St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School

St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor
The love of Christ has gathered us together into one
Address
3379 Bayview Avenue
Bayview Woods-Steeles, North York, Ontario, M2M 3S4
Canada
Information
School type Catholic High School
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
(Sisters of St. Joseph)
Founded 1960
School board Toronto Catholic District School Board
Superintendent John Shain
Area 4
Area trustee John Del Grande
Ward 7
School number 516 / 815160
Principal Patricia Coburn
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 657 (2012-13)
Language English
Campus Willowdale
Colour(s) Green, White and Black             
Mascot Jade the Jaguar
Team name Morrow Park Jaguars
Newspaper

The Pawprint

sjmppawprint.wixsite.com/sjmppawprint
Parish Blessed Trinity
Program Focus Extended French
Gifted
Website stjosephmorrowpark.tcdsb.org

St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School (locally known as St. Joseph's Morrow Park, SJMPCSS, SJMP, or sporadically Morrow Park) is a publicly funded all-girls secondary school located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1960 and is attached to the Sisters' motherhouse at Morrow Park. The Sisterhood was founded on October 15, 1650 in LePuy, France, by Jean-Pierre Medaille, a French Jesuit.

The school is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. It is a semestered school and presently has an enrolment of 657 students. The school has a range of programs that include resource assistance, English as a second language (ESL), and gifted programs such as the Queen's Enrichment Program, Catholic Schools United Nations Assembly, and Advanced Placement (AP).

St. Joseph's Morrow Park is the sister school of Brebeuf College School.[1]

History

St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School is a school for girls. It is attached to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph's of Toronto. In the year 1648, Jean-Pierre Medaille founded the congregation in LePuy, France. The community was active in giving support to the orphans, caring for the sick, and educating the younger students. In 1851, the Sisters of St. Joseph came to Toronto. St. Joseph's Morrow Park came about as a result of the relocation and expansion of St. Joseph's which was then operating at Bay and Wellesley. The new Motherhouse was built on Willowdale on a property given to the congregation. A day school and boarding school were part of this complex. In September 1960, St. Joseph's Morrow Park opened its doors with 147 students.

The 9th and 10th grades were placed under the sanction of the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the Toronto Catholic District School Board) in 1967 while the tuition fees continued to be used for grades 11-13. In 1984, when the Province of Ontario decided that Catholic secondary schools were to be fully funded, Morrow Park was expanded into high school grades up to grade 13. By 1987, the operations and maintenance of SJMP were passed on to the MSSB.

Relocation and controversy

The new site of St. Joseph's Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School, which was acquired in 2012 and will be built before 2015. Site size is 5.04 acres.

In 2006, the Sisters of St. Joseph announced that Morrow Park, the school property, along with the school had been sold[2] to Tyndale University College and Seminary.[3] The TCDSB has chosen a site for the school.

It was to be relocated at Bayview and Finch on the current site of Blessed Trinity Catholic Elementary School (and elementary school were to relocate temporarily to the former St. Leonard Catholic School near Leslie Avenue and Finch Avenue East).[4] The new school will accommodate 800 students in grades JK-12.[5] The elementary school will be co-ed, but the high school will remain an all-girls school to coincide with the original intent of the creation of St. Joseph's Morrow Park in 1960. Those changes were rendered moot as the Board decided to extend of the lease of St. Joseph’s Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School at Tyndale until June 30, 2015. With the changes, the TCDSB has also received permission from the Ministry of Education to purchase the site at 500 Cummer Avenue on the former Cummer Avenue Public School / Cummer LINC (since closed in 2011) to accommodate construction of the new St. Joseph Morrow Park Catholic Secondary School. Planning for the new school has started and construction will commence once City of Toronto approvals are received. The scheduled completion date for the newly built $24.75 million secondary school is September, 2015.[6][7]

Board officials unveiled the two concepts for the new SJMP school at a public meeting held on June 19, 2013:

In order for the school board to go through with “Concept B” the city would have to buy the property from willing sellers or expropriate the land from unwilling sellers, which they are legally entitled to do under the Ontario Municipal Board’s Expropriation Act.[8] Toronto area councilor David Shiner stated he was surprised that board officials were considering expropriation, saying that Cummer and Bayview site would better suite a school of 400-500 students, than the planned 800-1000 student school.[9] The TCDSB also owns the former St. Leonard school near Finch Ave. E. and Leslie St., which is currently leased. However, that site is about the same size and is “outside the ideal area. . . . Historically, the school has always been in (this) community.’[9]

On August 27, 2015, the TCDSB trustees voted 6-4 to expropriate 17 townhomes on the southern end.[10]

Overview

2010–2011 EQAO results

85% of Grade 9 Academic math students were at Level 3 or 4. There were 110 students in the Grade 9 Academic classes during this time frame, 0% of whom were students with Special Education Needs (excluding gifted).

24% of Grade 9 Applied math students were at Level 3 or 4. There were 46 students in the Grade 9 Applied classes during this time frame, 35% of whom were students with Special Education Needs (excluding gifted).

83% of first-time eligible students were successful in the Grade 10 literacy test. 49% of previously eligible students were successful in the Grade 10 literacy test.

Fraser Institute ranking

The Fraser Institute's 2010/2011 report on St. Joseph's Morrow Park gave it an overall grade of 6.2/10, ranking it at 360 of 718 publicly funded secondary schools in Ontario.[11] The school is ranked as 386 out of 691 is the most recent years, with ratings of 6.8 in 2007; 6.0 in 2008; 5.9 in 2009; 5.8 in 2010; and 6.2 in 2011.

Uniform

The attendees wear a school uniform consisting of the MacKinnon plaid kilt, black slacks, green vest/pullover, white blouse, green or brown socks/leotards and brown or black shoes.[12]

Alumnae

See also

References

  1. ↑ "School Newsletter" (PDF). Brebeuf College School. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  2. ↑ http://www.tcdsb.org/news/2006-07-06,%20St%20Joseph%20Morrow%20Park%20High%20School.pdf
  3. ↑ Tyndale to Acquire Morrow Park from Sisters of St. Joseph
  4. ↑ http://www.insidetoronto.com/community/education/article/835348--bayview-site-to-be-home-to-st-joseph-morrow-park-school
  5. ↑ http://www.tcdsb.org/schools/stjosephmorrowpark/ForParents/Documents/Letter%20to%20BT%20and%20SJMP,%20November%2012,%202012_funding%20approval.pdf
  6. ↑ http://stagnescsac.blogspot.ca/2012/10/st-josephs-morrow-park-lease-extended.html
  7. ↑ http://www.tcdsb.org/Board/TrusteesoftheBoard/boardmeeting/agendasandminutes/Agendas/Documents/Board%20and%20Special%20Board%20Meetings/April%2020,%202011/Board%20Agenda,%202011-04-20,%20Surplus%20Properties.pdf
  8. 1 2 Russell, Andrew TCDSB could expropriate homes for new high school, Global News - July 4, 2013. Retrieved on October 5, 2013
  9. 1 2 3 Hauch, Valerie Toronto Catholic District School Board may expropriate homes for new high school, Toronto Star - July 4, 2013. Retrieved on October 5, 2013
  10. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-catholic-school-board-votes-to-expropriate-17-townhouses-in-north-york-1.3206838
  11. ↑ "Detailed school reports 2011". Fraser Institute. Retrieved 2012-06-17.
  12. ↑ "School History and Tradition". TCDSB. Retrieved 2012-06-17.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.