Prom NightAJAX, Ont. - There was nothing special about Jenny Lawlor’s prom night. It’s Lawlor who is special.

Lawlor has Down syndrome and is one of about 25 special needs students at Archbishop Denis O’Connor High School in Ajax. Every year a few of the special needs kids attend the prom along with the graduating students.

The special needs students are no less a part of 900-strong student body than any one else, said principal Mary Curran. That’s simple and obvious.

Province to blame for education chaos, trustees complain

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TORONTO - Timmins Catholic school trustee Colleen Landers fully expects to be laying off teachers in April and then hoping to rehire them over the summer. She and her colleagues on the Northeastern Catholic District School Board have sent out a sheaf of just-in-case pink slips before, and it's become part of the normal and chaotic budgeting routine for many school boards.

School boards on different paths

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TORONTO - The 416 and 905 area codes rounded off 2006 by continuing on separate paths over the financing of Catholic  education.

More budget woes forecast for school boards

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TORONTO - The Catholic school board in the rich and growing suburbs squeezed in between Toronto and Hamilton is worried.

Union officials take over at College of Teachers'

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OCTTORONTO - One of the most hated of the Mike Harris Conservative's education reforms in the eyes of teachers' unions is now in the hands of one of the unions' very own.

School boards choose leaders

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TORONTO - Trustees from the five Catholic school boards within the Toronto archdiocese have elected their chairs and vice-chairs for the 2006-2007 school year.

Trustees play for time with province

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TORONTO - Despite a provincial report which recommends ways for the Toronto Catholic District School Board to erase $34.9 million in red ink, trustees are hoping to dodge cuts by playing for time until the spring provincial budget.

The separate school system up for discussion

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TORONTO - Ontario's Catholic community is embarking on another all-embracing discussion about the "distinctiveness, value and the future of Catholic education." The plan for the province-wide consultation was announced Nov. 25 at a symposium organized by the Institute for Catholic Education (ICE).

Catholic educators challenged to unite

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TORONTO - If Ontario's Catholic schools are struggling to stay afloat in turbulent waters, it would seem that half the time Catholics are stirring up the waves themselves. At a two-day conference dealing with the subject Nov. 24-25, leaders of the provincial separate school system struggled with how to overcome differences and face external challenges united.

Trustee orientation session set

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TORONTO - With the elections out of the way, Ontario's new Catholic trustees will be shown the ropes of their job Jan. 12-13 in Toronto.

Toronto School Board seeks creative solutions to financial woes

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The Jolly Green Giant used to urge us all to "Look up, look waaay up." The Toronto Catholic District School Board is looking up into the air above some of it's old, crumbling and underpopulated schools and hoping to see some new money.