St. Joseph High School is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

high school in the

Barrhaven Barrhaven is a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located about southwest of the city's downtown core. Prior to amalgamation with Ottawa in 2001, Barrhaven was part of the City of Nepean. Its population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 10 ...

neighbourhood of

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Canada. It is run by the

Ottawa Catholic School Board The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 53 prior to 1999) is a publicly funded separate school board in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are in the Nepean area of Ottawa. It ...

. In athletics, the school teams are referred to as the St. Joseph Jaguars and the school mascot is a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

named McJagger. Commonly known as ''St. Joe's'' by the local community, St. Joe's has an enrolment of approximately 2500-3000 students, ranging from

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

7 to 12, as well as 115 staff members.

History

St. Joseph High School opened on 11 October 2002 to account for the recent growth of the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

suburb of

. The only other Catholic high school in the area, Mother Teresa High School, was desperately overcrowded when St. Joe's opened for the 2002-03 school year. The school began with an enrolment of over 1000 students. By 2005, this number had exceeded 1500 students. The school bears the name of a former school on Broadview and a former school on Keyworth, which is now St. George Catholic Elementary School.

Facilities

The building of St. Joseph High School followed the design of Edward J. Cuachi, mimicking Holy Trinity High School and many other local schools. St. Joe's has three floors, which include a chapel, two gymnasiums, a learning commons, an exercise room, two art rooms, and laboratories for

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, and general

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

.St. Joseph High School
/ref> There are 27 portables outside the school, as well as one

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

field, 5

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

nets (one during construction), and a 400-metre track.

Extra-curricular activities

Athletics

St. Joseph offers a wide variety of over 25 sports teams, ranging from

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

. In its beginning 3 years alone, St. Joe's sent 6 teams to the Ontario Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Association provincial championships, with the 2005-06 Junior

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

team even placing first in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Every year since its opening, the school has won the CAHPERD award for its educational programs.

Arts

St. Joseph offers

Art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, and

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

classes to students in all grade levels.

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

classes are offered to students in grades 10 through 12. In grade 12, the Drama class becomes a production class, in which, students put on a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

. This play is usually entered in the Cappies Critics and Awards Program. In June 2014, St. Joseph production of Suite Surrender, won the Cappies Award for the Best Play in the capital region for the 2013-2014 season, and also two other award for Best Marketing and Publicity, and Best Comic Actress in a Play. In June 2023, the school production of Arthur Miller`s The Crucible, won the Cappies Award for Best Play for the 2022-2023 season in the capital region as well as an award for Best Hair and Makeup, Featured Actor in a Female Role, and Supporting Actress. There is also an

Improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of im ...

Club, a 7/8 as well as a high school band, and after school music lessons. St. Joseph hosts an annual Coffee House, Arts Night, and a Battle of the Bands to showcase the school's talent. There are also school dances and activities such as JagJog offered throughout the year.

Intramurals

Grade 7 and 8, as well as Grades 9-12, are offered lunchtime

intramural Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

s in sports such as

floor hockey Floor hockey is a broad term for several indoor floor game codes which involve two teams using a stick and type of ball or disk. Disks are either open or closed but both designs are usually referred to as "pucks". These games are played either on ...

, or

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sports, team sport in which players on two opposing teams try to throw balls and hit opponents while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them w ...

. For their efforts, St. Joseph has been given the CIRA award for its programs. High School intramurals are organised by the Recreational Leadership class, a class offered for grade 12 students at lunch.

Notable alumni

* Elle Mills - YouTube vlogger * Nicholas Baptiste -

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

hockey prospect *

MacKenzie Weegar MacKenzie Weegar (born January 7, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Weegar was drafted by the Florida Panthers with the 206th overall pick in ...

player for the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

Serron Noel Serron Noel (born August 8, 2000) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), right winger, currently a free agent. He was selected 34th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Florida Panthers. Playing career Junior ...

hockey prospect

References

150 years of Catholic Education in Ottawa-Carleton 1856-2006, Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board, 2006

External links

Ottawa Catholic School Board websiteSt. Joseph website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph High School (Ottawa) Catholic secondary schools in Ontario High schools in Ottawa Educational institutions established in 2002 2002 establishments in Ontario Middle schools in Ottawa