Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School

Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School is an all-girls Catholic high school in Hogg's Hollow neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. Established by the Loretto Sisters in 1847, it is one of Toronto's oldest educational institutions and is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.Loretto Abbey operates on the non-semestered system offering Academic and Applied courses; approximately 85% of the school's courses are offered at the Academic level, educating girls to university-entrance standards. The school offers Co-operative Education, Extended French, Advanced Placement Programmes and Special Education HistoryThe school was originally established as a private school in 1847 by the Sisters of Loreto from Ireland (founded by the Venerable Mary Ward in 1609). Mary Ward advocated excellent education for young women so that they might “do great things” and this has always formed part of the ethos of Loretto schools.The Loreto Sisters arrived in Toronto from Rathfarnham, Ireland, in 1847 at the invitation of Michael Power, the first Catholic bishop of Toronto. The school was named after their previous home of Loreto Abbey near Dublin. The first Superior of the Toronto community and principal of the school was Mother Teresa Ellen Dease, I.B.V.M.Originally located on Duke Street, Loretto Abbey moved to a Bathurst Street site and then to Bond Street in 1860. In 1867 the school relocated to the former mansion of Attorney General Robert James on Wellington Street. In 1927, the school moved to its current home, a Gothic Tudor style building on Mason Boulevard. The school is attached to Loretto Abbey, the motherhouse of the Loretto Sisters in Canada.