Saint Francis High School (Calgary)

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Saint Francis High School
Pax et Caritas Peace and Charity
Address
877 Northmount Drive, N.W. Calgary, Alberta, T2L 0A3, Canada
Website
http://www.stfrancishs.net
Information
School board	Calgary Catholic School District
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
Principal	John M. McFarland
Vice principal	C. Brochu, B. Downey, F. Duffy, J. Wojtkiw
School type	High School
Grades	10-12
Language	English, Extended French
Mascot	Bear named "Sicnarf"
Team name	Browns
Colours	Orange and Brown
Founded	1963
Enrollment	1700

Saint Francis High School is a liberal arts Roman Catholic High School and one of the largest High Schools in Canada, serving 1800 students in the communities of northwest Calgary, Alberta. It is also said that it is the "largest catholic high school west of the Mississippi." Saint Francis has created an optimal learning environment where staff and students, inspired by their patron, St. Francis of Assisi, strive to develop the spiritual, academic, social, creative and physical potential of each individual student.

The program offerings include all of the academic disciplines, an Advanced Placement (A.P.) program, an Extended French program, an Integrated Occupation program, a Registered Apprentice program, International Languages, an Active Life Skills physical education program, an Incentive program and an extensive Career and Technology Studies program.

Contents 1 Automated Phone System 2 Incentive Program 3 Football Program 4 Bus Routes 5 Students Moved to New High School 6 NewsPaper Club 7 Band Program 8 Largest Graduating Class

[edit] Automated Phone System

St. Francis High School has an automated phone system. The automated phone system is an effective system that calls ALL students at the same time notifying them about important school events, school closures, etc. It also calls at a certain time everyday to inform parents of the students skipping or missing class for an unidentified reason. During the class, the teacher takes attendance and hands it into the office. The data is put into the special program by the secretaries and then the phone would ring on time everyday.

[edit] Incentive Program

Saint Francis High School initiated an Attendance Incentive program for students in 1991. The program allows students with outstanding attendance and who are passing their courses to opt out of a final examination. Students with less than three lates/absences per class may choose to not write one final exam. If a student qualifies for incentive AND has raised their overall report card average 5% from the previous report card, the student may request a second incentive opportunity for the same semester. Additional benefits include priority registration day in August and many other "front of the line" opportunities such as parking passes.

[edit] Football Program

Saint Francis High School has been well known for their football program. It is ranked as the number one high school in Canada for NFL/CFL prospects. A recent coach, Gino DiVincentis has left the team to be the running back coach for the Calgary Stampeders. For the last 15 years the team has made the city finals. In the 2003 and 2004 they won the provincial title, going undefeated, both seasons.

[edit] Bus Routes

St. Francis High School has special transit buses provided by Calgary Transit for student bussing to and from the school. The school approximately has 14 bus routes that travels to various communities in the NW Calgary. The students are also provided student bus passes that can take them everywhere else served by Calgary Transit besides the school at a discounted price. Bus Service is not always available on Half Days or Exam Days.

[edit] Students Moved to New High School

Due to the opening of the Notre Dame High School in NE Caglary in 2006, approximately 100 grade 10 and 11 students that live in the areas served by Notre Dame have been transfered to the new school.

[edit] NewsPaper Club

St. Francis High School has a NewsPaper Club. Any student or staff that has something to write about and wants to get it published, they can submit it to the teachers running the club. Members are free to join or leave any time. No restrictions on the number of articles that you have to write. However, the articles are subject to editing just to make sure the contents won't offend anyone and cause conflict within the school. It is published monthly. The name of the Newspaper is "Omnia".

[edit] Band Program

St. Francis High School has one of the largest High School band programs in the City of Calgary. It comprises of over 100 students in the various grades of 10,11,12. The grade 10s have their own individual class and the grade 11s and 12s are combined together in one class. They practice together for morning rehearsals every Wednesday morning and participates in the Alberta International Band Festival every year. The band has played complex pieces like "Holst Suite in Eb" and sections of Holst's "Planets Suite."

[edit] Largest Graduating Class

In 2006, St. Francis High School had the largest graduating class of the Calgary Separate School Board History. There was a total of 677 graduates. The graduation event was held at the University of Calgary's Jack Simpson Gymnasium and the event took approximately 2 and a half hours.

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