Specialty schools proposed for all four corners of Toronto
September 7, 2010
Louise Brown
EDUCATION REPORTER
The Toronto school board is considering the launch of four all-boy schools, four all-girl schools and four choir schools next year — one in each corner of the city.
Each should start as a “school within a school,” not a free-standing entity, board staff suggests.
But four proposed sports academies would be schools in their own right, staff recommends, because a focus on fitness is broad enough to suit all children in a neighbourhood school. The sports academies are not meant for elite young athletes, but would centre on physical activity.
“A focus on healthy, active living has a broad enough base in the curriculum for all kids in a school,” whereas a public neighbourhood grade school can’t serve just boys or just girls or a group as specific as choral students, noted Karen Grose, superintendent of innovative programs for the Toronto District School Board.
“But as a sports academy, a school might want to focus on fitness and, say, three sports — maybe cricket, basketball and yoga — while another would pick entirely different ones,” said Grose. “The idea is to provide flexibility.”
Grose is part of a staff team studying the feasibility of elementary “programs of choice” proposed by education director Chris Spence as a way to appeal to diverse student interests and needs. The appeal of specialty boutique-style schools is also meant to stem the loss of some 4,000 students each year to falling birth rates and the 905.
While Spence originally proposed launching one school of each type next September, trustees voted this spring to consider one in each quadrant of the city to ensure families in all neighbourhoods have access.
In its first feasibility bulletin, staff recommended no more than 150 students start in each of the boys’ and girls’ academies and choir school, with the potential to expand, if numbers warrant, to full stand-alone sites, which would be located in closed schools that would be reopened. In this way, no regular elementary school would be lost.
The all-boy schools are expected to run from kindergarten to Grade 3 to start; the others are expected to run from grades 4 to 8.
Staff will report in October on potential sites, however trustee Josh Matlow opposes launching any new programs while the board struggles to provide enough textbooks and resources for the programs it already has.