Features

Toronto trustees have plug pulled on Aug. 24 meeting

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:06:28 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - With the abrupt cancellation of what would have been the first public meeting of embattled Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees since January, parents have been “shut out” of sharing power with the board, say two trustees.

Trustees John Del Grande and Rob Davis had set up an Aug. 24 meeting at the Catholic Education Centre for trustees to meet with parent and Catholic community groups. But provincially appointed board supervisor Norbert Hartmann revoked permission for the trustees, working under the name Association of Catholic Trustees, to use the board's headquarters.

Toronto board trustees to meet Aug. 24

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:24:01 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees will be meeting Aug. 24 for their first public meeting since having their powers stripped from them by a provincial supervisor.

Trustees John del Grande and Rob Davis set up the meeting to be held at the Catholic Education Centre on Sheppard Avenue East at 7 p.m.

“It��Ƶapp to give parents and students an opportunity to have an influence on decisions made by the board and make sure their voices are heard,” Davis told The Catholic Register.

St. Bonaventure's music program part of a well-rounded education

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:29:39 -0400

{mosimage}It’s been 10 years in the making. But for music teacher Vincenza Etchegary, the sweet sounds of success for the school’s choir, wind ensemble and jazz band have paid off with a chance to play at a music festival at the famed Carnegie Hall.

“The difference between our students and some other groups was the conviction with which the children play and sing,” the 20-year teaching veteran told The Catholic Register from St. John’s, Nfld.

Toronto Catholic board supervision team resigns

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:13:41 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - After a challenging and controversial tenure, the provincially appointed supervision team for the Toronto Catholic District School Board has resigned.

In an Aug. 21 letter to Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne, the team led by Norbert Hartmann said it had accomplished part of its mandate in restoring the financial health and public confidence in the board. Last year, the board was in the middle of a trustee spending scandal and came under provincial supervision after it failed to balance its budget.

Richard Alway, president of the University of Toronto's and chairman of the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation, will replace the supervision team.

Top high school students in GTA

crstaff@catholicregister.org (Catholic Register Staff) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:45:05 -0400

{mosimage}The top three graduating students from Catholic school boards in the GTA.

Toronto Catholic trustees shut out again

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:06:10 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - An on-again-off-again public meeting of the embattled Toronto Catholic District School Board trustees is off again.

The Aug. 24 meeting at the Catholic Education Centre was abruptly cancelled by the provincially appointed board supervisor last week. But it had been rescheduled by Catholic school trustees John Del Grande and Rob Davis for Aug. 24 at the Toronto District School Board.

Ban of classic novel at Mississauga school is principal's perogative

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:23:11 -0400

{mosimage}MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board says it��Ƶapp much ado about nothing in the case of a Brampton principal who removed an American literary classic from his school��Ƶapp Grade 10 reading list.

St. Edmund Campion High School principal Kevin McGuire will add a Canadian novel instead of the Pulitzer-prize winning and controversial book To Kill A Mockingbird, says board spokesperson Bruce Campbell.

Schools need to take advantage of technology

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:02:08 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - When student Erika Shervan has a basketball or volleyball game, she doesn’t have to worry about catching up on her math homework. Shervan can take her Grade 11 math class at home or anywhere with an Internet connection.

This flexibility and the ability to learn at your own pace are the main selling points of taking the online course, said the 17-year-old.

Schools need to wake up to the digital reality of students’ lives and learning habits, says a new report by the .

Parent leader brings passion for education to new role

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:51:09 -0400

{mosimage}TORONTO - As Aimee Gerdevich��Ƶapp daughter and her senior kindergarten classmates shivered in the winter months in their newly renovated classroom, the 39-year-old mother of three developed a passion for educational advocacy.

Becoming more involved in school council meetings led her to “have a finger on the pulse of what��Ƶapp happening in my child��Ƶapp education,” she told The Catholic Register from Thunder Bay, Ont.

Edmonton students open up to refugees

sheilad@catholicregister.org (Sheila Dabu Nonato, The Catholic Register) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:42:46 -0400

{mosimage}Eleven-year-old Mikylie Shapka joined classmates at Edmonton��Ƶapp St. Martin Catholic School in presenting close to $3,000 worth of gift cards to three refugee families just before the school year ended in June.

Shapka says it��Ƶapp a way for students to help others in need.

“We learned that it is hard to live in other places where girls are not allowed to go to school,” she told The Catholic Register.