School type Independent Founded 1953 Principal Mr. Roger DesLauriers Total enrollment 620 (2007) | Superintendent Mr. Doug Lauson Phone +1 604-255-5454 Mascot Juggler | |
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Area trustee Rev. Michael Conaghan(Archbishop's Representative) Similar Saint Patrick Regional, Vancouver College, Carson Graham Secondar, Pattison High School, Vancouver Technical Secondary | ||
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.
Contents
- History
- Independent school status
- Feeder Parishes
- School uniforms
- Academic performance
- Athletic performance
- Artistic performance
- Clubs committees
- Notable alumni
- References
The school participates in sporting events under the name of the "Jugglers", with the team colours of Blue, White & Silver.
History
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.
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.
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. 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.
Feeder Parishes
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 is ranked by the Fraser Institute. In 2013, it is ranked 61st out of 289 Vancouver, lower mainland schools.
98.1% of the students graduate 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
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:
Recently, Notre Dame has gone on to win high school championships in Soccer, Volleyball, Wrestling and Football.
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
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: