The Catholic School Graduate is expected to be:

• A discerning believer formed in the Catholic faith community who celebrates the signs and sacred   mystery of God’s presence through word, sacrament, prayer, forgiveness, reflection and moral living.
• An effective communicator who speaks, writes and listens honestly and sensitively responsible decisions with an informed moral conscience for the common good.
• A self-directed, responsible, lifelong learner who develops and demonstrates his/her God-given potential.
• A collaborative contributor who finds meaning, dignity and vocation in work that respects the rights of all who contribute to the common good.
• A caring family member who attends to family, school, parish and the wider community.
• A responsible citizen who gives witness to Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and sacredness of human life.

RELIGIOUS DIMENSION

St. Martin Catholic Secondary School considers yearly retreats an integral part of a Catholic education.  Retreats are mandatory for all students according to the schedule laid down by the Theology Department, under the direction of the Principal of the school.  This policy has a priority over all the activities in the school year.  While it is expected that all students will make a spiritual retreat each year, it is also expected that they will not disqualify themselves from the privilege by reason of poor classroom behaviour.
Religious Expectations for the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board
Thank you for choosing to send your son/daughter to a Catholic secondary school.  The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board is committed to providing quality Catholic education which serves the academic, social, physical and spiritual developmental needs of our students.

The historical mandate of the Catholic school system in Ontario is to model the entire syllabus of the school on the life and teaching of Jesus.  As such, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board has expectations of all students admitted.

Our religious expectations are as follows:

1. All students will enroll in a Religion course in each of the four years.  All Religion courses are approved by the appropriate Catholic authority.  The Government of Ontario recognizes that Religion credits count towards a secondary school graduation diploma.
2. All students will participate in an annual retreat for the first four years that they are in a secondary school.  The retreat normally takes place during the school day.  The school chaplain organizes the annual retreat based on spiritual developmental themes appropriate for adolescents.
3. All students will participate in the prayer and in the liturgical life of the school.  Catholic students are expected to participate fully as mandated by their sacramental Baptism.  Non-Catholic students are expected to participate to the extent that they can.  It is not the intention of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board to proselytize, however, for supervision, safety and community reasons, the entire school participates in all of the religious events that occur during the school year.  At a minimum, non-Catholic students will attend and maintain respectful silence at all religious observances.  All students are encouraged to get involved.
4. The Catholic District School Boards of Ontario follow approved provincial curriculum.  Given the distinctiveness of Catholic schools, the government of Ontario recognizes parallel curricula for our system based on Catholic course profiles.  All courses in all subject areas, in a Catholic secondary school, are taught from a Catholic perspective.  We hope that your experiences in our Catholic secondary schools will be a rewarding one.

VOLUNTEER WORK IN THE COMMUNITY

Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations: Collaborative Contributor

St. Martin Catholic Secondary School encourages active volunteer work for both the in-school community and the local civic community.

Students will be expected to earn at least 10 volunteer hours annually for a minimum graduation requirement of 40 hours.  We encourage our students to complete more than the 40 hours minimum of community service.

A record of hours must be submitted in the school year they were completed and signed by a supervisor of the volunteer work completed.

• Eligible Activities are ones which:
• Benefit to the community as a whole
• Support a not-for-profit agency, institution or foundation that conforms to the ethical standards of DPCDSB and the Ministry of Education
• Promote tutoring, mentoring, coaching and charity work
• Support ethical Christian work of a global nature
• Promote positive environmental awareness
• Support our Catholic faith, clubs, arts, cultural associations
  

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