Our School
At St. Jude Catholic School, we are called to celebrate and nurture the God-given talents of each student as we serve with excellence in the light of Christ. 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.
Leadership at St. Jude Catholic School
Many teachers and parents from the school community have gone on to leadership roles in the Durham Catholic District School Board (Linda Frost, principal; Hyacinth White, vice-principal; Julia Pellerin, principal; Karen Taggart, principal; Jim Wilson, principal; Anne O'Brien, principal and superintendent; Jane Kiyonaga, vice-principal and teacher at UOIT; Sonia Wylie, vice-principal; and Sharon Bird (parent from the opening of the school - current principal).
Patron Saint
Our patron saint is St. Jude, also known as St. Jude Thaddaeus, who was one of the 12 Apostles. The legend states that St. Jude was born into a Jewish family in a town in Galilee and that his father was murdered because of his outspoken devotion to Christ. He had three brothers: St. James the Less, Saint Simeon of Jerusalem, and Joses. His mother was a cousin of the Virgin Mary and his father a cousin of St. Joseph.
Ancient writers tell us that after Jesus' ascension into heaven, St. Jude preached the gospel in many countries. He taught people to be humble and meek and love God. A 14th-century writer said that St. Jude was the bridegroom at the wedding at Cana. St. Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why he would not manifest himself to the world after his resurrection. Very little else is known of his life. St. Jude is often shown with a flame around his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles. St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest.
Philosophy
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.
