About Us
Welcome! Who are we? What is our mission?
Rooted in our Catholic faith, we strive to provide Gr. 5-8 students with a wealth of high quality educational opportunities including:
- Elementary Music/Band program
- Junior High Career and Technology Foundations (CTF) Courses (e.g. Art in Design, Beads & Bannock, Business and Innovations, Spanish, Performing Arts)
- Student Wellness Assurance Team (SWAT)
- Extracurricular Athletic teams and Student clubs (e.g. Soccer, Golf, Ski Club, Board Game Club, Liturgical Choir, Skills Canada Design Club)
Our Mission Statement:
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School is an inclusive and engaging learning community centered around Jesus Christ. We are dedicated to fostering God’s love and inspiring innovation and leadership through creativity, faith, and reason. Empowered by the Holy Spirit we nurture students, created in the image of God, to reach their full potential.
Our Vision Statement:
Through God we can achieve our dreams
Counselling
Evergreen Catholic School Division is committed to having a Counsellor in every school. The counsellors work as an integral part of the Student Services team, which includes the Inclusive Education Coordinator and the school administrators, to implement many important supports for Evergreen students.
Student Services at St. Thomas Aquinas is a multidisciplinary team comprised of the School Administrators, our Inclusive Education Coordinator, and School counsellor. Together we work to support the students and families of our school community.
Please take a moment to visit our Student Services Site for more information about the counselling services and programs offered locally and at our school.
Extra-Curricular
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School offers a variety of student activities. We hope that each of our students will find an area of interest to become more involved in our school community. Some programs require additional funding and students may be required to make a monetary contribution. However, we always strive to keep student costs at a minimum. If a family cannot meet the financial needs of paying activity participation fees, special arrangements may be considered by contacting the school administrators.
Inclusive Education
Evergreen Catholic School Division is committed to providing each school site with an Inclusive Education Coordinator. The mission of this role is to ensure that all students have the supports and accommodations they require in order to successfully achieve their full potential. Collaborating with parents, teachers, counsellors, administration, and outside agencies, students may be supported in a variety of ways.
Please contact your school for more information about inclusion and programs offered at the school.
Indigenous Education
Evergreen Catholic School Division respectfully acknowledges the vibrant history and culture of Indigenous nations in Canada. We continually seek to learn the traditions and contributions of Indigenous nations of Alberta while committing to moving forward in friendship and collaboration. We also recognize the land, upon which Evergreen Catholic Schools resides, is home for our closest neighbours, the Cree and the Nakoda. This territory, known as Treaty 6, is also home to the Métis Nation and many other Indigenous groups. We honor and acknowledge the unique story of this land and continue to work towards strengthening relations with Indigenous communities.
Our Division supports teachers, administrators, and division office staff in their commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation's Calls to Action (2015). Through their guidance and support, they lead in the development of staff by:
- Obtaining practical strategies and materials for the full integration of Indigenous perspectives into each classroom
- Offering approaches for teaching Indigenous learners and working with Indigenous families
- Making connections to Elders, cultural instructors, and other resource people for authentic learning experiences
- Promoting further understanding of treaties and agreements negotiated with First Nations and the Métis in Canada
- Providing opportunities to learn about residential schools and their legacy
- Building on existing awareness of historical, social, economic, and political realities of Indigenous individuals/nations
- Participating in whole schools events that foster understanding and respect for Indigenous cultures, languages and histories.
- Supporting staff in the attainment of school resources
- Broadening current practice to include pedagogy that is consistent with Indigenous ways of learning and knowing.
Indigenous education lead teachers from each school meet regularly to further their learning and build confidence in a variety of foundational knowledge areas. Through capacity building within school communities and enabling all school staff to embark on this journey, the positive effects will be felt in our hearts, minds, spirits’ and happily in our classrooms. Through this commitment, the students of Evergreen Catholic School Division will become the new co-creators of a promising future for all.
Religious Education
School Programming
Educational practices that are flexible and responsive to the strengths and needs of individual students can create learning experiences that ensure all students are reaching their potential. St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School offers various programs and opportunities for students to increase academic knowledge and strengthen skills in both core and elective courses.
Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA)
Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol - Promoting Safe Communities
The safety of our students is a top priority for us all. Children and youth increasingly face many difficult situations and challenges in their lives. When they lack the ability to resolve these problems, high risk behaviour can sometimes occur. We believe there is a shared community responsibility to respond and support our students. As a school division, and in cooperation with local school divisions, government, RCMP and community partners, we have completed intensive safety training through the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response.
Together, we have also developed a prevention and intervention protocol for responding to situations in which students may be posing a threat to themselves or others. Our goal is to promote safe schools and communities and respond to threats in a proactive manner that provides for a healthy and caring learning environment. We are proud to be able to provide this level of support to our school communities and are most fortunate to have our community partners at our side.
Additional information is available through the Fair Notice warning letter and information brochures provided.
Who is Saint Thomas Aquinas?