About Us
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School is one of the original six parochial schools in the Greater Toronto Area. The original school was at 250 Manning Avenue from 1895 until the new turn of the new millennium. In 2000, the school moved to its current location at 80 Clinton Street.
In addition to regular class settings, our school services a wide range of student abilities, including classes for students with Learning Disabilities to Mild Intellectual Disabilities. We are also home to a congregated gifted program for students in grades 6 to 8.
School History and Tradition
The original school was built in 1886 and an addition was built in 1965 to accommodate the great influx of Italian and Portuguese immigrants to the area.
We are proud to have our school dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, who was born in 1182 in the Italian city of Assisi to wealthy merchants. When he became a soldier, he soon saw how cruel war was and how poor people suffered, and abandoned his career and his wealth and began to serve God and the poor. He begged for food and then gave it to the hungry. His loving nature drew many followers and in 1209 the religious order of Franciscans was started. St. Francis spoke about God in simple words so that everyone could understand. He started a tradition of having a crèche, a nativity scene at Christmas, so that people could see the joy of Christ's birth in a poor stable. Our school is proud to bear his name.