Alexander Stirling Public School's Mission Statement
Alexander Stirling Public School opened in 1984, receiving its name from an early Scarborough farming family who were residents of the area at that time. The school is located north of Morningside and Sheppard in the socially and culturally diverse community of Malvern. In 1991, Alexander Stirling was expanded to meet the demands of a growing community and serves over 385 JK to Grade 8 students. In September 2012, SK French Immersion will begin at Stirling, with Gr. 1-8 beginning in 2013.
At Alexander Stirling Public School, we are committed to empowering individuals to be successful through high expectations, care, mutual respect and perseverance in a safe school community. This is our mission.
Full day Kindergarten will begin in September 2013.
We Believe That All Students Can Be Successful
Our vision is that all children will achieve excellence. As a result, we work diligently to provide equitable access to opportunities for all our students. Stirling is wheelchair accessible and houses a number of Special Education programs, including Two Developmental Disability classes and Inclusion Model of Support in Junior Intermediate grades. We also support our students academically through differentiated classroom instruction, remedial programs and Reading Recovery. Opportunities for students to develop and exercise leadership skills are provided through our Me to We program, Peer Mediation and Peer Tutoring.
More Information About Alexander Stirling Public School
Family Literacy and Math
Stirling is about student success, which requires effective teamwork - possible only by a strong partnership between home and school. This year we are focusing on early years literacy and numeracy. Parents are invited to activity evenings to learn strategies they can use to help in the develoment their children's literacy and numeracy.
Stirling's Snack Program
At the heart of our snack program are our parent and student volunteers who arrive early before the morning bell rings - Monday to Friday - to prepare healthy snacks and to ensure that they are distributed to each classroom on time. Having a healthy snack has proven to increase students' energy level and attention span in the classroom.
Sports and Physical Education at Stirling
Many of our students participate in the TDSB track and field and cross country meets. Junior and intermediate students have the opportunity to participate on inter-school volleyball and basketball teams. Although we are very supportive of athletics, students academic performance and behaviour in class will determine their place on team sports.
The Arts
Stirling's Annual Talent Show, Holiday and Spring concerts, and monthly assemblies are examples of the many venues where the artistic talents of our students are showcased in dance, singing, violin, art, recorder and band. Guest artists are often invited to the school to work with individual classes as well as performances by professional artists.
Our primary students focus on vocal music while our junior/intermediate students focus on band instruments, recorder and vocal music. A large element of the vocal music is integrated with drama and dance.
We are very fortunate to have the help of two itinerant music teachers who visit the school weekly and provide musical leadership in band and recorder.
Student Life - Where You Belong
GO TEAM
At Alexander Stirling Public School we endeavour to provide a wide range of co-curricular, enriching experiences for our students. There are a number of athletic and arts-related opportunities for our students to hone and develop their talents. Students have a voice at Stirling and opportunities to participate on school committees and Student Council allows them to discover and develop leadership skills. Our Me to We Team also plays a vital role in global and community-based social concerns. They actively deal with issues that affect children locally and globally such as overseeing our school's annual food drive to address child hunger and other social justice issues. Our peer mediation program focuses on empowering student leaders to help their peers peacefully deal with conflicts. Peer tutoring is also a way for our intermediate students to develop their academic strengths by helping their fellow students improve their literacy and numeracy.
WHAT SETS US APART
We are proud of the way we have integrated our students with physical disabilities into 'regular' school programming and our students with developmental disabiltiies into school-wide activities. We platform equitable access to opportunities and resources for all our students and make every effort to make this happen!
Students and teachers using SmartBoards across all curricula areas can readily be seen in classrooms throughout the school. Grade 6-8 students use laptops in the classroom as a tool to help them learn a variety of math concepts. Our computer lab houses 40 desktop computers with many cross-curricular computer programs readily assessible to students. Realizing that this is the way of the future, we continue to develop our use of technology and are focused on increasing the variety of techological resources in the classroom.
Staff are involved in on going professional development in math and literacy as we meet to share ideas, to plan, and to discover other effective and innovative ways of helping our students improve their literacy and numeracy.
PARENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Parent Engagement
- Parent volunteers in the school's snack program and others areas of the school
- Phone calls and parent-teacher interviews
- Math and Literacy evenings
- Volunteer Appreciation Day
Community Engagement
- Big Brother/Big Sister Program
- Big Brother/Big Sister Program
- Imani Mentorship Progra
-Lay up program for boys and girls
- Partnership with York University Faculty of Education Teacher Training Program
- Student nurses from various college and university programs
- Collaboration with Public Health, Malvern Resource Centre, Metro Police, Malvern
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