St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario is one of the largest high schools in the region with over 1900 students. Over the past 37 years, our school has experienced continuous growth and an unwavering focus on excellence. Our original campus opened in September 1972 as St. Thomas More Comprehensive School on East 5th Street with an enrolment of 800 students. Today's expansive facility on Upper Paradise Road is 17 years old and is well furnished with modern equipment and state-of-the-art technology.
We have a reputation for academic excellence, a tradition of athletic achievement, and a student body well known for their charitable works and social conscience.
The academic program is comprehensive with over 100 accredited teachers assisted by over 50 support staff delivering a full range of academic and applied courses, as well as university, college and workplace bound courses. Committed to the philosophy that “each belongs”, we are an inclusive school where all students, from the developmentally delayed to the gifted, are integrated into regular classroom programs. We graduate approximately 400 students per year, with about 70% proceeding to university or college. Our employment bound students are well prepared for the workplace through our extensive Co-operative Education experiential programs. These include a number of Ontario Youth Apprenticeship programs and three vibrant Specialist High Skills Major programs (Business, Construction and Arts & Culture), all excellent opportunities for students to acquire trade-specific skills as they learn from skilled professionals at training centres and the workplace.
St. Thomas More Catholic S.S. is a vibrant school community that offers well-rounded extra-curricular and co-instructional programs. We have a long athletic tradition, excelling in football, basketball, hockey, soccer, volleyball, swimming and baseball among many other sports. Again our facilities are advantageous, with a spring-floor triple gym, two athletic fields, an all-weather track and a complete fitness room. All of our teams are coached by qualified and experienced teacher-coaches. Our co-instructional program offers over 80 teams, clubs, groups, councils and committees to suit a vast variety of student interests.
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As a Catholic school, we are committed to a Christ-centered education. Through our chaplain, we celebrate Morning Prayer, school-wide liturgies, class masses and weekly Wednesday morning masses in our beautiful chapel. The opportunity for receiving the sacrament of reconciliation is provided at various times throughout the year, and our entire school community celebrates the Mass regularly, as our gymnasium is transformed into a place of worship.
Guided by the words of our patron saint, St. Thomas More, we strive to be "The King's good servant but God's first" in all aspects of school life. Most importantly, as a Catholic community, our daily relationships reflect our belief that we must live our faith and reflect God's love.
Christian service initiatives are numerous and wide-ranging with a focus on promoting equality, justice, peace and compassion in our school, community and beyond. Our efforts include our Halloween 4 Hunger Campaign (YMCA Peace Medal Award 2009) which this year collected 54,828 lbs. of food and $5,000 in cash donations in one evening for our local Neighbour-to-Neighbour food bank. Other service work includes our yearly Christmas Miracle Campaign which provided gifts and food vouchers to 300 children and their families, our Free Trade farming support in the Dominican Republic, our ongoing commitment to Free the Children projects in Kenya, and a Student Outreach Program to provide basic needs to students experiencing financial difficulty.
St. Thomas More C.S.S. is a school of excellence. Above all, it is a school where humanity and Catholicity are paramount. Our brown and gold colours, our knights and our motto "Praestantia Scholastica, Praestantia Athletica, Praestantia Religiosa" give us a sense of tradition and purpose. Our daily lives carry this tradition into the future.
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