St. Anne Catholic School is committed to Catholic education. Our faith is strengthened each day as we begin with morning prayer and each individual classroom shares Scripture stories and lessons about our Catholic faith during a daily religion lesson.
Faith Celebrations and Mass
The priest of St. Kevin Parish and Our Lady of Peace Parish, is welcomed enthusiastically for his weekly classroom visits at St. Anne. We celebrate mass with Father Jackson every month in the gymnasium with our school community. The entire school is transported to Our Lady of Peace Parish for mass in the church at Christmas in December and during Catholic Education Week in May. Families and parishioners always embrace this opportunity to gather in prayer and celebrate our faith together.
Leaders in Learning and Faith Assembly
There are also numerous other faith celebrations throughout the school year for students (in their own classrooms and in the gym and/or library for larger groups). We gather in the gym at the beginning of every month to introduce the Virtue of the Month. Classrooms partner to create innovate and interactive presentations that give students insight into how to live the virtues in our day to day lives.
The Virtue of Month from the previous month is also honoured at these assemblies. Educators select one student from each class that best symbolizes the virtue highlighted during the previous month and selected students are presented with a certificate to acknowledge their virtuous choices and behaviours. Many proud family members participate in our monthly Leaders in Learning and Faith Assemblies!
Annual Food Drive
We are truly blessed to have our students learn about the spirit of giving during the holiday season. Students put the values of empathy and compassion into action and learn the importance of being leaders in faith by helping the less fortunate. St. Anne School has been donating to the local food bank since 2003.
Our partnership with the Knights of Columbus 5005 and the local food bank has allowed us to fill thousands of boxes of canned food items for families in our community. We collect thousands of canned food items and raised similar amounts in funds to provide for the Christmas Food Baskets prepared by The Knights of Columbus. These baskets contain can goods, potatoes, carrots, oranges, apples, milk, bread, eggs, food vouchers and gifts for the children aged 0-12.
Grade 8 Net Retreat
Grade 8 students are involved in a fantastic retreat day offered by the National Evangelization Team, a travelling group of young adults each of whom has had a very vivid encounter with God. St. Anne students and The NET team spend a day together, enjoy a delicious meal and share their stories of personal difficulties and incredible faith. Here are some of the comments from our students regarding the retreat:
•“I learned that God knows me and that He has a plan for me. I only have to listen to Him to learn what that plan is.”
• “I thought those guys were cool!”
• “The NET retreat was a blast! The skits were great. I think the best part was during the quiet prayer time when our group leader came and prayed quietly for each of us.”
• “Although I don’t really understand God, the NET team made it a little easier for me to see what God has done for me.”
• “I thought it was going to be boring, but boy, was I wrong! It was awesome!”
• “I learned that God is watching over us each day. My faith definitely grew today.”
• “I learned that it’s ok to make mistakes-that’s what humans do, and no matter what you say or do, God will always love you.”
Our Parish
St. Kevin Parish
4610 St. Thérèse Street,
Val Thérèse, ON
P3P 1S5
705.969.3663
Our Patron Saint
St. Anne is the traditional name of the mother of Mary, the Blessed Virgin. Her name in Hebrew is Hannah, which means “grace”. Anne and her husband, Joachim, lived in Nazareth, and they were childless. To be childless in this time and place was considered a curse from God. Joachim went into the mountains to pray that God would remove this curse from them. Anne also prayed, and promised to dedicate any child she had to the service of God. An angel appeared to both Joachim and Anne promising that God would send them a child whom the whole world would call blessed. In time, a daughter was born to them, and they named her Miriam (Mary).
St. Anne is also the patroness of women in labour and of miners. Her feast day is celebrated on July 26th.