Grey Owl Junior Public School was built in 1975 and is part of the vibrant Malvern community. Our school has 12 regular classrooms including 3 Full day kindergarten rooms. Grey Owl is wholeheartedly dedicated to creating a learning environment in which student achievement is consistently improving. Raising standards has involved concurrent work by all stakeholders who have a shared responsibility for student learning. This shared belief is what makes Grey Owl "A Great Place To Be!" Our emphasis on literacy, numeracy, and community partnerships will continue as we expand our professional learning community and strive to implement appropriate interventions for all students. We have a nurturing culture created by our dedicated staff. We have partnerships with our parents and many community agencies. We have regular parent volunteers, student volunteers and our teachers work collaboratively. Our student body is very diverse and many of our students do not speak English as their first language. Some of the many languages spoken include Tamil, Urdu, Hindi, and Gujarati. We have an ESL teacher, as well as provide support for those students with special needs with our SERT and our HSP teachers. In 2012, we received the award for most welcoming school for Occasional teachers from the Teachers Federation.
ECO Gold Certified School
Grey Owl is named after a turn of the century environmentalist. Grey Owl wrote "Pilgrims of the Wild" the first book that focussed on the importance of maintaining our environment. Our School has implemented many intiatives over the last few years to repeatedly have been certified as an ECO gold school. We run a green bin program, monitor our garbage, participate in community clean ups and have a yearly class eco challenge. We also monitor our energy consumption. There are future plans for a school garden and planting of new trees.
More Information about Grey Owl Junior Public School
Literacy
We deliver a Balanced Literacy programs at all grade levels and ensure that our teachers are continually receiving professional development on the latest instructional strategies. Rich tasks and activities to promote higher level thinking are evident from Kindergarten to grade six. We have a well stocked library and a literacy room for teachers filled with resources.
Numeracy
Our focus is on the continued implementation of Math programs that include 3-part math lessons, effective questioning techniques, and math congress. We use MacBooks in our grade 6 classes. We also have 12 interactive SMART boards and 35 Ipads. Our teachers use a variety of math manipulatives, "elmos" and teach students about mathematics using a problem-solving approach.
Equity and Inclusion
Grey Owl is committed to ensuring that our stakeholders feel valued and included in all that we do. Our work with our community has expanded to be responsive to its ethnically diverse composition. Teachers are trained in including diverse perspectives in their lessons and in ensuring that learning materials are culturally responsive and relevant to our students.
Great Partners Make a Great School!
We are fortunate to have partnerships with many community agencies who help us to provide all of our stakeholders with the resources and supports necessary to have an outstanding educational experience. Some of our partnerships include our relationships with TAIBU Health Centre, Toronto Public Health, Ontario Early Years, Malvern Library and Malvern Resource Centre.
Additional Features
● Morning Meal Program
● Malvern Resource Afterschool
● Family Aussie X Night
● Kindergarten Welcome
● Hearing and Vision Screening
● Gold ECO school
● Family STEM Night
● Community Support
Student Life - Where You Belong
At Grey Owl Junior Public School, students are involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities. In athletics, we offer basketball, soccer, and track and field for our students to experience. To help mentor and develop positive social skills and attitudes towards school, students can be part our Boys 2 Men group and our Girls' Club. Sharp minds at Grey Owl also are part of our Silverbirch reading group and primary Lego club. Our Caretaker assistants members work hard to make Grey Owl a 'greener' place. In the arts, we offer "Step Dance", choir and art clubs. We offer band to grade 5 & 6. Our focus is to develop the whole child and student life through our wide-range of extracurricular activities is a major part of these efforts.
What Sets Us Apart
Grey Owl Junior Public School is a "community school" which endeavours to provide an inviting environment for our community both inside and outside of the instructional day. We are a "Model School for Inner Cities" which provides supports for our students with tools, resources and unique opportunities. We offer a 5 day morning meal program, hearing and vision screening, and a Junior Kindergarten Welcome bag. We offer full day Kindergarten. We also host a "Heritage Night" where food, dance and music reflective or our community are highlighted. We offer concerts in the winter and spring. Grey Owl is also an inclusive school. In order to engage students in meaningful ways, teachers use curriculum units reflective of the diversity of our students. Relevant materials reflective of social justice issues are an integral part of our program.
Parent and Community Engagement
The involvement of our parents and community members is paramount to helping us create an outstanding schooling experience for our students. We have an active School Council, as well as many volunteers who assist in the library, classrooms, on excursions, and with co-curricular activities. Parent volunteers help to organize community events e.g., Family Fun Night, our snack program, Pizza lunches and sports activities. We celebrate the contributions and experiences of our community in the school through events such as our "Community Link" on Curriculum night and our Family Teambuilding Night. Taibu supports our girl's club and our community support worker contributes to our Boys to Men club.
