St. Michael Catholic Secondary School, known to local residents as "St. Mikes", is the only Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 high school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 in Stratford

Stratford, Ontario

Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. It is one of three high schools in the Stratford area, and one of only two high schools in the Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board (the other being St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School

St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School

St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School is a Catholic high school in Clinton, Ontario. It is noted for its sports teams and exceptional grades that are usually at or above the provincial expectations. It serves students from grades nine to twelve. The motto of St. Anne's is "in alis aquilae" which is...

 in Clinton

Clinton, Ontario

Clinton is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the municipality of Central Huron. Established in 1831, Clinton first began when Jonas Gibbings, Peter and Stephen Vanderburg cleared out a small area to start. Clinton started to grow in 1844 when William Rattenbury laid out...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

).

It has approximately 1100 students in attendance, with the number rising each year.

Teachers and staff

The current principal is Tim Doherty. The first principal of the school was Dan Bishop, followed by Dan Parr.

St. Michael Catholic Secondary School is unique partly because of the regularity with which past students become teachers within the school. Currently, the members of the staff who were at one time students include Mr. O'Reilly (Math Department), Mr.Vanderhyden, Mr. Selbie (Graduated 1993, English

English studies

English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...

 Department), Mr and Mrs.Tigani, Mrs. Tate (formally Koert).

Past staff who were at one time students include Ms. Crowley and Mr. Van den Hengel.

Athletics

St. Mikes is well known for its athletic program. The school continually sends teams to Ofsaa

Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations

The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada...

, many of which have been very successful. In the 2007-08 year the Senior Girls Volleyball team captured the Ofsaa Gold for the second year in a row while the Senior Boys team won the Bronze medal. Not to be outdone the Senior Boys Nordic ski team, consisting of Scott Weersink, Brett Weersink, Kyle Wilson, Ian Hartman, and Ian Weir, won an Ofsaa Gold as a team in the 10 km ski race, and a Bronze in the relay event. On the womans side, with an impressive performance Janel Sauder took Ofsaa Gold individually for winning the Senior Girls racehttp://www.ofsaa.on.ca/site/index.cfm?DSP=Chapter&ID=3633.

Clubs and Extracurriculars

As well as a strong athletics program, St. Michael also has a vibrant, and diverse variety of extracurricular activities that contribute greatly to the schools overall atmosphere. With clubs ranging from the arts to social justice, there is an extracurricular activity for every student. In recent years thanks to increased funding the school has been able to grow and support a band program that currently consists of four different bands (a senior, jazz and junior band, and a brass quintet.) The bands regularly place well at the local Kiwanis festival that occurs at Stratford Central Secondary School

Stratford Central Secondary School

Stratford Central Secondary School is a Public High School in Stratford, Ontario. It is one of three main high schools in Stratford. Central is known primarily for its academics, arts and athletics programmes.-Central Athletics Association:...

. St. Michael can expect to see improved results in the coming years as more funding is increased to elementary school programs, and the program is further developed by the strong hand of Jeff McIntyre.

Notable alumni

Boyd Devereaux

Boyd Devereaux

Boyd Fletcher Devereaux is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player, most recently played for HC Lugano of the Swiss National League A. He now resides in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife and 2 kids.-Playing career:...

 graduated from St. Michael in 1995 and is a former National Hockey League Player.

Rem Murray

Rem Murray

Raymond Joseph "Rem" Murray is a professional ice hockey left winger who plays for Pustertal-Val Pusteria Wolves in the Serie A.- Draft :...

is a graduate of St. Michael in 1991 and is currently under contract with HIFK Helsinki of the SM-Liiga (Finland).