Through the high school program of The Francis de Sales Centre at Mary, Mother of God School, students are formed as young Catholic men and women in an intensive, individualized academic program combined with an active spiritual life and ongoing community service.
The Francis de Sales Centre at Mary, Mother of God School seeks to provide each student with opportunities to develop leadership abilities and individual gifts and talents, linking this with service to the Church and the building up of civilization.
Throughout the year, students are led to grow as leaders in the service of others through working for those in need with Canadian Food for Children, St Francis Table, and Serving Charity, visiting Lakeside Long-Term Care Centre, organizing and implementing food drives at the school, working with the children in the elementary grades, and many other opportunities which arise. An annual retreat near the start of the school year helps the students ground this service of others on their love for Christ.
Students of The Francis de Sales Centre at Mary, Mother of God School participate in physical education and arts programs offered throughout the city, in curriculum-based school trips, as well as extra-curricular school clubs.
Kayaking on the Humber River; hiking; playing squash, tennis, curling, and bocce; staging the mini-opera Iphigenia in Tauris and the play “The Speckled Band”; sharing lunch together in the “Pasta Club”… Opportunities to learn and to bond together in friendship and fun abound.
Throughout the year, there are many opportunities for the students of The Francis de Sales Centre to experience the beauty and history which surrounds us through excursions to important centres of Catholic culture and history. Trips have included visits to Ottawa, to Montreal for the ceremonies marking the canonization of St André Bessette, to New York City with its many museums, churches, art galleries, and beacons of Catholic life such as the Sisters of Life and Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker, and to Quebec City, home of many of the saints who helped establish the Catholic Church in Canada.
Toronto offers a wide variety of places to visit in order to bring learning alive and enhance the academic curriculum of The Francis de Sales Centre. The week’s schedule of classes is structured to allow easy access to the many resources of the city. The students regularly visit The Royal Ontario Museum, the University of Toronto, the various art galleries and churches, attend concerts, but also go on overnight trips outside the city, such as to Camp Brebeuf in Rockwood, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Barry’s Bay, the Stratford Festival, or the Zettler farm.
Students at The Francis de Sales Centre are encouraged to always do their best, but also to enjoy healthy competion, and so they participate in a variety of contests and competitions offered across Canada. In past years, our students have participated in the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest, in the Fryer, Galois, Cayley, and Pascal mathematics contests sponsored by the University of Waterloo, in the Remembrance Day contests sponsored by The Royal Canadian Legion, in the Commonwealth Essay Contest, and in poetry recitation contests such as Poetry in Voice. It is a great joy to see our students succeed and to encourage each other at all levels.
