St. Agatha Catholic School (elementary--Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8)

49 Cathedral Bluffs Drive, Scarborough, Ontario M1M 2T6

• School News

• Student Transportation Services (Bus Routes)

Homework Website

History & Tradition

St. Agatha Catholic School was built in 1964. In the early 1980's the school enrollment was dropping and approaching the critical point of 150 students.

In 1983, much to the delight and relief of the parents, the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now Toronto Catholic District School Board) established bus routes to transport children from the areas north of Kingston Road (east of Brimley Road, west of Bellamy Road, south of Eglinton) to St. Agatha.

In 1985 the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now TCDSB) introduced the French immersion program to St. Agatha. These two factors along with many recent housing re-sales to young Catholic families stabilized the school's enrolment began to grow steadily to its present level. The French immersion program is one of the major reasons the school's enrolment is so healthy. Children in this program represent approximately half of the school's numbers.

The majority of the local residents live in single family homes. The school, however, draws its students for the immersion program from all over Scarborough and surrounding regions.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

Maintaining a Catholic identity is what we strive to do on a daily basis at St. Agatha. Besides the national anthem, alternating in both official languages, we play a religious hymn each morning. This sets the tone for the classroom morning prayer and activities. Catholicity permeates the entire life of the St. Agatha family from visible signs of our faith to how we interact with each other, from our monthly masses to our weekly visits from our parish priests.

The code of behaviour for the school is presently contained in the Parent Handbook which is distributed to each family in September. The code will be formalized further in conjunction with the Catholic School Advisory Council. The school oversees all absences by phoning the parents when children are absent to assure that they are accounted for.

Technology is a school objective. We have specific programming for each division, with emphasis on computer literacy. We are very grateful to the parents of our community for the number of computer labs. The multi-media computers are constantly in use in various classrooms.

At St. Agatha we follow the school-based support team model to identify students with special needs We have regular meetings to provide modifications to programs for individual students. We request special assessments for students who are experiencing difficulty with regular programs.

We provide a wide range of extra-curricular programs for each division. We offer lunch-hour house leagues, many competitive sporting events, choir, chess club W5H teams, drop-in evening on Wednesdays, drama club, etc. We supplement the curriculum with speakers, plays, excursions, neighborhood walks and all forms of audio-visual materials.

School News

PA Days 2008-2009

• October 10

• October 24

• December 5

• February 13

• March 13

• June 26

Congratulations to the Intermediate W5H team
They won the regional competition and went on to represent the north region in the city championships where they finished as the city finalists, just behind Father Serra.

French Public Speaking
Congratulations to Varjitt Jeeva for placing 1st in the grade 4-6 semi-finals of the French Public Speaking Contest for the east region in the French Immersion category, Nicky Murphy who took 1st place in the grade 4-6 age group in FSL Plus and Rohan Pavone who tied for 1st in the French Immersion category for grade 7-8 students. Nicky went on to win first place in her category in the city championships. Rohan Pavone took first place in the city for French Immersion in the grade 7 age group.

TAPCE Commissioning Ceremony and presentation of Principal of Excellence Award
The Toronto Association of Parents in Catholic Education recently hosted its annual TAPCE Commissioning Ceremony of Catholic School Advisory Council Liaison Representatives to the Toronto affiliate of the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education. This celebration of Catholic education focuses on the support and encouragement TAPCE provides to parents and guardians of children in the school system. One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the 2006-2007 Principal Award of Excellence to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to their school to help ensure a quality education for his/her students. This individual is one who works collaboratively with parents, and who combines passion with the ability to lead, challenge and support dignity for an inclusive environment. This year’s nominees are: Rosanne Morris from St. Louis, Pasquale Tari from Blessed John XXIII, Linda Alonzi from St. Charles Garnier, Lenore Wesierski from Transfiguration of Our Lord, Gerard MacNeil from St. Agatha, Bill Zyla from Josyf Cardinal Slipyj, Jane Cramer from St. Victor, Wendy Agnew from St. Dorothy, Thad Baker from The Divine Infant, John Shea from St. Clare, Dianne Parwicki from Father John Redmond, Carmela Giardini from Mary Ward and Lillian Kurnik from Holy Angels.

School Learning Plan -- 2007-2008

EQAO Assessment Results

EQAO: