St. Albert Catholic School

St. Albert Catholic Elementary School (St. Albert, SA, or St. Al's) is a catholic elementary school located in Bendale, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada managed by the Toronto Catholic District School Board, named after Albertus Magnus, a German Dominican friar and a bishop in the Middle Ages. It is a flagship feeder school for nearby Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School and is one of the respective feeder schools for Blessed Cardinal Newman and .
History
St. Albert the Great
St. Albert was born sometime before 1200 in Lauingen in Bavaria. Contemporaries such as Roger Bacon applied the term "Magnus" to Albertus during his own lifetime, referring to his immense reputation as a scholar and philosopher. He was educated principally at Padua, where he received instruction in Aristotle's writings. A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus' encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter Holy Orders. In 1223 (or 1229) he became a member of the Dominican Order, against the wishes of his family, and studied theology at Bologna and elsewhere. Selected to fill the position of lecturer at Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, he taught for several years there, at Regensburg, Freiburg, Strasbourg and Hildesheim. After suffering a collapse of health in 1278, he died on November 15, 1280, in Cologne, Germany. Since November 15, 1954, his relics are in a Roman sarcophagus in the crypt of the Dominican St. Andreas church in Cologne.
He was beatified in 1622 and canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on December 16, 1931 by Pope Pius XI and patron saint of natural scientists in 1941. St Albert's feast day is celebrated on November 15. According to Joan Carroll Cruz, his body is incorrupt.
School
St. Albert Catholic School was officially opened as an eight room classroom open-concept school at its present site in September 1969. Initially, the families of St. Albert were affiliated with both St. Lawrence and St. Rose of Lima Churches. At the present time the school is able to provide for the spiritual development of the students through the celebration of liturgies, reconciliations and paraliturgies, sacramental preparations and regularly scheduled visits from the pastor of St. Maria Goretti Church, which the school is presently affiliated with.
Some students require modified programming to meet individual needs. Students are presented by teachers at joint team meetings which are attended by parents, school staff and support staff. Together, the joint team prescribes modifications intended to enhance learning. Where required, special testing may be done with parental consent and placement in special programs may result.
The code of behaviour for the school is presently contained in the Student Agenda which is distributed to each student in Grade 1 to 8 in September. Traditional values of self-respect and respect for others are instilled in its students. Children are encouraged to display common courtesy to other students, staff and guests in the school. The staff assists the children by providing counselling and regular class discussions on the topics of bullying and acceptable behaviour.
There were 10 portables initially at the school. However, it was eliminated in 2012 with the new 2-storey addition includes 18 additional classrooms including four Full-Day Kindergarten classrooms. Other enhancements include barrier free accessibility through the provision of an elevator and barrier free washrooms, a redesigned outdoor playground with well-defined, purpose-built play areas and installation of energy efficient high performance windows and increased daylight in the classrooms. This project was part of the board's capital plan to address growth of the population

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