Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School's Mission Statement
Lord Dufferin P.S. is a downtown inner-city school serving families in the Regent Park community. The old building was built in the 1920's with additions in the late 1940's. A new school building was completed in January, 2000. In the fall of 2003, the school yard was landscaped with the addition of a baseball diamond, soccer field, walkway to Berkeley Street and new fencing. In May, 2008, a new play structure was donated and built by the Kids Around the World Organization and the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation.
The school serves over 539 students, representing over 30 language groups. Sixty eight percent of the population has English as their second language (ESL). Most of these students are of Bengali, Tamil, Somali, Asian and South Asian descent. Lord Dufferin is a composite school with primary, junior and senior divisions.
In addition to regular school facilities, the school has:
a school age daycare; a parent and family literacy centre; an adult ESL program; an international language program; a school nutrition program which provides hot breakfast, lunch and a morning meal.
Closing the Gaps
Our monitoring program called Students to Watch Over allows us to understand the needs of all of our students who are not working at the provincial level. This gives all the ability to work with all our staff to provide stratagies and interventions to support the students learning and close the gaps.
Our resource program focuses on skills sets students need to learn and our classroom teachers and resource teachers work together to support the individual needs. Once students meet their goal they continue to work and be monitored in their classroom and a new students would come to resource for support.
More Information About Lord Dufferin Junior and Senior Public School
Technology Program
Lord Dufferin has entered the Technological Era with a bang! We recently acquired i-Pads , Apple TV's, TV monitors and projectors for our students to use as learning tools. Students can work independently or in groups research, problem solve, and share their work and projects with peers and throughout the school. Teachers can use these tools to share and assess.
Professional development is done in grade teams to provide more intense support and learning for teachers using different technology. The Admin team covers classes and teaches lessons to allow teachers to have this training and minimize the amount of time teachers are away from their students.
Wellness in the School
Mental Health and Wellness is a huge part of Lord Dufferin. The caring adults in the school boast about being caring adults for all of our students and that we are raising a community. We practice daily breathing exercises in the morning and classes participate in daily relaxation practices in class, in DPA and in their Physical Education classes.
Teachers, students and Community Partners participate in Restorative Practices such as Restorative Circles, Compliment Circles and Fish Bowl to engage their students in problem solving and sharing their feelings in an inclusive environment.
Early Reading Intervention Program
In effort to close the gaps at Lord Dufferin, we have implemented an Early Reading Intervention Program for our Primary students. Our students work with a staff member or volunteer intensively on reading skills for 30 minutes a day, every day, for 9 weeks. We are proud to say our Grade 1 Reading scores have improved by 20% over the past year.
Resource Program K-8
Our resource program focuses on skills sets that students need to learn, and our classroom teachers and resource teachers work together to support their individual needs. Once students meet their goal they continue to work and be monitored in their classroom and new students would be recommended to resource for support.
Student Life - Where You Belong
GO TEAM
Class visits to local public library, the Book Bank, local businesses, and other places of interest (Science Centre, ROM, AGO, Cadbury's Factory, Textile Museum, Island School, Toronto Urban Studies Centre, Daniel's Spectrum). We have a highly engaged and outgoing Student Parliament who organize and run many events for our students.
There are many school sports teams and activities that students can participate in: Cross Country, Soccer, Baseball, Cricket, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Track & Field, Girls F.I.T., Ultimate Frisbee, Yoga, Dance, Chess, Year Book, Music, Choir, Band, Steel Pan, Violin, Reading Club, Math Club, Knitting Club, Kindergarten Volunteers, and Eco Club.
We also have many after school programs for students, the Youth Empowering Parents where our students tutor adults in learning to use computers and computer programs; Floor Hockey with our friends from 51 Division; Running and Reading with community volunteers and the Start to Finish folks; International Languages; Frontier College Homework and Tutoring Club and the ASE Program.
WHAT SETS US APART
Our newly added Technology Program is state of the art at Lord Dufferin. We use technology to not only learn from, design and work on projects, but to share with other classes through Apple TV technology - a first in the TDSB!. We have wonderful partnerships with Greenwood College, Royal St. George, Start to Finish, One to One Mentoring Program through Toronto Public Health; School Mentorship Programs through Big Brothers and Sisters of Toronto; Student and Staff Participants in the Sister2Sister Forum and Stand Up-The Young Men of Colour Forum.
PARENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community volunteers including Behaviour Sciences Student Placements from George Brown College; Teacher Candidate Placements from York University Diversity Program, OISE/UT, Ryerson University, Queen's University; and the University of Toronto Medical Students work on a Community Involvement Project.
Collaboration with community and social service agencies: Partnering with 51 Division Youth Bureau/School Community Officers, Daniel's Corporation, monthly School Council Meetings with guest speakers from the Community, and Ward 14 Community meetings.