About Us
At Cardinal Léger Catholic School, we pride ourselves on the strong partnership that exists among the home, the school and the parish.
Who We Are
Cardinal Léger Catholic School provides a Catholic education which focuses on Christ's life as intrinsic to the entire curriculum. Our school is not just a place where academic learning occurs; it is also a place to teach and model Christian living. We respect individual differences, individual rights and individual responsibilities in following God's plan for us, with the guidance of His church. Love of God, love of others and love of self as the basic means by which we are to live our lives and conduct our school activities. Our school provides an inviting, safe and welcoming environment where each child can learn, grow and develop.
How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students
Cardinal Léger Catholic School implements the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB)'s mission of providing a Catholic education which focuses on Christ's life as intrinsic to the entire curriculum. Our school is not just a school where academic learning occurs, but more importantly it is a place to teach and model Christian living. We respect individual differences, individual rights and individual responsibilities in following God's plan for us, with the guidance of His church. Love of God, love of others and love of self are the basic means by which we are to live our lives and conduct our school activities.
Our school board has initiated support documents in keeping with the Ministry of Education directives. Our school provides an inviting, safe and welcoming environment where each child can learn, grow and develop. We provide a safe arrival program, ensuring that each child is at school or is safely at home by phoning to verify the presence of each child daily.
In addition to the regular subjects taught, our school provides:
Physical and health education.
Library studies in our school library.
Computer lab studies in our school library.
Individual computer programming in each classroom.
Vocal music (an itinerant teacher) from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6.
Instrumental music in Grade 7 and 8.
French as a Second Language (FSL) from Grades 1 to 8.
Special education for those in need from Grades 1 to 8.
Gifted education (weekly program) at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School.
In addition to the regular program, teachers often modify the curriculum to meet individual needs. They meet with other staff and resource personnel to support student learning and foster success. As well as meeting academic needs, we also seek to develop the student in the area of athletics and the arts, all of which is within our Catholic school environment. We have regular house league sports at recesses for all children to participate for good fun and friendly competition. Our school teams in track and field, softball, soccer, volleyball and basketball continue to perform well in local and regional competition. Cardinal Léger Catholic School is known as one of the greatest sports schools in the city.
In the arts, we have presented a play of the life of Cardinal Léger, a passion play during the Easter season, Christmas concerts, spring concerts and talent show at the fun fair. We also have a primary/junior choir, a chess team and W5H teams. Our staff has been most generous with their time to coach, direct and supervise these various activities.
School History and Tradition
Cardinal Léger Catholic School was established in September 1988 at St. Malachy Catholic School, with which it shared facilities for its initial year. The new building was completed in 1989 and our excited school community took possession in September 1989. Student enrollment grew from 400 in the school's first year.
The new building is a unique design, having a large atrium as a centre for the school. A child care centre is a vital part of the building, and provides a much needed day care for children in the community.
The school is named after Paul-Emile Cardinal Léger of Montreal. His life served as a great role model for our students. He lead a life of service to others, particularly in his profession as teacher, priest, servant for the poor and missionary. He was a great Canadian whose life work was to educate, to help those in poverty and those physically disabled by disease and to bring people closer to God. For all these reasons, Paul-Emile Cardinal Léger remains an excellent role model for us as Catholics and Canadian citizens in a multicultural society.
The school has close ties to our parish, St. Joseph's of Highland Creek. The parish is staffed by Irish Spiritan fathers and represents a wide diversity of ethnic backgrounds in our community.
Cardinal Léger Catholic School strives within the TCDSB community to develop its students spiritually, academically, athletically and aesthetically. The staff work closely with parents, priests and students to achieve these goals.