School History And Tradition
St John Henry Newman Catholic School is located on a magnificent 45 acre campus overlooking the Scarborough Bluffs and Lake Ontario, a site shared with St. Augustine's Seminary. Unlike traditional Catholic schools founded by religious orders, it opened in the fall of 1973 entirely staffed by lay Catholic teachers, as Cardinal Newman Catholic High School, later renamed Blessed Cardinal Newman C.H.S. and finally as St John Henry Newman as our namesake, John Henry Newman, moved through the path to canonization.
Many of our teachers have since gone on to found, to teach and to administer similar schools in the system. Newman was one of two high schools in the system to pilot an integration program for students with special needs. We were among the first schools within the Toronto Catholic District School Board to introduce programs ranging from peer counseling and mediation to electronic keyboarding and communications technology. Our school was profiled in a video produced by the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association in the 1990s for our exemplary work in developing programs which integrate Catholic values and teachings into the curriculum.
We are proud that innovation is a part of our tradition at Newman. Our school continues to thrive because of its tradition of providing a caring educational, social and spiritual environment for our students.
School Name Change
With the canonization of John Henry Cardinal Newman - October 2019 — the TCDSB officially recognized St John Henry Newman Catholic High School as the new name for our school at a Board Meeting in December 2019.
Aerial Photo (late 1970's) Cardinal Newman, Scarborough, Ontario
1973 - The First Year
The following is a dedication written to Mr. Howcraft in the schools first yearbook.
"To his staff he is a leader who, by his integrity, commands the respect and loyalty of his co-workers. He is a man of ability who recognizes, elicits, and synthesizes what is best in those with whom he forms a team.
Lorne Howcroft - Newman's First Principal
To the students he is a man of conviction, exercising authority as one who is himself subject to it. he is a man of understanding who maintains the dleicate balance between justice and mercy.
To all he is a man eminently concerned with intellectual and moral truth — one who, by his deep, Christian spirituality, deepens the spritual life of all who come into contact with him. His unfailing sense of humour helps you ride many a storm, although for the unwary it can occasionally boomerang. He is above all, a friend who willingly extends a helping hand, whatever the need, whenever the call.
In short, he personifies John Henry Newman's definition of a Christian and a gentleman. In dedicating our first yearbook, we proudly salute the principal of Cardinal Newman High School."
Farewell Photo Of The Student Body, 1979
(Taken from the Scarborough Fire Dept. Aerial Tower by Mr. Bob Wood)
The First "Community" Yearbook Cover, 1974
Cardinal Newman Principals 1973 to Present
Lorne Howcroft, 1973 - 1979
John Ware, 1979 - 1983
Tom King, 1983 - 1988
Paul Costello, 1988 - 1989
Andy Fedak, 1989 - 1991
Michael O'Gorman, 1991 - 1994
Tim Lee, 1994 - 1996
Angela Convertini, 1996 - 1999
Marg Gardonio, 1999 - 2005
Russ Coleman, 2005 - 2009
Joan Tschernow, 2009 - 2016
Kristine Carey, 2016 to present