Head of School Address
Welcome to Holy Name of Mary College School and the journey to finding the best school for your daughter. It is my distinct pleasure to open the doors to our school where you will see empowered, creative, and inspirational girls working together with educators to celebrate the uniqueness of each girl through university preparatory programming with twenty first century innovation. Through our four pillars: compassion, justice, respect and transformation, each girl finds her confidence, joy, and personal and spiritual growth.
As a girls’ school, we successfully tailor the curriculum to meet the needs of girls in the modern world. Understanding that an excellent education does not simply teach girls to be good test takers, but rather how to successfully collaborate, problem solve, and find creative solutions. We foster a community that encourages exploration, intellectual risk-taking, and asks girls to be reflective and explore who they are authentically as leaders.
We help her to realize her strengths from the inside and surround her with bright, caring, and inspirational teachers to guide her through this journey of self-discovery.Carrie Hughes-Grant, Head of School
The only Ontario credit granting all girls’ Catholic independent school, our culture is one of a vibrant sacramental life built for today’s girl. The moral compass that she will gain and develop works to not only help shape her mind, but also her heart. As change is one of the only certainties in today’s world, our programme prepares her for dealing with the many different challenges, opportunities, and situations that will arrive for her in university and beyond. Our school allows for the girl to be at the centre of everything that we do and we design her day to help her discover what brings her joy. From understanding that a girl's peers are just as important in her growth as her family and her teachers, we structure opportunities in and beyond the classroom to help facilitate her long term personal trajectory. We help her to realize her strengths from the inside and surround her with bright, caring, and inspirational teachers to guide her through this journey of self-discovery. It is through these dynamic relationships that each girl is encouraged to challenge herself, to seize the opportunities around her while creating her own, and to optimize her learning potential to shape her own success. Although each girl’s path is individual, we provide varied opportunities through our co-curriculars, STEM, specialized programmes, differentiated learning, and innovation time for the girls to explore the entire experiential and educational design process. It is through a shared commitment between students, families, teachers, and administration that our school has become a special place to learn, grow, and thrive. Our achievements are built upon the strength of the whole community and we value these relationships with our students and her family. I invite you to enter into our learning community where you will see that girls are at the centre of everything that we do and are inspired to aim for the stars.
Carrie Hughes-Grant
Head of School
About Us
Who we are
Catholic | Independent | Mission
Holy Name of Mary College School (HNMCS) is an independent, Catholic school for girls in grades 5 through 12. Our mission is to empower young women to transform the world through intellectual curiosity and personal growth as grounded in the Catholic traditions of the Felician Sisters and Basilian Fathers.
Felician | Basilian
Founded by the Felician Sisters in 1964, Holy Name of Mary rapidly built a reputation for academic excellence and commitment to social action and service-a thriving tradition maintained to this day. In September 2008, the school was re-established as Holy Name of Mary College School supported by St. Michael’s College School of Toronto.
PROGRESSIVE | VIBRANT COMMUNITY
We are a progressive, vibrant community that provides girls with rich educational opportunities and a multitude of co-curricular activities to ignite interests and broaden horizons.
Academic Excellence | University Prep
We continue to focus on academic excellence, building on the foundation established by the Felician Sisters, and offer an enriched university preparatory curriculum, fostering high academic standards for teaching and learning.
What we do
Culture of Achievement
At HNMCS, we take pride in a sustained culture of growth tailored towards the individual learning style of each girl.
Customized Learning
Our enriched curriculum provides girls with a multitude of opportunities to develop their skills and interests in an environment that facilitates optimal learning, tailored for girls to develop and excel in the way they learn best.
All-Girl Leadership
Research shows that graduates from all-girls schools achieve greater academic success, possess more self-confidence and build stronger leadership skills. This is a direct result of a robust learning environment where girls take on every role and are supported in finding and sharing their unique voice.
Social Balance
Our affiliation with St. Michael’s College School balances the benefits of single gender education with co-ed activities such as theatre arts, symposiums, co-curricular activities, social justice initiatives, field trips and social events.
Our Core Values
Respect
Reverence and respect for and commitment to promoting and protecting the dignity of persons.
Transformation
The process that encourages an open mind and heart, leading to continuous improvement of the person and ministry.
Justice
Forging right relationships, recreating a sustainable environment and promoting the common good, all in the pursuit of peace.
Compassion
Exhibiting emphatic consciousness toward others expressed in caring service.
Board of Directors
Board members are dedicated to the success of the school and play a strategic role in its continued evolution.
Enzo Carcasole serves as the Basilian Fathers' designate on the HNMCS Board. He has had a career of teaching English in the Catholic school setting, having taught for the Toronto Catholic District School Board and at St. Michael's College School. From 2011-2013, Enzo served as a teacher/administrator at HNMCS. He has strengths in curriculum, academic excellence, and he views the school's mission through the lens of the Basilian values for education.
Ezio Crescenzi, Board Secretary is the Managing Director of the Crescenzi Consulting Group, an educational consulting company that helps transform good schools into great schools. Previously, Ezio was the Head of School at The York School (Toronto), where he was able to create a new Junior School by building a new Lower School and significantly renovating the Upper School. Before that, he was the founding principal of three new public Catholic secondary schools in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. His last high school (Gonzaga) was a unique partnership with the City of Mississauga, and has some of the best facilities of any school in Ontario, and was usually in the top ten schools on Provincial math and literacy tests. He was awarded the Catholic Principal of the Year award by the Catholic Principals Council of Ontario, shortly after retiring in 2006. Since then Ezio has been very active in the community, serving for many years on the Board of Directors of Peel Family Services, a not for profit agency of the United Way. He brings excellent skills in a variety of areas key to a successful not-for-profit school, including strategic planning, marketing, management, staffing, financial management and advancement.
Colleen Fulkerson, Board Chair serves as the Felician Sisters’ designate on the HNMCS board. In her professional responsibility to the Felician Sisters of North America, she serves as a liaison between the Felician Sisters and several of their ministries in North America. She provides expertise in the areas of educational administration, strategy, and supervision. Colleen guides and supports ministry leaders on all areas as related to governance and operations. Colleen has experience as a teacher, department chair, Curriculum and Assessment Director, professional development leader, and has experience both opening and closing schools as well as turning around underperforming K-12 schools in some of the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in Chicago. Colleen taught for eleven years at a Felician-sponsored high school in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Sr. Celestine Giertych C.S.S.F. was one of the founding teachers at Holy Name of Mary High School for girls when the school first opened in 1964. She taught a variety of subjects but concentrated on the field of science, and, after 12 years of teaching was assigned as the Principal of the school in 1976, a role she held until 1986. In 1989 she was elected as the Provincial Minister of the Felician sisters in Canada and fulfilled that role until 1994, when she was elected to the role of Vicar-General of the Congregation. In 2012, when she moved on to become the Minister General of the Felician Congregation, she travelled globally to wherever the sisters worked, to visit with them, to encourage them, to listen to their joys and sorrows and to visit their places of ministry. She was involved in their formation and governed not just the province in Canada, but the whole Congregation.
Diane Richards, Board Vice Chair is an Independent Education Professional and former Secondary School Principal. Most recently, she was the Principal of the Independent Learning Center, the Ministry of Education's long distance education provider. She’s served as a Coach, working with secondary school principals and administrators as part of the Principals Council of Ontario. Diane retired from the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School board where she was Principal of Adult and Continuing Education. She served as the first lay principal of Holy Name of Mary and brings a strong familiarity with the Felician Sisters and their mission as well as a robust background in school administration, academic excellence, and professional development.
Rudy Tomaini
Administration
The mission of the HNMCS Administration Team is to help every HNMCS student develop intellectually, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Ms. Carrie Hughes-Grant Head of School
Ms. Kathryn Anderson Director of Student Life
Mr. Ryan Baker Director of Academics
Mr. Andrew MacLeod Director of Technology
Ms. Nicki Newhouse Director of School
Staff
Our staff are inspirational. They provide ongoing help and encouragement in all aspects affecting school life and office management.
Ms. Giselle Fernandes Admissions
Ms. Harpreet Kalirae Accounting Assistant
Ms. Angela Kretz Director of Advancement
Ms. Julie Mastromattei Student Information Manager
Ms. Elizabeth McCurdy Reception
Mr. Nigel Newton Director of Finance
Ms. Cheryl Pereira Accounting
Faculty
Every HNMCS faculty member completed a customized professional development programme to ensure students are always learning contemporary content via ideal and research-supported teaching methods
Ms. Jennifer Apuzzo Drama, Social Science
Dr. Laura Barbieri French
Ms. Susan Bates University/Post Secondary Counsellor
Ms. Bernadine Catral Mathematics
Ms. Jaclyn Carere Science
Ms. Alessandra Ciraco Religion & Science
Ms. Olivia DiGiammarino Learning Enrichment Centre
Ms. Sarah DiMauro MusicMs. Angelica Hessing Business Studies
Ms. Marion Hurley Art
Dr. Karen Kozma Science
Ms. Alessandra Labricciosa Mathematics, Science
Ms. Janna Linay Social Studies
Ms. Olivia Lubanski Grade 6
Ms. Rima Makari ESL
Mr. Clayton Martino English, Athletic Director (SS)
Ms. Jennifer Mather Grade 5
Ms. Julia Mathews Religion
Ms. Anne Morrone Music
Ms. Euginia Nicoletti Science
Ms. Melissa Preston Social Studies
Ms. Kristin Prillo Programme Co-Ordinator, Grade 7
Ms. Christa Sealey Grade 8
Ms. Alona Shpit Mathematics
Ms. Kaitlin Soscia Business Studies
Mr. Kyle Watson French, Athletic Director (MS)
Ms. Laura Wood English