Michael Power - St. Joseph High School

Last updated
Michael Power - St. Joseph High School
Michael Power St Joseph front of school.jpg
Michael Power - St. Joseph
Location
Michael Power - St. Joseph High School
105 Eringate Drive

Toronto
,
Ontario
,
M9C 3Z7

Canada
Coordinates 43°39′33″N79°34′56″W / 43.6593°N 79.5823°W / 43.6593; -79.5823
Information
Former nameSt. Joseph High School, Islington (1949–1982)
Michael Power High School (1957–1982)
Vincent Massey Collegiate Institute (1961–1985)
School type Separate, Catholic High School
IB World School
MottoDoce Me Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientiam
Teach me goodness, discipline, and knowledge
•
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor
The love of Christ has gathered us together into one
Religious affiliations Roman Catholic
(Basilian Fathers and Sisters of St. Joseph)
FoundedSeptember 12, 1949;76 years ago (1949-09-12) - as St. Joseph High School, Islington
September 3, 1957;68 years ago (1957-09-03) - as Michael Power High School
School board Toronto Catholic District School Board
(Metropolitan Separate School Board)
SuperintendentFlora Cifelli
Area 1
Area trusteeMarkus de Domenico
Ward 2
School number529 / 731820
PrincipalLisa Tomeczek
Grades 9-12
Enrolment2090 (2023-2024)
Language English
ColoursMaroon and Gold    [1]
SloganHome of Scholars and Champions
MascotTrojan
Team namePower Trojans
ParishNativity of Our Lord
Specialist High Skills MajorHealth and Wellness
Sports
Program FocusExtended French
International Baccalaureate
Gifted
Website www.tcdsb.org/o/michaelpowerstjoseph

Michael Power - St. Joseph High School (colloquially known as Michael Power, MPSJ or Power) is a Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded as an amalgamation of two independent schools in the neighbourhood, Michael Power High School (an all-male school secondary school founded by the Basilian Fathers in 1957 initially known as St. Francis High School, later Bishop Power High School) and St. Joseph Islington High School (an all-female school led by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1949) with the two schools amalgamated in 1982 officially. The school joined the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now Toronto Catholic District School Board) in 1987.

Contents

In 1993, Michael Power - St. Joseph moved west and north to the former site of Vincent Massey Collegiate Institute, built in 1961 by the Etobicoke Board of Education (later amalgamated with the Toronto District School Board) and closed in 1985, on Eringate Drive, in which the campus has been leased to the MSSB/TCDSB since 1990.

It is the largest high school in the Toronto Catholic District School Board and one of the largest secondary school populations in Toronto with 1941 students in the 2017–18 year and the second largest in Toronto. MPSJ is ranked 244 out of 739 in the 2018-2019 Fraser Institute report card with a 6.9 rating. [2] MPSJ has offered the International Baccalaureate (IB) program since 2002 and is one of the few TCDSB schools to offer it.

The mottos for the school are in the Basilian tradition of "Doce Me Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientiam" (Teach me goodness, discipline and knowledge) and the Sister of St. Joseph belief of "Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor" (The love of Christ has gathered us together into one).

History

Background of namesakes

The Sisters of St. Joseph as founded in Le Puy by the Jesuit Jean Paul Médaille on October 15, 1650. On the following March 10, the local bishop, Henri de Maupas, granted ecclesiastical approval to these women. On December 13, 1651, the Sisters of St. Joseph presented themselves to the Royal Notary in Le Puy-en-Velay for their legal incorporation. The Sisters of St. Joseph at Toronto came into existence in 1851. The sisters taught in many schools across Canada since their establishment in the country.

Michael Power was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Captain William Power and Mary Roach. He went to Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal and Seminary of Quebec and was ordained a priest in 1827 by Bishop Dubois. [3] He served as missionary priest of the Archdiocese of Québec and the Diocese of Montréal until 1839 when he was appointed Vicar General of Montréal. Power was canonically erected as Bishop of Toronto in 1841 by Pope Gregory XVI. Father Michael Power was appointed the first Catholic Bishop of Toronto. He was also the first English-speaking Catholic bishop to be born in Canada. His tenure came to an end as he died from typhus in Toronto on October 1, 1847, while ministering to recently arrived Irish immigrants, escaping the Great Famine.

The school history

The present school began as two distinct high schools in the Islington-City Centre West neighbourhood (better known as Six Points) of Kipling, Dundas and Bloor. Auxiliary Bishop Francis V. Allen of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish was instrumental on setting up two high schools in the Archdiocese of Toronto for Etobicoke's Roman Catholic community. [4] [5] The first principal of that school was Sister Mary Rita C.S.J. [4]

Eight years later, starting in 1957, the Basilian Fathers started Michael Power High School, an all-boys high school on 5055 Dundas Street West behind a farmhouse, in an orchard and next to an Esso station, named after the first Catholic bishop of Toronto. [5] Initially, the Basilians wanted to name the school after one of their patrons, St. Francis. This led to James Charles McGuigan's advice to the Basilians to settle the name of Bishop Power High School for the deeds and documents, which the name was later displayed on the "1957" cornerstone. Eventually, the Archdiocese established the school name of Michael Power High School as its official name. [4] Construction of the school began in 1956 and the building was completed within the span of nine months until it opened on September 3 of the following year. [4]

Under the school's founding principal Reverend John Mullins C.S.B., six Basilian Fathers were appointed to run the school the first year, with 160 students enrolled and tuition was $150. McGuigan officially opened and blessed the school on September 15, 1957. [4] [6]

The southern campus of Michael Power - St. Joseph that established in spring of 1985 that was evolved into today's Father John Redmond Alderwood CI.JPG
The southern campus of Michael Power - St. Joseph that established in spring of 1985 that was evolved into today's Father John Redmond

In September 1993, the school moved to its present location on 105 Eringate Drive, the former home of Vincent Massey Collegiate Institute, which was closed in 1985 by the Etobicoke Board of Education due to low enrolment and the property was transferred to the MSSB by July 1, 1990. However, that site was served as an adult learning centre and the campus for Mississauga's Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School for grades 11-13 from 1987 to 1992. Following the retirement of Fr. Paul James and the withdrawal of the Basilian Fathers and the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1995, the school was turned over to lay teachers and administration team. Eventually, the area served by MPSJ was filled the void by the opening of Bishop Allen Academy in 1989, in which the school was named after the former pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows. [4]

At one point, the old buildings on Dundas and Bloor served as the new campus for Monsignor Fraser College from 1994 until it moved to Thistletown Blvd (later Plunkett Blvd. and now on Norfinch Drive) when the schools were demolished in the late 1990s and was sold to the condo developer, Pemberton Group to make way for the condos that were built on the old campuses in 2003 and a park built as well. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Toronto Catholic District School Board". Mpsj.ca. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  2. ↑ Kostyniuk, Susi; DISTRICTS, REALTOR specializing in SCHOOL. "The Best Catholic High Schools in Etobicoke | SUSI Rankings". Archived from the original on 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  3. ↑ Murray W. NICOLSON (1987). "Michael Power : First Bishop of Toronto" (PDF). CCHA, Historical Studies. 54: 27–38. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Our Lay of Sorrows - A Brief History". Archived from the original on 2019-12-21.
  5. 1 2 "Toronto Catholic District School Board". Mpsj.ca. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  6. ↑ @TheBasilians (14 September 2017). "60 years ago, Bishop Power High..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "Michael Power Place / Port Royal Condominiums – Including Palais & Vivid Condos – Toronto & Etobicoke Real-Estate Brand New and Resale". Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  8. ↑ "9 Michael Power Place, Toronto - Condos for Sale - Islington City Centre Condos". Condominium.ca. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "5055 Dundas Street West - City Initiated Amendment to Zoning By-law - Final Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  10. ↑ "To amend Chapters 320 and 324 of the Etobicoke Zoning Code with respect to certain lands located on the north side of Bloor Street West, east of Dunbloor Road, municipally known as 3700 Bloor Street West" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  11. ↑ "City of Toronto, City Council Legislative Documents". Toronto.ca. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "Unknown" . Retrieved 2020-08-07– via PressReader.[ permanent dead link ]
  13. ↑ The Mitre (1971 ed.). Islington, Ontario: Michael Power High School. p. 32.
  14. ↑ "Gerard O'Flaherty »". Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
  15. ↑ "Michael Pelyk »". Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2015-02-10.
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