The school educates 1002 students as of the 2016–17 academic year and it is ranked 331 out of 725 schools in the Fraser Institute report card.[1]
Previously, the school was named after Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche in 1964. The school was renamed in July 2020 in honor of Joan of Arc in the aftermath of the posthumous sexual allegations against its former namesake.[2] Its motto is Minds to Reason, Hands to Work, Hearts for God.
History
Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School (1989–2020)
The logo as Jean Vanier C.S.S. from 1989 to 2020Jean Vanier was attempted to merge with Cardinal Newman in June 2000 at the former home of Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute, but the plans were never materialized.
Long before the existence of Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School, the first Roman Catholic separate school, St. Maria Goretti Separate School opened its doors in September 1955 and St. Albert in September 1969 as the first schools within the parish of the same name. Between 1959 and 1962, David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute and Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute were then established although Midland was the sole secondary school in that area. However, by fall of 1973, Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School also opened its doors as the first Catholic high school in that same area as Midland.
The current location, Tabor Park Vocational School was designed by the architects Webb, Zerafa and Menkes, built in 1964 and established by the Scarborough Board of Education in September 1965 as a less academically challenged high school. Its programs were different from Bendale Vocational/Secondary with students integrated to mainstream schooling due to Tabor Park and Bendale were meant for streamed "vocational" high schools for people living near Midland and Thomson. The schools would later forged the model after Tabor Park by the openings of Maplewood and Sir William Osler in 1967 and 1975 respectively. In 1981, the enlarged library and gym storages were built.
By the time Tabor Park closed in 1986 due to low enrolment, Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies, an adult high school began in this site. As a result of public funding of Catholic high schools, in May 1988, the SBE along with the six public boards to lease the Tabor Park property to the Metropolitan Separate School Board and was reopened and named after Jean Vanier, the Canadian philosopher and founder of L'Arche, to serve the rest of Scarborough. In that case, it was established to relieve overcrowding at Mary Ward, Francis Libermann and Senator O'Connor. By 1988, Scarborough had six anglophone Roman Catholic high schools.
Jean Vanier C.S.S. came to existence on September 5, 1989, within the St. Maria Goretti Parish catchment area as Central Scarborough's with 18 staff and 198 grade 9 students under the leadership of founding principal Michael Leroux, with the first students graduated Vanier in 1993. Construction and renovation began in 1990, and was completed in the spring of 1994, although the eastern portion building was erected and built with 18 classrooms in 1991 along with the front fascia and the school now accommodates close to 1,000 pupils. From the onset, the school was de-streamed in grade 9. The school was opened and blessed on November 13, 1994. In its conception, the school was originally to be named St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School, named after a Jesuit priest, Francis Xavier. But despite a turnout and the elementary school using the name, it was changed to Jean Vanier thereafter.
The school crest was designed by the first art teacher, Martine Girard-Agro in 1989. It features a calligraphy of a "J" and a "V" with a t-like cross.
Following the closure of Midland Collegiate in 2000, Vanier received the remaining students from Midland. To date, students living in the school's former catchment area have applied or attended Vanier since.
In February 2011, Jean Vanier C.S.S. received Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement award from EQAO.
Jean Vanier C.S.S. celebrated its 20th anniversary in June 2010 since it opened in September 1989 with the Mass and Alumni social. The school celebrated its 25th in October 2014 in conjunction with L'Arche's 50th anniversary of its founding.
St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy (2020-present)
According to an internal report by L'Arche in February 2020, this report concluded that Jean Vanier had engaged in "manipulative and emotionally abusive" sexual relationships with six women in Trosly-Breuil, France, between 1970 and 2005.[3][4][5] A Change.org petition set up by a former student called for Jean Vanier's name to be removed and has lobbied the board to do so.[6]
At a school board meeting on July 16, 2020, the TCDSB recommended the name St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy starting in the 2020–21 school year.[2][7][8] The school formally completed its renaming at the end of August 2020. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic affecting Toronto, the school reopened under its new name the following September with heavy restrictions in place.
The current emblem retains the cross from the previous Vanier insignia now sporting a fleur-de-lis with a sword standing in the centre.
Overview
The enrolment of the school as of 2022-2023 is 801 pupils. It is a co-educational semestered school operating in grades 9–12. The school draws crowds from the Bendale, Ionview, Knob Hill, Scarborough Junction, and most parts of Scarborough as well as some from Toronto and as far from Pickering and Ajax. It became a popular destination powerhouse with its excellent facilities and programs since the closure of nearby Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute in June 2000.
Emphasizing on the "AAA" focus, the school has a large athletic field found in most regular public high schools, but usually unavailable with purpose built Catholic high Schools. The design of the former Tabor Park school consists of brown bricks and overall structure in the middle where the quadrangle/courtyard stands. The two catwalks along with 20 new academic classrooms, a seminar work room, and an exercise room was eventually added in 1991 to expand enrolment.[9] as well as black cross was retrofitted in the centre.[10] Other features in the leased 126,241sq. ft. facility include 28 academic classrooms, two automotive shops, four state-of-the-art science labs, three computer labs, two Mac labs, a visual arts studio, cafetorium, library, expanded ME/DD classroom, a double gymnasia that can be split into two, a drama room, two music rooms, a photography room, guidance area, a recently renovated home economics room and a chapel.
The school's main palette is beige, grey, light blue, blue and white with the lockers colored light blue and royal blue though they were painted aqua green. It has an aforementioned layout in which it is divided into three floors with two separate wings:
The first floor (basement) is a science/computer studies wing in which the old carpentry/automotive/metal shops were renovated over while the greenhouse was removed and on the same floor, which is the English/history/geography wing, it originally had ten academic classrooms until its reduction to seven due to an enlarged room being the ME/DD program.
On the second floor (the main floor), it features two distinctive wings being the mathematics and one exercise room in the new section and at the old 1965 section, it consists of a larger library and computer room formerly split into three shops for textiles, merchandising and assembly), weight room (child care), photography (hairstyling), the CYW office/classroom (assembly and production), drama arts (visual arts), and renovated staff and home economics rooms (food and baking rooms) as well as the chapel, credit recovery room, and the music room that was formerly four classrooms and a library respectively. The gymnasium and cafetorium were renovated.
In the upper level, the third floor, the arts/Com Tech/business wing originally designed with six academic classrooms and presumably four science labs. Currently, it has three classrooms, one ESL room, two computer labs, one Special Education room and one visual arts studio.
In 2011, three portables made their way back to the facility to accommodate more students in the existing campus since the addition was added. All portables were removed from the property in late 2020.
SJOA also has a diverse population consisting of South Asians, Filipinos, Whites, Latin Americans, Blacks/African Canadians, Chinese, Arabs, and several other ethnic minorities.
Academics
Since its inception, SJOA offers various courses in the comprehensive academic program for its students. Students can choose from a variety of courses at the academic, applied, and open levels. These, and other specialized courses, help prepare students for university, college, or the world of work after they have completed their studies at the school. SJOA currently offers math, English, science, Canadian History, geography, and religious studies. It also has special education programs.
It launched it's congregated Advanced Placement program in 2020
The word “Arts” is one that is immensely rich in meaning and its value is greatly appreciated in the school community. The creativity, style, expression, compassion and unique artistic approach is very obvious in 3 Arts Disciplines such as drama, instrumental/vocal music, and visual art. The drum line was introduced in 2012 by Michael Fanning went on to win National Champions. However after Michael Fanning's departure from the school, the drum line no longer exists..[11]
The combined art, music, technology show called Festival of Sight and Sound started by the arts department in the 1990s consisting of the talents of the music students as well as the work of the Art, Drama and Communication Technology students. It is held in December and May each semester.
On March 6, 2014, SJOA was selected for the MusiCounts Band Aid Grant program costing at $600,000. The school received their $10,000 in equipment for the drum line program such as the marimba and a complete set of cymbals.[12][13] The guests were Juno Award-winning musicians Classified and David Myles who also performed their single Inner Ninja live in front of 300 students.[13]
SJOA offers the OYAP CITI Motive Transportation Program which is partnered with Centennial College. The students from this program have won Skills Ontario competitions over the years and have competed at the national and international level. It also consists of a Communication Technology Program with specialized courses for graphic design, digital photography and film and broadcasting. Over 20 films have been finalists at the student level in the past 15 years. With the Introduction of the Information and Communication Technology Specialist High Skills Major (ICT-SHSM) students have had the chance to work on real films such as Akilla's Escape (2020), and Lovely (2024).
"In the service of the community"
In today's world, the students practice an active, faith life through service to the community. The education component is learned through religion classes, regular school practices and through special initiatives such as their affiliation with Development and Peace. Their support with the community through activities such as:
Thanksgiving food drive for the Good Shepherd Refuge,
The school has donated volunteer time, food and money to organizations such as: Development and Peace, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (Canada), Share Life – Covenant House, Inner City Angels, Raising the Roof, Help a Family Fundraiser (a school and orphanage in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic), St. John the Compassionate Mission, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), The Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Day Sales, The Louise Russo Fund, Right to Life, and L'Arche Daybreak (Richmond Hill, ON).
Specialist High Skills Major
SJOA has the most SHSM programs of any other school in the TCDSB with five. They are:
Arts and Culture
Health and Wellness
Information and Communication Technology
Non Profit
Transportation
School media
Yearbooks
Over the years, Jean Vanier has publish several yearbooks in its 22-year life. Unlike all other high schools who receive yearbooks at the end of the year, the yearbooks are released the next year.
Vanier Vision was a newsletter that highlights the events happening in the school throughout the school year. Published by the school principal and Karen Mikailian and Thomas Gilmor, it is distributed to students quarterly upon mailing the report cards in November, February, April, or July. The redesign took place starting in the Spring 2013 issue. Social media posts have since taken over the need for the Vision
Other publications and media
JVTV (early 2000's - produced by Thomas Gilmor in the Communication Technology Program
Vanier Vibe (late 2008-2012 produced by Thomas Gilmor in the Communication Technology Program
Vanier Vibe: The Revival 2018-2020 produced by Thomas Gilmor in the Communication Technology Program
Arc on Air - Launched 2023 - present- produced by Thomas Gilmor in the Communication Technology Program
Maverick Star (formerly Papercut) - created by Sean Buckley
Administration
Principals
As of July 2015, only four active principals of Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School remain employed with the TCDSB.
Gianna Helling (2007–2010) - served as VP at Notre Dame; Currently at the elementary panel as Principal of Sts. Cosmas and Damian Catholic School (2010–2013) and St. Sebastian Catholic School (2013–present)
This school also accepts students from Bliss Carman Senior Public School, Cedarbrook Public School, Donwood Park Public School, General Crerar Public School, Ionview Public School, John McCrae Public School, Knob Hill Public School, Robert Service Senior Public School, Tredway-Woodsworth Public School and St. Andrew's Public School. All of the schools are located within the vicinity of Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute, David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute, R.H. King Academy and Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute.
Bendale, also called Cedarbrae and Midland Park, is a residential neighbourhood in the eastern part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the former suburb of Scarborough. It is centred on the intersection of Lawrence Avenue East and Brimley Road. Its boundaries, as defined by the City, are Midland Avenue from Lawrence, north to Highway 401, east to McCowan, south to Lawrence, east to West Highland Creek, south-west along West Highland Creek, then follow several side streets parallel to the Creek, north to Midland Avenue. The area north of Ellesmere is typically considered the Scarborough City Centre district, and is not considered in this neighbourhood article.
Agincourt is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agincourt is located in northeast Toronto, along Sheppard Avenue between Kennedy and Markham Roads. Before the creation of the "megacity" of Toronto in 1998, the area was part of Scarborough. It is officially recognized by the City of Toronto as occupying the neighbourhoods of Agincourt South–Malvern West and Agincourt North.
Jean Vanier was a Canadian Catholic philosopher and theologian. In 1964, he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. In 1971, he co-founded Faith and Light with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, which also works for people with developmental disabilities, their families, and friends in over 80 countries. He continued to live as a member of the original L'Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, France, until his death.
Francis Libermann Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough, and part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, formerly the Metropolitan Separate School Board.
David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute is a semestered English-language high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Bendale neighbourhood of the district of Scarborough. It was originally sanctioned by the Scarborough Board of Education and since 1998 under its successor board, the Toronto District School Board.
Clairlea is a safe, quiet, middle to upper-middle income neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that features well treed streets and detached homes with large backyards. The neighbourhood is located in east Toronto just east of Victoria Park Avenue.
Cliffcrest is a residential neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along the shores of Lake Ontario in the district of Scarborough, bordered by Midland Avenue to the west, the Canadian National Railway to the north, and Bellamy Road to the east.
Scarborough Junction is a small neighbourhood in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Birchmount Road, Brimley Road, Eglinton Avenue, and St. Clair Avenue. Scarbrough Junction has an approximated population of 20,000. The population consists of 1/4 Caucasian, 2/4 Asian and 1/4 other
Dorset Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the western part of the district of Scarborough. The neighbourhood is bordered by Highway 401 to the north, Midland Avenue to the east, Lawrence Avenue to the south, and Birchmount Road to the west. Kennedy Road runs along the neighbourhood's centre north and south and Ellesmere Road runs along the centre east and west. The area south of Lawrence Avenue, north of the hydro corridor, is known as McGregor Park and is often included as part of Dorset Park.
Woburn is a neighbourhood located in eastern Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the former suburb of Scarborough. Woburn is bordered by Highway 401 to the north, Orton Park Road to the east, Lawrence Avenue to the south, and McCowan Road to the west.
Eglinton East, historically known as Knob Hill, is a residential and commercial neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by Stansbury Crescent, Citadel Drive, and West Highland Creek to the north, Midland Avenue to the west, the CNR rail line, Brimley Road, and Eglinton Avenue to the south, and Bellamy Road North to the east.
Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute, formerly Midland Avenue Secondary School and initially known as Central Collegiate Institute is a Toronto District School Board-owned alternative learning complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the former suburb of Scarborough, it consists of Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies (SCAS), South East Year Round Alternative Centre (SEYRAC), and Caring and Safe Schools Midland program.
Neil McNeil Catholic High School is an all-boys Roman Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Neil McNeil, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. It is administered by the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), formerly the Metropolitan Separate School Board.
Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Birch Cliff neighbourhood of the former suburb of Scarborough. It operates under the Scarborough Board of Education with the latter board merged into the present Toronto District School Board. The school sits atop on the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario in what is once the shores of Glacial Lake Iroquois and Birchmount Park itself. The motto is Veritas Omnia Vincit.
Tabor Park Vocational School is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a Toronto District School Board facility that operated as a public and vocational high school established in 1965 until 1986 to meet the needs of the large baby boom generation in the newly and rapidly developing area of the city operated by the Scarborough Board of Education until its merger with the TDSB in 1998.
The Scarborough Board of Education, formally the Board of Education for the City of Scarborough is the former public-secular school district serving Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. The board was founded in 1954 through a merger of the Scarborough Collegiate and Township School Boards.
Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies (SCAS), formerly Tabor Park Vocational School is an alternative and adult high school serving Scarborough, a part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It operates under the Toronto District School Board and was previously part of the pre-amalgamated board, Scarborough Board of Education prior to merger. Originated at Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in 1977 as the re-entry program, the school opened in 1986 at the Tabor Park building and as of 2010, the school is located in the campus of the former Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute sharing with the fellow schools, South East Year Round Alternative Centre and Caring and Safe Schools Alternative Program Area C. SCAS is located on Midland Avenue south of Eglinton Avenue East.
Bendale Business and Technical Institute, formerly Bendale Secondary School and Bendale Vocational School is a defunct specialized technical public high school that was located in Bendale, a neighbourhood in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada owned by the Scarborough Board of Education, that succeeded its operations into the present Toronto District School Board prior to merger. Existed from 1963 until its closure in 2019, it was the first vocational school that served in the former borough of Scarborough in which the school tailored for students with life skills or pursue career in the industry. The school's motto was Flourish Through Industry.
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