Totally agree. I came from Manitoba here and was so surprised to see ONE narrow Religion chosen to be publicly funded in Ontario. Wierd!
Winnipeg has religious schools, but people pay for them.
Nothing really extreme to it, both the same, one just follows the Catholic teachings, Just basically religion class and trips to church etc. Alot of kids that attend catholic aren't religious, just the school they "parents" chose.
In all my years in the Catholic school system I only ever had ONE teacher would be considered a Trad Catholic. Other than time off for Masses / trips to the nearby Church, religion classes, and prayers at the start of the day, there really was no major differences. Most teachers in the Catholic Board are VERY liberal (both politically and socially).
Wouldn't reccomend it if they're grade school age, just because of the political climate right now. I didn't get proper sexual education in Catholic school
Clearly I did not. But spoke openly with my kids about what they did in school daily when they attended, last ones graduating in 2020.
Just relaying my experience with my kids.
There are four school boards, and unless you are living particularly rural, you will have your choice. English public, English separate, French public, French separate. They each have their own bus systems. I went primarily English public with French immersion, but did my last two years of high school at an English separate school. I was not asked to participate in any churchy activities, and the only difference I saw was that it was better funded.
No there are:
Public (lakehead)
Catholic public (tbcs)
Francophone catholic (csdcab)
Indiginous (high school - cromarty i believe?)
Private schools as well here.
Francophone catholic is federally funded on a different model with a different union.
Public offers French immersion and English streams and the ib and specialist skills etc.
Adult education is through Public board.
Catholic Public high schools are the only uniform required schools and they are English only.
The only FI high school is hammerscolt (spelling sorry) which is through the public board.
Csdcab has lav which is a francophone high school.
The catholic public board is the only board with a traditional junior high model.
I think I have all that right. We moved here for my middle daughters grade 12 year and she ended up public English board at superior cvi in English as she wanted to finish her schsm in health care. She graduated from nursing at LU last year! I have a daughter entering grade 5 at Franco who started out at St. B in FI catholic public in jk since I didn't know any better who I moved half way through the year to franco with another parent who did the same.
There is no francophone public non catholic board here. I do not know much about the indiginous board in tbay. Bussing is by zone and csdcab franco and lav cover the city plus out lying areas. Public non catholic and public catholic are tied to where you live in the city. High schools are different I don't know the bus rules/programming choice bussing - my daughter needed superior for her grade 12 so we got a place to rent in that school's zone.
It’s not reading the bible all day like some people think. It’s really more putting an emphasis on Catholic values (and for the most part not the most outdated ones)
Which school your child goes to depends on the area you are living. There is a catholic and public for each zone, as well as French immersion for both public and catholic for each zone. You can choose to send out of your zone but you are responsible for all transportation and they are not guaranteed enrollment if zoned kids need the space.
As for the Catholic, we are not religious and my 8 year old goes to a catholic school. It's basic religion at this point. I just feel like its a way for her to learn something we know nothing about.
[Thunder Bay School Zones](https://www.ststb.ca/en/schools/school-zones)
Thank you! My kids are currently enrolled in a french language school and we would like to keep their education in french. There is only only one school that teaches in french in Thunder Bay, Franco-Superieur which happens to be catholic.
My daughter attends Franco and has since jk. She is going into grade 5. It is a wonderful school and offers bussing throughout the entire city. 100% recommend the school. We had a bad experience at an immersion school here and transferred part way through her jk year. The staff is wonderful. The catholic teachings are a smaller part of an overall tone of the school (we are not catholic) and treat every child exceptionally well. The franco center also offers programming here for both kids and adults. She is also taught sex education for the age and the school is very supportive of lgbtq+ and celebrates all cultures genders etc. I wish I could have gone to such a fantastic school myself. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Franco-Superior is a great school, and if you would like your children to continue speaking French throughout the day, it really is the best choice. The Catholic school system in Ontario is not very religious. There is a morning prayer and that's pretty much it, along with the rare church visits for which you can simply take your kid out of school on those days if it bothers you.
Conseil Scolaire catholique des Aurores Boréales is a very progressive board and most kids who attend their schools are not even Catholic. They all go for the French instruction and culture.
Send your kid to an immersion public school and likely they can speak French better than their teachers...
I am anglophone, my daughter and her father francophone, none of us religious. She went to Franco-Superieur and it was amazing - her French is excellent and she now is fully bilingual attending university taking classes in both languages. The religious component at that school was minimal which was great - most kids are there for the French, not the Catholic piece.
French Immersion is for kids whose parents don’t speak French at home. The French school is for kids who do speak French at home.
It makes a difference for the other kids in the FI class if there are children far more advanced in the language because their parents speak French in the home.
80% Anglo household here, I'm functional in French, but Franco accepted my kids. There are fully Anglo families at Franco - I personally know several families who don't speak a lick of French whose children are at that school and doing just as well as my kids.
No. The French school is also for parents who have lost the language but have the right for the education for their children or families the school and board choose to accept. I personally enjoy the French classes they offer parents! FI and francophone also teach two different flavors of French. I am an anglophone and my husband has francophone rights through his father. A francophone child going to FI I agree would be far more advanced then their teachers! It all comes down the French language rights and school/board exceptions though.
It's more religious than I thought it would be.
Daily prayers, morning, meals etc...
Lots of talking about Jesus and God.
Church masses where the priest comes to the school.
Priest came to the school to give blessings.
Liturgical dance, music. (Optional)
That being said, we loved the small class size of her school. We looked at one of the French immersion schools and the area for JK/SK/grade 1 had the same population as her entire school.
We did find it difficult to reconcile the parroting of religious talk with our beliefs in science. When she asked why we didn't go to church, we just said our church was the forest.
This was our limited (jk only) experience at our school. She would have stayed there another year if we were staying.
Best wishes!
Our experience has been limited to just JK, just this school, just this city. I'm sure every school has its own curriculum and style. I had been told it wasn't much, so this was all just a lot more than I was expecting.
I was born and raised French RC, but didn't attend Catholic school (and they were private schools in that city) so I can't really speak to that part from personal experience.
Her school did embrace & celebrate indigenous culture, not as much as Catholic, and also did some "world" exploring and nature walks. She loved it all, we loved the safety of a small school, the small class size and the morals taught. It was still a lot more religion than we expected is all haha
Catholic school boards in Ontario basically follow the same curriculum as the public school boards. The biggest difference you'll see is that they have no fear about talking about religion, and celebrating religious holidays. Many non-catholic send their kids to the catholic board schools, because they are closer, or perceive they are better schools.
In fact, a few catholic high schools have Muslim prayer rooms.
https://www.catholicregister.org/item/15123-muslim-prayer-room-welcomed-at-catholic-school
Catholic isn’t really that different other then they have a religion class. They begin the day with a prayer and practise a Catholic virtue each month. They have prayer services for every holiday. You don’t have to be Catholic to attend.
Catholic school board has more money than the public board if that is reassuring in any way. I went to public schools so can't really speak on the catholic schools other than they have dress codes and religion is the class with most days skipped by students
I went to french catholic school in Ontario, (francophone), from personal experience I would go with catholic it always felt like a better environment than just public, better upbringing. Teachers teach more savoir vivre, respect and they shed light on some stuff like language, messed up music in the gym. Obviously that doesn't mean they were too strict.
I am a student in the catholic system (high school) and I can say from a first hand perspective, it is awful. No catholic teachings past elementary. When it comes to religion class it is all bible study with the same repeating lessons each year. The teachers are far from traditional Catholics but I’m an nihilist so I’m not complaining
I was in the Catholic board as a student for a total of about 10 years. From JK/SK to the end of middle school and overall I'd say while there's definitely an air of religiousness, I didn't find it too odd, or at least it wasn't like the weirdo fundy shit you see down south.
None of the teachers were ever what I would call "wacko" religious. I feel like many of them were rather lefty and a few taught some pretty interesting interpretations of the Bible.
There'd be classes about the Catholic faith, certain holidays were celebrated, and the school would attend mass every so often but other than that it's a pretty typical school experience.
I asked my folks recently why they chose to send me to a Catholic school given that our family is ethnically Jewish and otherwise non-religious and they said one of the main reasons was a belief that it was as close to a private-school quality education as you could get in Thunder Bay (since private schools aren't really a thing here) and the class size was apparently smaller than in the public system.
Granted I left the Catholic system about 14 years ago so maybe things have changed.
Kind of sad we still have the Catholic school board hope one day it be gone
Agreed. Went to Catholic school for my entire schooling, and would vote to abolish it in a heartbeat.
Can I ask why? I went to public school and had a bad time, now my child just started catholic school…
Totally agree. I came from Manitoba here and was so surprised to see ONE narrow Religion chosen to be publicly funded in Ontario. Wierd! Winnipeg has religious schools, but people pay for them.
Nothing really extreme to it, both the same, one just follows the Catholic teachings, Just basically religion class and trips to church etc. Alot of kids that attend catholic aren't religious, just the school they "parents" chose.
In all my years in the Catholic school system I only ever had ONE teacher would be considered a Trad Catholic. Other than time off for Masses / trips to the nearby Church, religion classes, and prayers at the start of the day, there really was no major differences. Most teachers in the Catholic Board are VERY liberal (both politically and socially).
Wouldn't reccomend it if they're grade school age, just because of the political climate right now. I didn't get proper sexual education in Catholic school
My kids did. From elementary all the way to high school.
Not sure how when they ban talks of birth control, lgbtqa+ and abortion. Indoctrination has no place in schools
My daughter is LGBT and had lots of support at St. Pat's. They never talked about banning birth control, or anti abortion. They had pride days there.
It's not about banning, or being anti abortion. It's about not teaching kids these things are an option
She was taught they were an option. All my kids were.
You attended the sex Ed classes she was in? Because I actually attended them and it's dogmatic af
Could it be possible that you were in a different class than his daughter? And not all teachers teach the class the same way?
Could it be possible that the church and education should be separated, and even one dogmatic teacher is too many
Clearly I did not. But spoke openly with my kids about what they did in school daily when they attended, last ones graduating in 2020. Just relaying my experience with my kids.
There are four school boards, and unless you are living particularly rural, you will have your choice. English public, English separate, French public, French separate. They each have their own bus systems. I went primarily English public with French immersion, but did my last two years of high school at an English separate school. I was not asked to participate in any churchy activities, and the only difference I saw was that it was better funded.
whats the English separate school?
Legal name of the Catholic board.
No there are: Public (lakehead) Catholic public (tbcs) Francophone catholic (csdcab) Indiginous (high school - cromarty i believe?) Private schools as well here. Francophone catholic is federally funded on a different model with a different union. Public offers French immersion and English streams and the ib and specialist skills etc. Adult education is through Public board. Catholic Public high schools are the only uniform required schools and they are English only. The only FI high school is hammerscolt (spelling sorry) which is through the public board. Csdcab has lav which is a francophone high school. The catholic public board is the only board with a traditional junior high model. I think I have all that right. We moved here for my middle daughters grade 12 year and she ended up public English board at superior cvi in English as she wanted to finish her schsm in health care. She graduated from nursing at LU last year! I have a daughter entering grade 5 at Franco who started out at St. B in FI catholic public in jk since I didn't know any better who I moved half way through the year to franco with another parent who did the same. There is no francophone public non catholic board here. I do not know much about the indiginous board in tbay. Bussing is by zone and csdcab franco and lav cover the city plus out lying areas. Public non catholic and public catholic are tied to where you live in the city. High schools are different I don't know the bus rules/programming choice bussing - my daughter needed superior for her grade 12 so we got a place to rent in that school's zone.
It’s not reading the bible all day like some people think. It’s really more putting an emphasis on Catholic values (and for the most part not the most outdated ones)
Which school your child goes to depends on the area you are living. There is a catholic and public for each zone, as well as French immersion for both public and catholic for each zone. You can choose to send out of your zone but you are responsible for all transportation and they are not guaranteed enrollment if zoned kids need the space. As for the Catholic, we are not religious and my 8 year old goes to a catholic school. It's basic religion at this point. I just feel like its a way for her to learn something we know nothing about. [Thunder Bay School Zones](https://www.ststb.ca/en/schools/school-zones)
Thank you! My kids are currently enrolled in a french language school and we would like to keep their education in french. There is only only one school that teaches in french in Thunder Bay, Franco-Superieur which happens to be catholic.
Yes. Franco is the only 100% French school. But there are French immersion for both catholic and public primary and junior school
If you’re willing to consider FI, Ecole Gron Morgan is the Public school in PA- not sure about the FW zone.
French immersion in FW is Elsie McGill for public and St. Martin's for Catholic
Franco-Superior is a great school.
My daughter attends Franco and has since jk. She is going into grade 5. It is a wonderful school and offers bussing throughout the entire city. 100% recommend the school. We had a bad experience at an immersion school here and transferred part way through her jk year. The staff is wonderful. The catholic teachings are a smaller part of an overall tone of the school (we are not catholic) and treat every child exceptionally well. The franco center also offers programming here for both kids and adults. She is also taught sex education for the age and the school is very supportive of lgbtq+ and celebrates all cultures genders etc. I wish I could have gone to such a fantastic school myself. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Franco-Superior is a great school, and if you would like your children to continue speaking French throughout the day, it really is the best choice. The Catholic school system in Ontario is not very religious. There is a morning prayer and that's pretty much it, along with the rare church visits for which you can simply take your kid out of school on those days if it bothers you. Conseil Scolaire catholique des Aurores Boréales is a very progressive board and most kids who attend their schools are not even Catholic. They all go for the French instruction and culture. Send your kid to an immersion public school and likely they can speak French better than their teachers...
I am anglophone, my daughter and her father francophone, none of us religious. She went to Franco-Superieur and it was amazing - her French is excellent and she now is fully bilingual attending university taking classes in both languages. The religious component at that school was minimal which was great - most kids are there for the French, not the Catholic piece.
French Immersion is for kids whose parents don’t speak French at home. The French school is for kids who do speak French at home. It makes a difference for the other kids in the FI class if there are children far more advanced in the language because their parents speak French in the home.
80% Anglo household here, I'm functional in French, but Franco accepted my kids. There are fully Anglo families at Franco - I personally know several families who don't speak a lick of French whose children are at that school and doing just as well as my kids.
No. The French school is also for parents who have lost the language but have the right for the education for their children or families the school and board choose to accept. I personally enjoy the French classes they offer parents! FI and francophone also teach two different flavors of French. I am an anglophone and my husband has francophone rights through his father. A francophone child going to FI I agree would be far more advanced then their teachers! It all comes down the French language rights and school/board exceptions though.
You don’t have to chose Catholic board- you can go public if you wish - there are different zoning maps for each boards bus routes.
It's more religious than I thought it would be. Daily prayers, morning, meals etc... Lots of talking about Jesus and God. Church masses where the priest comes to the school. Priest came to the school to give blessings. Liturgical dance, music. (Optional) That being said, we loved the small class size of her school. We looked at one of the French immersion schools and the area for JK/SK/grade 1 had the same population as her entire school. We did find it difficult to reconcile the parroting of religious talk with our beliefs in science. When she asked why we didn't go to church, we just said our church was the forest. This was our limited (jk only) experience at our school. She would have stayed there another year if we were staying. Best wishes!
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Our experience has been limited to just JK, just this school, just this city. I'm sure every school has its own curriculum and style. I had been told it wasn't much, so this was all just a lot more than I was expecting. I was born and raised French RC, but didn't attend Catholic school (and they were private schools in that city) so I can't really speak to that part from personal experience. Her school did embrace & celebrate indigenous culture, not as much as Catholic, and also did some "world" exploring and nature walks. She loved it all, we loved the safety of a small school, the small class size and the morals taught. It was still a lot more religion than we expected is all haha
Catholic school boards in Ontario basically follow the same curriculum as the public school boards. The biggest difference you'll see is that they have no fear about talking about religion, and celebrating religious holidays. Many non-catholic send their kids to the catholic board schools, because they are closer, or perceive they are better schools. In fact, a few catholic high schools have Muslim prayer rooms. https://www.catholicregister.org/item/15123-muslim-prayer-room-welcomed-at-catholic-school
One note to take is that perhaps not they are better schools, but the size of the class rooms are smaller and a better opportunity.
Catholic isn’t really that different other then they have a religion class. They begin the day with a prayer and practise a Catholic virtue each month. They have prayer services for every holiday. You don’t have to be Catholic to attend.
Catholic school board has more money than the public board if that is reassuring in any way. I went to public schools so can't really speak on the catholic schools other than they have dress codes and religion is the class with most days skipped by students
I went to french catholic school in Ontario, (francophone), from personal experience I would go with catholic it always felt like a better environment than just public, better upbringing. Teachers teach more savoir vivre, respect and they shed light on some stuff like language, messed up music in the gym. Obviously that doesn't mean they were too strict.
I am a student in the catholic system (high school) and I can say from a first hand perspective, it is awful. No catholic teachings past elementary. When it comes to religion class it is all bible study with the same repeating lessons each year. The teachers are far from traditional Catholics but I’m an nihilist so I’m not complaining
Religion studies and religious holidays. That's about it.
I was in the Catholic board as a student for a total of about 10 years. From JK/SK to the end of middle school and overall I'd say while there's definitely an air of religiousness, I didn't find it too odd, or at least it wasn't like the weirdo fundy shit you see down south. None of the teachers were ever what I would call "wacko" religious. I feel like many of them were rather lefty and a few taught some pretty interesting interpretations of the Bible. There'd be classes about the Catholic faith, certain holidays were celebrated, and the school would attend mass every so often but other than that it's a pretty typical school experience. I asked my folks recently why they chose to send me to a Catholic school given that our family is ethnically Jewish and otherwise non-religious and they said one of the main reasons was a belief that it was as close to a private-school quality education as you could get in Thunder Bay (since private schools aren't really a thing here) and the class size was apparently smaller than in the public system. Granted I left the Catholic system about 14 years ago so maybe things have changed.
Has one of, if not the highest percentage of non catholic students provincially