Student Achievement, Success and 21st Century Learning
In addition to nurturing the distinctiveness of Catholic education, Niagara Catholic’s Strategic Directions focus on “Advancing Student Achievement for All.”
Niagara Catholic schools are safe, caring, accepting and inclusive learning and teaching environments, where staff meet students where they are on their educational journey. We teach the whole child as a child of God, and focus on learning and progress for all students, so that each one can meet their full potential. Through the support and guidance of staff, students discover their God-given gifts and talents, and are encouraged to develop their capacity for leadership.
Niagara Catholic was once again proud to announce our annual graduation rate is fourth in Ontario. Overall, 91.4 percent of students graduated from one of our eight Catholic high schools within four years, and 93 percent graduated within five years. This outstanding accomplishment is the result of a great deal of hard work and commitment from our students and staff.
Niagara Catholic held its Second Annual Pathways to Success Speakers Series event in May 2019. This event brought together elementary students from the junior and intermediate divisions and secondary students and parents with a variety of speakers working in a number of industries in Niagara, to talk about the various career pathways open to students. This event is always very well-attended, and is an excellent way for students to begin planning early for career pathways in school.
In June, students in Niagara Catholic’s horticulture and construction programs worked together to create a new, accessible, community garden in Welland. The students rototilled flower beds and vegetable gardens and built both ground-level and elevated gardens so that people with mobility issues or use assistive devices such as walkers or wheelchairs are able to continue to enjoy gardening.
In May, students from our Catholic Secondary schools, participated in the challenging the Diplôme d'études en langue française or the DELF. Fifty-eight Grade 12 students spent three days conversing, reading, listening, and writing in French, in order to obtain a diploma of proficiency for French. Students demonstrated a number of skills required to challenge the exam at various levels: problem solving and perseverance were among the skills necessary for this test. Congratulations to our students and a big THANK YOU to our teachers!! Félicitation à nos élèves!! Merci à nos profs qui ont supportés leurs élèves à faire le DELF.
Secondary and elementary schools throughout Niagara Catholic celebrated Catholic Education Week in May with a variety of special lessons and activities. While continuing with the regular, daily Catholic approach to school activities, schools completed random acts of kindness, participated in Eucharist Adoration, Crowning of Mary liturgies, Living Rosaries, social justice causes and displays and raised money for charities. Many schools increased time for meditation, wrote letters of thanks, challenged staff and students to spread joy and created special art-based projects. A variety of special guests were invited into schools while other schools went out into their communities to share their talents and time with others. Some schools took special steps to help the environment, and purposefully created community in a variety of new ways.