Notre Dame Community
The Notre Dame community, which has about 1500 students, is richly diverse in its cultural background, athletic and artistic interests, and academic choices. It is united by Lorne Howcroft's belief that together everyone can make a difference in our world by living the school motto, "Justice, Love, and Peace". Academically, Notre Dame offers a wide range of programs including the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program, University, College, and Workplace streams, and also a Non-Profit Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program.
Notre Dame stands in solidarity with our local and global communities by collecting an average of 30,000 pounds of food annually for Brampton's food banks, supporting diverse initiatives like Terry Fox and Anti-Bullying campaigns, and donating money and supplies to many countries in need around the world. For the past few years, the school has also supported a social justice mission to Nicaragua where students have had the opportunity to help communities in need.
Notre Dame is a vibrant and inclusive space where we celebrate the unique talents of our staff and students, as we work towards providing a full and balanced Catholic education for all of our students.
Fair Trade at Notre Dame
As part of our community efforts to serve our local and global neighbours, Notre Dame CSS has been recognized as the first DPCDSB School to be designated as a Fair Trade School! We are also the 6th Fairtrade school in Ontario and 25th in the country!
As an ND community we are incorporating Fairtrade products and Fairtrade education into our students' everyday lives. Whether it is the food they are eating at Breakfast Club or on retreats, the soccer balls they are using on the field, or the lessons they are a part of in the classroom, we are making an effort to ensure our students are empowered with the tools and knowledge necessary to be responsible global citizens.
Fair Trade is a global movement that focuses on fair trading practices that involve mutual respect, dialogue, transparency and equity for producers and workers in the international market. It aims to ensure that local workers, those that provide us with various products such as coffee, chocolate, sugar or flowers, are getting paid a fair wage for the work that they do. It also ensures that no slave labour is used in the creation of these products, which is unfortunately more often the norm rather than the exception.
Fairtrade Canada, governed by Fairtrade International, is an organization that allows Canadian consumers to easily recognize fair trade products with their logo.
For more information on what it means to be a Fairtrade School, and/or to learn more about how you can support and promote equity in the global market, please go to fairtrade.ca or fairtradeprograms.ca.
Ontario Eco School - Gold Certification
Notre Dame is proud to be an Ontario Eco School, awarded a gold-level certification. EcoSchools certification represents environmental excellence for elementary through secondary schools in Canada. Participation in the program allows students, teachers, school administrators, custodians, and parents to get a clear picture of their current environmental practices and take action to reduce their environmental footprint. Gold level status indicates that a school has taken a comprehensive approach to
becoming an EcoSchool and has achieved significant results in each section of
certification. Visit ecoschools.ca/about/what-is-certification and ecoschools.ca for more information.