Realizing the overcrowding in Cardinal Newman to the south and Francis Libermann to the north due to growing population of Roman Catholics in the West Hill area, the Metropolitan Separate School Board began establishing a high school within the boundaries of St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church. On September 6, 1983, the MSSB established Pope John Paul II Catholic Secondary School with the first 135 students in twelve temporary, portable classrooms next to the closed St. Bede. Paul M. Howard served as its inaugural principal for the first four years. The student population doubled in 1984, as did the number of portable classrooms over the years.