East York principal charged with assault
The principal of Chester Elementary has been charged with assault following an incident in school’s playground.
TDSB
E.Y. robotics team puts medal to the metal
The East York Collegiate Institute robotics team goes to competition in the FIRST Robotics program, having already won awards. Students on the team explain what the team means to them, and how it has helped build their future.
Todmorden PA day celebrates animals of Chinese New Year
It’s a good thing Andrew McArten’s favourite animal is the dog. It came in handy recently when he needed to create an image associated with the Chinese New Year.
With some help from his mom, Andrew, created the image of a dog, in honour of the Year of the Dog, during a lunar craft day at Todmorden Mills Heritage Site.
Colleen McArten, a music teacher at an East York elementary school, decided to put other things aside that day so that she could bring her son Andrew and his sibling to the TDSB PA day at the Heritage Site.
Reminder of bullying support in schools
Bullying is part of every school experience — something that always has been and always will be. Which is why concerned parents and students need reminders of services and support available in anti-bullying initiatives.
First Nations public high school for Toronto? Location now uncertain
Instead of an indigenous K-12 school, it seems likely the historic Eastern Commerce high school in Toronto will become a French language high school, if some politicians and parents in East York get their way.
How mental health plays a role in schools
As Dunbarton High School student Brandon Parker was on his way to his locker, he recalls something he says he’ll never forget. In his sightline was a 16-year-old saw a girl carrying two large kitchen knives, running down the hallway in his direction.
New student voices at TDSB meeting
Shams Mehdi goes to Leaside High School in East York, and is also the vice-chairperson of “Student SuperCouncil,” a council that represents Toronto students from grades 8-12. He said the monthly board meeting is important to all students.
Thorncliffe protesters demonstrate against new Ontario health curriculum
An organizer of the Oct. 1 protest, pulling students out of classes at Thorncliffe Park Public School, says his group wants to send a strong message to the Ontario government regarding its new health curriculum. About 200 parents and children gathered outside the school in East York on Oct. 1. Protestors formed human chains and marched with their picket signs on Thorncliffe Park Drive. They were protesting the new sex component of the health curriculum in Ontario’s public schools. The parents pulled more than half of the students, about 740 children, from the school for the day.
School teaches environmental responsibility
In this building, plastic water bottles are banned. Across an office wall is a painting of a plastic bottle and a sign that reads, “Ditch this scene. Use a canteen!” Beth Tomlinson hasn’t drunk from a plastic water bottle in years. She has been encouraging her students to do the same. “What we’re trying to do is encourage students to drink tap water,” Tomlinson said. “We basically, as a school, banned bottled water and then we actually created our own design for a canteen. We had them made and now we sell them.”
TDSB includes 250 job losses in 2015-’16 budget
Speaking about how the cuts would affect East York, Ward 16/Beaches-East York trustee Sheila Cary-Meagher told the Observer that it is “far too early” to predict how the austerity will trickle down to neighbourhood schools.