St. Joseph's Secondary School (Cornwall, Ontario)

St. Joseph's Secondary School (SJSS) or St. Joseph's Catholic Secondary School (SJCSS) is a separate (publicly funded Catholic) secondary school located in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. Falling under the jurisdiction of the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, SJSS shares its building with the (now closed) General Vanier Intermediate School, a non-sectarian public school. The two schools used share a cafeteria and an auditorium but did not share educational facilities or a common administration.HistoryBishop Macdonell Catholic Secondary School first opened on September 6, 1983 with fifty-nine students, sharing a building with Bishop Macdonell Senior Elementary School. In September 1985, after the separate school system was implemented, the school was renamed to St. Joseph’s Secondary School by Percy Beaudette, and moved to its present location. The school initially educated Grades 9, 10 and 11 students, with Grade 12 added in September 1986 and Grade 13/OAC courses added in September 1987. In September 1993, the school was expanded to its current size and layout.AcademicsSt. Joseph's offers a full slate of courses in accordance with Ontario's secondary school curriculum. Being a Catholic school, St. Joseph's also offers mandatory religion courses.AthleticsSt. Joseph's offers a full co-curricular athletic programme. Each year, a full slate of teams compete against other independent schools in the Eastern Ontario Secondary Schools Athletic Association (EOSSAA). St. Joseph's competitive sports teams are known as the "Panthers".