St. Patrick's High School (Ottawa)

Athletics

The Fighting Irish are known for their athletic prowess playing in the NCSSAA (National Capital Secondary Schools Athletic Association) play in Ottawa and Ontario. Each year the school sends teams to OFSAA, the provincial championships in many athletic disciplines. The Senior Boys Football team won the 2010 championships after going undefeated throughout the whole season.

Clubs

The school has many groups such as the Yearbook committee, Leadership and peer mentoring, the band and dance group.

History

In 1929, St. Patrick’s College High School 135 students and 7 teachers were housed in St. Joseph Parish Hall, a two-storey, red brick hall on Laurier Avenue East in Ottawa. St. Patrick’s High School has had a crest and motto since its founding in 1929. The school logo includes the name of the school, St. Patrick’s High School, and the motto “Religio Alit Artes.” The armorial bearings of St. Patrick’s High School in Ottawa was “entered in the ublic Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada” and presented to the school on Wednesday, March 6, 2002.

In 1930, St. Patrick’s College High School moved to join the new St. Patrick’s College at a joint campus of 392 students and a faculty of 22 facing Echo Drive and the Rideau Canal. The Echo Drive facility housed the school for almost four decades. Masses were held in the college chapel until the church was built in 1931. From 1930- 1964, St. Patrick’s College High School took in boarders from the Ottawa Valley area as well as from farther afield.

The Patrician, The first St. Patrick’s High School newspaper, was published in 1934.

The Oblates’ active involvement in the administration of the school from 1929 came to an end in 1973. The names of 155 Oblates of Mary Immaculate in St. Peter’s Province, who taught at St. Patrick’s High School during the period 1929-1973 are engraved on a plaque that was mounted on an Oblate cross and presented to the students and staff of St. Patrick’s High School on March 17, 1986.

The school was renamed St. Jude’s Junior High School for the 1972-73 school year. In 1973, the school was renamed St. Patrick’s Junior High School because the higher grades were no longer accommodated. The school was renamed St. Patrick’s High School, a fullfledged secondary school in 1986. St. Patrick’s High School remained at the 1485 Heron Road site until 1993. In 1933, it moved to 2525 Alta Vista Drive, previously the location of the former Charlebois High School of the French Catholic School Board.

In World War II (1939–45) 86 former students of St. Patrick’s gave their lives in service.

In 1968 St. Patrick’s College became affiliated with Carleton University. St. Patrick’s College High School relocated to the Campanile Campus at 1485 Heron Road, where St. Patrick’s shared the location with Notre Dame High School, run by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. In 1968, the school change its name from St. Patrick’s College High School to St. Patrick’s High School.

In September 1989, the “St. Pat’s Fighting Irish” hit the field for the first time since 1975, defeating Laurentian High School in the process. The school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2004. To mark the occasion, a video was produced by Roy Ketcheson.

Dress Code

The student dress code at St. Patrick’s High School consists of black dress pants, white dress shirt or polo shirt with the St. Patrick’s name, green plaid kilt or black skirt, green sweat shirt with plaid letter “P,” green cardigan or pullover with St. Patrick’s crest, green blazer with St. Pat’s crest, green rugby shirt with St. Pat’s and the letter “P.” St. Patrick’s student ambassadors, who are senior students, wear green blazers with the school crest.

School Song

Students wrote a school song in 1996. The words of the song are:

Principals

Notable alumni