About Us

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At St. Richard Catholic School, we pride ourselves on the strong partnership that exists among the home, the school and the parish.

As proud members of the North Bendale community, St. Richard students come from diverse backgrounds but are enrolled because their parents expect them to be educated to their fullest potential in accordance with Catholic teachings and traditions. The Christian ethos of our school is fundamental to our beliefs and values. Students and parents demonstrate this commitment through school Masses, paraliturgical celebrations, daily prayer, parish events, sacramental preparation, food drives, and other community and charitable activities.

While students share many common spiritual, academic, physical, emotional, and social goals, each is a unique individual with special talents and needs. Staff work to provide a secure and nurturing environment that fosters growth in all developmental areas. Thanks to our parents and Providence, the vast majority of students arrive at school eager to learn and explore God's creation and life's mysteries.

Students' health and safety are of paramount importance. Our Safe Arrival Program helps ensure all students are accounted for each day. Parents are asked to report absences or late arrivals through our 24-hour answering service. If no contact is received, the school secretary will attempt to contact parents. Keeping phone numbers and health information up to date supports this system, along with bicycle, traffic, and water safety presentations by Toronto Police and dental and vision screenings by the Toronto Public Health Department. Our school social worker and other Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) resource personnel are also available to support students and parents.

St. Richard students are generally well behaved and cooperative, and school rules are kept as few and simple as possible. Under the Board's violence prevention policy, a more detailed code of deportment will be developed. School programming follows Ontario Ministry of Education and TCDSB curriculum documents, which are regularly revised. Teachers adapt the curriculum to meet the needs and interests of individual students through long range and daily planning, cooperative teaching, consultation with parents and resource personnel, and ongoing educational and medical research. Students requiring remedial or enrichment support receive individual or small group instruction with specialists and teacher assistants and are integrated with their peers for the remainder of the day. Our middle French Immersion classes offer a challenging enrichment program.

There is always a lot happening at St. Richard Catholic School. Learning extends beyond the school day through co-curricular opportunities including athletics, social justice clubs, Eco Team, Guitarstarz, and more. The Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough also operates a Before and After School Recreation program for students in Grades 1 to 6.

St. Richard Catholic School was built in 1964 and expanded in 1968 to serve the burgeoning Catholic population of central Scarborough. As enrollments declined during the seventies, the north addition was converted into the Board's Scarborough/East York Regional Administrative Office (now called the East Curriculum Support Unit). In recent years, enrollment has been steadily increasing, sustained in part by the popularity of the middle French immersion program, the excellent reputation of the school and the influx of younger families into the community.

The school was named after St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253). He is best known today for his prayer which is displayed in the entrance way of the school and was recently set to popular music: “Day by day, oh dear Lord, three things I pray: to see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly, day by day.”

During our school's history, many positive traditions have been established and many memorable academic and athletic accomplishments have been experienced with the help of staff, students, parents and neighbours. As a result, St. Richard Catholic School enjoys an enviable reputation throughout Scarborough, and a legacy that continues to evolve and inspire those who are privileged to share and uphold it.

For pastoral purposes, the school is most closely linked to St. Rose of Lima Parish, although a section of its northeast attendance area is in St. Thomas More Parish.