Ontario Funding for St. Sofia School

Supporting schools to improve the learning experience for students has always been a priority for Ontario MPP Dipika Damerla. With the help of Ms. Damerla, St. Sofia Catholic School will be receiving $4,030,571 from the provincial government to be used to renovate and revitalize the 33-year-old school facility.

The McGuinty government is committed to providing better places for local students to learn and succeed. This new project will provide students with improved and modern learning spaces to help them focus on their education while supporting the continued roll out of full-day kindergarten.

The announcement at St. Sofia on January 8 comes as part of the government’s initiative for building and renovating schools in Ontario, in particular, Peel Region, west of Toronto. St. Sofia Byzantine Rite School has a portion of daily lessons instructed in Ukrainian and is located in Mississauga, Ont., as part of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.

“I’m pleased that the students of St. Sofia will benefit from our investments to provide a healthy environment to learn. I had meetings with parents and the Ministry and worked throughout the holidays to secure this funding. I am happy our hard work and efforts have paid off. I am looking forward to the day when the students of St. Sofia will be sitting in a warm classroom in the new wing,” said Dipika Damerla, MPP for Mississauga East-Cooksville.

“We are pleased that the Ministry has approved our school renovation project. We appreciate the support of MPP Damerla and the Ministry and that of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board trustees and staff, who have worked with our community to move this project forward. It remains our hope that the project can be completed based on the full scale and scope of the Board’s submission to the Ministry,” said Patricia Kasij, Principal of St. Sofia School.

“The St. Sofia Parent Council is grateful to the Province and the School Board for securing funding to more adequately address the school’s capacity challenges. The timing for this announcement could not have been better, as it coincides with Ukrainian Christmas... The Parent Council looks forward to getting the school expansion project started as soon as possible in order to meet the needs of its young students.

“On behalf of the parents and more importantly the students of St. Sofia School, I want to thank the Ministry of Education, MPP Dipika Damerla, Trustees Mario Pascucci and Anna Abbruscato and the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board for their support to date and continued support to launch and complete this project, “ said Andre Sochaniwsky, Parent Council spokesperson and Chair of St. Sofia School Expansion Committee.

Investing in stronger schools is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to help more students succeed and secure a brighter future for all Ontarians. Ontario is investing approximately $700 million to support the building of 39 new schools and 48 addition/renovation projects in Ontario. Since 2003, the McGuinty government has supported more than 27,000 renewal projects and over 480 new schools have opened. The Province is also making Ontario’s schools cleaner, more sustainable places to learn with 2,600 schools benefiting from more than 6,500 clean energy projects. Ontario has invested $1.4 billion in capital funding to support the expansion of full-day kindergarten. All new elementary schools will be built to accommodate full-day kindergarten.

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L. to R.: Andre Sochaniwsky, Chair of St. Sofia School Expansion Committee; Dipika Damerla, MPP for Mississauga East-Cooksville; St. Sofia School Principal Patricia Kasij