St. Stephen Catholic School (elementary)

55 Golfdown Drive, Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 2H8

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History & Tradition

St. Stephen Catholic School opened in September 1961. Presently we are serving a multicultural community from junior kindergarten through to grade 8. Almost 60 per cent of our students speak a language other than English at home. The multicultural nature of the school is reflected in after-school programs in Arabic, Caldean, Croatian, Italian, Polish and Twi.

Central to the curriculum of St. Stephen Catholic School is the development and nurturing of our Catholic faith. The school has established a close working relationship with the pastoral team of St. Benedict Catholic church. Father Gerald Breen (now Msgr. Breen), St. Benedict's first pastor in 1951, created an atmosphere that emphasized the importance of dialogue among home, school and parish. This tradition continues through the pastoral leadership of the Salesian Order.

Our school patron, Saint Stephen, was the first Christian martyr. His was a story of preaching the good news. So strong was his witness, the authorities of the day had him stoned to death. His feast is celebrated on December 26. Our students are encouraged to act out their Christian witness in their everyday relationships.

How Do We Meet the Diversified Needs of Our Students

St. Stephen Catholic School is one of the largest schools in Etobicoke, and therefore must place a great deal of importance on providing for a large number of students, each with different strengths and needs. We are committed to the Mission statement of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, with everything focusing on the Catholicity of our community. Within diversity, our faith is our common bond. Daily prayers, liturgical celebrations and our interactions with each other all contribute to the Catholic environment.

In order to meet the individual needs of our students, we provide the following programs:

• Junior Literacy Program
• Balanced Literacy
• Special education
• English as a second language
• Instrumental/vocal music
• Enrichment/gifted programs
• French as a second language
• Peer mediation/conflict managers
• Guidance

In order to provide for a variety of special interests and challenges we provide the following activities:

Extra-Curricular Activities

Inter-school competition: volleyball, basketball, soccer, track & field, cross-country, baseball

• Choir
• Excursions
• Retreats
• W5H
• Chess Team
• Girls' Club
• Student Council

Through the provision of academic and special interest programs, we are confident that each child's needs and strengths will be addressed.

School Action Plans

Writing
In order to encourage our students to write, we will again hold a Young Authors' Festival in the spring. Each student--from junior kindergarten through to grade 8--will publish a written product. To facilitate this, each class will have access to a computer. Teachers at all grades are using the Writing Exemplars to familiarize themselves and their students in examples of what a level 3 and 4 piece of writing should look like. Teachers will create opportunities for students to read and write informative articles and other types of non-fiction.

Reading
St. Stephen is a Phase 2 Balanced Literacy School. Our kindergarten teachers address the 40+ sounds of the "Phonics Handbook" in many innovative and creative ways. The primary teachers focus on "Word Wall" and "Making Words". The students in all grades are immersed in a print-rich environment and are encouraged to read.

Mathematics
St. Stephen's best result in the EQAO assessment was in grade 3 mathematics where 64 per cent of the students scored in levels 3 and 4. The grade 6 mathematics scores were the lowest of all the EQAO results. A comparison was done between the grade 6 assessment of May 1999 and the CAT-2 testing done in grade 7 in October 1999. The same students did both in a relatively short period of time. The results in math in the CAT-2 imply that our students were capable of doing better on the EQAO assessment.

This year in the junior and intermediate divisions, we will more fully implement the Interaction math series, which prepares the students to do well on the EQAO assessment than the older math series. More emphasis in mathematics will be placed on problem-solving, which requires students to apply their understanding of concepts and mathematical procedures, and to communicate what they are doing and to explain why they are doing it.

This year's grades 4 and 7 students who did the EQAO assessments will have their booklets returned to them. Selected pages will be reviewed with these students, reviewing the expectations of level 3 and 4 examples.

School News

June 26
PA Day

St. Stephen's zero waste website is at www.tcdsb.org/environment/zerowaste/

School Learning Plan -- 2007-2008

EQAO Assessment Results

EQAO:

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