About Us
School's Mission
In a school community formed by Catholic beliefs and traditions, the mission of St. Monica Catholic School, in harmony with the mission of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), is to educate students to their full potential. This is achieved by providing a safe and welcoming learning environment that is an example of a Christian community, by the integration of Gospel Values into the total learning experience, and by providing continual feedback on students’ progress. We seek to provide a Catholic education that will enable our students to become responsible, self-disciplined, life-long learners and members of a caring local and global community.
We envision students who:
Are formed in the Catholic faith.
Are physically, emotionally and spiritually balanced to be open to and apply Christian values to life’s opportunities, challenges and choices.
Strive for personal academic excellence in literacy, numeracy and technology.
Display self-worth and self-respect.
Display concern and respect for others.
Demonstrate skills for developing and maintaining personal wellness.
Demonstrate global perspective and community responsibility.
Our school community believes that, by demonstrating our faith in God and respect for each other, we can create a safe, caring and collaborative environment that promotes life-long learning and celebrates the uniqueness of all individuals.
How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students
At St. Monica Catholic School, we continue our tradition of being an inclusive community. We are proud to be wheelchair accessible, host a Developmentally Delayed Classroom and a Gifted Centre, and provide daily Special Education and English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction to identified and struggling students. We are committed to continuous learning and working cooperatively with all partners in education to improve student learning.
The following initiatives and activities support our Catholic school community:
School History and Tradition
St. Monica is one of the oldest schools in the TCDSB, with a history stretching back over over a century. In 1916, members of St. Monica Parish approached the Metropolitan Separate School Board (MSSB) - now the TCDSB - to ask for a portable school on Broadway Avenue close to St. Monica Church. In 1916, the Ministry of Education lists two sisters of St. Joseph as having been the first teachers at St. Monica. In 1918, there were 138 pupils enrolled in the school. At some point in later years, by 1935 at the latest, the school came into the care of the Loretto Sisters. A permanent building was erected on the site by 1925, with additions in 1955, 1963, and 1966.
Our school is named after St. Monica, who was a woman of great inner resources and profound faith, and who dedicated her life to the spiritual rebirth of her son, St. Augustine. St. Monica is the patron saint of parents, married women, and widows, whose powerful example as a wife and mother can be an inspiration and a model.