Blessed Margherita of Cittį di Castello
Catholic School (elementary--Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8)
108 Spenvalley Dr., North York, Ontario M3L 1Z5
| Total enrolment |
279 |
| Principal |
Maria Leitao Tel: 416-393-5409 Fax: 416-393-5430 |
| Superintendent |
Doug Yack Tel: 416-222-8282 ext. 2267 |
| Parish |
St. Jane Frances Catholic Church 2747 Jane Street Downsview, Ontario
M3L 2E8 416-741-1463 |
| Local Trustee |
Mary Cicogna Tel: 416-512-3404; Fax: 416-512-3404 e-mail:
mary.cicogna@tcdsb.org |
| CSAC Chair |
Mary Sirignano Voice Mailbox: #88409
csac.blessedmargherita@tcdsb.org |
| Senior Kindergarten |
Full-Day Program |
| International Languages Program |
Italian--extended day |

History &
Tradition
Blessed Margherita of Citta di Castello Catholic School was opened as the
fifth school in Saint Jane Frances Parish in September 1983 with just over
300 students. The former Spenvalley Public School building was leased from
the Board of Education for the City of North York. The official opening and
blessing of the school was held in June of 1984. Mass was con-celebrated by
the then Bishop Ambrozic, Rev. Claudio Moser, pastor, and his associate Rev.
Frank Jannetta. In the summer of 2004, Blessed Margherita of Cittą di
Castello was purchased by the Toronto Catholic District School Board.
The school was named for Margherita of Castello, an Italian woman born in
1287 to a young army officer Parisio, and his wife Lady Evilia, both members
of noble and wealthy families. Born physically deformed and blind,
Margherita survived rejection and abandonment by her family to become a
model of Christian living of her time, and for us who serve young people in
a school community bearing her name. Known for her great intelligence and
spirituality she lived a vowed life as a member of a lay religious order
associated with the Dominicans, serving the poorest of the poor in the
prisons of Castello. Beatified in 1609, her feast day is April 13th.
Today we encourage our students to develop the values of commitment,
generosity and perseverance, for which Margherita has been honoured by the
Church.
How We Meet the Diverse Needs
of Our Students
Our students, like all young people, vary in interests, learning needs
and learning styles, social maturity, self-confidence, and readiness for
learning. Most of our students are from European (Italian) and some are from
South American (Spanish) heritage. Although our students speak English,
they understand their heritage language. At Blessed Margherita we aim
to create a school environment where all students can mature in academic and
interpersonal skills, supported by staff and each other. We aim to do this
by:
Creating a community of prayer, reflection and service
Teachers work to create a community where students grow in their personal
spirituality and understanding of their Catholic faith by: Religious
education and family life programs, active participation in liturgies,
service projects and curriculum objectives to heighten awareness of the
interdependence of all peoples at a community and global level and their
responsibility to live Gospel values.
Since 1991, the school hosts an Annual Seniors Christmas Luncheon in
December inviting seniors from the Arleta Old Age Home situated within the
community.
Creating a safe and welcoming environment
Staff and parents, through the Catholic School Advisory Council, work
together to develop policies and practices to ensure that students feel
affirmed and valued while maturing in their relationships with others
including: development of a discipline code, implementation of security
routines, providing effective communication programs and modeling of
positive conflict resolution skills by staff. Parents are involved in the
life of the school and are knowledgeable about the needs of their
children. The active Catholic School Advisory Committee (CSAC) provides
many activities and supports the various initiatives in the school.
Creating programs and activities to develop personal self-esteem and
individual talents
Staff provide a variety of curricular and co-curricular programs
including: school choir, band, boys and girls school teams for soccer,
volleyball, baseball and basketball, W5H teams, Young Authors, math fair,
multi-media presentations which use visual and performing arts to share and
celebrate new learning and curriculum activities which demonstrate the
contributions of women and men of varied cultural backgrounds to Canadian
and global society.
Creating a supportive learning environment for students with diverse
needs
Blessed Margherita Catholic School welcomes and
supports students of varied needs and talents. Support is provided by: an
early identification program in junior or senior kindergarten, a
School-Based Support Team (SBST) to assist teachers in programming for
individual students and an interdisciplinary team (Psychology Associate,
Assessment and Programming Teacher, Speech and Language Pathologist and
Social Worker) to provide individual assessments and make recommendations
for placement, identification and programming suggestions.
In 2004, Blessed Margherita of Cittą di Castello became
a Learning Opportunities Grant (LOG) school. Blessed Margherita has a full
day Kindergarten class. Some of the Kindergarten students are bussed from
St. Bernard. The Kindergarten Special Services team (Social Worker,
Psychology associate and Speech and Language pathologist) provide direct
support to the class. As a LOG school, there is also a Fifth Block Program
providing reading support for grades one and two students and a Junior
Literacy Program providing Literacy intervention to grades five and six
students. Students in these two programs are provided with one hour daily
intensive literacy reinforcement within a small group of 6 to 8 students
learning environment for seventeen weeks. Students receiving these
programmes are monitored very closely and parents are invited to participate
in the admission and demission meetings.
There are two Special Education classes, a
Multi-Exceptionalities class and a Developmental Delay class in the
school. As the students in the Multi-Exceptionalities and Developmental
Delay classes are from other schools in the area, many buses bring our
students to and from school. In addition, ten educational assistants are
required to assist the students in these two classes. Both of these classes
required a washroom where students may be changed in privacy. The
Developmental Delay class has an air conditioner due to the needs of a
medically fragile student. Our school is equipped with a chair lift to
ensure accessibility to our physically challenged students. Currently, one
student in a wheelchair and another in a walker use the chair lift. Our
school accommodates the needs of many exceptional children. Some of our
exceptional children are fully integrated in regular classes with the
support of an Educational Assistant. Five Educational Assistants provide
support for our students within the regular classrooms.
Two Special Education programs within the
school, placement in the St. Francis de Sales gifted centre for identified
students, an English as a second language program, a library resource centre
program, vocal and instrumental music, visual arts, French as a Second
Language and Italian, are all components of a rich and varied curriculum
program that provides for the different needs and talents of our students.
The use of varied instructional strategies to respond to different learning
styles and the assistance of secondary and university students as volunteers
also provide support to individual students.
School Calendar 2010-2011
| School Begins |
September 7, 2010 |
| Thanksgiving Day |
October 11, 2010 |
| Christmas break |
December 20-31, 2010 |
| Family Day |
February 21, 2011 |
| Mid-Winter Break |
March 14-18, 2011 |
| Good Friday |
April 22, 2011 |
| Easter Monday |
April 25, 2011 |
| Victoria Day |
May 23, 2011 |
| Last day of classes for elementary students |
June 29, 2011 |
PA Days 2010-2011
- September 2, 2010 (Faith
Development/Provincial Education Priorities)
- November 19, 2010 (Parent Teacher
Conference)
- January 21, 2011 (Assessment and
Evaluation)
- February 18, 2011 (Parent Teacher
Conference)
- May 20, 2011 (Assessment and Evaluation)
- June 30, 2011 (Provincial Education
Priorities)
Blessed Margherita--25th
anniversary celebrations--view
video
School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2009-2010
Safe School Plan -- 2009-2010
EQAO Assessment Results EQAO: |