St. Joseph's College School (St. Joseph's College, SJCS, or St. Joe's, more colloquially known as St. Joe's Wellesley), originally known as St. Joseph's Academy for Young Ladies is a girls' Catholic high school in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

operated by the

Toronto Catholic District School Board The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 40 prior to 1999) is an English-language public-separate school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North York. ...

, formerly the Metropolitan Separate School Board in which the school is a member since 1987. Founded in 1854 by the

Sisters of St. Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for Saint Jo ...

, it turned 150 years old in the school year 2004-2005 and turned 160 years old in the school year 2014–2015. In the year 2010–2011, the

Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a Canadian Conservatism in Canada, conservative public policy think tank registered as a Charitable organization, charity. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It has ...

ranked St. Joseph's College amongst the top 5% of Ontario schools.

History and tradition

St. Joseph's College School was founded by the

of Toronto in 1854, three years after the first nuns from the order came to the city. The roots of the Congregation began in LePuy, France, when the Sisters of St. Joseph was established in 1648 by a French Jesuit named

Jean Paul Médaille Jean Paul Médaille, SJ (29 January 1618 – 15 May 1689) was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary. Jean Paul Médaille Jean Paul Médaille was born on 29 January 1618 at Carcassonne, Aude, Department of Aude, France. He entered the ...

. Originally called “''St. Joseph’s Academy for Young Ladies'',” the name was changed to “St. Joseph’s College School, a Boarding and Day School for the Higher and Primary Education of Young Ladies and Little Girls” when the school moved to Bay and St. Alban's Street in 1863. St. Joseph's College has a history of promoting girls’ and women's education. In 1911, the school requested to be affiliated with the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

—a request the then-president of the university, Sir

Robert Falconer Sir Robert Alexander Falconer (10 February 1867 – 4 November 1943) was a Canadian academic, Calvinist and bible scholar. Early life Of Scottish descent, Falconer was born on February 10, 1867, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the ...

, granted. St. Joseph's was officially tied to St. Michael's College, the Roman Catholic college of the University of Toronto, in 1912 becoming "St. Joseph College Academy". This resulted in women being able to take courses at St. Michael's College for the first time. In 1931, the school was renamed to “St. Joseph’s College School” when it was moved to a building separate from the convent. When the Ontario government purchased the convent property to construct four office towers, the Sisters of St. Joseph relocated the College School across the street at its present location. Students helped with the move, carrying furniture across Wellesley Street. St. Joseph's College School on 74 Wellesley Street West opened on September 3, 1961. The motherhouse was relocated to Morrow Park on Bayview in 1960. In 1967, it entered an agreement with the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now The Toronto Catholic District School Board) where Grades 9 and 10 were placed into the publicly funded system, while later grades continued to pay tuition. The school also operated the commercial school on Sherbourne Street for secretarial skills. This school became co-educational and renamed to

Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School, officially Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School and Regional Arts Centre (referred to known as The Regional Arts School @ Marrocco, BMTMCSS, BMTM, Bishop Marrocco/Thomas ...

in 1985. In 1984, the Ontario government expanded funding in Grades 11–13, the College School became entirely publicly funded in 1987 as it was ceased as a private school, at which time the Sisters leased the school to the Metropolitan Separate School Board. The last Sister of St. Joseph to serve as principal retired in June 1996 (Sister Conrad Lauber). The Toronto Catholic District School Board has owned the College School property since December 2007. On May 31, 2012, the head janitor of SJCS, Vincent Perna, was charged with attempted murder as police alleged Perna went to the staff room and tried to help kitchen staff light a stove after a gas line had been severed in the basement of the school.

Education

St. Joseph's College School offers a full-time Extended French program, a variety of

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

and enriched courses, and a wide range of classes in the sciences and the humanities. Additionally, the Arts Department offers drama, visual arts, music, and new media arts programming. Drama students, for example, have taken part in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. St. Joseph's regularly scores within the top 10% of schools on the

Education Quality and Accountability Office The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO, , OQRE) is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario in Canada. It was legislated into creation in 1996 in response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Learning in February ...

's standardised tests. The school also has a

Gifted education Gifted education (also known as gifted and talented education (GATE), talented and gifted programs (TAG), or G&T education) is a type of education used for children who have been identified as Intellectual giftedness, gifted or Talent (skill), tal ...

program and an Enriched program. Through these, students are able to take part in a number of activities, including Encounters With Canada, the University of Toronto Mentorship Program, model United Nations conferences, the Queen's University Enrichment Studies Unit, the University of Toronto Gifted Conference,

Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge (COMC) is an annual mathematics competition held in Canada during the month of October. This competition is run by the Canadian Mathematical Society. Students who score exceptionally well on this competit ...

, and the University of Waterloo's various mathematics competitions.

Chaplaincy

The Chaplaincy program at St. Joseph's College School provides all staff and students experiences of prayer, the sacraments, social action and Catholic leadership. The school chaplaincy team leader and the student chaplaincy team organize the student retreat program, plan all aspects of school liturgies, contribute to the annual

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

assembly, and facilitate many other school projects.

Uniform

Students at St. Joseph's wear a uniform, which includes a Dress Gordon plaid kilt, a white blouse with the school insignia, and navy cardigans, full-zip sweaters and sweater vests embroidered with the school crest.

Notable alumnae

* Nhooph Al-Areebi - professional wrestler /

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

developmental Development of the human body is the process of growth to maturity. The process begins with fertilization, where an egg released from the ovary of a female is penetrated by a sperm cell from a male. The resulting zygote develops through mitosis ...

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

(as Jasmin Areebi / Aliyah) * Margaret I. Carman 1890-1976 Teacher at Flushing H.S. for 44 yrs.

References

External links

St. Joseph's College School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's College School Toronto Catholic District School Board High schools in Toronto Catholic secondary schools in Ontario Educational institutions established in 1864 1864 establishments in Canada