Notre Dame Regional Secondary School

For other schools of the same name, see Notre Dame High School (disambiguation).
Notre Dame Regional Secondary

New building entrance of Notre Dame
2880 Venables Street
(opened May 6th 2010)
Address
2855 Parker Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, V5K 2T8
Canada
Coordinates 49°16′34″N 123°02′41″W / 49.27623°N 123.04471°W / 49.27623; -123.04471Coordinates: 49°16′34″N 123°02′41″W / 49.27623°N 123.04471°W / 49.27623; -123.04471
Information
School type Independent
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Founded 1953
School board CISVA (Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese)
Superintendent Mr. Doug Lauson
Area trustee Rev. Michael Conaghan
(Archbishop's Representative)
Principal Mr. Roger DesLauriers
Grades 8–12
Enrollment 600+ (co-ed)
Language English
Area Renfrew - Hastings Sunrise
Colour(s) Navy Blue, White and Silver             
Mascot Juggler
Team name Jugglers
Website www.ndrs.ca

Notre Dame Regional Secondary is a co-ed secondary (grades 8 to 12) Catholic school, under the administration of CISVA (Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese) school board.[1]

The school participates in sporting events under the name of the "Jugglers", with the team colours of Blue, White & Silver.

History

Notre Dame's old entrance

In the 1950s, under the invitation of Archbishop William Mark Duke, The Sisters of Charity of Halifax accepted the challenge, to help finance a high school for the education of Catholic children in East Vancouver and Burnaby, and in 1953 Notre Dame Regional Secondary opened its doors for the first time.[2]

In 1985, a young Irish priest, Fr. Joe Cuddy, was appointed as the Archbishop's Representative for the school. He immediately realized the need for an improved facility, and he created a three-phase plan for the rebuilding of the school. Although Fr. Joe Cuddy has since died, his dream is now in the 2nd phase of the building program.[3]

On May 6, 2010, the doors opened for the new building. The structure has state of the art geothermo heating, photocell activated lighting and washrooms systems, Wi-Fi wireless connections, and SMART Board interactive whiteboard's.

Independent school status

Notre Dame Regional Secondary is classified as a Group 1 school under British Columbia's Independent School Act. It receives 50% funding from the Ministry of Education. The school receives no funding for capital costs.[4] It is under charge of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver.

Notre Dame's Education Committee is made up of two elected representatives from each of the feeder parishes, and three pastors elected by the pastors of these parishes. One pastor is elected as Archbishop's Representative for the school.[5]

Feeder Parishes

The sanctuary of Our Lady (Notre Dame) will be replaced by a grotto dedicated to the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, who founded the school, but no longer teach there.

School uniforms

The uniform is an important part of Notre Dame's standards as it seeks to promote unity in faith. It also helps to remove discrimination.

Students are expected to wear their uniform to and from and while at school.

Along with the school uniform is a dress code, hair and jewelry policy.

Academic performance

Notre Dame's school crest of Know/Love/Serve

Notre Dame is ranked by the Fraser Institute. In 2013, it is ranked 61st out of 289 Vancouver, lower mainland schools.[6]

98.1% of the students graduate[6] and 85%+ of those students go on to study at colleges and universities across the country.

Provincial exam averages exceeds Provincial norms and are higher than CISVA & Independent school averages.

The school sponsors the Notre Dame Balsa Bridge Contest which is open to all Physics 11 & Physics 12 students.

The school courses are developed by the following departments: Business, Christian Education, English, Humanities, Information Technologies (IT), Languages, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Science, Social Studies, & Visual Arts.

Athletic performance

Notre Dame's team sports insignia, is modelled after University of Notre Dame's Fighting Irish insignia.

The school competes in the following sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Soccer, Track & Field, Volleyball, & Wrestling.

Notre Dame is an associated member of BC school sports and has received championships from the associaction in:

Sport Gender Division Season
Basketball Girls "A" 1975-76
Volleyball Girls "A" 1987-88
Volleyball Girls "AA" 2005-06
Soccer Girls "AAA" 1993-94
Soccer Boys "AA" 2002-03
Soccer Boys "AA" 2006-07
Soccer Girls "AA" 2008-09
Wrestling Coed n/a 2006

Recently, Notre Dame has gone on to win high school championships in Soccer,[7][8][9] Volleyball, Wrestling and Football.[10]

The football program has traditionally ranked among the top teams in British Columbia.

During the month of December, Notre Dame used to host the Christmas Classic Basketball Tournament in honour of the story "The Juggler of Notre Dame". But due to conflicts with 1st term exams, the school retired the tournament and replaced it with the Juggler Invitational Basketball Tournament which is open to Bantam, Junior Varsity & Varsity boys and girls teams, during the month of January.

Both the Varsity Boys and Girls basketball teams participate in the BC Catholic Basketball Championship, one of the largest tournaments in the province of BC.

Artistic performance

Notre Dame provides students with a variety of performing and non-performing arts. The school provides the following productions in Drama Productions, Band, Show Choir, Concert Choir, Music, Dance Squad, Photography, Yearbook & Visual Arts.

The theatre has traditionally put on productions that have been a source of entertainment for the community and raised revenue for the Performing Arts at ND.

Clubs & committees

Sisters of Charity chapel.
The convent beside the chapel became the school's library and IT room.
The chapel & convent will be torn down for reconstruction.
But art pieces will be relocated to the new chapel.

Aside from the students of the Principal's List (Academic achievement of 90%+), First Honour Roll (Academic achievement of 85%+), and Second Honor Roll (Academic achievement of 80%+) there are also the:

Notable alumni

Notre Dame's new school construction is being built on what used to be the old football practice field.
Many notable alumni who practice on the dirt field, went on to play in the CFL and other professional sports.

Notes

old school of Notre Dame Regional Secondary

Notre Dame is one of four, Vancouver, Catholic high schools; the others being St. Patrick's Regional Secondary, Vancouver College and Little Flower Academy.

A permit was granted in February 2007, by Vancouver City Council for the right to build a new school facility on the old football practice field. The new building will consist of classrooms to accommodate 750 students. In July 2010, the old building was demolished to make way for Phase II.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cisva.bc.ca/
  2. ↑ Notre Dame Regional Secondary Agenda Book 2008-09. p.2
  3. ↑ Notre Dame Regional Secondary website - School Project
  4. ↑ Overview of Independent Schools in British Columbia
  5. ↑ Notre Dame Regional Secondary Agenda Book 2008-09. Pg.5
  6. 1 2 The Fraser Institute - Report Cards - School Performance
  7. ↑ http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=641b7200-1193-4981-8757-b6d6c7ec2fe1
  8. ↑ Tsumura, Howard (2007-11-21). "Jugglers win B.C. Double A soccer title". Vancouver Province. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  9. ↑ http://carihi.sd72.bc.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=F3etoTkACHM%3d&tabid=1913&mid=3430
  10. ↑ http://www.vancourier.com/sports/Moretto+named+Notre+Dame+Jugglers+year+championship+drought/7650554/story.html
  11. 1 2 Varsity Champions of the Past
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Province - August 14, 2008
  13. ↑ Internet Movie Database
  14. 1 2 T-birds in the pros
  15. ↑ UBC Thunderbirds Football 2008 program, Pg. 18
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