Students at a Davisburg school will be inspired by its namesake to do their best as well as help the planet and the community.
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools selected the name St. Francis of Assisi Academy for the K-7 school scheduled to open in September of 2016, during its board meeting Nov. 28 in Canmore.
“The story of Francis is steeped in environmental concerns, social justice,” said Okotoks CTR Catholic trustee Ron Schreiber. “His concerns with the environment is something that is so prevalent today. One of the things that St. Francis said was ‘preach the gospel always but use words only when necessary…’ That is the social justice part of it. He applies such wonderful teaching applicability to the students.”
He said the choice of St. Francis also resonates with students through Pope Francis. The pope has proven to be an advocate for social justice and the environment since being elected in 2013.
Schreiber said the division prefers saints in the naming of its schools.
“We try to choose a saint,” Schreiber said. “We try to choose someone who proves a wonderful role model for staff and students… When we named our school, John Paul II Collegiate, he wasn’t a saint, but he was such a wonderful role model and his concern with the youth was something we admired and took forward to the board.”
The school opened its doors as John Paul II Collegiate in the fall of 2005. The school was named in March, shortly before the former Pope died in April 2005. It became St. John Paul II Collegiate when he was canonized in 2014.
Public consultation was done in the naming of John Paul II and the new St. Francis Academy.
“It all arises with consultation with the stakeholders, especially the parents,” Schreiber said. “In this situation, we had on our website a form that they could submit on why they want this name.”
Members of the Catholic community were able to help choose the name through CTR Catholic’s Help Name Our School campaign. Through the campaign more than 60 submissions were received. The school name had to follow a list of criteria, which included being named after a saint and considerations to the geographical area.
The list was narrowed down to the top 10 and a community consultation was held were CTR Catholic facilitators discussed the list of potential names.
Participants then voted on the top three. St. Francis came in as the first choice with Father Lacombe and St. Catherine’s as second and third options.
“We discussed all three and at the end of the day, the board decided the best candidate of all was St. Francis of Assisi,” Schreiber said.
The school will open as a K-Grade 7 in September with the addition of Grade 8 and 9 in subsequent years.
The state-of-the-art facility will feature one of the largest gymnasiums in the division, 13 large classrooms, a high-tech new media suite, a band room, and a large foods lab. It will have an atrium where older students can eat lunch.
The school is located along Highway 552 in the Davisburg area, northeast of Okotoks.
Facts about St. Francis
• The patron of animals and birds• Born: 1181 at Assisi, Umbria, Italy• Saint Francis of Assisi was the Founder of the Franciscans • Memorial Day / Feast Day: October • Died: Saint Francis of Assisi died in 1226• Canonized in 1228 by Pope Gregory IX
