As the new school year begins, we want to extend a warm welcome back to all of our students and parents. We especially welcome our many new students and new parents who are joining the St. Bonaventure’s College community. When describing this place, we frequently use the tagline, “A Great Place To Be.” In so many ways this phrase captures the essence of the school’s unique and special character. For me, this is a tagline which holds out possibilities for each student. Each student can finish the phrase with whatever they feel they want to be. St. Bonaventure’s College is a great place to be a scholar? Or it could be a great place to be an athlete? Or it could be a great place to be a great musician? The sky is the limit at St. Bon’s. We aim to ensure each student develops to their fullest potential their God given talents.
This might be one of the reasons why this September we are beginning the school year with record enrollment levels. These numbers are reflective of the efforts of our teachers and the school administration, working with the President’s Office, to increase our public profile and offer a rigorous academic and spiritual environment in which each student receives the personal care and attention they deserve. Regrettably we are quickly out growing our current facilities, so expansion plans must be considered. This year we could not accept all the applicants we had in a number of grade levels.
For this year our bursary assistance program offered record help to families who were challenged financially to cover tuition costs. We hope to continue to make strides to grow these opportunities.
Our public exam results were stellar. Our results in all eight public exams exceeded the provincial average, in some cases considerably.
We have made some staff changes in the President’s Office, due to the loss of a staff position. Ms. Krista Cardwell will assume the duties of Director of Advancement where she will have responsibility for fundraising, communications and engagement. Joining Ms. Cardwell in these tasks will be Ms. Melissa Follett (Grade 4 teacher) as the Stakeholder Engagement Assistant and Ms. Jessica Whalen (Grade 6 teacher) as Alumni Affairs Assistant. Both teachers will continue their teaching duties and take on these added responsibilities. Mr. David Martino assumes the duties as Director of Campus Ministry and continues to teach senior high English. Brother Joseph Frechette, S.J. continues as the School Bursar; Mr. Jim Haley as Director of Facilities and Mr. Ryan Hayward as IT Coordinator.
With best wishes for a successful school year,
Tom McGrath
President
