School Information

St. Oscar Romero High School is a Grade 10-12 school which opened in 2004 to serve the community of West Edmonton. With a student population of approximately 620 students, Romero prides itself in Academics, Arts, and Athletics.

St. Oscar Romero believes in the importance of developing the whole student and provide the facilities and collaborative culture to support academic rigor and study, as well as the development and nourishment of athletics, fitness, fine arts, fashion and culture, culinary and vocational based programming.

Location

St. Oscar Romero High School is situated in the Callingwood community right beside the Jamie Platz YMCA and the Callingwood Arenas. It is across the street from a diverse shopping area. The school serves high school students who live south of 87th Avenue to the river and west of 149th Street to the city limits.

Our Mission

In the spirit of St. Oscar Romero, we walk in the light of Christ, called to provide a learning community, rooted in faith, dignity, justice, honesty, and integrity.

In our learning community, staff recognize the importance of the individual student. They are committed to understanding the uniqueness of each student. Attention is paid to the whole child, including academic progress, behaviour, emotional, and spiritual well-being; consistent with the five core values of Catholic education: dignity and respect, honesty, loyalty, fairness, and communal and personal growth.

Key Features

St. Oscar Romero opened in September 2004.
Romero offers Filipino, French and Spanish languages, as well as offers the potential to challenge language exam.
Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Art and Design, Biology, Calculus, English Literature and Composition.
A professional learning community that emphasizes a collaborative approach to education among staff and students.
Emphasis on diversity in learning with a student-centred approach to learning.
Focus on community building and a personalized approach possible in a smaller high school with a strong faculty advisor program which promotes the development of leadership skills and community involvement.
Online courses in partnership with Revelation Online are offered to allow greater flexibility for students in filling their timetable.
Strong social justice program to follow the example of our school's namesake.

Resources

School Chaplain
Science Labs
Labs for Art, Music, Drama, Construction, Fabrication, Foods, and Fashion
Modern Gymnasium and Fitness Centre
Student Services in our Success Centre
Family-School Liaison Worker (Registered Social Worker) and Mental Health Therapist
Cafeteria open for breakfast and lunch
Strong working relationship with the Jamie Platz YMCA and the Edmonton Public Library, both located in close proximity to the school
Adjacent to Callingwood Arena

Our Namesake

Adapted from Renny Golden, Oscar Romero: Bishop of the Poor

"I do not believe in death without resurrection. If they kill me, I will be resurrected in the Salvadoran people." (Oscar Romero)

"We want to be a voice for those who have no voice."

(Oscar Romero)

Romero was a surprise in history. He was appointed Archbishop of El Salvador in 1977 as a compromise candidate among his conservative fellow bishops. He was predictable, an orthodox, pious bookworm who criticized the progressive clergy who championed the new liberation theology and aligned themselves with the impoverished farmers seeking land reform. But an event would take place within three weeks of his election that would transform the ascetic and timid Romero.

The new archbishop's first priest, Rutilio Grande, was ambushed and killed along with two parishioners. Grande was a target because he defended the peasant's rights to organize farm cooperatives. He said that the dogs of the big landowners ate better food than the campesino children whose fathers worked their fields.

Romero drove out to view Grande's body and the old man and seven year old who were killed with him. In a packed country church Romero encountered the silent endurance of peasants who were facing rising terror. Their eyes asked the question only he could answer: Will you stand with us as Rutilio did? Romero's "yes" was in deeds. The peasants had asked for a good shepherd and that night they received one.

The archbishop's great helplessness was that he could not stop the violence. All Romero had to offer the people were weekly homilies broadcast throughout the country, his voice assuring them, not that atrocities would cease, but that the church of the poor, themselves, would live on. He stated, "If some day they take away the radio station from us . . . if they don't let us speak, if they kill all the priests and the bishop too, and you are left a people without priests, each one of you must become God's microphone, each one of you must become a prophet." Oscar Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980 while presiding at the Eucharist. The day before he openly challenged an army of peasants, whose high command feared and hated his reputation. His voice rose to breaking, "Brothers, you are from the same people; you kill your fellow peasant . . . No soldier is obliged to obey an order that is contrary to the will of God . . . " There was thunderous applause; he was inviting the army to mutiny. Then his voice burst, "In the name of God then, in the name of this suffering people I ask you, I beg you, I command you in the name of God: stop the repression."

Days before his murder he told a reporter, "You can tell the people that if they succeeding killing me, that I forgive and bless those who do it. Hopefully, they will realize they are wasting their time. A bishop will die, but the church of God, which is the people, will never perish." The eloquence of this prophet for God's justice and peace is a source of inspiration for all students and staff who long to cultivate a life of uncompromised integrity.

"We plant the seed that one day will grow." (Oscar Romero)

SCHOOL PRAYER
LORD GOD, CREATOR OF ALL
GIVE ME EYES TO SEE INJUSTICE
EARS TO HEAR THE POOR,
WISDOM TO KNOW COMPASSION
AND THE COURAGE TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE

Social Justice and human rights were at the heart of what St. Oscar Romero stood for. St. Oscar Romero High School strives to build a learning community that focuses on social justice issues and human relationships.