We are pleased to partner with YMCA to provide a full service child care centre and before and after school programs at St. Wilfrid Catholic School. Call our child care partner at 905-427-6225 to learn more about their services.
About Our School
At St. Wilfrid Catholic School, it is our mission to be an inclusive Catholic learning community that inspires every student to achieve their full potential through faith and education. We recognize our call to love and serve from our Master teacher Jesus Christ, and we are committed to creating a Catholic learning community under the protection of Mother Mary.
The Catholic Graduate Expectations are our foundation as we strive for academic excellence and the acknowledgement of those who achieve it. We recognize God as the source of all life and actively work to focus on social issues within our local and global communities.
We celebrate the diversity within our community with a collaborative approach to learning, in cooperation with parents, the Catholic faith community, and other organizations that recognize the value of our mission. Within the context of Catholic teaching and Sacramental living, our school community strives to demonstrate respect and reverence for all life, thus nurturing a safe, Christian environment for the entire school community.
As Catholic educators, we live according to our Father's code and to lead our students, by example, to live the basic truths of the gospel message. This is an awesome, yet inspiring challenge which we share with the parents of our young men and women.
Children learn what they live. Each day we have the opportunity to teach our students:
- to love by the way we love;
- to be generous by our generosity;
- to be passionate by our compassion; and
- to be forgiving by the way we forgive.
However, a person cannot give what he or she does not have. Unless we are living the Gospel message, we cannot lead our students to do so.
There are many hallmarks of a Catholic educator, including:
- Prayer - The challenges of our vocation, and indeed life in general, are great. To meet them we need to follow Christ's advice that we "ask the father in My name". Each Catholic educator has a duty to expose students to his or her particular style of prayer in order to assist students to recognize the value of prayer in daily life.
- Eucharist - Parish, school, and staff liturgies provide opportunities to celebrate our faith. Our example can testify to the Eucharist as a joyful source of strength and community building.
- Social Justice - This is the heart of the Christian message, that we "love one another as I have loved you". As our brother's and sister's keepers, we must be concerned about the aged, the poor, the oppressed, and any other marginalized group - both at home and abroad.
Our patron saint is the English saint Wilfrid (633-709). His name means "Firm Peace" - which was an appropriate patron for this area of Ontario. Wilfrid's diocese included the towns of Scarborough, Pickering and Whitby - place names also found in our area.
He was born in Northumbria to a Christian family, and although he was educated at Lindisfarne, a centre for Celtic Christianity, Wilfrid became a champion for the Roman Church after visiting Rome. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, he was a strong advocate for reforming the English Church in the tradition of Rome. Because of his firm convictions, the English rulers and clergy dismissed him from his position of Bishop of York and Ripon as well as his monastery at Hexham. In appealing to Rome for reinstatement, he is recognized for the times he sailed there, undergoing hardships and a shipwreck. During these journeys, he initiated the spread of the faith among non-Christian English people, as well as being a missionary to the Germanic peoples.
St. Wilfrid was an outstanding personage of his day, extremely capable and possessed of unbounded courage, remaining firm in his convictions despite running afoul of civil and ecclesiastical authorities. He helped bring the discipline of the English Church into line with that of Rome. He was also a dedicated pastor and a zealous and skilled missionary; his brief time spent in Friesland in 678-679 was the starting point for the great English mission to the Germanic peoples of continental Europe.
Our school community is blessed with a patron saint who was a model of faith, courage, and educational and missionary zeal. His feast day is October 12.
St. Wilfrid Catholic School opened in 1994 and has grown alongside the thriving community it serves. Built on former farmland, the school expanded over the years to accommodate increasing enrolment, including a two-story addition completed in 2002 and the creation of a beautiful Jubilee Garden by dedicated parent volunteers. The name St. Wilfrid Catholic School was chosen in remembrance of St. Wilfrid’s Church, which was established in 1949 as the first Catholic Parish in Pickering. St. Wilfrid was a courageous missionary and champion of the Christian faith. Today, St. Wilfrid continues to provide a welcoming, faith-filled environment where students are encouraged to grow academically, spiritually, and socially.
St. Wilfrid's Feast Day is October 12.
Our logo was designed with the letter "W" superimposed, with a stylized ship topped with a cross to represent the faith and missionary travels of St. Wilfrid.
Dear God,
Today, with the help of St. Wilfrid,
I promise:
To work together with my friends, To treat everyone fairly,
To try my best with all my work,
To respect my school, participate in my Parish and show love for my family.
Jesus,
Help me to be like St. Wilfrid,
to follow the teachings of the Gospel and to be proud of myself and my school. Amen.
St. Wilfrid, pray for us.
St. Wilfrid, a saint so brave and true
You fought for your faith your whole life through. Teach us to be one who's more like you,
A living saint of God.
Refrain: We sing a song to St. Wilfrid As by your side we stand.
We'll praise your name As we work every day, To try to be like you.
Our board's School Year calendar is now available. We encourage parents and guardians to visit our school year calendar webpage to learn more about activities happening at school.
We welcome your questions, comments and concerns.
2360 Southcott Road
Pickering, Ontario, L1X 2S9
Tel: 905-427-6225
Fax: 905-427-1561