St. Josaphat Catholic School

Total enrolment	164
Principal	Lucy Dyczkowsky Tel: 416-393-5291 Fax: 416-397-6296
Superintendent	Josephine Nespolo Tel: 416-222-8282 ext. 2732
Parish	St. Josaphat 143 Franklin Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6P 3Y8
Local Trustee	Barbara Poplawski Tel: 416-512-3410; Fax: 416-512-3410 e-mail: barbara.poplawski@tcdsb.org
CSAC Chair	Mr. Yarko Halabar Voice Mailbox #88291 csac.stjosaphat@tcdsb.org
Transportation	For information, please call 416-229-5313
International Languages	Ukrainian--Extended Day

History & Tradition

St. Josaphat Catholic School is the first of three Eastern-Rite schools to have been established in Toronto. (See also St. Demetrius and Josyf Cardinal Slipyj). Through the strong beliefs of Bishop Isidore Borecky that a need existed within the community to educate its children on a sound spiritual base, plans got underway to raise funds for a private parochial school. Much effort was devoted by the community to raising funds, and in 1961 the first six-classroom school was built. The school was initially administered and staffed by the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate. Msgr. Filevich campaigned heavily within the Ukrainian Catholic community to convince parents to send their children to the school. Msgr. Filevich passed away in 2006.

In 1963, the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now Toronto Catholic District School Board) assumed partial responsibility for the school. Over the next few years, the community continued to raise funds and purchased three school buses in order to allow more families access to this unique school. Eventually, TCDSB assumed complete responsibility for the school. St. Josaphat Catholic School now serves students and parents from all over the Toronto area, who want the opportunity of an education that fosters academic and spiritual development within the Eastern-Rite tradition.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

As an Eastern-Rite faith community, we share a common set of beliefs. However, within that commonality, our students come to school with a diverse and varied set of experiences as well as needs. The school's first and foremost intent is to provide a safe and welcoming environment. The St. Josaphat Parent Handbook (provided to all parents in the first month of school) outlines many of the procedures and strategies in place to provide such an environment. Included in the handbook are sections on safe arrival, code of behaviour, bus safety, health information, emergency numbers and procedures which is can be located in the student agenda.

An integral part of our faith and community fostering process is the strong international languages component of the school. We are very proud of the Ukrainian heritage language program offered at the school. Our Eastern-Rite traditions are interwoven very tightly with the Ukrainian language. By continuing to offer a strong heritage program, we continue to develop a strong Catholic environment within our community. Preparation for numerous feast days throughout the year is an essential component of the school year.

Our kindergarten students spend a full day in school: half the day in English and half the day in Ukrainian. Our grade 1-8 students spend 1/2 hour per day studying the Ukrainian language and culture. School concerts, festivals and open houses have a strong basis in the faith as well as the language. The school provides special education services, gifted classes (grades 5-8) and English as a second language classes. The school library is an abundant resource centre for both staff and students. The library has many materials in audio, video and print. Technology and computer education continue to have strong foundations in the school. The school has networked computers both in the classroom and the library.

In the area of sports, our junior and intermediate students are involved in a variety of team sports, including volleyball, softball, track and field, and hockey. These include invitational competitions with local schools.

The school is very proud to have a chess club and to once again participate at the junior and intermediate level in public speaking competitions and festival of the spoken arts presentations. The school continues to have a music program of an exceptionally high calibre. The school choir and strings group perform separately and together at numerous functions throughout the year at the school, festival and community levels.

Modifications to curriculum are evident in order to reflect standards as outlined in Ministry guidelines. Board-wide standardized testing carries on this year with both the CCAT administered to all grade 4 students and CAT/3 test administered to grade 2, 5 and 7 students. EQAO testing is administered to grades 3 and 6 students across the province.

It is quite evident in this short overview that the school has a varied and rich curricular and extra-curricular base with which to meet the diversified needs of the students of this small school.

In 2004, St. Josaphat School staff and students relocated to the old Brother Edmond Rice building to accomodated the growing needs of the student community. The facility has a drama and instrumental room, high school sized gym, cafeteria, large library, huge classrooms and a very big school yard with concrete but mostly grass.

In June 2012, St. Josaphat will once again relocate to its final destination at Lakeshore and Tenth Street after celebrating its 50th anniversary at 55 Pelham Avenue.

School News

During challenging times, St. Josaphat staff were able to turn a challenging time into a community building experience. Principal Lucy Dyczkowsky would like to particularly thank the fire fighters and police officers who kept
St. Josaphat School and staff safe!

St. Josaphat Catholic School Celebrates 50 Years
On October 23^rd, St. Josaphat Catholic School celebrated its 50^th anniversary. It is the first Byzantine Rite school of Ukrainian heritage descent, in Ontario, which was founded by Bishop Filevych with the financial support and hard work of the Ukrainian community. The day began with a liturgy that was served by Bishop Stephen Chmilar followed by an open house holding about 700 visitors on that day.

The school featured 5 decades of photos and memorabilia for all to enjoy. The concert featured the Ukrainian Academy of Dance and student performers. Video messages from Father Tataryn and a historical power point presentation added memories to this special day while music filled the halls. A special painting was donated to the school as a blessing and a mural was painted by our students and a special artist to commemorate this event. New memories were made as alumni and former staff had an opportunity to reconnect and share stories.

Associated with St. Josaphat Cathedral, St Josaphat School is the oldest of the 5 Ukrainian Rite Schools. Bishop Stephen presents a certificate to Lucy Dyczkowsky, Principal of St. Josaphat School.

Cranes for Japan
Students of St. Josaphat Catholic School came together to make origami cranes to support Japan. This experience brought the students together with all Grade levels from 1 to 8 helping one another with the origami folding techniques. The cranes are going to be sent to Japan along with the other cranes created by TCDSB students. These will be distributed to school children affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

In Japan, the crane is a mystical creature that symbolizes good fortune and longevity as it is believed to live for a thousand years. The crane is a symbol of hope and healing during difficult times. It has become tradition that if one folded 1000 origami cranes, ones wish would come true. Students from each participating school will be folding 1000 origami cranes and writing letters to accompany the cranes being delivered to students in Japan.

Students Spread Cheer
On Tuesday, January 11^th, students from St. Josaphat Catholic School went caroling throughout their local community. Many financial institutions were visited and entertained with traditional Ukrainian carols and sayings. Mrs. Sokolyk, heritage Teacher, prepared the students for this event and they spent the morning on Bloor Street singing and praising the joys of the season.

Boys Volleyball Team City Champions

It was clear that this year our school had a shot at getting to the City Volleyball Finals with Mr. Satura and Mrs. Ostapowych as coaches of the volleyball team. After several years of building skills and many endless practices, our Intermediate Boys Volleyball Team not only got the City Finals but came in first in the City of Toronto. It was a great victory for such a small school.

Winter Spirit at St. Josaphat
Since the 2010 Winter Olympics are on Canadian soil, it only seems fitting to weave together Winter Carnival activities with the Vancouver Winter Olympic games for students at St. Josaphat School. The staff organized activities that would complement both venues that are celebrated throughout this country. The festivities began when the SK students marched into the gym carrying Canadian flags while one of our athletes lead the procession carrying the Olympic Torch. The entire school cheered them on and waved flags from many countries as the Olympic theme song was played throughout the school. The Winter Carnival mascot, Bohnomme, greeted this group and accepted the torch. He then cut the ribbon and the Winter Carnival and Winter Olympics began. A collective sense of spirit could be felt throughout the gym knowing that we are all winners at St. Josaphat School.

In 2007, St. Josaphat School was blessed with visitors from Ukraine. About 30 orphans travelled with their chaperons to Canada and they stayed with Ukrainian families who sponsored their trip. They visited famous tourist attractions and enjoyed the company of their new friends from Toronto. During their visit, they made lots of friends from St. Josaphat School while spending the morning sharing stories and experiences with each other. They were invited to a lovely lunch and were showered with Canadian type gifts. The chaperons also connected with our staff and Principal Lucy Dyczkowsky spent a fun filled time sharing stories with the principal and staff of the these lovely children. It was a positive experience for everyone.

St. Josaphat Students Collect Shoes for Haiti
The St. Josaphat Student Council participated in the "Me to We" concert in the fall of 2009. While listening to the speakers and watching the videos, the students and their grade 8 teacher were moved by the poverty in different parts of the word. When the student council returned to their school, they decided they wanted to help the children of Haiti. The reason for this decision had to do with the fact that these children walk for miles to gather water and they do so either bare footed or by wearing plastic water bottles on their feet. Compassion drove St. Josaphat students to make public school announcements, daily, in order to promote the collection of used running shoes.

To add to the excitement of the project, Julie Dimenna (cofounder of "Let the Sneakers Walk Again") showed up at our office unexpectedly. When she heard from the principal that St. Josaphat students were collecting running shoes, she passed the word onto CBC Radio who decided to interview Miss Van Vugt and her students. The project allowed many students to be participants in something that would make a huge difference to needy individuals internationally. No longer were they thinking only of themselves.

Ms. Dyczkowsky, St. Josaphat Catholic School Principal shared a moment with her and she too went barefoot to support her cause

Listen to CBC Radio Clips of St. Josaphat Student's discussing their initiative: - Clip One - Clip Two


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

School News