École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité

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École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité
Address
623 Smyth Ottawa , Ontario , K1G 1N7 Canada
Coordinates	45°24′02″N 75°38′30″W / 45.400523°N 75.641685°W / 45.400523; -75.641685Coordinates: 45°24′02″N 75°38′30″W / 45.400523°N 75.641685°W / 45.400523; -75.641685
Information
Motto	Montjoie Saint Denis!
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Founded	1994
School board	Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est
Principal	Annick Ducharme
Grades	7-12
Language	French
Area	Ottawa
Colour(s)	Green and Black
Mascot	Ste Jeanne d'Arc
Team name	Les Faucons
Website	fc.ecolecatholique.ca

École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité is a French Catholic school located in the Alta Vista neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario. It operates under the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) school board and is renowned for its numerous sports programs including its flagship "Sport-Études" program.^[1]

History[]

The building previously held different names and has had a variety of uses throughout the years. Originally a separate school, many of the old dorms have been converted to classrooms, distinguishable by their long and narrow forms. The building was at one point used for a trade school before eventually being converted to a French high school opening in 1979 under the name Samuel-Genest.^[2][3]

Franco-Cité Catholic High School was inaugurated by the CECCE on October 20, 1994, thanks to the culmination of efforts and initiatives of several members of the community and of the CECCE. In its first year of operation, Franco-Cité Catholic High School welcomed 150 grade 9 students. As of the 2021 school year, that number has increased to over 1500 students of grades ranging from 7–12.^[4]

The school has seen upgrades to its sporting facilities throughout the years. In 2011, construction was completed on a brand new two million dollar multi-purpose turf field. The project was a collaboration between The Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club, CECCE, OCDSB and both the provincial and federal government. The project also saw an almost identical field built next to Hillcrest High School across the street.^[5]

From the span of 2008 to 2013, the school saw massive rises in their registration numbers. In just five years, the school gained nearly 300 students. To accommodate this rapid growth, the school received seven million dollars of funding for an expansion project. This saw the construction of six new classrooms, a brand new full sized gymnasium along with new changerooms, a new weights room, a multipurpose studio and new offices for staff involved with the sports program. The new gymnasium was again a collaboration between the school board and The Ottawa Internationals Soccer Club. All new facilities were fully operational by the start of the 2014–2015 school year.^[6]

Programs and Services[]

In order to allow student development that combines academic excellence, spirituality and the social dimension, Franco-Cité provides its student population with numerous services. These include: guidance counseling, special education, pastoral care and cultural animation. The school is also host to a leadership camp running in the summer months.

The school has a large number of active clubs and committees which are run by volunteer teachers. This includes: sculpture club, ski club, the cultural animation committee, a technical team, the pastoral committee, a choral, graduating committees, an Eco-Franco club, reading Club, friends club and a chemistry club.

Franco-Cité maintains a student council for high school students which is composed of a representative from each grade and numerous ministers. The council runs a variety of activities revolving around school spirit, including pep rallies and spirit weeks. The group previously ran their flagship event "Bataille des niveaux" which tracked each grade's participation in spirit week along with other student led initiatives. The winner of the year long competition would be announced at the last pep rally of the school year and would be followed by a celebration from the winning grade. Despite strong pushback from all members of the student council, this event was dropped as of the 2019–2020 school year due to complications involving staff not wanting to track student participation and complaints about the seniors winning every single year. This controversial moment is best remembered for tense and heated negotiations between the student president at the time, Antoinette Akkawi and staff members designated to assist the student council.

Franco-Cité's flagship program remains its Sport-Études program offered to students of all grades. The program allows for students to practice sport specific training instead of a typical gym class or electives. The sports currently being offered are: badminton, cheerleading, football, hockey, soccer and volleyball. There is also PSE Elite which practices high level fitness training and is reserved for students who compete in competitive sports outside of school.

The school also has a gifted program running from grades 7–10. For middle school students, all their classes are exclusively with other students in the program while high school students have the option to take specific classes at the gifted level and share numerous classes with students not in the program. Students in the program benefit from exclusive field trips and year long projects. Numerous programs for special needs kids also exist where students are assisted by specific staff with training in the field.

Focus and cooperative education programs are available for students in grades 11–12. The co-op program allows students to obtain credits and gain work experience at the same by working with a specific company or public service for two periods a day during a semester. The focus program allows students to earn credits while they spend an entire semester away from school to participate in established programs. Here students learn about a specific industry along with students from numerous high schools across the city. They work on a variety projects during this semester and complete a regular high school course concurrently.

See also[]

• École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité (Nipissing) - Similarly named school in Sturgeon Falls.
• List of high schools in Ontario

References[]

External links[]

• Franco-Cite Programmes Sports-études