Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School (Burlington)

Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School
Address
2333 Headon Forest Drive Burlington , Ontario , L7M 3X6 Canada
Coordinates	43°22′40″N 79°49′51″W / 43.37784°N 79.83076°W / 43.37784; -79.83076
Information
School type	Secondary School
Motto	"Home of the Fightin' Irish!"
Religious affiliation(s)	Catholicism
Founded	1989
School board	Halton Catholic District School Board
Superintendent	Lorrie Naar
Principal	Mark Freeman
Grades	Grades 9 to 12, optional additional Grade 12+
Enrolment	1,120 (2019-20)
Language	English & Extended French
Area	Headon Forest, North Burlington
Colour(s)	Navy Blue, Gold and Green
Mascot	Duelling Leprechaun
Team name	Fightin’ Irish
Website	ntdm.hcdsb.org

Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School is a coeducational Catholic high school in Burlington, Ontario Canada. It was founded in 1989 by the Halton Catholic District School Board and enrols students from the 9th to 12th grades. However, many grade 12 graduates return for an optional 5th year of secondary school.

Notre Dame is home to Extended French and 5 Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs in Business Leadership, Green Industries, Computer Engineering, Culinary Arts, and Manufacturing. It is also a hub for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). Its students compete annually in mock trials, model UN, School REACH, Euclid Math, Halton Skills, and many more local and provincial academic events. Notre Dame promotes and supports all post-secondary pathways—university, college, apprenticeship, and workplace.

The school community hosts an annual Arts Night, School Play, Business Leadership Conference, and most recently a STEAM Conference. There are plenty of clubs and activities for students to participate in as well as Student Council, Prefect, Physical Education Leadership, Business Leadership, and STEAM sponsored events. Students are also supported academically with after-school math help, a literacy course to assist with preparations for the OSSLT (Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test), credit rescue, and the L2L (Licence to Learn) student, peer tutoring initiative.

Equity and inclusion and social justice programs include Best Buddies, MIH (Make it Happen), the annual Angel Campaign, Halton Food For Thought Breakfast Program, May-Giving, PINK Day in support of the Terry Fox Foundation, the ECO squad, the Social Justice student activists, and Irish Cares.

Health and wellness, bullying prevention and intervention, faith formation, parent engagement, student voice, social work, child and youth counselling, and an active Catholic School Council of parents are also a large part of the Notre Dame ethos.

Notre Dame’s enrolment has experienced a renewal since September 2017, increasing in size from the mid 900s to just over 1,100 students in 2019-20. It receives most of its students from local elementary schools including St. Gabriel, St. Timothy, St. Mark, and Canadian Martyrs.^[1]

Notre Dame, like all publicly funded Catholic schools in Ontario, also accepts non-Catholics into the school; however, they are expected to take part in the religious activities and religious classes.

The Catholic school's parishes are St. Gabriel and St. Paul the Apostle. It belongs to the Diocese of Hamilton, under His Excellency Bishop Douglas Crosby.

Notre Dame competes in the Halton Catholic Athletic Association (HCAA). The HCAA is 1 of 3 athletic associations under the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference (GHAC), which in turn is itself 1 of 18 regional associations under the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA).

Over the past several years, a few teams have placed in the top three at OFSAA (the Ontario Provincial Championships), including the cross-country team, field hockey team, varsity girls' ice hockey team, swim team, and girls' soccer team, lacrosse team, girls’ rugby team, and track and field team. The girls' basketball team were OFSAA champions in 2016 and bronze medalists in 2017. The girls soccer team were OFSAA champions in 2019.

The current 2019-20 school year continues to build on the school’s athletic resurgence with HCAA championship victories in senior field hockey, junior football, boys and girls swim teams and varsity girls’ hockey team. The girls varsity hockey team are also GHAC champions, moving onto OFSAA. The swim team left OFSAA with 1 gold and 1 silver medal.

There is an annual athletic banquet held in mid June which honours the MVPs and best athletes of the year from every sport and grade. Approximately 500 students, parents and staff attend the event, which is well known throughout the school for its video montage commemorating the year’s athletic achievements.

Notre Dame also offers the annual March Madness Basketball Camp and Summer Sports Camp (July) for elementary aged students, grades 1-8. The camps are open to students in both the Catholic and Public school systems.

Notre Dame has a group of male senior students referred to as "The Kilt Krew". They are a group that attends many sporting events that Notre Dame is involved in, to encourage students to cheer on the team. They are led by a student dubbed "Speedo Man" who can often be seen running across the field in a green speedo at half-time or pre-game. A new "Speedo Man" is generally selected every year by the previous years Speedo Man.

Sports Teams

The Arts, Clubs and Co-Curricular Activities

• Anime Club
• AP French Language Exam Prep
• Art Club
• Arts Night and Buskerfest
• HFFT Breakfast Program
• Black History Month
• Business Leadership Conference
• Business Leadership Shamrock Shop
• Careers Day Fair
• CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK
• Chess Club
• Climate Change Conference - STEAM
• Cooperative Education
• Culture of Life
• DECA Notre Dame Chapter
• DELF Language Certification
• Drama Club
• Environmental Club
• Fishing Club
• Health and Wellness Conference - STEAM
• Health and Wellness Week
• Here Come the Irish Pathways Excursions
• Holocaust Memorial
• InsideND Electronic Newspaper monthly publication
• International Women’s Conference
• Knights of Columbus BBQ and Open House
• Math Help
• Math Contests (CEMC)
• Mental Health Awareness Action Team
• Make It Happen (MIH)
• Model UN
• Licence to Learn (L2L) Peer Tutoring
• Men as Career Coaches - HIEC
• Mock Trials
• Outdoor Education Algonquin Excursion
• Photography
• Prefect Program
• School REACH Team
• Religious Retreats
• Remembrance Day Commemoration
• School Electronic Newspaper (InsideND)
• School Play
• Social Justice Activists
• SHSM Programs
• STEAM Club and Leadership Initiatives
• Student Athletic Association (SAA)
• Student Council
• Student Senate
• Yearbook Course and Club
• Yellow Bench Friendship Campaign - Raising Awareness about Youth Mental Health
• Waterloo University Electric Vehicle Challenge
• Weight-Training
• Women as Career Coaches - HIEC

Source:^[3]

Fundraising Events/ Programs

• Angel Campaign (Christmas Season)
• Buckets
• Blue Shirt Day in support of Bullying Prevention
• Business Leadership Sponsored Sales
• Charity of Hope
• COBS Bakery
• Coat for Kids Drive
• Construction Technology Charcuterie/Live Edge
• Elementary March Madness Basketball Camp
• Elementary School Summer Sports Camp
• Floodlight Football
• Green Industries/Horticulture Community Gardens
• Habitat for Humanity CATCH18
• Halton Catholic Children’s Education Fund - HCCEF
• Irish Cares
• Joe Luciani Memorial Football Game
• May-Giving Food Drive
• Mental Health Awareness
• New 2 You Pre-Owned Uniform Sales
• Notre Dame Spirit Wear Sales
• Orange Shirt Day in support of Truth and Reconciliation - “Every Child Matters”
• Pink Day Terry Fox Foundation Fight Against Cancer
• Purple Shirt Day in support of Diversity and LGBTQ
• Right to Play Soccer Tournament
• Sports Marketing Sponsored Tournaments
• Student Council Sponsored Events
• Trivia Night
• United Way Campaign Paint the Town Red Day
• World Down syndrome Day
• Winch Group Sports Equipment Drive to support the Indigenous Community in the North

Options may vary depending on staff availability, the continued participation of other schools, and the success of the activity the previous year.

Notre Dame has a wide array of courses in many different areas of interest. Students with a 79.5 percent overall average or above are recognized by being placed on the school's Honour Roll. Students with the highest average in a course and students who have the highest overall averages of each grade are also recognized.

There are currently 70+ full-time teachers and 100+ total staff employed at Notre Dame. As of 2024, the Principal is Mark Freeman and the two vice-principals are Mark Ilczyszyn and Natalie Cook.^[4] The school's Administrative Assistant is Anna Butrym and the Financial Clerk is Gaile Merritt-Murrell. The school Chaplaincy lead is Brian Dunn.

There are 10 Department Heads who serve on Academic Council.^[5]

• Peter Visser, Principal, 1987–1997
• Art Kelly, Principal, 1997-1998
• Paul Thompson, Principal, 1998–2005
• Stanley Gajewski, Principal, 2005–2008
• Thomas Dunn, Principal, 2008–2010
• Michael Iannetta, Principal 2010-2013
• Cairine MacDonald, Principal 2013–2017
• Anthony Cordeiro, Principal 2017–2020^[6]
• Norman Roberts, Principal 2020-2024^[7]
• Mark Freeman, Principal 2024–Present

• Education in Ontario
• List of secondary schools in Ontario

• Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School Website
• Halton Catholic District School Board Website Archived 21 July 2005 at the Wayback Machine