- Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur
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"College Notre-Dame" redirects here. For other colleges named Notre Dame, see Notre Dame#Educational institutions.
Collège Notre-Dame 
Established 1869 School type Private Grades 7–11 Religious Aff. Roman Catholic Operated by Congregation of Holy Cross Language French Director Gen. Lofti Tazi Location Montreal, Quebec, Canada Address 3791, chemin Queen Mary Enrollment +1500 Website collegenotre-dame.qc.ca Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur is a private French language co-education secondary school in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur shares its name with the University of Notre Dame, which was also founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross. Notre-Dame means "Our Lady" in French and refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sacré-Cœur means "Sacred Heart" which refers to the physical heart of Jesus Christ as a symbol of Divine love. It is generally considered one of the best French-language secondary schools in the city. This school is right on front of Saint Joseph's Oratory. In fact, André Bessette, the man who built Saint Joseph's Oratory was Collège Notre-Dame's doorkeeper.
Contents
History
Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur was founded in 1869 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is administered by Roman Catholic priests and brothers. It adopts an educational approach that enhances the development of intellectual capability, spirituality as well as of physical ability within a dynamic and favourable environment. Originally a boys only school, it decided to allow female students in 1982 in grades 7 and 8 then progressively through until it was completely coed.
Music, sports, theatre and other students activities help create a healthy and balanced environment. Through all these years until today, Collège Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur is considered one of the best French schools in the Province and it is one of the top schools in Montreal, coming in first place but with a very few other schools sharing that same position.
Dress code
Since its inception, school uniforms have been compulsory at Collège Notre-Dame. They must be worn at all times on school property. The dress code consists of a white or blue polo shirt and marine pants and/or a blue and yellow kilt for girls. Older polos might be colored yellow but these polos are not tolerated anymore since they are considered too marginal. The collar of the polo is coloured blue with yellow and royal blue stripes. The gym uniform consists of a grey or blue t-shirt with the schools emblem printed on it and a pair of blue shorts or cotton sweat pants with the school emblem again printed on it. All uniform items must have been purchased at Maison Piacente.
Values
- To respect others, the environment and yourself
- To persevere and to strive for excellence
- To be responsible
- To participate and contribute to the community
Facilities
The school library has over 20,000 books of all genres. It has three student-played orchestras. The computer labs have over a hundred computers. Teachers can use technology to teach in every single class. In some classes, there are touchscreen boards. Every classes have computers. An indoor hockey arena, which seats a thousand spectators, is located behind the school. In addition, it has an indoor swimming pool, a football field, many fitness rooms, a race track and indoor and outdoor basketball courts. The school now wants to build another gym worth approximately 10 million $.
Athletics
The school's sports program is one of the most developed in the Province of Quebec. Collège Notre-Dame has five mandatory physical education classes on a six school days schedule and teams in a dozen of different sports.
The football team, the Cactus, was created in 1958 and is playing in Quebec's AAA league. It has won eleven provincial championships (87,88,89,90,94,96,01,02,05,09,10).[citation needed] There are other sports teams, such as flag football for girls, broomball, basketball, cheerleading, hockey, soccer and volleyball.
Music
Music classes are mandatory in grade 7 and grade 8. The class lasts 5 months which equals to a semester and is then replaced by EMRC (religious class) for the second semester of the same school year. Students can choose from wind instruments, percussions or double bass. Students playing the bassoon, oboe or double bass, will benefit from one private lesson per week with a specialist, since those instruments are particularly difficult for beginners. According to their performance, they can participate in a music concert at the end of the semester.
Those who would like to enrich their music skills can register their name at the Music Department, take private lessons with an expert and play in the different orchestras depending on their school level and technical/musical abilities. Usually, the director of the department, Marc Deschamps, who is also the conductor, takes students from grade 9 (who have three years or more experiences in his/her major instrument) to grade 11 in his orchestra, the Wind Orchestra of College Notre-Dame (Orchestre à Vent du CND). They play harmony music of level 3 or higher. An interesting fact about the conductor is that he has filled this position since the age of 19. Today, he is 54 years old.
Every year, the different orchestras participate at the Festival des Harmonies et des Orchestre Symphoniques du Quebec held in Sherbrooke. There, the OAV plays different pieces(usually 1 warm-up piece and 2 competition pieces) and they are graded according to the orchestra's level.
Musicians can also participate in the Concours Solistes et Petits Ensembles from the FHOSQ in Victoriaville. If they achieve a greater distinction mark, they win a prize, usually a certain amount of money for a specific music summer camp.
Improvisation
Collège Notre-Dame has an improvisation team[1] in the ligue d'improvisation scolaire (LIS). It has won the Calembour cup twice.[citation needed]
Notable alumni
- J. P. Darche, NFL football player[2]
- Mathieu Darche, NHL hockey player
- L. P. Ladouceur, NFL football player[3]
- Grégory Charles singer
- Mathieu Brodeur hockey player
- Alexandre Tagliani racecar driver
- Martin St. Louis NHL hockey player
- Éric Perrin hockey player
- Jean-Luc Mongrain
- Serge Robert (Mononc' Serge)
- Sébastien Delorme
- Stephen O'Brien 10 goal polo player
- Isabelle Jones-Capobianco Retarded Child
References
- ^ "L’art d’improviser". Vie étudiante. Collège Notre-Dame. http://linux.collegenotre-dame.qc.ca/spip.php?rubrique146. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "Jean-Philippe Darche, #51, Long Snapper, Kansas City Chiefs". Kansas City Chiefs. http://www.kcchiefs.com/player/jeanphilippe_darche/.
- ^ "L. P. Ladouceur". NFL Players. National Football League. http://www.nfl.com/players/profile?id=LAD000000.
External links
Categories:- Holy Cross secondary schools
- Roman Catholic secondary schools in Quebec
- Private schools in Quebec
- High schools in Montreal
- Education in Montreal
- Educational institutions established in 1869
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