Notre Dame Regional Secondary School

Notre Dame Regional Secondary is a co-ed Catholic Secondary school, under the administration of Catholic Independent Schools Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA) school board inn Canada.[2] The school participates in sporting events under the name of the "Jugglers", with the team colours of Blue, White & Silver.

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
Coordinates49.27623°N 123.04471°W / 49.27623; -123.04471
Information
School typeIndependent
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Founded1953
School boardCatholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA)
SuperintendentDan Moric[1]
PrincipalRoger DesLauriers
Grades8–12
Enrollment700+ (co-ed)
LanguageEnglish
AreaRenfrew – Hastings Sunrise
Colour(s)Navy Blue, White and Silver    
MascotJuggler
Team nameJugglers
Websitewww.ndrs.ca

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.[3]

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.[4]

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

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.[5] 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.[6]

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.

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.[7]

98.1% of the students graduate[7] and 85%+ of those students go on to study at colleges and universities across the country.

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 association 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,[8][9][10] Volleyball, Wrestling and Football.[11]

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: Concert Band, Jazz 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 and 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:

  • Ushers
  • Improv Club
  • Ski & Snowboard Club
  • Score-keepers Committee
  • Pro-life Club
  • Sacristy
  • Grad Committee
  • Newspaper Committee
  • Legion of Mary
  • Student Council
  • Yearbook Committee
  • Social Justice Club
  • Art Club
  • Service Club

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. "Superintendent's Office". Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  2. http://www.cisva.bc.ca/
  3. Notre Dame Regional Secondary Agenda Book 2008–09. p.2
  4. Notre Dame Regional Secondary website – School Project
  5. Overview of Independent Schools in British Columbia Archived 2013-01-24 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Notre Dame Regional Secondary Agenda Book 2008–09. Pg.5
  7. The Fraser Institute – Report Cards – School Performance
  8. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=641b7200-1193-4981-8757-b6d6c7ec2fe1
  9. Tsumura, Howard (2007-11-21). "Jugglers win B.C. Double A soccer title". Vancouver Province. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  10. http://carihi.sd72.bc.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=F3etoTkACHM%3d&tabid=1913&mid=3430
  11. http://www.vancourier.com/sports/Moretto+named+Notre+Dame+Jugglers+year+championship+drought/7650554/story.html
  12. Varsity Champions of the Past
  13. The Province – August 14, 2008
  14. Internet Movie Database
  15. T-birds in the pros
  16. UBC Thunderbirds Football 2008 program, Pg. 18
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