Blessed Margherita of Cittá di Castello Catholic School (elementary--Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8)

108 Spenvalley Dr., North York, Ontario M3L 1Z5

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History & Tradition

Blessed Margherita of Cittá 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 Cittá 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 vary in interests, learning needs and learning styles, social maturity, self-confidence, and readiness for learning. 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
Our staff work to create a community where students grow in 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.

Creating a safe and welcoming environment
Staff and parents, through the Catholic School Advisory Council, work together to develop practices to ensure that students feel affirmed and valued while maturing in their relationships with others including: development of a conduct code, implementation of security routines, providing effective communication programs and modeling of positive conflict resolution skills. Parents are involved in the life of the school. The 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, 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 of Cittá Catholic School welcomes and supports all students. 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. 

Blessed Margherita has a full-day Kindergarten class.  Literacy intervention through the Empower Program is provided.  There are two half time Special Education teachers, a Multi-Exceptionalities class and a Developmental Delay class in the school. Our school accommodates the needs of many exceptional children.  Some of our exceptional children are fully integrated in regular classes with the support of additional staff (Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers). Two Special Education Regional Intensive Support Programs within the school, placement in a gifted centre for identified students, 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.

School News

School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2011-2012

School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2010-2011

School Learning Improvement Plan -- 2009-2010

Safe School Plan -- 2010-2011

EQAO Assessment Results

EQAO: