Head of School Address
It is with distinct pleasure that I welcome you to our school - Holy Name of Mary College School. As we welcome your daughters into our school, we encourage her to find her own voice and empower her to be curious, take risks, be confident, discover her joy and take a personal, educational and spiritual journey with us. As we explore our four values that align with the Felician Sisters, respect, compassion, justice and transformation and ask each girl if they have lifted someone up today, we want to meet each girl where she is in her journey and encourage her to both plant her roots and find her wings. By learning to support each other we can see how it will open the possibilities to soar.
Personalized learning is the way of the future. As the world becomes more automated and our graduates are looking at what is next for them in education and life, we need to ensure that our girls are getting exactly what they need for a future that is exciting and expansive and like none that we have ever seen before. This personalized approach is giving girls control, choice, agency and voice. Exactly what we want for our students - confidence building at its core and passion exploring at its heart.
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
I was once told that to really understand something you should teach another person; however, now I know that a student's active engagement in the learning process is the key to successful learning, as it makes the education experience fun and memorable because of the creative and innovative applications they need to demonstrate their learning. Education should not be one size fits all, as we are all unique learners and we need a system that matches who we are personally. As an independent school, families know that we are able to produce a strong education for their daughters. We as a school are stretching our boundaries in this area too and asking our girls to take risks and try something new. How are we also doing this beyond the walls of the classrooms and really allowing our girls to stretch their wings and fly? Our girls will: make choices on what they want to do inside of our co-curricular programme Our girls will: be able to lead others Our girls will: if they choose, make a proposal to start a new club or activity Our girls will: be coached and supported through the challenges and excitement of life Our girls will: know how to be a collaborative member of a team Our girls will: know how to live inside of our core values Our girls will: be the leaders in all areas of the school Our girls will: build capacity in themselves to be who they are meant to be Our girls will: learn how to make decisions, hear other people's opinions and change and grow in their own Our girls will: build community in their houses, classes, grades and the larger HNMCS community Our girls will: find a second home I was recently asked, what do we ultimately want for our girls - what is the overall vision for the school? I can undeniably say that it is to produce girls who go into the world to truly affect change - in a real way because they know they can. How do we get there? We give girls choices and opportunities that allow them to make decisions that will set the course for where they want to go - personally - not where their friend is going, not what their parents want, but at their core - with confidence. We ask you to allow your daughter to find her Next Stop with us as she discovers Her Future.
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.
Felician
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. Since 2021, we are a Felician Sponsored Ministry solely sponsored by The Felician Sisters, Our Lady of Hope Province.
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.
As a Felician supported ministry, HNMCS focuses on the Felician Core Values for Ministry, and we are grounded in the fundamental beliefs of respect for human dignity, compassion, transformation, solidarity with the poor, and justice & peace. These ideals challenge students to develop their character as much as their grades.
A community spirit does not just happen of itself. It flows from people who share a common tradition and strive for a common goal outside themselves.
Board of Directors
Board members are dedicated to the success of the school and play a strategic role in its continued evolution.
Stephen Beatty
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.
Caley Gibbs '12, Board Secretary & Treasurer
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.
Michael Sokolski
Rudy Tomaini, Board Vice Chair
Leadership Team
The mission of the Leadership 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. Steven Dubrick
Director of Mission Integration & Advancement
Mr. Andrew MacLeod
Director of Technology
Administration
Our staff are inspirational. They provide ongoing help and encouragement in all aspects affecting school life and office management.
Ms. Maria Cinat
Advancement Manager
Ms. Giselle Fernandes
Admissions
Ms. Mariah Fumagalli
Administration
Ms.
Harpreet Kalirae
Accounting Assistant
Ms. Julie Mastromattei
Student Information & Office Manager
Ms. Cheryl Pereira
Business Office Manager
Ms. Kushi Perera
Director of Finance
Mr. Matthew Snowdon
Associate Director of Mission Integration
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
Mr. Hamadi Almahmoudi
French
Ms. Jennifer Apuzzo
Drama, Social Science, Student Services
Mr. Christian Gaudette
English, Athletic Director
Ms. Elizabeth Guay
Grade 8
Ms. Marion Hurley
Art
Dr. Karen Kozma
Innovation Lead (SS), Science, Mathematics
Ms. Alessandra Labricciosa
Grade 5
Dr. Adam Lenarcic
Math
Ms. Mary Frances Leon
Grade 6
Ms. Olivia Lubanski
Innovation Lead (MS), Grade 8
Ms. Rima Makari
ELL, Student Services
Ms. Julia Mathews
Science, Religion
Ms. Lydia Minkarious
English
Ms. Anne Morrone
Music
Ms. Laurie Moynagh
Math, Learning Enrichment Centre
Ms. Tara O'Neill
Math, Business
Ms. Natalie Pizzacalla
Art
Ms. Melissa Preston
Social Studies, Student Services
Ms. Kristin Prillo
Middle School Coordinator, Grade 7
Mr. Greg Skinner
Science
Ms. Laura Wood
English