St. Mother Teresa Catholic Academy (****SMTCA, St. Mother Teresa, SMT, Mother Teresa, or Teresa for short); also known as by its former names Blessed Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School before 2016 and Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School in its inception is a Catholic secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves the Malvern neighbourhood of Scarborough.

History

The founder of Missionaries of Charity

The school is named after Mother Teresa of Calcutta founded the Roman Catholic religious congregation, Missionaries of Charity, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries. Her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 2003 following her death gave her the title "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta".

Foundings

After the construction of several subdivisions in the Malvern area in the 1970s, Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute, the high school in that area, was opened in 1978. In its conception, on September 3, 1985, a new school in the Scarborough area of Toronto was to be named Mary Ward. Then trustee Harold Adams advocated for the new school to be named Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School. Another school was built later, and that received the name Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School. The ideals of the school's patroness and namesake, Mother Teresa, became the inspiration for the school's motto. The first principal was George Iantorno, and the school initially had approximately 150 grade 9 students. The first four years were known as the "Tin Can" experience because the school was housed in relocatables and a port-o-pac located on Invergordon Avenue, close to the then newly opened St. Elizabeth Seton Elementary School. The expansionist era began with year five in 1989-90. A school filled with 650 students left the port-o-pac rooms and soon moved into the new structure of 984 pupils and doubled its enrolment. Mother Teresa's new facility was officially opened and blessed on April 29, 1990. As a result of the beatification, the board changed the school's name to Blessed Mother Teresa in 2003. Her subsequent canonization and enrolment increase attempt led the board to rebrand the school as St. Mother Teresa Catholic Academy in October 2016.

Location and community

54 Ethnic minorities are represented in its student population, reflecting the diverse Malvern community that the school serves. SMT stands at the corner of Sewells Road and McLevin Road, off Neilson Road between Sheppard Avenue East and Finch Avenue East. It is beside the Malvern Community and Recreational Centre, which also houses the Malvern Branch of the Toronto Public Library.

Academics

Courses taught at the school follow the Ontario Curriculum for Grades 9 through 12.

Athletics