History of St. Joseph School in Brampton
St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School is nestled in a mature community in the city of Brampton. It was built in 1961 and celebrated its 50th Anniversary in May 2012. The surrounding community consists of single mature family homes situated in a geographic area that is suburban yet close to the downtown core of Brampton. Quite a few of the parents of the students in this school attended St. Joseph School, enjoyed their educational experiences here and now are proud to have their own children attending this school.
The student population of approximately 203 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8, have over the years come from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds, reflecting the ever-increasing diversity of cultures found within Brampton. Our small school has been renovated and is currently equipped with a gym, stage, a library, a computer lab and a large schoolyard.
Our students have come with a variety of strengths and needs. They have their Catholic faith as their common bond. We have always been proud of our balanced religion, academic, arts, technology and athletics programs. We have offered the students a well-rounded and value-centred education to help them make good choices for the future. Our prayer life, liturgical celebrations, the sacraments, our faith and values system have formed the foundation of our school program. The school staff have been committed to nurturing a harmonious environment of peace, love and joy where students feel safe, valued and respected and where the gospel values guide behaviours and attitudes. In accordance with the teachings of the Catholic church, the staff have been dedicated to developing the spiritual, religious, moral, academic and physical needs of students.
We have and continue to follow the curriculum provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. The curriculum has been balanced and relevant to the needs and aspirations of our students. A wide range of subjects and learning experiences have been offered to develop the skills, abilities and talents of individual students. All subjects have been taught in conjunction with the gospel values of Jesus Christ and sound educational practices. We have constantly strived to refine educational opportunities for our students and to improve our learning and instructional environment. We have offered many extracurricular activities, including sports, craft clubs, library helpers, bus patrollers, chess club, dance club, robotics teams and so many more. We endeavour to offer activities which will assist in motivating students and utilizing their God-given talents.
St. Joseph School has had and continues to have a caring community environment that stresses commitment to our Catholic faith, honouring and accepting others, commitment to high academic standards and striving to be the best that we can be. We have consistently provided a safe and comfortable learning environment, where the models of gospel values, Catholic doctrines, teachings, and beliefs are an integral part of the daily life of our school. The school motto, "Growing in Harmony, in Spirit and in Truth", was chosen in past years through the process of community consultation and reflects a holistic philosophy where religion and daily life are intertwined. This motto is used in everything we do. All activities at St. Joseph School, academic, pastoral work, extracurricular and intra-curricular, prayer and worship, outreach, administration and management, help to prepare our students for the world that they will graduate into as future contributing Catholic citizens.