St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School (Oakville)

Infobox Education in Canada
name= St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School


imagesize=
motto= "aequalitas, veritas, excellentia"
motto_translation= "equality, truth, excellence"
streetaddress= 124 Dorval Drive
city= Oakville
province= Ontario
email= [e-mail]
url= http://www.hcdsb.org/schools/Aqui/index.html
schoolboard= Halton Catholic District School Board
trustee= Ms. A.A. LeMay (Board chair), Mr. E. Viana, Mr. A. Danko, Ms. P. Houlahan
superintendent= Mary Tessari
affiliation= Roman Catholic
principal= Mr. P. Daly
viceprincipal= Mr. G. Picone
schooltype= Separate Secondary School
grades= 9 to 12
language= English, with language classes in French
area= Halton
mascot=
teamname= Aquinas Raiders
colours= black, white and grey
founded= 1990
enrollment= c. 850
enrollment_as_of= September 2007

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School is a high school located in the western part of Old Oakville in Oakville, Ontario. St. Thomas Aquinas is a member of the Halton Catholic District School Board. There are approximately 850 students attending the school in grades 9 through 12, making it the smallest high school in Halton (of either the Catholic or public boards).

At St. Thomas Aquinas, the current principal and vice-principal are, respectively, Mr. Patrick Daly and Mr. Greg Picone. The previous principal of St. Thomas Aquinas was Mr. Colin McGillicuddy (now at Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in River Oaks), and the previous vice-principal was Mr. Dave DeSantis (now at Christ the King Catholic Secondary School in Georgetown).

The school offers academic programs for university-bound students, applied programs for college-bound students, and essential programs for the learning challenged; it also offers co-op apprenticeship and workplace programs in computer engineering and cosmetology (see below). The school community prides itself on athletic achievements, and STA fields teams known as the "Raiders" in a wide variety of sports (see below). Arts-related groups include the Aquinas Concert Band (which won a bronze medal at the Atlantic Band Festival in Halifax in May 2006), a Jazz Band, a choir, a yearly school play, entries in the Sears Drama Festival, and the school's Tech Crew. Several leadership and school community groups also exist, including the school's Student Council, the STA Prefects, the Athletic Council, and the Peace and Justice Club (the "PJs").

Today, after the opening of Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School, the feeder schools for St. Thomas Aquinas are St. Dominic, St. Joseph, St. James, St. Vincent and St. Luke Catholic Elementary schools.

chool Building

The school building itself has been in existence since the 1960s, when it was first opened as Gordon E. Purdue Public High School. In 1990, the school became a Catholic high school when it was transferred from the public board to the Catholic board for the sum of $1 (as some money legally had to be exchanged).

St. Thomas Aquinas School is composed of five floors; three in the south end of the building and two in the north. The floors are offset by about 1/2 of a storey at a point just north of the school's main lobby.

The floors to the south (bottom to top) are the 100s, 200s and 300s. The 100s comprise classrooms for English, modern languages, history, geography, religion, philosophy, law, politics, and World Studies. The 200s houses only one general-use classroom, but also includes the main office, the Chapel and Chaplain's office, the Guidance offices, the Special Education department, the library and the main foyer/lobby. The 300s comprise mathematics, business and computer science classrooms, in addition to several staff offices.

In the north end of the building lie the 500s (ground-level) and atop them, the 400s. The 400s houses two classrooms, along with the school's cafeteria and staff room. The 500s include the school's gymnasium and weight room, along with classrooms for science, co-op programs, religion, art, drama and music.

St. Thomas Aquinas also had a number of portables in the late 1990s. These have since been removed as the school's population has decreased dramatically (from over 1200 to about 850) due to the removal of the OAC grade and the opening of Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in north Oakville.

Plans for a new school building

Despite a series of renovations over its lifetime, much of the school building dates back to the opening of the original Gordon E. Purdue High School more than forty years ago. Due to some poor construction (as well as poor planning), problems and inconveniences have cropped up as the building shows its age. As of late, there has been growing support among the school community for a new, more modern school building.

In mid-May 2007, the Oakville Beaver reported that the Halton Catholic District School Board had made it a priority to provide funding for and move forward with the replacement of the school building. [ [http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/news/article/93739 Oakville Beaver news article, May 18, 2007] ] A major step forward came when the government of Ontario announced a $15 million grant in early September to go towards the replacement of the school building. [ [http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/news/article/120160 Oakville Beaver news article, September 8, 2007] ]

However, requiring a further $18 million for the project, the Halton Catholic District School Board has since been looking into other options to continue to raise money, in particular a plan that would have students diverted from St. Ignatius of Loyola and Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary schools to St. Thomas Aquinas in order to qualify for provincial grants. [ [http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/news/article/134631 Oakville Beaver news article, November 9, 2007] ] The proposed redirection of elementary school graduates from northern Oakville has since drawn protest from parents who either oppose more boundary reviews or want their children to attend high school closer to home. [ [http://www.oakvillebeaver.com/news/article/145070 Oakville Beaver news article, December 26, 2007] ]

Notable Alumni

• John Tavares [ [http://www.thespec.com/article/187711 Hamilton Spectator Article, April 29, 2007] ] - currently plays for the Oshawa Generals (Ontario Hockey League) hockey team and has set several scoring records for minor hockey.

Academics

St. Thomas Aquinas offers programs for university-, college-, and workplace-bound students. The school also offers programs for special-needs students under the Special Education department.

Regional Programs

St. Thomas Aquinas is the host school for several regional programs for both the Halton Catholic and Halton Public school boards. These programs are available to all students in either board providing they meet any applicable prerequisites. These programs include the [http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/training/apprenticeship/skills/oyap.html Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Programs] (OYAP) and a Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program.

• Hairstylist OYAP - Hairstylist Concentrated OYAP is a program specifically designed to help students make a smooth successful transition from high school directly into their post-secondary hairstylist apprenticeship and to prepare students for a career in aesthetics. [ [http://www.schooltocareer.ca/oyap/Hair.shtml SchoolToCareer Hairstylist] ]
• Information Technology Technician (ITT) OYAP - is a program specifically designed to help students make a smooth successful transition from high school directly into a post-secondary Information Technology Technician (ITT) apprenticeship or diploma program. [ [http://www.schooltocareer.ca/oyap/ITT.shtml SchoolToCareer IT Technician] ]
• Health and Wellness Specialist High Skills Major - designed to help students make a smooth transition into health-care related careers, which offer many opportunities due to aging demographics. The curriculum delivered in this program focuses on human physiology and anatomy, pathology, immunology, basic medical terminology, gerontology, child development and laboratory practical elements. [ [http://schooltocareer.ca/shsm/General%20-%20Specialist%20High%20Skills%20Major%20Facts%20&%20Assignment.pdf SchoolToCareer High Skills Major Programs] ]

Athletics

St. Thomas Aquinas fields athletic teams called the "Raiders". STA is a member school of the Halton Secondary School Athletics Association. Students at St. Thomas can participate in both individual and team sports in any of three seasons: fall, winter, or spring.

Varsity Teams

• Girls' Soccer: OFSAA Gold: 2006 [ [http://209.41.165.248//site/content/GirlsSoccer.pdf OFSAA Past Champions Girls Soccer] ] , Halton Champions: 2006,2007
• Boys' Soccer: Halton Champions: 2005, 2007
• Boys' Football: Junior Team (Division 2) Halton Champions: 2007 [] http://hssaa.org/standings/2007-2008/Fall/Jr.%20Boys%20Div-2% HSSAA Standings] ]
• Girls' Basketball
• Boys' Basketball
• Girls' Field Hockey
• Girls' Rugby
• Boys' Volleyball
• Girls' Volleyball
• Boys' Baseball
• Girls' Softball
• Boys' Lacrosse
• Cross-country
• Track and Field

Junior & Midget Teams

• Girls' Soccer
• Boys' Soccer
• Boys' Football: Halton Champions (Division 2): 2007 [http://hssaa.org/standings/2007-2008/Fall/Jr.%20Boys%20Div-2%]
• Girls' Basketball
• Boys' Basketball
• Girls' Field Hockey
• Girls' Rugby
• Boys' Volleyball
• Girls' Volleyball
• Boys' Baseball
• Boys' Midget Baseball
• Girls' Softball
• Boys' Lacrosse
• Cross-country
• Track and Field

External links

* [http://www.haltonrc.edu.on.ca/schools/Aqui/index.html Official Website]
* [http://www.haltonrc.edu.on.ca/ Halton Catholic District School Board]

References