| St. Francis Catholic Secondary School | |
| Address | |
| 541 Lake Street St. Catharines, Ontario, L2N 4H7, Canada |
|
| Information | |
| School board | Niagara Catholic District School Board |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Principal | Kenneth Griepsma |
| Vice principal | Antonio Soares, Michael Diamond |
| School type | Catholic secondary school |
| Grades | 9 to 12 |
| Language | English |
| Area | St. Catharines, Ontario |
| Motto | "Make me an instrument of your peace" |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Team name | Phoenix |
| Colours | White, Purple and Black |
| Enrolment | +780 |
| Homepage | http://www.stfrancisphoenix.com |
St. Francis is a Catholic High School and is one of three Catholic secondary schools found in St. Catharines, Ontario. St. Francis is the smallest of the eight high schools in the Niagara Catholic District School Board. However, St. Francis has been noted to contribute many extracurricular activities as the larger high schools within the region and continues to maintain a prominent and strong reputation.
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There is a strong academic focus at St. Francis. In standardized provincial testing, St. Francis usually places third in the Niagara Region after Ridley and Sir Winston Churchill.
St. Francis has a large number of athletics for a school of its size. The teams it currently has are baseball, badminton, basketball, cross country, curling, football, golf, hockey, lobball, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, lacrosse and volleyball. As well, Student Council runs an annual Dodgeball intramural tournament during its Recognition Day in June. The winners of the first annual Dodgeball tournament was a team named the "Dog Pound". The team was seeded 4th out of 16 teams
In the 2006/2007 year, St. Francis football had a perfect season of 10-0. St. Francis also does well in basketball, as for the past few years it has sent its senior boys basketball team to OFSAA, where they usually finish second. The rowing program has done well in past years, winning several golds, silvers and bronzes at the prestigious Schoolboy tournament.
The extracurricular program at St. Francis is very strong, with many different clubs, such as art club, band, book club, chess, choir, drama, EcoSchools, God Squad, model UN, newspaper, Pilgrimage Committee, Reach, ski club, Student Council, Teen Life Savers, tech club and weight lifting.
The art club traditionally does an event each fall. In past years, they have run a Haunted House at the end of October, a few days before Pilgrimage, to raise additional money for Haiti. The Haunted House had no budget, yet managed to raise hundreds of dollars each year. In 2007, the Sidewalk Chalk Festival took its place. Students drew large pictures with sidewalk chalk on the back parking lot, and there were games and food as well. As well, they participate in projects throughout the year to beautify the school, such as the mosaic in the front or murals on the walls.
The school band and choir generally play during school masses and assemblies, but they often have performances throughout the year, such as the Christmas Concert or Arts Night. They have gone to Chicago to perform.
The drama department runs either a musical or a play for the Drama Festival each year. Some past performances have been Into the Woods, Jack and Jill, Grease, Competition Piece, Guys and Dolls And Little Shop of Horrors. With A New Play Starting This Fall. Musicals are usually performed at Ridley's Mandeville Theatre due to not having a theatre within St. Francis.
The newspaper, the Phoenix 411, publishes once a year. A large part of the content is produced by the Grade 12 Writer's Craft class, but newspaper staff members edit and produce much of the content as well.
St. Francis also has one of the best Reach teams in the country.
The uniform is provided by R.J. McCarthy's. St. Francis has been known to have a stricter uniform policy in comparison to other schools. For example, St. Francis is one of the few schools where girls cannot wear the girls' dress pants and must wear the boys style pants. All dress shirts and cardigans are emblazoned with the "SF" St. Francis logo. The uniform options consist of a short sleeved or long sleeved Oxford shirt, a sweater, sweatshirt or vest (to be worn from Thanksgiving to Easter), and grey dress pants or kilt. In recent years, Grade 12 students have had the option of wearing the "Grad Hoodie" instead of the sweater.