Principal's Message
*Catholicity* *Community* *Opportunity* *Excellence*
St. Marguerite d’Youville continues to be a success story for the Brampton community. In a recent Toronto Star article, reporter Sandro Contenta stated: “The need is especially acute in north Brampton, where new subdivisions meet open fields. Dissected by wide boulevards, poorly served by transit and lacking libraries and community centres, it offers a sense of windswept isolation.” (Toronto Star “Brampton Wrestles with Teen Solitudes” November 1, 2008). As principal, I am proud to state that our Catholic community of 2090 students offers a sense of hope built on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Marguerite d’Youville is grounded in a sense of service based on our commitment to charity and love, and revealed in our daily interactions, weekly events, and our extracurricular activities. We are a community of believers who draw inspiration from the Gospels to strive for academic excellence and embrace inclusivity as we celebrate our diversity. Each day we reaffirm and put into practice our motto: “To Trust, To Risk, To Love, To Serve.”
This issue of Paws and Reflect will offer our community an opportunity to see the recent activity at our school. There are over 40 articles in this issue that highlight life at d’Youville. Included is a brief introduction of our over 15 new teachers who are here to replace our permanent staff on leave. As well, congratulations are extended to all d’Youville staff that have been blessed with new additions to their families.
Our school year started with a staff retreat and inspirational words from Father Eugene O’Reilly who set the tone for the start of our school year. Early in September we also had former Dufferin Peel principal Lorne Howcroft share his insights on Catholic Education, many of which helped to reinforce our commitment to our vocation. At d’Youville, we know that the Catholic faith formation of our staff is key for the formative work we do with our students throughout the year.
Catholicity
This year we have selected the theme “Choose Life.” Our theme is aligned with our Board wide goals. This theme reminds students to focus on life over death, peace over violence, love over hate. Throughout the school year our liturgies, our retreats, and school wide activities will integrate this theme.
In the second week of October we celebrated St. Marguerite d’Youville day with a massive school wide effort for Catholic Charities. Through Share Life, we donated $21000 to Covenant House in Toronto and to Haiti, through Development and Peace. There are many to thank for this effort, but especially Ms. McPhee and her leadership students and our chaplain Tony Whelan. The 4km walk to the Church to celebrate mass was the first effort of this kind in the school’s history. Students then walked back 4 km and were provided with a barbeque lunch. We thank Ms. Kilinskas and Mr. Habib and the Knights of Columbus for their work. We also thank Father Tobin who raised $1400 for the Walk A Thon. Through this event we were truly living our faith, and uniting as a community of believers.
Thank you to all who participated in the first annual d’Youville golf tournament in early June. We raised $12000 that has been shared between d’Youville parish and our school. On October 18, our share of the money was used to install a stained glass window in the chapel. Our “sacred space” in our school has been enhanced. Students and staff using the chapel will see the stained glass with a theme of water; and as Catholics we know that water is one of the main symbols of our faith and referred to numerous times in scripture. Each week we continue to celebrate mass on Wednesdays at 7:20am. Please join us on November 18 at 3:00 pm for the blessing of our new Stained Glass window.
Community
Last year we set the goal of enhancing the appearance of our school. One way we have done this is a new show case in the Physical Education hallway for our numerous trophies and awards. The Phys. Ed. Hall has been painted with our school mascot, the Panther, and all athletes of the year and teams of recognition will be permanently displayed. Further, we have built and installed our Academic Awards wall outside the main office. All students who have won academic awards in the past year will be given recognition. This year, we will create showcases for Excellence for Drama, Science and the Visual Arts.
Congratulations to Mr. Quenneville and Mr. Freitas who coordinated the recent Boys Night Out for our grade 9 boys. Almost two hundred of our 280 grade 9 boys participated in an evening of sports, trivia, speakers and sharing. Next semester we will engage the grade 9 girls in our Girls Night In.
Opportunity and Excellence
Room 103 has been converted from a conference room to a Mentorship room for our grade 9 and 10 students and a homework room, four days per week after school. Students in grade 12 are encouraged to attain their community service hours by tutoring our grade 9 and 10 students in Room 103. Teachers at our school already participate in the study hall and support our student achievement.
Our goals for this year are to focus on Numeracy and Literacy and specifically to reduce the academic gap between the Applied and Academic levels in grades 9 and 10. Achievement at the Applied and Academic levels indicates that our students will benefit from additional support, reduced classroom sizes at these levels, the additional resources provided to the enhance learning, and the professional development of our teachers. The success of our goal will be reflected in the grade 9 EQAO Math results, the grade 10 Literacy pass rate and an increased pass rate in these subjects.
Students who are at risk of failing a course or fail the course have the support of our Credit Recovery room (Room 113). By moving this room to the first floor from the third floor we have seen a rise in the number of credits recovered from 19 to 32 over this same time period last year. Congratulations to Ms. Loney and her staff on the success of the program.
This year, we have seen an increase in the number of students who have chosen Co-operative Education. Last year we had 125 Co-op students and this year there is 185. We know that this work experience for credits will prepare our students for a seamless transition to their employment or a career of choice. Next semester we will modify our Alternate Education program to further benefit students with credit accumulation for graduation and direct service to our community.
Congratulations to all our Award winners at our Academic Awards Ceremony on October 18th. The names of all Award winners will be displayed proudly in our school. Special recognition will be given to those with an average over 90%. Their picture will be displayed on our Awards Wall.
Our Health Care, Child Care and Social Service program is in its second year as a High Skills Major. This year the program has 80 committed students. We hope to graduate 40 students at our June graduation. Students in this program have two credits from Co-op experience and are prepared to work in the medical, public health, personal services or child care fields.
We have increased student educational experiences through the number of field trips both locally and abroad. This year we are providing students with the opportunity to travel to South America, Central America or Europe. These trips offer the experience of another language and culture.
Parents, we are your partners in the Catholic Education of your sons and daughters. A Youth worker at a local public school asked: 'What kind of community do you want to live in? Do you want a community where everyone rises up because somebody's different or somebody said something?' (Toronto Star “Brampton Wrestles with Teen Solitudes” November 1, 2008) This newsletter defines the Catholic community we live in. St. Marguerite d’Youville is a faithful, inclusive, safe, respectful and engaged Catholic community. Please take part in the educational experience of your son or daughter. Join us for our next School Council meeting on November 17.
God Bless,
T. Yawney