About Us
St. Francis Xavier School offers education from Kindergarten to Grade 7, with an onsite Daycare and Preschool Program. We are located in between Vancouver's Mount Pleasant and False Creek Flats neighbourhoods and cater to students from across the Lower Mainland.
Mission Statement
The School:
• Shares in the mission of the Catholic Church to proclaim and build the Kingdom of God.
• As a faith community, is committed to excellence in Catholicity and in all areas that promote the development of the whole child to his or her full potential.
• Strives to develop Christian leaders, responsible citizens and life-long learners.
• Follows the direction and guidance it receives from the Archbishop of the Vancouver Archdiocese.
Parents, as the first educators of their children, must work together with and give their full support to the staff to provide an environment where children can grow in academics and faith.
Our main objectives are:
• To provide an environment conducive to the development of the student’s entire person
• To educate the students to realize the importance of obedience and to show respect for authority
• To help the students integrate into Canadian society and encourage them to retain and appreciate their native culture
• To increase the students’ desire to learn and to strive for excellence within their reach.
History
The Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception from Pembroke, Ontario, founded St. Francis Xavier School in 1933. From a donation, a house and land was purchased at the corner of Georgia Street and Princess Avenue in Vancouver’s Chinatown. A Kindergarten was opened in one of the rooms of the house with the first class consisting of 30 Kindergarten students. The Kindergarten was then moved to another building across the street in 1934. The grade school began in 1938, housed in three rented classrooms on the third storey of a bank building at the corner of Main and East Pender Street. There were three grades in each classroom with a total enrolment of merely 30 students. In 1940, the very first school building, located at the corner of East Georgia Street and Princess Avenue, was constructed to accommodate about 70 students.
Over the years, the school population had outgrown the school building to such an extent that more than half of the students had to be housed in various rented buildings. Another building was later acquired on East Pender Street. The parish and school fundraised for over 20 years to build a new school. The construction then took another two years to complete when finally, in 2001, the current school building at 428 Great Northern Way was completed. Operations began in September 2001. Most Reverend Adam Exner, OMI, Archbishop of Vancouver blessed the new school on December 2, 2001.
The new school building was joined by the new Church in 2008, as well as a two-level parking garage. A playground was built on the parking garage rooftop, complete with a “Big Toy” play area for the students, which was completed in 2011. The school also added a very important aspect to our academic program in 2011-12 when it decided to include a daily Mandarin program within the curriculum for students from Kindergarten to Grade Seven. The program is designed to teach students not only the Mandarin Chinese language, but also the Chinese culture, highlighted by our annual celebration of Chinese New Year. The school additionally installed interactive projectors in each classroom in 2012-13 for teachers to use in conjunction with their class laptops for delivering lessons. Currently, the school has 16 classrooms serving 441 students.
Staff
Vice-Principal: Mr. Mieszko Krol
Administrative Assistant: Ms. M. D’addabbo
Administrative Assistant: Ms. C. Lui
Bookkeeper: Ms. D. Kwan
Custodian: Mr. M. Acuna
Library: Miss M. Fountain/Ms. C. Berry
PE: Mr. R. Coleman
Information Technology: Ms. R. Li
Music: Mr. E. Dela Luna
French: Mr. R. Balintona
Primary Mandarin: Mrs. W. Yip / Ms. E. Fung
Intermediate Mandarin: Mrs. A. Hsu
LAC: Ms. M. Hanlon
LAC: Ms. J. Lim
LAC: Ms. C. Pabo
Social/Emotional Faciliator: Ms. S. Nozet
Educational Psychologist: Mr. T. Schaufele
Ms. V. Alberto
Ms. A. Ang
Ms. N. Arruda
Ms. Y. Berezan
Ms. H. Cadete
Ms. G. Durica
Mr. R. Gacias
Ms. M. Gregory
Ms. A. Hung
Ms. B. Kwan
Ms. K. W. Kwok
Mr. K. M. Li
Ms. M. Phan
Miss R. Quiler-Monares
Ms. H. Sandhu
Ms. B. Sevigny
Ms. D. Sumera
Ms. C. Tang
Mr. D. Yang
Ms. N. Xie
Parish Education Committee (PEC)
A Parish Education Committee, composed of 5 elected members and 2 appointed members, assists the Pastor in carrying out such responsibilities as preparing an annual budget for the operation of the school, hiring of teachers, renewal of teacher contracts, keeping of financial records, looking after the maintenance of the school building and formulating policies regarding school fees, student admission, etc.
Pastor: Fr. Joseph Ly
Assistant Pastor: Fr. Dominic Hoang
Chair: Mr. Michael Lo
Vice Chair/Safety Committee Rep: Ms. Katherine Lee
Treasurer: Mr. Simon Hoang
Secretary: Ms. Ada Wong
PTA Chair: Ms. Monica Chow
Maintenance/IT: Mr. Koon Ming Lau
CISVA Delegate: Mr. Ambrose Ng