The Zochowski Family

Over the past 8 years we have been an engaging part of the Saint Patrick School and Parish. Our family has been attending CISVA schools (Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese) ever since 1998, with the attendance of our first child.  My husband and I grew up in the communist system where religious education wasn’t offered at schools. So when we arrived in Canada we were thrilled that it was offered here. We decided to put our children through this system without any hesitation. Our older children attended Saint Michaels and Queen of All Saints elementary schools, as well as Archbishop Carney Regional Secondary. Once our younger daughters were old enough, they began attending classes at Saint Patrick. Two of them graduated from St.Patricks last year while our youngest daughter will be graduating this year.

Saint Patrick’s School and Parish has been a tremendous gift . As a family we are able to feel welcome and find everything we could ever hope to look for. Our daughters flourish under the outstanding care of the teachers and the many extracurricular activities that the school offers. Three of our daughters participated in Choir programs and music performances, which they loved. They also participated in Roman Catholic Challenge, the basketball team, as well as the track and field team. When they entered the school as 5 years old’s, they were very well taken care of by their elder Grade 7 classmates and when it was their turn in Grade 7 to take responsibility for the new kindergarteners they did it with so much joy and gratitude. Thus bringing everything full circle. They even had the chance of organizing a book club which was a beautiful and fruitful experience.

We are very pleased with the attentiveness of the teachers. The parent-teacher meetings held regularly, kept us up to date with what’s happening with our daughters and provided us a chance to ask questions. My daughters’ teachers every year were wonderful and always willing to help and were very responsive to communication with emails and anything my daughters needed. We all developed special relationships during our time at Saint Pats. The principal, office staff, teachers and teacher’s aids are always available to speak with, even outside the school hours. We met beautiful families and our children found their best friends. Moreover there is an  abundance of fundraising activities for parents, which helped build strong relationships with the other families; our personal favourite one being the Trivia Night.

Lastly, but certainly not the least is the emphasis on faith. A deep commitment to nurturing the students in the catholic faith and a catholic lifestyle is very vibrant in Saint Pats. The school offers school mass, confessions, monthly prayers, and retreats. Teachers truly care about each student’s soul and prepare them for their sacraments. Our children are involved in various charities in the municipality and are strongly connected to the parish events. In the summer time they took part in Vacation Bible Summer Camps both as participants and as leaders.

As you read our testimony you can now know why we chose Saint Pats. It is like a second home for our daughters and I hope it will be for you .

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the whole staff for providing this faith-filled environment that we did not think was possible to achieve in today’s world. One can read the news and get saddened easily about our culture and our future but this little school shines bright in the dark. My daughters get to be children as they form an appetite for the true, good and the beautiful.

An absolutely huge blessing!

Sorry for the lengthy letter but this is our last year at school so we thought we would like to say what we truly think and feel about the school.

With love the Zochowski Family.