unfold; it provides
learning that is holistic and links moral and
spiritual development to the life experiences
of the learner. And finally, it promotes a way
of life rooted in the Christian call to
discipleship and service.”
287
A major focus in achieving this
special mission of Catholic schools is
curriculum development. The Institute for
Catholic Education and, more locally, the
Eastern Ontario Catholic Curriculum
Cooperative, in essence customize the
provincially mandated curriculum so that
it fits with the mission of Catholic schools
to be constantly animated by the Gospel,
always reflecting the tenets of the Catholic
faith. The Eastern Ontario Catholic
Curriculum Cooperative, for instance,
provides Catholic schools in Eastern Ontario
with well-developed Catholic curriculum
documents and support materials which
meet Ontario Ministry of Education
requirements, while reflecting the beliefs
and values of the Catholic faith community.
Indeed, developing curriculum support for
Catholic schools has been likened to using
yeast in the baking of bread. When baking
a loaf of bread, a relatively small amount of
yeast must be added and worked into the
dough in order to have maximum effect. The
yeast is not added after the bread has
already been baked. Similarly, with Catholic
education, Gospel values act like yeast,
added during the formative period of a
student’s life through the curriculum so that
when the student emerges from the Catholic
school system, he or she is a person fully
imbued with and believing in the principles
of the Catholic faith, and as a person ready
and willing to move forward in life espousing
these beliefs. There has been an integration
of faith and life.
Catholic schools in Ottawa have
pursued other initiatives to ensure their
Catholic mission. Students in high school
must take one religion course each year, as
must students in grades seven and eight. All
applicants for permanent teaching positions
with the Board require a current letter from
their pastor. Every new teacher with the
Board agrees to complete the Religious
Education, Part One course. The new
Teacher Performance Appraisal document
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
situates this process in a Catholic context.
There are statements prepared by the
Institute for Catholic Education that appear
in reminder boxes preceding each of the
standards or competencies being assessed
in the teacher performance appraisal
process. Every high school within the
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board has
a chapel, and a chaplain who coordinates
and fosters the liturgical life of the school,
provides pastoral counseling and support,
initiates social justice projects and carries
out other functions in cooperation with the
Board’s religious education and family life
coordinator.
In addition, there is a Board
chaplain, Father Peter Sanders, who sits in
on all Board of Trustees meetings to provide
an ecclesiastical perspective on issues when
necessary, to lead the trustees in opening
prayer and in regular liturgies, to provide
advice from a religious perspective and to
serve as a religious resource in matters such
as the naming of new schools. The OttawaCarleton Catholic School Board has carried
on this tradition of a Board chaplain from
the previous Ottawa Roman Catholic
Separate School Board.
This is how the Catholic school
system has evolved over the years,
delivering its core message perhaps through
different means, but still remaining true to
its mission of educating children not just in
the knowledge of the world, but also in the
integration of faith and life, so that Catholic
students know and live the fullness of
Christian life as found in the Gospel values.
The Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops,
in the 1993 pastoral letter on education
entitled Fulfilling the Promise: The
Challenge of Leadership, states: “The heart
and soul of Catholic education is Jesus
Christ, and our school system finds its very
reason for existence in its communication of
the Christian message. The goal of Catholic
education is nothing less than a truly
holistic formation of persons who will be
living witnesses to the faith.”
An historical perspective is
essential to understanding the status of
Catholic education today. That is why this
document has been prepared, to outline
where Catholic education in Ottawa and
Carleton has been over the past 150 years
and where it is today. This may help in
defining where it goes in the future.
288
Michael Power, in his book A
Promise Fulfilled: Highlights in the Political
History of Catholic Separate Schools in
Ontario, puts history in perspective when he
writes the following: “Prosperity has a way
of evaporating the past and convincing
people that the future will be much like the
present. Nothing is more self-defeating than
to forget one’s collective history, and nothing
is more dangerous than to be complacent
about the future. On the other hand, no
institution can wed itself so completely to
the past that it is unable to envision for
itself a viable future, one that is true to its
mandate and yet able to adapt to changing
circumstances.”
INDEX OF SCHOOLS
BY
FAMILIES
OF
SCHOOLS
INDEX OF SCHOOLS BY FAMILIES
ALL SAINTS FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
ST. MATTHEW FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
All Saints Catholic High School .........69
Georges Vanier Catholic School..........95
St. Isidore Catholic School................205
St. Michael Catholic School (Corkery)241
St. Michael Catholic School (Fitzroy).243
St. Matthew Catholic High School ...239
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
Catholic School ................................77
Chapel Hill Catholic School................81
Convent Glen Catholic School ............83
Divine Infant Catholic School.............89
HOLY TRINITY FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
Holy Trinity Catholic High School....115
Holy Redeemer Catholic School........109
St. Anne Catholic School...................169
St. James Catholic School.................207
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School.229
ST. PATRICK’S FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
IMMACULATA FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
Immaculata High School...................119
Jean Vanier Catholic
Intermediate School ......................125
Assumption Catholic School ...............73
Corpus Christi Catholic School ..........85
Catholic School ..............................145
St. Brigid Catholic School .................179
St. Michael Catholic School (Ottawa) .245
LESTER B. PEARSON FAMILY
OF SCHOOLS
Lester B. Pearson Catholic
High School....................................129
Brother André Catholic School ...........79
Good Shepherd Catholic School..........97
John Paul II Catholic School ............127
Thomas D’Arcy McGee
Catholic School ..............................281
MOTHER TERESA FAMILY
OF SCHOOLS
Mother Teresa Catholic High School..137
Monsignor Paul Baxter
Catholic School ..............................135
St. Andrew Catholic School...............167
St. Luke Catholic School (Nepean)...219
NOTRE DAME FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
Notre Dame Catholic High School ...139
Dr. F.J. McDonald Catholic School.....91
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School..141
(Schools are aligned for administrative purposes
by Families of Schools. A Family of Schools
consists of a high school and its feeder
elementary schools).
St. Anthony Catholic School .............171
St. Daniel Catholic School ................187
St. Elizabeth Catholic School ...........191
St. George Catholic School................199
St. Mary Catholic School (Ottawa)...235
SACRED HEART FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
Sacred Heart Catholic High School..161
Guardian Angels Catholic School .....101
Holy Spirit Catholic School ...............111
St. Philip Catholic School .................269
ST. JOSEPH FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
St. Joseph Catholic High School.......213
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Catholic School ..............................193
St. Emily Catholic School .................195
St. Patrick Catholic School ...............251
ST. MARK FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
St. Mark Catholic High School .........227
St. Bernard Catholic School..............177
St. Catherine Catholic School...........181
St. Leonard Catholic School..............215
St. Mary Catholic School (Gloucester) 233
289
St. Patrick’s Catholic High School....253
St. Patrick’s Catholic Intermediate
School .............................................259
Holy Cross Catholic School...............105
Holy Family Catholic School ............107
McMaster Catholic School ................133
Prince of Peace Catholic School........157
St. Luke Catholic School (Ottawa) ...221
St. Marguerite d’Youville
Catholic School ..............................223
St. Thomas More Catholic School ....279
ST. PAUL FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
St. Paul Catholic High School ..........261
Bayshore Catholic School....................75
Our Lady of Peace Catholic School ..147
Our Lady of Victory Catholic School ..151
St. John the Apostle Catholic School..211
St. Thomas Catholic School ..............277
ST. PETER FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
St. Peter Catholic High School .........265
Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School..153
St. Clare Catholic School ..................185
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School ..197
St. Theresa Catholic School ..............275
ST. PIUS X FAMILY OF SCHOOLS
St. Pius X Catholic High School .......271
Elementary School ..........................93
Pope John XXIII Catholic School .....155
St. Augustine Catholic School...........175
St. Gregory Catholic School ..............203
St. Jerome Catholic School ...............209
St. Monica Catholic School ...............249
St. Rita Catholic School ....................273
Uplands Catholic School ...................283
INDEX
OF
SCHOOLS
BY
ZONE
INDEX OF SCHOOLS BY ZONE
ZONE ONE –
TRUSTEE JOHN CURRY
(West Carleton/ Goulbourn/ Rideau/ Osgoode)
Guardian Angels Catholic School......101
Holy Spirit Catholic School................111
Sacred Heart Catholic High School ..161
St. Catherine Catholic School ...........181
St. Leonard Catholic School ..............215
St. Mark Catholic High School..........227
St. Michael Catholic School
(Corkery).........................................241
(Fitzroy) ..........................................243
St. Philip Catholic School ..................269
ZONE TWO –
TRUSTEE ARTHUR J.M. LAMARCHE
(Kanata)
All Saints Catholic High School..........69
Georges Vanier Catholic School ..........95
Holy Redeemer Catholic School ........109
Holy Trinity Catholic High School ....115
St. Anne Catholic School ...................169
St. Isidore Catholic School.................205
St. James Catholic School .................207
St. Martin de Porres Catholic School...229
ZONE THREE –
TRUSTEE DES CURLEY
(Orléans/Cumberland)
Convent Glen Catholic School.............83
Divine Infant Catholic School .............89
Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School...153
St. Clare Catholic School ...................185
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School...197
St. Matthew Catholic High School....239
St. Peter Catholic High School..........265
St. Theresa Catholic School...............275
ZONE FOUR –
TRUSTEE JUNE FLYNN-TURNER
(Bell-South Nepean)
School..............................................135
Mother Teresa Catholic High School..137
Our Lady of Peace Catholic School ...147
(Trustees are elected by zones, each one
representing a certain geographical area of the
City of Ottawa. Municipal elections are held
every three years).
St. Andrew Catholic School ...............167
School..............................................193
St. Emily Catholic School ..................195
St. Joseph Catholic High School .......213
St. Luke Catholic School (Nepean) ...219
St. Monica Catholic School ................249
St. Patrick Catholic School................251
ZONE FIVE –
TRUSTEE JACQUELINE LEGENDREMCGUINTY
(Beacon Hill-Cyrville/Innes)
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic
School................................................77
Brother André Catholic School............79
Chapel Hill Catholic School.................81
Good Shepherd Catholic School ..........97
John Paul II Catholic School.............127
Lester B. Pearson Catholic
High School.....................................129
Thomas D’Arcy McGee Catholic
School..............................................281
291
ZONE SIX –
TRUSTEE GORDON BUTLER
(Knoxdale-Merivale/Baseline)
Elementary School ...........................93
Our Lady of Victory Catholic School...151
Pope John XXIII Catholic School......155
St. Daniel Catholic School .................187
St. Gregory Catholic School...............203
St. John the Apostle Catholic School...211
St. Paul Catholic High School ...........261
St. Pius X Catholic High School........271
St. Rita Catholic School .....................273
ZONE SEVEN –
TRUSTEE BETTY-ANN KEALEY
(Kitchissippi/Bay)
Bayshore Catholic School ....................75
Dr. F.J. McDonald Catholic School......91
Notre Dame Catholic High School ....139
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School..141
St. George Catholic School ................199
St. Mary Catholic School (Ottawa) ...235
St. Thomas Catholic School...............277
ZONE EIGHT –
TRUSTEE MARK D. MULLAN
(Alta Vista/Gloucester-Southgate)
McMaster Catholic School .................133
Prince of Peace Catholic School ........157
St. Bernard Catholic School ..............177
St. Jerome Catholic School................209
St. Luke Catholic School (Ottawa)....221
St. Marguerite d’Youville Catholic
School..............................................223
St. Mary Catholic School (Gloucester) ..233
St. Patrick’s Catholic High School ....253
St. Patrick’s Catholic Intermediate
School..............................................259
St. Thomas More Catholic School .....279
Uplands Catholic School....................283
ZONE NINE –
TRUSTEE KATHY ABLETT, R.N.
(River/Capital)
Corpus Christi Catholic School ...........85
Holy Cross Catholic School................105
INDEX OF SCHOOLS BY ZONE
Holy Family Catholic School .............107
Immaculata High School ...................119
St. Augustine Catholic School ...........175
St. Elizabeth Catholic School ............191
ZONE TEN –
TRUSTEE THÉRÈSE MALONEY
COUSINEAU
(Rideau-Vanier/Rideau-Rockcliffe/Somerset)
Assumption Catholic School................73
Jean Vanier Catholic
Intermediate School.......................125
Catholic School...............................145
St. Anthony Catholic School ..............171
St. Brigid Catholic School..................179
(Ottawa)..........................................245
292
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BURNS, Bernard et al (1972). March Past.
Kanata, Ontario.
Canadian Catholic Trustees’ Association
(2002). Build Bethlehem Everywhere:
A Statement on Catholic Education.
Fourth printing, November 2005.
System and School Profiles 1997-1998.
Council of Ontario Separate Schools (1994).
Notes on Catholic Education in Ontario.
CUMMING, Ross ed (1971). Illustrated
Historical Atlas of the County of
Carleton.H. Belden & Co. Toronto 1879.
Reprinted by Richardson, Bond &
Wright Ltd., Port Elgin, Ontario.
DALEY, Michael. 125th Anniversary
Commemorative Booklet 1854-1979.
A Historical Sketch of St. John the
Evangelist Parish of Osgoode and the
Mission of St. Brigid’s to Commemorate
the Founding of the Parish.
HOPE, Doris Grierson (1998). Torbolton
Township. Its Earliest History.
Historical Society of Torbolton
Township.
HURTUBISE, Pierre et al (1998). Planted
by Flowing Water. The Diocese of
Ottawa 1847-1997. Novalis, Ottawa.
INGRAM, Rev. J. Arnold (1957). Our Lady
of Fatima Parish 1947-1957. Booklet
published on the occasion of the
opening of the new church. Leclerc
Printers Ltd., Hull, QC.
MATTHEWS, Carl, S.J. ed (1990). Catholic
School Systems Across Canada. The
Canadian Catholic School Trustees’
Association, Willowdale, Ontario.
OGILVIE, Garfield (1992). Once Upon a
Country Lane. A Tribute to the Gaelic
Spirit of Old West Huntley. The House
of Avilie, Nepean, Ontario.
Ontario Catholic School Trustees’
Association (2006). Catholic Trustees;
Advocates, Guardians & Stewards of
Catholic Education. Toronto, Ontario.
Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops. This
Moment of Promise. A Pastoral Letter
on Catholic Education in Ontario. 1989.
Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Fulfilling The Promise: The Challenge
of Leadership. A Pastoral Letter on
Education to the Catholic Education
Community. 1993.
OsgoodeTownship Historical Society and
Museum, Vernon, Ontario (1977).
Glimpses of Osgoode Township
150 Years. Winchester Press Limited.
System and School Profiles 2003-2004.
Parishes of St. John the Evangelist and
St. Brigid 150th Anniversary Committee
(2004). 150th Anniversary 1854-2004.
An Historical Sketch. St. John the
Evangelist, Osgoode – Enniskerry and
St. Brigid, Manotick. A commemorative
booklet to honour the past, celebrate
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the present, and embrace the future on
the occasion of the 150th anniversary of
the founding of the parishes of St. John
the Evangelist and St. Brigid.
POTVIN, Sister Maureen, CSC. Eighty Years
of Life in Saint Joseph Province 19021982. Congregation of Sisters of Holy
Cross, Canada.
POWER, Michael (2002). A Promise
Fulfilled. Highlights in the Political
History of Catholic Separate Schools in
Ontario. Ontario Catholic School
Trustees’ Association.
READ, Marilyn et al (1991). St. Patrick’s
Parish – Fallowfield. 125th Anniversary,
1866-1991. St. Patrick’s Parish,
Fallowfield, Nepean, Ontario
ROWAN, Jim and Joe Rowan (1990).
150 Years St. Catherine’s. An historical
sketch.
SYLVESTRE, Paul- François (1986).
130 Years of Dedication to Excellence.
The Ottawa Roman Catholic Separate
School Board 1856-1986. Public
Relations Department of the Ottawa
Roman Catholic Separate School Board.
WALKER, Harry and Olive Walker (1968).
Carleton Saga. Carleton County
Council, Ottawa, Ontario.
Catholic Education Centre
570 West Hunt Club Road
Nepean, Ontario K2G 3R4
Tel: 613-224-4455
Fax: 613-224-5063
Website: www.occdsb.on.ca

A Faith-Filled - Ottawa Catholic School Board

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