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

85 Carmichael Avenue, North York, Ontario M5M 2X1

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History & Tradition

The history of St. Margaret Church and St. Margaret Catholic School have been intertwined since the beginning. Our school is within St. Margaret's Parish which includes St. Margaret's Church and St. Eugene's Chapel. St. Eugene's Chapel, a sole country-like church in a busy city, was established in 1941 and continues to serve a thriving community of Catholic worshippers within the area.

St. Margaret's Church was established in 1951. Masses were celebrated at St. Eugene's Chapel and the St. Margaret Catholic School auditorium until the completion of the parish hall in October 1952. Construction of the church began in 1957 and on December 21, 1957 the formal opening and blessing by Cardinal McGuigan was held. The stained glass windows depicting our patroness, St. Margaret of Scotland, were donated by the staff and students of St. Margaret Catholic School.

St. Margaret School opened in 1951 with classes being held in the basement of Blessed Sacrament School. On opening day 67 students were registered working with eight teachers. The school building on Carmichael Avenue opened in 1952 and an addition was completed in 1965.

Throughout our history, three traditions have prevailed:

• Academic excellence
• Competitive spirit
• Caring for others

About our patroness: St. Margaret of Scotland

Margaret was born in Hungary, and married a Scottish king. She left her mark, on her new country Scotland, by fostering religion and education among her people and promoting culture and works of charity. Margaret of Scotland influenced her children to share in her strong faith. As future kings and queens they showed their mother's spirit of prayer and concern for the poor.

How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students

All Toronto Catholic District School Board students are entitled to have access to an education which is excellent in all its aspects, in which the Catholic faith and Christian values are an integral part of the curriculum and the life of the school. In attempting to meet our mandate to provide educational excellence, we recognize that appropriate provision must be made to accommodate the needs of our students, be they physical, emotional, social, intellectual or spiritual, independent of their circumstances or personal exceptionality. Our policy is to provide each exceptional student, where appropriate, access to the regular program and the educational mainstream.

Parents make unique and fundamental contributions to the affective, cognitive, intellectual and spiritual development of their children. It is our intention to work in partnership with parents to ensure excellence in education.

In meeting the diversified needs of our students as described above, we use a consultation model. The consultation model includes identification, intervention, assessment, programming, follow-up and review. It has as its focus, the determination of a student's educational needs and appropriate response to those needs. Parents are involved in all phases of the process.

The model delineates eight steps to ensure appropriate programs for students with learning needs:

First phase: Classroom teacher/parent observations

Second phase: School based support team (SBST)

• Team members are teachers, specialist teacher, principal/vice-principal, parent may choose to attend
• Discuss observations from first phase and arrive at program modification for child

Third phase: Joint SBST/interdisciplinary team

• Team members are teacher, specialist teacher, principal/vice-principal, school social worker, assessment and programming teacher, psychometrician/psychologist
• Discuss program modifications from second phase which have been implemented over a period of time and determine need for formal, standardized assessment

Fourth phase: Referral to identification, placement and review committee (IPRC)

• Should all of the above phases indicate that a student has special learning needs--either for remedial purposes or for enrichment (i.e. giftedness) then that child is discussed at an IPRC to establish programming for the child and placement either at our school or the school where the program is offered (not all special programs are offered at every TCDSB school)
• As usual, parents are invited to participate in this phase also.

The fifth to eighth phases are discussed at length with the parents and students involved. Other parents who may be interested can request a copy of the booklet “Special Education Programs and Services--A Guide for Parents” from the principal, vice-principal or special education teacher at our school.

French immersion

St. Margaret Catholic School offers a middle French immersion program (50/50) beginning in grade 5. Students participating in this program from grade 5 to grade 8 are taught in French for half the day, and in English for the other half.

ESL/ESD

Students from other linguistic, cultural and educational environments who enter our school will require special support if they are to succeed. Our English as a second language (ESL) class assists students with the transition.

The following is a list of various co-curricular and extra-curricular activities which teachers coordinate for the most part on a voluntary basis before, after and during school hours: volleyball, softball, Christmas concert, junior newspaper, W5H, play day, primary games and skills, track and field events, math/science and technology fair, division and subject representatives, school association representatives, ShareLife, basketball, discovery day, liturgical committee, awards assemblies, fund-raiser coordinator, cross-country, spoken arts, choir and charities.

Homework Assistant Program (H.A.P.)

School News 

Accommodation Update Letter--June 29, 2011

Invitation to Meeting Regarding Accommodation
Sunday, May 29, 2011
2 p.m.

Public Forum, School Accommodation, Lawrence-Allen Revitalization Initiative
June 2, 2011

• September 2010 Newsletter
• September 2010 Calendar

The Honourable Laurel Broten, Minister of Child and Youth Services, visited St. Margaret Catholic School on May 9th. She attended a presentation regarding the paper crane project for Japan and she also participated in the making of paper cranes.

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 across the TCDSB made origami cranes and wrote letters to accompany the cranes to send to school children in Japan.

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: