Our School History

The story of Catholic Education in Strathmore began when Bishop Frederick Henry came out to Strathmore in 1999 to discuss the possibility of a Catholic School in our community. What followed were numerous meetings and the formation of a Catholic School District Committee which was chaired by Mark Rawlek and Rita Sweere. A lot of hard work and much door knocking and phone calling on the part of dedicated parishioners happened over the next few years. Finally, all the efforts and prayers of these dedicated souls were answered and Sacred Heart Academy (under Christ the Redeemer School Division) opened its doors in September 2001 in the renovated building which formerly housed Samuel Crowther, a public school. There were 130 students from kindergarten to grade 7.

Holy Cross Collegiate then opened in August 2004 as a junior/senior high school with a student population of 123 in grades 7 to 10. As each year followed, we added grade 11 and then grade 12.  Today Holy Cross Collegiate has a population of 339 in grades 7 to 12. Our first graduating class in 2007 was a grand total of 7 students, with our highest number so far being 62 in the class of 2019!

How did Holy Cross get its name?  It all started with a meeting to discuss possible names for our new school. Right from the very beginning “Holy Cross” was brought forward as a school name. There were Saskatchewan connections and some people liked the name Holy Cross (the high school in Saskatoon). One of the Central Office members said it was the easiest naming of a school he was ever involved in. He said everyone liked “Holy Cross” right from the start, they just agreed! Also lending support to the name was the massive cross-shaped beam on the ceiling in the school foyer. So “Holy Cross” it was!