About Our School

“If our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, we are guilty of heresy.”

― St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School has been an integral part of the Oakville community since 1982. We work in partnership with St. Matthew’s Parish and our family of schools. Loyola strives to strengthen the community by creating globally conscious, critical thinkers, who are witnesses of Catholic social teaching by promoting equity, solidarity and the sanctity of human life.

Students, staff and our community are on a journey that focuses on putting our faith into action and ensuring that we live up to our school motto of treating everyone with dignity, equity and respect.  We strive to educate the whole child and create strong leaders who can face the challenges of today and tomorrow with grace, perseverance, collaboration and faith. There is strength in our relationships and our honouring of different perspectives and ways of knowing. Our vision of student leadership is inclusive of all identities, pathways and skill sets.

This journey has included conscious learning and unlearning as a school community as we challenge ourselves to discuss and reflect upon uncomfortable topics like racism, oppression, privilege, colonialism, human dignity and white supremacy. This journey has also included consistent reflection and introspection to ensure the resources we select and the visuals in our school are culturally relevant and responsive.  We recognize at Loyola that a strong sense of belonging and community has a direct correlation to student achievement and positive mental wellness.

To support student belonging and achievement, we have committed to a number of unique programs and opportunities for our students.

  • The Hawkeye Leadership program involves a whole-school approach where all students are provided with opportunities to be supported by peers and caring staff members to build relationships and a strong sense of belonging to our Hawk Family.
  • A commitment to Indigenous education and learning about Indigenous ways of knowing and healing. In the 2021-2022 school year we will offer NDW4M- Issues of Indigenous in a Global Context to provide students with an understanding of the issues that impact Indigenous peoples globally.  We hope to expand course offerings in Indigenous studies and art.
  • Three Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM)
    • A Social Justice SHSM that supports students in understanding complex issues with social justice and community development, including diversity, equity and inclusion, civic-mindedness and global thinking.
    • An Information and Communication Technology SHSM that allows students to gain specialized skills in design, technology, media and software to obtain certifications in technology.
    • A Health and Wellness SHSM that gives students the opportunity to specialize, gain experience and plan a career pathway in the health and wellness sector.
  • Oakville’s secondary school destination for French immersion.
  • Experiential volunteer and educational opportunities rooted in service and social justice to expose students to various experiences, perspectives and pathway opportunities.
  • Social activism rooted in our faith and Catholic social justice teachings:
  • A very active and respected Development & Peace student committee that has been recognized province-wide
  • A very active and engaged Loyola Wellness Council and Student Equity & Inclusion Committee to ensure student voice is heard and we are constantly working towards wellness and inclusion.
  • The establishment in 2021 of a Black Advisory Council to ensure the perspectives and voices of Black students, parents and staff are heard and celebrated.
  • An ongoing Loyola Equity Speaker Series that brings in speakers from a variety of backgrounds and social-locations to discuss topics affecting our community and ensure students can see their identities represented.

While we still have a long way to go, we are on a good path in our learning and ensuring that everyone feels they belong at Loyola.  What makes Loyola unique is our ongoing and consistent commitment to ensuring student identities are validated, represented and valued through education, connections with community partners and connections to our faith. This commitment translates into high levels of achievement and a strong sense of belonging to our Loyola Hawk family.


Who is Loyola?

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Loyola, Saint Ignatius of (Spanish Inigo de Oñez y Loyola) (1491-1556), sometimes erroneously called Íñigo López de Recalde, Spanish ecclesiastic, who founded the Society of Jesus, the Order of the Jesuits. Loyola was born at his family’s ancestral castle in Guipúzcoa and as a youth served as a page at the court of Ferdinand V, king of Castile. He later entered military service under Antonio Manrique de Lara, duke of Najera, and was seriously wounded in 1521 at the siege of Pampeluna (now Pamplona). While recovering, he read a book of lives of the saints, with the result that he resolved to devote himself to a spiritual life.

In 1522 Loyola retired to a cave near Manresa, near Catalonia, and lived and prayed in great austerity for ten months, after which he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After his return to Spain in 1524, Loyola began his education, entering a grammar school in Barcelona. He studied at the universities of Alcalá de Henares and Salamanca in 1526-27, and in 1528 he matriculated at the University of Paris. There, in 1534, he formed the pious fraternity that later developed into the Society of Jesus. in 1537 members of the fraternity proceeded to Rome, where they received the oral approval of Pope Paul III, who gave official confirmation to the order in 1540.

The following year Loyola was elected first general of the order. in addition to administering the affairs of the rapidly growing order, he devoted his time to writing the Constitutions of the Order,completed after his death, July 31, 1556, and never essentially modified, and to the completion of his Spiritual Exercises. The Spiritual Exercises were formulated by Loyola during his retirement at Manresa, using as a model Exercises for the Spiritual Life (1500) by the Spanish abbot Garcia de Cisneros. the work is essentially a manual for meditation on the meaning of life and on the development of a way of life.

The meditations are divided into four periods or weeks: the first dealing with the reformation of a person affected by sin; the second, with the conformation of the reformed person to the model of Christ; the third, with the strengthening of the person so conformed through appreciation of the passion and death of Christ; and the fourth, with the transformation of the whole person in identification with the risen and triumphant Savior honoring God the Father. the Spiritual Exercises form the model for most Roman Catholic missions and retreats. Loyola was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. He is venerated as the patron of retreats; his feast is celebrated in July

“Loyola, Saint Ignatius of,” Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

De Franco, RobAbout Our School