ST. LOUIS School Accommodation Review Public Meeting – May 21, 2015

St. Louis School DetailsBuilt in 1947 in response to the rapid growth of Mimico during the post war years, with two additions to accommodate subsequent growth. St. Louis is home to both the Gifted program and the Program to Assist Social Learning (PAST). ConcernsRecommendation for School Accommodation Review Committee to consider that St. Louis be closed in 2017 and merge students with either Holy Angels or St. Leo’s schools. Influencing FactorsOur community is once again in a period of rapid expansion with nearly 20 townhouse and condo developments underway within all of our boundaries. RecommendationsMaintain Catholic presence in our community and plan for the future by keeping all five schools open with boundary changes to reflect population trends.

St. Louis Enrolment Trends Utilization Rate OCG Capacity is 358 Students TCDSB Students Residing Within Our Current Boundaries by School

St. Louis Current Challenges School is currently under subscribed at 60.1% utilization (not including Gifted or PAST students) Senior playground needs revitalization One of the proposed planning options for consideration is to consolidate St. Louis into either St. Leo’s or Holy Angels schools. Concern that should St. Louis be amalgamated into St. Leo’s, our children will no longer attend a Bishop Allen feeder school, despite our students’ proximity to the secondary school. The community around St. Louis is in a state of evolution. Seniors are selling their homes and moving out of the neighbourhood and young couples and families are moving in. Property values continue to increase, as is the trend throughout the city of Toronto, making entering the housing market a challenge. Condos and townhouses are the most affordable option for young families and there are many new developments throughout our community. Should the current trend of growth and revitalization of our community continue, all of the existing schools will soon be over subscribed. Critically so without St. Louis.

Influencing Factors: New Development in Our Community Holy Angels is currently at 102.2% utilization with 1 portable Our Lady of Sorrows is currently at 145% utilization with 8 portables St. Mark’s is projected to be at 94.7% utilization by 2017 St. Louis is projected to by at 67.6% utilization by 2017 St. Leo’s will have 2 JK French Immersion classes starting September 2015, which will significantly increase utilization of their school over time, as it has with Our Lady of Peace. Westhaven Townhouses on Islington The Islington Towns Islington Terrace Condos Westwood Condominiums Vivid Condominiums Network Lofts Evolution Condominiums Palais Condominiums IQ Condos Phase II Park Tower Condos Sunset Condominiums California Condominiums On the Go Mimico Condos iLoft Condos Beyond the Sea Star Tower Condos South Beach Condos Royal York Urban Towns Eleven Superior Condos

St. Louis Recommended Solutions School Year Add a third PAST classroom or a second Full Day Kindergarten class to take advantage of our only empty classroom School Year Move our northern and western boundaries to increase the St. Louis catchment area. Offer daycare services to our community. Mid Term: Staged Project CSPC is working closely with Evergreen to green our school yard, create a natural senior playground and seek additional grants and funding. Long TermChange the secondary school admissions policies to allow students in close proximity to a secondary school to attend, regardless of which feeder school they attend.

Suggested Solution: Fixed Boundary Compliance Overall fixed attendance boundaries have increased the frequency of in-boundary attendance Over time out of boundary enrolment has decreased Noted exception occurred at Our Lady of Peace, which offers a French immersion program and has no fixed boundary as a result The Toronto Catholic District School Board conducted a review of fixed boundaries and the impact it had on student enrolment, between 2009 and The schools involved in the study were Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Anselm, St. Lawrence, St. Nicholas of Bari and St. Pius X. Five of the schools that were under subscribed saw a significant increase in their utilization rates, one school was basically flat and two over subscribed schools had a decrease in their utilization. Conclusion: the schools in our community would benefit from a fixed boundary change, balancing out utilization rates over time.

The Benefits of a Small School TCDSB data for the EQAO results appears to indicate that students in the small schools are achieving better than those in the large schools used in the study. St. Louis is located within a short walk to both the baseball diamonds at Queensway Park and the fields and trails along Mimico Creek in Jeff Healy Park. Our proximity to our community’s watershed offers our students endless learning opportunities and a vital connection to nature. Research indicates that academic achievement is often better in small than in large schools. Parents tend to be more involved in small than in large schools, and many aspects of personal development are better in small than in large schools (e.g., sense of belonging, self concept) as are objective measures like attendance and dropout rate. Ann Sloan Devlin Ph.D.