About Our School

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks”, Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (today Auriesville, New York) to a Catholic Algonquin mother and a Mohawk Chief.  When she was four years old, her parents and brother died of smallpox.  Kateri was also affected by the disease, which left her almost blind and badly scarred her face.

When she was 10 years old, her village moved to Caughnawaga (today Fonda, New York).  In 1667, her village was visited by the Jesuit missionaries Fathers Fremin, Bruyas and Pierron.  From them, she received her first knowledge of Christianity.  When Kateri turned 18, Father Jacques de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission in her village.  Despite his misgivings, her uncle allowed her to be baptized as long as she remained in the village.  Following her Baptism, Kateri lived a pious and faith-filled life, spending hours in prayer and fashioning crosses out of twigs.  She also refused to marry, believing that she was married to God and that no man could take God’s place in her heart.  Her beliefs were met with ridicule, hostility and threats. Thus, two years after her Baptism, she fled to St. Francis Xavier Mission, a Christian Mohawk village in Kahnawake, Quebec.

There, she received her first Communion on Christmas Day 1677.  She also made a vow of perpetual virginity on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1679.  In Kahnawake, Kateri was known for her faith and holiness.  She taught prayers to children, cared for the elderly and the sick, and would often attend mass at sunrise and sunset.

Kateri’s health deteriorated in the last years of her life.  She died of tuberculosis on April 17, 1680, shortly before her 24^th birthday, and was buried at St. Francis Xavier Mission.  Her final words were: “Jesos Konoronkwa” (“Jesus, I love you”).  Witnesses report that within minutes of her death, the smallpox scars vanished from her face, which then radiated with beauty.

It is believed that since Kateri’s death many miracles have been performed through her intercession, with the sick being cured and many prayers being answered.  Kateri was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII on January 3, 1943, and beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980. On December 19, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree officially acknowledging another miracle attributed to her intervention. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012, in Rome. She became the first Indigenous person from North America to be raised to the glory of the altars.

Her name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took from St. Catherine of Siena. She is the patroness of ecology and the environment, people in exile and Indigenous people.

Feast Day: April 17 (Canada)

Source: Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

School Logo – Design Rationale

Many artistic representations of St. Kateri depict her holding the cross as a symbol of her unwavering devotion to Christ. She is often outdoors out of respect for the environment in which she was raised.

The natural blues and greens within the design represent ecology – sky, land, and water. “Elements” surround a central, youthful figure of St. Kateri and work in harmony with one another and where no two elements are identical. The warm orange tone used in her skin and cross is the tertiary colour and represents joy, energy, freedom, creativity, confidence and season/harvest. The “background” colour is a deep navy which was worked more harmoniously with the other tones vs a stark black.

The elements also work together in the same way that stained glass does, a historical art form in Catholic Churches. There is beauty and balance in both positive and negative spaces. The design is also intended to represent Indigenous art style that stemmed from rock painting, engraving, carving and sculptures – all by hand. The logo is intentionally done to feel balanced by not overly digital. There is intentional movement (waves) throughout symbolizing ocean and wind currents, as well as to convey youthful energy.

The “capsule” shape is unique to this school compared to other school crests. Unique as it is, it is designed with flexibility in mind so it may work across all mediums of digital and traditional design. The logo was designed to work in full colour on light and dark backgrounds, as well as in black and white.

Rob De Franco, HCDSB Creative Design Officer, July 7, 2021

Athletic Logo

The first cohort of students (Class of 2025) voted in October of 2021 for the name “Thunder” as our Athletic Team Name. On December 10, 2021 the final designs were approved from the creation of Rob De Franco, HCDSB Creative Design Officer and our Teal Nation was founded. The school colours are Teal, Silver and Black.

School Prayer

God of all peoples, 

We thank and praise You for the wonderful gifts of creation; those we experience around us, and those we discover within us. Help us to seek You in the four directions, the majesty of the universe, and in the faces of the poor and vulnerable among us. 

Grant us the strength to emulate St. Kateri Tekakwitha to the best of our abilities: in her respect for the environment, her humility and grace when faced with challenges, her strong prayer life, and her care for those in need.  May her example of how faith and culture can enrich each other shine upon our school community, so rich in cultures from around the world. 

Help us to promote friendship, equity, respect, and reconciliation of all divisions, so that we may work together to be good stewards of creation for all peoples today and for generations to come. 

Amen 

Written by Andrea Taylor, Founding Chaplaincy Leader

School Motto

“Journeying Together in Faith and Stewardship”

The school motto was created by the inaugural staff at the opening staff meeting on September 2, 2021.

School History

The Halton Catholic District School Board (HCDSB) officially approved “St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Secondary School” as the name of the facility previously known as Milton #3 Catholic Secondary School during a special board meeting on May 27, 2021.

On Tuesday, September 7, 2021 our first cohort of 136 grade 9 students were bussed from Milton to a temporary high school location in Burlington 1433 Headon Road, Burlington) for the their first day of classes. Joining them would be 23 full time and part time staff members. This would our home for the 2021 – 2022 school year as we ran our clubs, and sports teams during our common lunch. This included bringing home our first ever HCAA individual gold medal (swimming) and our first ever OFSAA participant (Golf).

For the following two years, our school returned to Milton and were housed at a temporary new elementary school building (675 Kennedy Circle West, Milton), which would later become St. Veronica Catholic Elementary school when we vacated. We were now a school that grew to include grade 10s and grade 11s.

In our fourth year, on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, we walked into our current building (1125 Kennedy Circle East, Milton). On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 we had our official school blessing presided by The Very Reverend Monsignor Cornelius O’Mahony, EV. On Wednesday, June 25, 2025 we celebrated our first graduating class. As part of their legacy, a decorative artwork was placed on one of the cafeteria windows to represent the story of the Class of 2025. Each successive graduating class has been able to add another decorative artwork to represent their graduating year.

In February 2026, St. Kateri Tekakwitha CSS was officially authorized as an IB World School to offer the IB Diploma Programme. The first IB graduating class will take place in June 2028.

Inaugural Staff