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

230 Humbercrest Boulevard, York, Ontario M6S 4L3

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History & Tradition

St. James was the son of Zabedee and Salone, brother of Saint John the Apostle, and may also have been the cousin of Jesus.  He is called “the Greater” simply because he became an Apostle before John the Lesser.  Saint James was a fisherman who left everything when Christ called him to become “a fisher of people”. James was a close confident of Jesus. It is believed that he preached in Samaria, Judea and Spain.  He died a martyr. (refer Matthew 4:21, Mark 1:19 and Luke 5:10) 

St. James is the Patron Saint of pilgrims and rheumatism.

We celebrate the Feast of St James on July 25^th. 

St. James Catholic School was built in 1960 to meet the needs of a community, which at that time, and  had a large Maltese population. The school was named after St. James the apostle, and is one of two schools in St. James Parish.

St. James School, is located in the City of York and near the intersection of Jane and Dundas Streets.  It was originally established as a junior school (kindergarten to grade 6) but now includes grade 7 and 8 because of the increase population.

Our students come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.  They learn and grow in a caring school community environment which stresses commitment to our Catholic faith, acceptance of others and high academic standards. We provide all programmes consistent with the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Toronto Catholic
District School Board.  We are committed to creating a positive Catholic atmosphere within our school, and we also realize that parents are the first and foremost educators of their children and we as Catholic educators are “partners of the parents”  The third essential part of this triad is the Catholic church.

We are one of the 2 schools that share in celebration of our faith at our parish “St James Catholic Church” We work with our parish, as we help our students’ develop their faith via monthly liturgies, sacramental preparation and classroom visits.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

St. James Catholic School Community is Christ-centred and encourages all to learn to the best of their ability.  We pride ourselves as being a safe and welcoming environment for our students as we build our Catholic community, this is a vital part of our mission statement as a school part in the Toronto Catholic District School Board. We begin with a strong focus on the curriculum and make adjustments for individual needs

Our programs include but are not limited to:

·        Instruction for students from Junior Kindergarten to grade 8

·        Vocal music

·        Instrumental music grades 6-8

·        Classes for pupils identified with learning exceptionalities

·        Assistance for students requiring English as a second language

·        An enrichment programme on a withdrawal basis for pupils identified as gifted

·        A school-based support team (SBST) and interdisciplinary team, for assistance with programming

·        Exceptional students are integrated into regular programmes, and withdrawal for individual and small groups as required

·        Instructional is provide to serve the differentiated learning styles of our students

·        FSL-French for students for grade 1-8

·        Co-curricular activities

·        Extra-curricular activities 

We strive to keep all stakeholders informed via this website, our monthly newsletter (which informs the community of upcoming celebrations, reports and events), monthly calendars, classroom letters, email from the office, and phone calls.

Our aim is to build a community that:

·        Is based on openness

·        Equality

·        Respect

·        A sense of belonging

As we journey together as a faith community, consisting of students, parents, staff and church, we:

·        Strive for excellence

·        Commit ourselves to live our vision

·        Acknowledge our uniqueness, gifts, and talents of our diverse community

·        Strive to create an atmosphere which nurtures our Catholic Faith.

As a Catholic community, one of our foremost tasks is to provide an environment in which we model our action, words and beliefs on the life of Jesus.

 In our diverse population, we work to meet each student’s spiritual, academic, social and emotional needs. We realize that all our students learn at different rates and in different ways and we strive to ensure that all our students achieve success.  To help our students achieve success, certain lessons may be modified, accommodated or enriched to suit their learning needs.  These programmes are discussed and implemented via our on site staff (SBST) and our readily available special services team (JTM)

Students with special needs are identified formally, via an assessment process, and students’ needs are met in our community.  Our parents are constantly kept aware of programme modification via verbal and written communication from staff and principal.

School life fills and important social/emotional need for our children.  Relationship is an important value. We also realize that our students need to be active and this is provided in our DPA-Daily Physical Activity programme as well as interschool and extra-curricular sports.

As any community we grow, develop, and change.  This growth and development always includes all stakeholders- students, staff, parents, church and the community at large.

I encourage you to check our website monthly for updates, photos and celebrations as we grow and develop as this special community of St James as a community of life long learners.

Let us go forth and celebrate our successes!!!

School News

Hurray St. James Catholic School
St James Catholic School was selected recipients of the following:

• Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) KIDS, COPS & COMPUTERS PROGRAMME

We have been selected as one of the six schools in our entire school board (TCDSB), and 1 of only 15 of all schools in Toronto to be involved in this exciting programme. The programme is funded by “Merry Go Round Children’s Foundation”
This programme will provide us with approximately 20 laptop computers for selected grade 7 students in our school community. We must follow a criterion for selection monitored by the TPS . We are proud to be selected to be part of this innovative programme.

The George Ermellini Literacy Award
This award honours the memory of George Ermellini, a dedicated and much‐loved TCDSB educator, well known for his commitment to the promotion of literacy within elementary schools. The George Ermellini Literacy Award is a special fund administered through The Angel Foundation for Learning to support innovative programs in family literacy within elementary schools across the TCDSB. ONE grant of $700 is awarded each year. St James Catholic School was chosen this year. This grant acknowledges our focus on primary children’s literacy, and is consistent with the philosophy of the TCDSB Literacy Team.

Our community will share in our use of this special award for our students via an expansion of relevant primary reading materials, and a “Take Home Reading Bag” programme this coming fall.

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: