St Clement's School

Description

St. Clement's School, founded in 1901 and located in Toronto, enrolls approximately 450 students from grades one to twelve. St. Clement's School develops women of character by encouraging academic excellence, self-confidence, leadership, and independent thinking.
In 1901 Eglinton was a town, St. Clements Avenue was an orchard, and Duplex Avenue did not exist. The early SCS students made their way along Yonge Street a dirt road with plank sidewalks to school in the Parish Hall of St. Clement's Anglican Church. Even then, however, St. Clement’s School was very much a leader in its approach to the education of young girls and young women. St. Clement’s School settled into premises on St. Clements Avenue in 1922. The School grew quickly, and by the early 1930s it became an institution for girls only. In the 1940s St. Clement’s played host to twenty-five guests from England during the Second World War. By the mid-1950s the subway reached as far as Eglinton, and St. Clement’s School now existed in the midst of a busy, growing residential area. The 1960s were a tumultuous time in society and so, too, for St. Clement’s School. Change became necessary as the School sought to survive the economic, social and educational transitions that were taking place. In response, The Foundation for St. Clement’s School was established in 1967, and a new building was erected in 1970 the first in what would become a series of building expansions and improvements over the next several decades. Today, Toronto is recognized as the most multicultural city in the world, and St. Clement’s endeavours to reflect that metamorphosis. Its student body is highly diverse, from a wide variety of religious and cultural backgrounds, and students bring to the school different strengths and interests. The curriculum is broad, combining traditional knowledge and skills with access to the most advanced technology available. The school is committed to contributing to the wider community and to the common good. It is an outstanding accomplishment that all graduates of St. Clement’s School achieve university admission, virtually all gaining acceptance into the school of their first choice, a high percentage with scholarships. More than half of today’s graduates enter faculties of mathematics, science, and business. As well, St. Clement’s School is playing a leadership role in Canada in the Advanced Placement program. Our students are having excellent results and our faculty is training other teachers in the development of curricula. Our participation in the Round Square program also gives the school an international profile and experience. When the School celebrated its centenary in 2001, we could look back proudly on one hundred years of change and growth. In September 2006, St. Clement’s School doubled its physical size, incorporating the addition of a new building that contains a performance and lecture hall, a second gymnasium, new classrooms, a new arts wing, a new science wing, and a new library. The new facility is designed to enable the School to offer its great range of programs, something required of an excellent school in the twenty-first century. It is thus intended to continue to enable us to build on the foundations of the last century of our history, rather than to change our ethos or goals. We are aware that we are preparing today’s graduates for a very different world from the one in which the School was founded. Yet the fundamental values that shaped St. Clement’s beginnings remain as central today as they were then. Today, St. Clement’s remains a small school with an enrollment of approximately 450 students spanning grades one to university entrance. The intimate, fun-filled and friendly environment is what makes SCS special. Students say that St. Clement’s feels like home – a place where everyone knows each other well, friendships are abundant, and there is always someone to turn to for help.