About Us
St. Bonaventure Catholic School is a community of faith and learning dedicated to nurturing the spiritual, intellectual, physical, and social growth of every student. Our Catholic faith is woven into daily life through prayer, Virtues of the Month celebrations, prayer tables, monthly Masses, and visits from the Apostolate of the Rosary.
We are committed to ensuring that every child feels valued, welcomed, and supported as an important member of our school community. Through social justice initiatives and service opportunities, students are encouraged to reach out to others and develop a deeper understanding of their role in the world. The Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations are embedded throughout our curriculum and guide our school philosophy.
St. Bonaventure offers programs from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8, including Extended French and a Congregated Gifted Program. Students participate in a wide range of academic and enrichment subjects, including the Arts, Physical Education, Health, Drama, Music, Social Studies, French, Mathematics, English, Science, and Religion.
Through a collaborative learning environment, teachers work together to identify each student’s strengths and needs, creating learning experiences that support individual growth and success.
Our Mission
As a community of faith and learning, we pride ourselves on nurturing the spiritual, intellectual, physical, social, and emotional growth of each community member.
Our Vision
As a caring and compassionate team of dedicated professionals, we hold ourselves accountable to being inclusive and in striving to achieve excellence in our learning community.
We hold ourselves accountable to Discipleship, Collaborative teaching and learning, and Assessment for learning.
Discipleship
Through the teachings of the Bible, we become a community that cherishes and cares for all of God’s creation. We will:
Continue to ensure that religious content is made relevant to our school community.
Develop a curriculum that focuses on active discipleship, leadership and citizenship in each division.
Explore and implement knowledge about Racism, Indigenous issues and multicultural issues (including expanding appropriate resources in our library and classrooms).
Continue to nurture a safe, inclusive, welcoming, healthy, active and caring school community.
Collaborative teaching and learning
By fostering collaborative teaching and learning across the curriculum and across divisions, we will:
Establish our professional learning community based on the following triad of meetings: Divisional Teams (JK to Grade 4 and Grade 5 to 8) and Shared Learning Meetings.
Complete the development of common long-range plans at grade level that are based on common assessment (and essential outcomes).
Share planning time with the same grade teachers to discuss curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment.
Focus our dialogue on student needs driven by data analysis - formative, summative, Canadian Achievement Tests (CAT)-4 and Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
Assessment for learning
Assessment for learning will inform teaching and planning, and allow us to adapt teaching to the specific needs of each child. We will continue to:
Develop and utilize common grade level rubrics for assessment that will evaluate achievement of essential outcomes in each subject area.
Adapt assessment in language and math so that there is consistency across grades and a continuum across the school.
Use assessment data to identify students at risk and address their needs accordingly (i.e., through differentiated instruction).
Identify students that are overachieving and tailor the curriculum to suit their needs (i.e., through differentiated instruction).
Modify assessments for Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and English as a Second Language (ESL) students.
Our School History and Tradition
St. Bonaventure Catholic School is named in honour of St. Bonaventure, one of Christianity’s great scholastic thinkers and a renowned Franciscan theologian. Born in Italy in 1217, he entered the Franciscan Order in 1234 and went on to become a distinguished lecturer, philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In 1273, Pope Gregory appointed him a Cardinal. St. Bonaventure died in 1274 while preparing for the Second Council of Lyons, and his feast day is celebrated on July 14.
St. Bonaventure Catholic School opened on January 3, 1957, as an eight-classroom school. As the community grew, additional facilities were added, including seven classrooms and a library in 1962, followed by a gymnasium, change rooms, and stage in 1969. In 2006–2007, the school celebrated its 50th anniversary, honouring decades of faith, learning, and community.
Over the years, St. Bonaventure has developed strong connections with its parish and the surrounding community. Generations of families have been part of the school’s story, with former students returning as parents and grandparents. This strong sense of tradition and belonging continues to shape our community.
St. Bonaventure Catholic School is committed to living out Catholic values through service, social justice, and student leadership. Through various initiatives and opportunities, students are encouraged to be compassionate disciples who make a positive difference in the world.