St. Thomas of Villanova College

Infobox Education in Canada
name = St. Thomas of Villanova College


motto = Unitas, Veritas, Caritas
motto_translation = Unity, Truth, Love
streetaddress = 2480 15th Sideroad
city = King City
province = Ontario
postalcode = L7B 1A4
homepage = [http://www.villanovacollege.org/ www.villanovacollege.org]
schoolnumber =
schoolboard = Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario
affiliation = Catholic Augustinian
superintendent =
trustee =
principal = Paul Paradiso
viceprincipal =
schooltype = High and Middle school
grades = 5-12
language = English
mascot =
teamname = Knights
colours =
founded = 1999
enrollment =
lastupdate = February 16, 2008
bgcolor_section =
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St. Thomas of Villanova College was established at Mary Lake by lay educators Paul Paradiso and Grant Purdy in 1999 at Mary Lake Augustinian Monastery as a Catholic school together with the Augustinians of Toronto, Ontario. Mary Lake is the chief foundation of the Augustinians in Canada, and is now well known as a spiritual center for the Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. The school campus is within the grounds of this Augustinian monastic foundation in King City. The school also uses the house system, with houses such as St. Augustine, St. Nicholas, St. Rita, and St. Monica.

It has a curriculum for students in grades five to twelve.

Patron Saint

The college is named in honor of St. Thomas of Villanova, a sixteenth century Spanish Augustinian. Thomas was born in the province of Ciudad Real, in 1488 and was brought up in Villaneuva de los Infantes, a nearby town; hence his name, Thomas of Villanova. In the year 1544, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V appointed Thomas as Archbishop of Valencia. Thomas succeeded in the spiritual renewal of his diocese, and gained the tile "Father of the Poor". He gave two-thirds of the income of his diocese to care for the poor in various ways. Each day up to 5 poor people came to his door to be fed and to receive money. Other English speaking Augustinian Colleges named for this saint are Villanova College, located in Brisbane, Australia, and Villanova Preparatory School in California, USA. He is also the patron saint to the popular Catholic university, Villanova University located in Villanova, PA, USA

The Augustinian Order in Canada

The Order's 20th century establishment in Canada in North America was one result of both poverty and political trouble being experienced by German Augustinians. From 1925 and later during the Great Depression, German Augustinians began arriving in North America to teach. After 1936, with the political situation in Nazi Germany worsening, more German Augustinians departed for North America. By 1939 from there were 46 German priests, 1356 German religious brothers and 89 German candidates in North America. The order established the first of their Canadian houses at Tracadie, Nova Scotia in Canada in 1938 [http://www.augustinians.ca/aboutus.html] . Among other Canadian foundations, the order also established this significant priory and school in Toronto. The order, by 2006 has since professed many native Canadians.

Charity

Villanova works closely with numerous charities including Habitat For Humanity, the Scott Mission and the Good Shepherd Sisters. The school is also involved in various social outreach programs that minister to communities around the GTA. One of these programs, "Sandwich Patrol" has been recently featured in the King Sentinel. [http://www.kingsentinel.com/news/2007/0228/Schools/013.html]

Athletics

Villanova has bought the rights to an Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League club and has dubbed them the "Villanova Knights". The Knights will be a Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey club, in the OPJHL's North Division. The Knights will play their home games in North York, Ontario. They began play in the 2007-08 season.Cite web
url=http://www.villanovahockey.com
title=Press releases
publisher=Villanova Knights Junior A Hockey Club
accessdate=2008-02-16]

Villanova is also home to the 2007 'A' OFSAA Girls Soccer champions [http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/galleries/week060807.html?g=3] . The girls went undefeated in the tournament, scoring 25 goals while only letting in 1. In the final, the Knights defeated the home side, the L'Essor Aigles, by a score of 2-0. Scoring the goals for Villanova were Joanna Lunetta and Amanda Gaeta. [http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/sports/story.html?id=01f4322d-46a1-4f7d-8a81-1292cf6ea9f2] Most recently, the Villanova soccer team won the 25th Annual York University Girls Indoor High School Tournament, the largest indoor tournament in Canada. [http://www.yorkusoccer.com/main.htm] . The Knights defeated 2 'AAA' and 5 'AAAA' schools, including Sacred Heart 1-0 in the final.

References