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TORONTO - The Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario has welcomed Premier Dalton McGuinty''s decision to rethink a controversial sex ed curriculum for elementary school students.

“We certainly welcome this new round of consultations and the Catholic community will offer its input. We will continue working with the Ministry of Education as we always have,” Lou Piovesan, the Assembly's general secretary, told The Catholic Register.

TORONTO - One hundred curious alumni and parents of St. Michael's College School gathered for an information meeting Nov. 26 at the school to discuss plans to open an all girls' private Catholic school.

TORONTO - Continuity is the name of the game at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, where all 12 incumbent trustees were re-elected. Now those same 12 trustees have opted to continue under the leadership of Ward 8 trustee Oliver Carroll.

After Pope John Paul II������Ƶapp death in 2005, students in Joe Tersigni������Ƶapp Grade 10 history class reminisced via webcam with teens from the Pope������Ƶapp former high school in Poland about his legacy.

It������Ƶapp this kind of interactive teaching style that has left an impact on students, earning the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School teacher in Guelph, Ont., a Premier������Ƶapp Award for Teaching Excellence as one of the province������Ƶapp “teachers of the year” in 2008-2009.

Durham Catholic District School Board teacher Catherine MacDonald didn’t expect to bump into anyone she knew, particularly one of her students, while visiting a Viking exhibit in Ireland.

But a few years ago, the archeology and history teacher at Fr. Leo J. Austin Catholic High School in Whitby, Ont., heard someone call out for “Ms. MacDonald” and turned around to see a former student on a graduation trip.

TORONTO - The saying "out with the old, in with the new"  did not seem to apply to Catholic school board trustee elections on Nov. 13, since almost all "the old" were re-elected, while "the new" were reluctantly given a chance.

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic School Board received the Marsha Forest Centre Rose Quartz Warrior Award on Oct. 30 for being the first school board in the world to include special needs students in its regular classrooms. The last program which separated special needs students closed down in 1969.

TORONTO - A new project aimed at reducing the gap in reading and writing test scores for aboriginal students is producing impressive results, according to Mary-Catherine Kelly.

Kelly, Director of Education, facilitated a presentation on the Oral Language Project at the 80th annual general meeting of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association from April 29 to May 1 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

{mosimage}As the prepares to launch into the second year of its mandate, trustees are still huddling with private consultants in hopes of articulating a common vision and priorities.

TORONTO - Aside from the annual Lenten Masses at St. John's School, alumni Angela Carroll remembers joining her Grade 4 classmates in the hallway as the school set up TVs in the hallway to watch Paul Henderson's 1972 history-making goal against the Soviet team.

Carroll is now a teacher at her old school on Kingston Road in Toronto's east end and will be joining alumni in celebrating St. John's centenary milestone May 8. Carroll says the event will be special, not only because she is an alumni, but her husband also attended the school, and their children are now students there.