About Us

St. Michael’s College School was founded in 1852 by the Basilian Fathers, and stands as Ontario’s only independent Catholic school for young men.

The school offers students in Grades 7-12 an enriched, Catholic, Liberal Arts education complemented by a number of diverse co-curricular programmes. As a community within the Catholic Church, St. Michael’s strives for excellence through a synthesis of culture and faith.

The motto of the Basilian Fathers and St. Michael’s College School is “Teach me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge” (Psalm 118). This recognizes that being a good and disciplined individual, in charge of your own actions, is as important as the knowledge acquired through formal education. The motto is reflected in our mission to educate the whole person. Toward that end, St. Michael’s offers a Catholic, Liberal Arts education that exposes students to a wide a range of knowledge, encompassing the Humanities, the Arts, and the Sciences.

While St. Michael’s strives to prepare its students for university, we are also fully committed to preparing them to be future Catholic leaders within their community. We are inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ and we prepare our students to recognize and to choose good, to contribute to society, to be a neighbour, to form family, and to seek life eternal in union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our Motto

The motto of the Basilian Fathers and of St. Michael’s College School is Doce me Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientiam, from Psalm 118 – Teach me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge. This prayer recognizes that being a good and disciplined individual who is in charge of one’s own actions is as important as the knowledge acquired through formal education.

While St. Michael’s College School strives to prepare our students for university, we are also fully committed to preparing them to be future Catholic leaders in the world. Guided by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we prepare young men to recognize and choose the good, to contribute to society, to be a neighbour, to nurture family, and to seek eternal life in union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

SMCS students asking for help from a teacher during class.

Who We Are

Since 1852, under the direction of the Basilian Fathers, St. Michael's College School has been educating young men in goodness, discipline, and knowledge for lives of leadership and service, and forming them in faith to present the face of Jesus Christ to a world that is in need of his grace and his peace.

We are Canada's only Catholic, Basilian, faith-based independent school. We educate young men from Grades 7 to 12 in a university-preparatory programme. Our scholastic environment for all boys is well designed and suited to their particular strengths, aptitudes, and needs. It provides a unique learning and growing experience during which a boy develops the framework of his character and builds the foundation for his life as a man.

Our students discover the courage and find the strength to be a St. Michael's Student: one who is free in mind, body, and soul to pursue truth, choose goodness, create beauty, and build a civilization of love and care in service to our community and to the world.

Through our rich Liberal Arts programme, which combines different and necessary sources of nourishment for mind, body, and soul, our students unleash their passion for meaning and curiosity by embracing Deep Learning. This inquiry-based learning pedagogy inspires students to explore freely the profound questions of our world and to develop the confidence, knowledge, and skills for living a meaningful and productive life in the 21st century.

In graduating young men who change the world through lives of faith, character, and service, St. Michael's College School brings integrity, unity, and healing to a fractured and uncertain world.

Board of Directors

Fr. Patrick Fulton, CSB, Director

Fr. Patrick Fulton, CSB, graduated with his Bachelor in Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 1990, with a double-Honours-major in Philosophy and Religious Studies. He completed his Novitiate in Sugarland, Texas, and was then sent to Toronto, Canada, for theological studies, where he was subsequently awarded a Masters of Divinity from the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, Ontario (1996). Later he attended the University of Alberta where he obtained his Bachelor of Education with honors in 2000.

In 2000, Fr. Fulton was assigned to St. Michael’s College School where he taught theology, was a club moderator, football and hockey chaplain and coached the swim team to several divisional titles and provincial records. In 2010, Fr. Fulton was named Principal of St. Thomas High School in Houston and most recently was appointed Principal of Detroit Catholic Central High School in 2019.

He holds a B.A. Philosophy, B.A. Religious Studies, from the University of Saskatchewan; a Masters of Divinity, from the University of St. Michael's College; and a Bachelor of Education, from the University of Alberta.

Fr. Norman Tanck, CSB, Director

Fr. Norman Tanck, CSB entered the Basilian Fathers Novitiate in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1974. He has been a campus minister at St. John Fisher and Nazareth Colleges in Rochester, NY and the University of St. Michaels College in Toronto and served as Dean of Student Life at St. John Fisher. He served two terms as Vicar General of the Basilian Fathers followed by fourteen years as a pastor in Rochester, NY. Fr. Tanck has served on the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of Aquinas Institute in Rochester, the Monroe County Catholic School Board of the Diocese of Rochester and is presently on the Board of Assumption University in Windsor, ON. Currently, he is the Associate Pastor of St. Basil’s Church in Toronto, Director of Basilian Associates in Initial Formation and liaison to the Toronto area Basilian Lay Associates.

Mr. Nick Di Donato '76, Director

For over three decades the Liberty Entertainment Group, led by Nick Di Donato, has been redefining Toronto and Miami’s restaurant, nightlife and special event experience. As developers and operators of numerous landmark establishments the Liberty Entertainment Group has become recognized as one of the most successful and innovative companies in the industry, appreciating a continuous growth and garnering constant media attention. At the heart of this evolving urban development is President and C.E.O., Nick Di Donato.

Di Donato earned his Bachelor of Science and a Professional Engineering degree from the University of Toronto, and is a St. Michael's College School graduate.

Under his leadership, the Liberty Entertainment Group, has gained success and acknowledgment for developing an impressive roster of unique venues. Their portfolio includes Toronto landmarks: Casa Loma, Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex and Rosewater and some of the city's most prolific restaurants: BlueBlood Steakhouse, Don Alfonso 1890, the renowned Cibo Wine Bar brand of Italian eateries as well as the popular restaurant and lounge Spice Route. Over five years ago, Liberty Entertainment Group successfully established operations in the US market with the expansion of the Cibo brand in South Florida and the internationally recognized Coral Gables Country Club.

In addition to Nick Di Donato’s success as CEO and President of the Liberty Entertainment Group, he generously shares his time, resources and expertise in a variety of ways to benefit both the hospitality industry and the community at large.

Mr. Michael P. Forsayeth '73, Chair

Michael Forsayeth is the Chief Executive Officer of Granite REIT, one of the largest publicly listed industrial real estate investment trusts in Canada. Mr. Forsayeth has held senior executive financial and operating positions in several large public and private iconic Canadian organizations across a broad range of industries. He is a CPA, CA and spent nine years with Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) in various areas of the firm. His board and committee appointments include: Board of Directors and Chair of the Finance Committee for Crescent School (2005 -2010), member of the Finance Committee for St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation (2013- present), and Board of Directors and member of the Audit Committee for Imvescor Inc., a publicly traded restaurant company based in Montreal (2014-2018).

Forsayeth graduated from Queen’s University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1977 and from St. Michael’s College School in 1973.

Ms. Nina Perfetto, Vice Chair

Nina Perfetto has been a member of the Ontario Bar in good standing since 1987, and has enjoyed a successful career practicing in the areas of Corporate Commercial Litigation, Administrative and Regulatory Law, Estate Litigation and Real Estate Litigation. Her practice is concentrated on complex litigation matters and she has appeared before various levels of the Ontario Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal as well as before various Administrative Boards and Tribunals.

In addition to her professional life, Ms. Perfetto has been a community volunteer since 1989. She is the past Chair of Villa Charities, which is a culturally sensitive, not-for-profit organization serving the needs of the elderly, the youth and the Italian/Canadian Community. Ms. Perfetto's accomplishments as Chair of Villa Charities include, the completion of a governance restructuring for the Charity, succession planning for the CEO, and the implementation of a redevelopment plan for the Villa Charities campus in conjunction with TDCSB.

Ms. Perfetto is currently a director of the Villa Charities Foundation Board.

In addition to her professional and volunteer life, Ms. Perfetto is the proud mother of boys who are St. Michael’s alumni, Michael D’Ercole (’08) and Daniel D’Ercole (’11).

Fr. Morgan Rice, CSB, Director

Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Fr. Morgan Rice, CSB studied mechanical engineering at the University of Virginia and later worked for six years in the engineering field in Houston, Texas.It was there that he met the Basilian Fathers at St. Anne Parish and began to discern seriously the priesthood and religious life.His Basilian journey brought him to Detroit where he taught algebra and physics for a year and then to Toronto where he completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Faculty of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College.Ordained in November 2009, Fr. Morgan served as an associate pastor at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Rochester, N.Y., and then moved to Toronto in June 2017 to begin his term as Pastor at St. Basil's Parish.In July 2014, Fr. Rice was elected to a four-year term on the General Council of the Basilian Fathers. He was re-elected to a subsequent four-year term in 2018.

Fr. William A. Riegel, CSB, Director

Fr. Riegel was born in Detroit, Michigan and entered the Basilian Fathers in August of 1961. He received his B.A. from the University of Windsor, M.Div. from the University of St. Michael's, Toronto, M.A. from the University of Notre Dame and received his accreditation as a Substance Abuse Counsellor (CACII) in 1999. Fr. Riegel was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1973.

He has served in various ministries in Canada (he became a Canadian Citizen in 1991) including University Chaplain, University of Toronto, Faculty of Assumption University, Windsor, where he taught Sacraments and Scripture and served as Director of Operations and was also a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Windsor as well their Senate.He has been pastor in Ottawa, ON, Amhersburg, ON and Assumption Church, Windsor, ON.

Fr. Riegel joined the Board of Catholic Central High School, Novi, MI in 2000 and serves as a member of the Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee of the Board. He is now assigned at Catholic Central and works both in the Guidance Department as well as Campus Ministry. Fr. is also on the Board of Christo Rey High School in Detroit, MI. In addition to this work, Fr. facilitates a number of Recovery Weekends in the United States and Canada for those with substance abuse issues.