The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is pleased to announce the opening of its new Catholic Secondary School in Valley East as Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School. The parents and registered students of the school were involved in researching and evaluating various names in a “name the school project” to finally bring forward this recommendation. Future activities will include selecting the colours and style of the new uniforms, the school mascot and more.

Phase one of the board’s plan is already underway with renovations of its one-year temporary site at the River Road Campus (formerly St. Kevin’s school) in Val Caron. The registrations for September 2002 now count 57 grade nine students and are growing as more students continue to register. The second phase of the plan is to transform for September 2003, the former St. Anne’s school in the tradition of Catholic education in Sudbury, into its permanent most technologically advanced state of the art secondary school in Valley East, known as Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School.

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board has also selected Mr. Guy Mathieu to be the principal of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School in Valley East. Born and raised in Valley East, Mr. Mathieu has strong ties to the community and to his home parish St-Jacques in Hanmer. He also possesses an extensive educational background in both the secondary and elementary panels. With reference to the role that he will play in helping to mould the new institution, Mr. Mathieu stated that, “The creation of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School in Valley East is an idea whose time has finally come. I am very excited about being a member of the team that will assist in shaping this new faith-filled learning community. Our vision for the school is to establish a safe environment for learning that is visibly Christ centred and academically student focussed”

In establishing Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School in Valley East, the board is following through on its mandate received from 89% of the respondents of an exhaustive consultation survey of all Catholic supporters in Capreol and the Valley over the last year. According to Mr. Jody Cameron, Chairperson of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, “The Catholic Board has never wavered from its commitment to provide quality, Catholic education for the students in Valley East and Capreol.” Mr. Robert Boucher, Director of Education, further adds that, “After months of preparation, we are now ready to move forward with our plan to offer equal educational opportunities to our Catholic Secondary students in Valley East. The selection of Mr. Mathieu as a qualified and dynamic individual with the experience to take on the challenges as principal of this new school was an integral part of our plan. We have every confidence in his abilities to lead this school to a great success”

With respect to future growth and expansion of Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School, Mr. Boucher stated that, “The Sudbury Catholic Board has the confidence the Catholic supporters, parents and students to continue to be involved in determining and shaping the unique identity of the new Catholic Secondary School as it grows one grade at a time”.

Secondary School Teachers from the Sudbury Catholic Board were given the opportunity to take part in the last of four training sessions run by Cambrian College’s Glenn Crombie Centre for disability services. Cambrian College announced the pilot project in April of last year with a grant of $149,000 from the Federal Government. The aim of the Adaptive Technologies Access Project is to increase the success of transitional activities for students in secondary schools who have disabilities into post secondary or employment activities. The project utilizes advanced technologies in assistive technology, Internet and Broadband Wireless.



Several area secondary schools and their teachers are participating in this pilot project. The adaptive work stations and technology training provided will assist teachers in preparing disabled youth for entry into post secondary education or workplace environments. The project is developed around youth with disabilities, their families, peers and teachers. The realization of the outcomes will raise awareness of the value of these new learning technologies, locally, provincially and globally. Through partnerships with school boards and service providers, the effectiveness of this project can be duplicated anywhere there are schools and learners. It is estimated that several hundred students with learning disabilities will benefit from the interventions of this pilot project providing them with employment and educational opportunities. The project itself will promote life-long learning and continual access to the information required for the quality of life. By establishing sites at several secondary schools, youth in the school community can decrease isolation and improve access to the Internet through specialized devices, training and support throughout the two-year pilot project.

Partners in this project include Cambrian College; the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation through the Ontario Trillium Foundation; Human Resources Development Canada through the Office of Learning Technologies; The Easter Seal Society; and Absolute Abilities as well as the local English Language School Boards.