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About Us
At Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School, we pride ourselves on the strong partnership that exists among the home, the school and the parish.
Our Mission
Within the mission and vision of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), Monsignor Percy Johnson Catholic Secondary School is a school community that:
Is Christ-centered.
Is student-focused.
Demonstrates a clear sense of purpose.
Is visibly and demonstrably Catholic.
Reflects empowering leadership.
Applies collaborative decision-making.
Is innovative.
Provides role models among all stakeholders for all these qualities.
How We Meet the Diverse Needs of Our Students
Monsignor Percy Johnson is a community of learning where our objective is to welcome and educate each child regardless of ability, sex and ethnic and racial origins. We strive for the total development of the human person: religious, intellectual, physical, cultural, emotional, social and ethical. Our classrooms are characterized by active student learning and high time on task, cooperative learning and peer tutoring, regularly assigned and monitored homework, continuous monitoring and reporting of student achievement and mastery at each step of learning with appropriate difficulty. At Monsignor Percy Johnson, we expect a high standard of performance by all - not the same, but a high degree of performance by all.
In addition to academic excellence, we as a Catholic school community, through prayer and service, strive to give witness to Christ in the love and support we show for each other. To this end, the full credit religious education program emphasizes community involvement through such initiatives as the community service component of the Grade 12 program. This involvement can also be seen in the students' participation in such events as food drives, Christmas basket collections, the St. Benedict “summer daze” program, and an outreach breakfast program. The chaplaincy team arranges homeroom masses and retreats to develop a loving and supportive relationship among our students.
We have an excellent resource department that modifies programs for our gifted students as well as for those students with learning disabilities. A realistic educational plan that incorporates future goals is formulated for each student with the collaboration of subject teachers and guidance counselors.
We also provide the opportunity for identified students to earn credits while receiving support in a small classroom setting. In fact, Monsignor Percy Johnson just recently received an award of honourable mention from the Ministry of Education for our exemplary practice in integration. In addition, our School-Based Support Team (SBST), which meets once a week, helps identify students in need of assistance and designs an active plan which supports the needs of the student as well as the classroom teacher.
Our English as a Second Language (ESL) department uses a variety of courses and techniques to meet its goal of full integration for our ESL students in the curricular and extracurricular life of the school.
The library resource centre provides support materials for concepts learned in the classroom. It helps students acquire knowledge and skills to become independent learners, able to make sound judgments in the light of Christian values. Specifically, it teaches students how to access and use information on the electronic superhighway and provides expert coaching for student research.
Our communication technology program involves CAD drafting, animation, graphics, amateur radio communication, and video and still photography. Our television studio was completed at the start of 1996.
After-school support workshops for English, mathematics, science as well as computer labs, open every day after school, provide assistance with the help of peer facilitators and teachers.
Peer facilitator and peer tutoring programs provide extra individual help, tutoring, and mentoring students having difficulty achieving and fitting in the mainstream educational setting. Research has demonstrated that both the tutor and the tutee develop new skills along the way and grow in self-esteem.
For students who learn best outside the classroom, we have co-operative education with off-campus work placements that allow students to earn multi credits towards their secondary school diploma. This experience suits their learning styles, and the community becomes an extension of our classrooms.
To ensure race and ethno-cultural equality, we support and celebrate our cultural diversity through study and activities initiated by our chaplaincy team, social science and religion departments and associations such as our Italian, Spanish and Afro heritage clubs. In 1993, Monsignor Percy Johnson won, from the Ministry of Multiculturalism and Citizenship, an award for our antiracism and multicultural programs.
Athletics play an important role in our school life at Monsignor Percy Johnson through our varsity and intramural programs. We have 19 different school teams and Monsignor Percy Johnson has qualified for provincial play-offs in men's and women's basketball, men's volleyball and men's softball. In the intramural program, we stress participation rather than competition, and develop life skills such as leadership, cooperation and responsibility.
School History and Tradition
In the November of 1983, the Metropolitan Separate School Board (MSSB) - now the TCDSB - and the Archdiocese of Toronto announced plans to start a new Catholic high school in north Etobicoke for September 1984. The phenomenal growth of the Catholic school population in the area had created severely crowded conditions at both Father Henry Carr and Don Bosco high schools.
The School Board confirmed the Diocese’s recommendation of Monsignor Johnson as the name for the new school in February 1984. The Very Reverend Monsignor Johnson was born in Toronto on September 22, 1912, and educated at Holy Name Catholic School, De La Salle College School, and St. Augustine Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 6, 1936. In his 47 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto, and especially during his 32 years as a Pastor of Our Lady of Peace, in his years as an Army Chaplain, and in his 27 years as a Trustee, Monsignor touched many lives for the better. We remember him with affection, respect, and appreciation.