History

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is a Catholic School in the Stonebridge neighborhood with an enrollment of approximately 640 students. We have approximately 55 staff including teachers, educational assistants, caretaking staff, counsellor, and EAL teacher.  We are named after St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman who lived in Quebec in the 18th Century who had an abiding devotion to Jesus Christ.  We are a new school community, officially opening our doors in September 2017, full of amazing staff, students and families-all working together to celebrate our faith and develop our students: mind, body and spirit. 

Kateri was born in 1656 to the chief of the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk Nation. At the age of four, her parents and younger brother died of small pox. Kateri also contracted small pox but survived and was raised by her aunt and uncle. Jesuit missionaries visited Kateri's village and, as a result, some of Kateri's family become Christians. As Kateri grew, she came to know who Jesus was and began to have faith in Him. She often went to the woods alone to speak to God and listen to God in her heart. When she turned 18, she was baptized and devoted her life to Jesus, even though she knew it would be difficult to live for Christ when so few people around her believed. Later, she joined a Christian village near Montreal. There, she was able to live out that last few years of her life as a devoted Christian. Because of her small pox, she was never very healthy, and, after being in Canada for three years, almost lost her sight. Yet, she continued to praise God for all He had done for her. Her last words were, "Jesus, I love you." After her death in 1680, many miracles occurred through her prayers. Kateri became a saint on October 21, 2012, and her feast day is celebrated on July 14 (April 17 in Canada).

Source: saintofthedayforkids.com