Practically half of Grade 9 college students on the area’s Catholic excessive colleges did not go to a London District Catholic College Board elementary faculty, knowledge obtained by reveals.
Which elementary colleges college students these college students went to is not out there, however enrolment paperwork present 40 per cent of Grade 9 college students at Catholic excessive colleges this yr got here from “different boards,” which could possibly be non-public or dwelling colleges, public or Catholic colleges from exterior the area, or the Thames Valley District College Board.
The London District Catholic College Board requires elementary college students to be Catholic, however not highschool college students. Within the 2024/2025 faculty yr, 1,003 out of two,453 Grade 9 college students got here from different boards.
“Many households and college students really feel there’s something distinctive and particular about an academic surroundings that has religion and religious progress on the coronary heart of educational and social studying,” Catholic faculty board officers stated in an announcement. They declined requests for an interview in regards to the topic, as did Gabe Pizzuti, the chair of the board of trustees.
Households ship their children to Catholic excessive colleges for a wide range of causes, together with if a faculty is nearer to their dwelling than a public highschool, or if a program is accessible there that is not at a public highschool. Some Catholic excessive colleges have higher reputations than public ones, dad and mom advised .
The place college students select to go to highschool is essential as a result of faculty boards get funded for each pupil they enrol — college students who go to Catholic excessive colleges after going to public elementary colleges take provincial funding with them. The London District Catholic College Board is the fastest-growing board within the province.
However the Thames Valley District College Board is coping with a $16 million deficit, partly as a result of 820 fewer than anticipated college students enrolled at public colleges this yr. Public faculty board officers say that is an $8.7 million funding shortfall.
Public faculty board trustees lately grilled employees about the place these college students who did not come to Thames Valley colleges are going however had been advised that knowledge does not exist.
“I’m deeply involved about any lack of TVDSB college students to our co-terminus boards. We’ve got a superb faculty board with faculty employees that work tirelessly to assist pupil achievement and well-being,” stated trustee Marianne Larsen. “Information should all the time drive our decision-making. If we’re dropping college students, then we have to decide why and do all we will to assist and retain them in our system.”
Larson was talking as a trustee, not on behalf of the board. Thames Valley chair of the board Beth Mai didn’t reply to requests for remark.
There is a notion that Catholic excessive colleges are stronger academically, stated Hassan Mostafa, a London dad whose three children went to the London Islamic College for elementary faculty. His oldest graduated from the general public Lucas Secondary College however the two youngest go to the St. Andre Bessette (SAB) Catholic Secondary College.
Household values
“Lucas is our neighbourhood faculty. I am from London and I went to Central and my sister went to Lucas. However we made the selection to change to SAB for my two youngest as a result of the proximity saves us somewhat little bit of time, however largely as a result of the household values and general values of the Catholic board align higher with our household and the Muslim group,” Mostafa stated.
It’s normal for about half of the graduating Grade 8 class on the Islamic College to go to SAB, he added. “It is undoubtedly a most well-liked possibility for the group. They have Muslim Scholar Associations, they’ve prayer rooms for teenagers.”
“I can not say objectively, however subjectively we really feel the Catholic training is somewhat bit deeper and stronger. For instance, proper now my children in Grade 9 and 10 are finding out for exams, whereas within the public board they do not do exams in Grade 9 and 10,” Mostafa stated.
The general public board additionally hasn’t constructed a brand new highschool since 1972, when Saunders Secondary College opened. The Catholic board, in the meantime, opened SAB in 2013.
“The Catholic colleges are newer, they’re higher constructed. The infrastructure is significantly better. These new amenities can add to make a greater expertise,” Mostafa stated.
College boundaries matter, mother says
College students should take faith programs, and whereas some Muslim dad and mom choose out of that, many need their children to find out about different religions reminiscent of Catholicism, he stated. “Issues exist at each highschool however when the curriculum and the varsity surroundings has a non secular undertone, there is a little bit of a distinct really feel.”
The Thames Valley board lately redrew some boundaries that modified which excessive colleges college students must go to, an effort to distribute college students extra equally amongst its colleges for an opportunity at funding to construct extra colleges. However that is additionally pressured some households to consider sending their kdis to Catholic excessive colleges.
Mother of three Erma Schadenberg will ship her two youngest children to a Catholic highschool. Her eldest graduated from the French immersion program at Banting Secondary College, however her Grade 8 daughter will go to Mom Teresa Secondary College (MTS) subsequent yr as a result of the choice is Clarke Street Secondary College for a newly-created French immersion program there.
The household comes from a protestant Christian background, and Schadenberg needs a concentrate on teachers that she worries Clarke Street could not ship, she stated. The Catholic MTS was way more tolerant and open than she imagined, Shadenberg stated.
“After I went to the open home at MTS I seen that they had teams for college students from different religions like Muslim college students, and so they’re very large on social justice. Their library had LGBTQ-friendly novels so it eased my preliminary issues about sending her to a Catholic faculty,” she stated.
Many households with Grade 8 children at Louise Arbour French Immersion Public College are sending their children to Catholic excessive colleges as an alternative of sending them to Clarke Street, Schadenberg stated.
Of their written assertion, the Catholic board stated it “believes that the faith-filled experiences provided to our college students every day on their studying journey will assist equip them not solely with data and expertise, but additionally values, attitudes and actions that assist guides them their whole lives.”
