Morrish Public School's Mission Statement
Morrish Public School was established during the 1989-1990 school year and opened to students in September, 1990. The official opening was held on April 25, 1991. The school is named after the Morrish family from West Hill. The Morrish store, which still stands, is a reminder of our early history.
Our school is committed to serving its diverse, multicultural community. We believe that all children can learn. Our staff are dedicated to helping each and every child reach their potential by encouraging self-motivated, self-directed learning, developing our students' skills in creative and critical thinking and problem solving, enhancing self-esteem, promoting character development, and celebrating differences.
School Focus for 2016-2017
We regularly assess and evaluate the effectiveness of our school and establish priorities in key areas each year. Through our School Improvement Plan Teams, we are looking to meet targets in the following areas: to improve reading and writing skills, specifically in the areas of organizing ideas and writing proper paragraphs, and in inferring; to improve students' skills in Number Sense and Numeration, and in the ability to problem solve and communicate their thinking; to improve self-regulation skills in all divisions; and to expand our experiential learning program, raising parent and student awareness of different pathways.
More Information About Morrish Public School
Community, Culture and Caring
Our students, staff and parents regularly participate in Character Development activities beyond the curriculum to make contributions to our immediate community and the city. We hold various charity events, support food drives, stand-up against bullying with Safe Schools visits and Pink Days and Weeks, and participate in the annual Earth Day grounds clean-up.
Our Student Leadership Council made up of two elected grade 8 students, find ways for students to contribute to their school experience. The SLC has been successful with SpeakUp grant applications for the past three years, one to facilitate student visits to the Daily Bread Food Bank, one to purchase board games for indoor recess, games club and Family Game Night and one to run and Green Games and Gardening Day. This year, they have applied for a grant to pay for unique sporting workshops for students and to purchase the needed equipment for these sports for our physical education inventory.
Fantastic Facilities
Morrish Public School houses a full size elementary school gym, a multi-purpose music room (vocal and instrumental-band), and a fully-stocked library/learning resource centre, which also houses our computer lab. We have a huge school yard with a playscape, regular classrooms, two kindergarten classrooms, and Smart Boards in every classroom.
Exciting Events and Excursions
Student learning is showcased in many ways at Morrish. We have music concerts, participate in a Music Monday event, and our annual Speech Arts assemblies are always well attended. Our athletes have the opportunity to participate in many team sports in which they compete in games and tournaments with other schools.
Our hallways are lined with bulletin boards filled with student work from all curriculum areas. With excursions to the Markham Fair, Downsview Park, the Ontario Science Centre, theatre presentations and TDSB Outdoor Education sites, there's always a unique experience to connect the curriculum to the real world.
In the last few years, our students have participated in the CanSpell Spelling Bee, Brock University's Caribou Cup Mathematics Competition, Skills Canada Cardboard Boat Challenge and the University of Waterloo's Gauss Mathematics Contest.
School Council
In addition to holding regular meetings, members of our School Council organize monthly pizza lunches and an annual Family Fun Night. Members of Council also support student achievement through fund-raisers which this year will support student excursions by paying for a school bus for each class and also our expansion of technology in the school.
Additional Features
- Morrish YMCA Daycare
- Computers in every classroom
- Close to Highland Creek Library
- TTC bus stop at our front door
- Pri. Jun., Int. DD Classes
- Nutrition Program
- Playground Activity Leaders (PALS)
- Creative Volunteer Opportunities
Student Life - Where You Belong
GO TEAM
We welcome students living in our attendance area from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Students enrolled in the Morrish YMCA Daycare are also eligible to attend our school. Our school has full day learning for Kindergarten students.
We believe that parents are a child's first and most important teacher. With kindergarten registration starting in February, we look forward to supporting our youngest learners before they even arrive with monthly activities for parents to complete at home with their children as well as our annual "Welcome to Kindergarten" orientation session which will be held in May, in conjunction with our Family Fun Night.
We provide a vast array of co-curricular activities and leadership opportunities for our students. Here is a partial list of the clubs and teams available at Morrish: Principal Helper Teams, Games Club, Cross Country and Track and Field Teams, Book and Bag Club, Student Leadership Council, Volleyball Team, Basketball Team, Library Helpers, Student Announcers, Office Helpers, Junior Band, Jazz Choir AND MUCH MORE!
WHAT SETS US APART
OUR STUDENTS ARE THE BEST!
Here's what our grade one students have to say about Morrish:
We feel safe. We learn things. We get to go on trips. We get to stay here all the way to grade eight. We have nice teachers. We can play outside. We do our Borrow-a-book. We have special days like PJ Day and Backwards Day. We donate money, toys and mittens to help others. We get report cards. We have Reading Buddies. We go to gym, music and library. We have teams and things. The school is our warm shelter.
PARENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Parents act as volunteers, assisting teachers and families with activities both in and out of the school. As parental involvement is linked with student achievement, parents are encouraged to take an active part in their child's education. Participation in the Morrish School Council is just one way to show an interest and it provides an opportunity to meet with other parents.
We are pleased to provide learning opportunities for secondary and post-secondary students in our community, who in turn, contribute to our school and support student achievement. This past year we have hosted teacher candidates from UOIT, the University of Toronto and Nipissing University, as well as Early Childhood Education students from Centennial College.