Our School

At St. Theresa Catholic School, it is our mission to be an inclusive Catholic learning community that inspires every student to achieve their full potential through faith and education. We recognize our call to love and serve from our Master teacher Jesus Christ, and we are committed to creating a Catholic learning community under the protection of Mother Mary.

The Catholic Graduate Expectations are our foundation as we strive for academic excellence and the acknowledgement of those who achieve it. We recognize God as the source of all life and actively work to focus on social issues within our local and global communities.

We celebrate the diversity within our community with a collaborative approach to learning, in cooperation with parents, the Catholic faith community, and other organizations that recognize the value of our mission. Within the context of Catholic teaching and Sacramental living, our school community strives to demonstrate respect and reverence for all life, thus nurturing a safe, Christian environment for the entire school community.

School Year Calendar

Our board's School Year calendar is now available. We encourage parents and guardians to stay informed of upcoming school events, we ask that you please subscribe to our school calendar web page to receive the latest updates and emails on activities happening at school.

Child Care Services

We are pleased to partner with Fairy Glen Day Care Centre to provide child care and before and after school programs at St. Theresa Catholic School. Call our child care partner at 905-666-3154 to learn more about our services.

School Hours

Our school hours are as follows:

8:45 a.m. - School Begins
9:50 a.m. - Morning recess
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Lunch
1:55 p.m. - Afternoon recess
3:15 p.m. - Dismissal

School's Colours

Our school colours are blue and white.

School Prayer

St. Therese, the little
flower, please pick me
A rose from the heavenly
garden and send it to
Me with a message of love.
Ask God to grant me the
Favour I thee implore and
tell him I will love
Him each day more and more.
Amen.

Facts

Some facts on our school include:

Year Built: 1958 - Additions 1967,85
Number of Classrooms: 17
Rated Capacity: 385
Child Care: Yes
Parish: Holy Family Catholic Church

Our History

St. Theresa Catholic School was Whitby's third separate school. When it opened in 1957, classes were held in the St. John the Evangelist Parish Hall on John St. West. The school then consisted of grades 1 to 4, with an enrollment of 52 students.

The First Addition
In 1963, six classrooms were added to service the growing population and the curriculum was extended to Grade 6.

History Detectives
Students from Ms. Mohammed's Grade 7, Mrs. Joly's Grade 7/8 and Mr. Griscti's Grade 8 class found the following information through a history investigation that they carried out in 2012:

The school population fluctuated from 52 students to over 600 students over the years. At the present time,
student enrollment is 203.
Students wore school uniforms when the school first opened.
There used to be a baseball diamond on-site, but it no longer exists.
In the 1960s, the Whitby Fire Dept. would come and make an ice rink in the school field.
83 championship banners have been located in the school dating back to the 1980s. We have a strong sports
tradition at St. Theresa Catholic School.
The high jump event was done without a "crash" mat until 1978.
The schoolyard used to stretch from Crawforth St. to Dundas St. With businesses moving onto Dundas in the
1960s and 1970s, the schoolyard was reduced.
Artifacts exist in the school, such as a working 1981 film projector and a 1985 Panasonic TV set with dials.
The year the Whitby Dunlops won the Allan Cup is the year we opened.
Notable grads: NHL Hockey Hall of Famer Joe Nieuwendyk attended St. Theresa until Grade 6 (at the time,
the school only went up to Grade 6) - Joe graduated from St. John the Evangelist Catholic School; O.J.
Santiago, who went on to play in the NFL, also attended St. Theresa Catholic School.
Grade 7 & 8 were added in 1978.

School-Home-Parish
We are fortunate to be situated close enough to our local parish to be able to walk to school Masses during the school year. We work closely with our pastor, Father Laszlo Nagy, and our associate Pastor, Father Ravi Babu Kakumanu, through our liturgical celebrations, sacramental preparation, parish visits and community service campaigns, with a main focus on fundraising for ShareLife.

The students at St. Theresa attend school Masses, and our Grade 2 (First Communion) and Grade 7 (Confirmation) students are supported in their preparations to receive the sacraments through the Church. Through the efforts of our priests, their parish volunteers, our teachers, our students and our parents, we truly work together to enliven the spiritual lives of the children.

Close Parish Ties
Students from St. Theresa Catholic School celebrated Mass at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Whitby before Holy Family Catholic Church was built in 1980. Students would also sometimes attend Mass in the St. Paul C.S. gymnasium.

Holy Family Catholic Church

Holy Family Parish was established on June 19, 1980, by his Eminence G. Emmett Cardinal Carter. Our founding pastor was Father Gerard Breen and the first Mass was held in the St. Paul school gym on September 7, 1980.
The sod-turning ceremony was held on September 5, 1982, and construction of the new church at 91 Ribblesdale Drive began on September 20, 1982. Bishop Clune and Father Breen, now Monsignor Breen, celebrated the first Mass in the new church on February 16, 1983, Ash Wednesday. Cardinal Carter solemnly blessed Holy Family Church on Sunday, May 8, 1983.

A Supportive Parent Community
Our parents are very caring and supportive when it comes to the needs of the children and the school community. Over the years, our Parent Council (Catholic School Council) has been quite active.

Nine Portables at St. Theresa Catholic School
An addition was needed to properly house the growing number of students at St. Theresa C.S. The following newspaper clippings explain in detail the newest addition.

St. Theresa Catholic School Celebrates 50 Years
In 2008, St. Theresa Catholic School celebrated its 50th Anniversary! The 50th was celebrated with an open house, beginning with a Mass in the gym. Former staff, students, parents, clergy, school board personnel, local dignitaries and politicians attended to help celebrate this important event.

St. Theresa Catholic School, Home of the "Cougars"
St. Theresa Catholic School has a strong sports tradition.

St. Theresa Catholic School in the News in 2012
Students in Whitby have collected more than 5,000 bars of soap for charity. Students from Father Leo J. Austin Catholic Secondary School and some of its associate schools - St. Matthew the Evangelist Catholic School, St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic School and St. Theresa Catholic School - pitched in to collect bars of soap for Soap for Hope, a campaign run by Canadian Food for Children through its distribution centre in Toronto.

All Day Kindergarten 2012-2013
St. Theresa Catholic School was approved by the Ministry of Education to offer full-day Junior and Senior Kindergarten programs as of September 2012. Full day programming will be provided for four- and five-year-olds living within our school boundaries. In accordance with the Ministry of Education's model, the Early Learning Kindergarten Programs are staffed with a classroom teacher and an early childhood educator who collaborate, plan, assess and teach together.

Patron Saint

Our patron saint is Marie Frances Thérèse Martin, who was born in France on January 2, 1873. Her father was a watchmaker and her mother ran a small business from her home, where she made lace. St. Theresa, often referred to as the "Little Flower," suffered from illness throughout much of her childhood. It was during these difficult times that she often prayed to Jesus, asking him to help her accept the challenges of everyday life and change these personal challenges into service for others.

At age 15, Therese greatly desired to enter the Carmelite Convent in Lisieux. Her life as a Carmelite nun consisted of mostly prayer and hard work. At the young age of 24, Therese died of tuberculosis.

Today, St. Theresa is recognized for the wonderful way she helped others in simple ways as quiet acts of love. On May 17, 1925, Therese was canonized by Pope Pius XI. As a Catholic school community, we feel honoured to have St. Theresa as our patron saint and celebrate her feast day annually on October 1st. Through action and word, we strive to model the ways of St. Theresa at school every day.

Principals (Past and present)

Our past and present principals at our school include::

M. Spencer (1957-1960);
M. McGree (1960-1965);
Wilma Hurley (1965-1977);
Ted Hickey (1977-1983);
Aime Rousseau (1983-1987);
Lionel Kelly (1987-1990);
John Nicholls (1990-1996);
Gail Aziz (1996-2004);
Lenore O'Rahilly (2004-2008);
Rosemary Leclair (2008-2010);
Jim Raper (2010-2013);
Andrew Oliver (2013-2017);
Penny Delaney (2017-2020);
Veronica Boyden (2020-2023);
Phyllis Pereira (2023-present)

Philosophy

As Catholic educators, we live according to our Father's code and to lead our students, by example, to live the basic truths of the gospel message. This is an awesome, yet inspiring challenge which we share with the parents of our young men and women.

Children learn what they live. Each day we have the opportunity to teach our students:

to love by the way we love;
to be generous by our generosity;
to be passionate by our compassion; and
to be forgiving by the way we forgive.

However, a person cannot give what he or she does not have. Unless we are living the Gospel message, we cannot lead our students to do so.

There are many hallmarks of a Catholic educator, including:

Prayer - The challenges of our vocation, and indeed life in general, are great. To meet them we need to follow Christ's advice that we "ask the father in My name". Each Catholic educator has a duty to expose students to his or her particular style of prayer in order to assist students to recognize the value of prayer in daily life.
Eucharist - Parish, school, and staff liturgies provide opportunities to celebrate our faith. Our example can testify to the Eucharist as a joyful source of strength and community building.
Social Justice - This is the heart of the Christian message, that we "love one another as I have loved you". As our brother's and sister's keepers, we must be concerned about the aged, the poor, the oppressed, and any other marginalized group - both at home and abroad.

Links

Below are links to resources to help you achieve success while at St. Theresa Catholic School.

We welcome your questions, comments and concerns.

Principal: Phyllis Pereira

173 Crawforth St.,
Whitby, ON L1N 3S4
Tel: 905-668-8261
Fax: 905-668-8261

Twitter: @StTheresaCS