Junior Academy

History

Junior Academy was founded in 1988 by Dianne Johnson in Toronto, Ontario.

The school was initially located in rented premises in the basement of the Leaside Presbyterian Church and had 4 students in its first year. From 1988-1996, the school remained in this location and offered classes for students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Eventually, the school grew to a population of 50+ students and in 1996, Junior Academy purchased the Old Town Hall in Leaside located at 235 McRae Drive and added on Grade 7 and 8.

During its tenure in Leaside, Junior Academy grew to 100+ students, but was still able to remain true to Mrs. Johnson's philosophy that children tend to succeed in a smaller classroom setting.

In order to accommodate the growing population of the school, Junior Academy eventually purchased a property located at 2454 Bayview Avenue and built a customized 19,000 sf building with a full size gymnasium 30 feet below grade. The new premise opened up its doors for Junior Academy's 20th anniversary in September, 2008.

Progressive Programs

LEAP-Learners Engaged Actively in Projects

Project-based, inquiry learning is the foundation for our LEAP program. This program challenges students to move from simpler, surface level questions (What is the weather like in Hawaii?) to deeper, more complex questions (How does the geography and climate of Hawaii impact its farming and crop production?) that will open the door to independent investigation.

Learning is student driven, and engagement remains high as students delve into the topic of their choice, inspiring a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the material.

The teacher takes on the role of facilitator, providing a framework in which the students can conduct their research and present their findings – whether it be through song, poster board, video, or diorama. In the end, one question is answered, but many more have arisen, and a spark has been ignited.

FLEX – Friendship and social skills, Learning skills, Executive Functioning

Our FLEX program combines explicit instruction and situational discovery to help students develop some of the most important skills needed in our rapidly changing 21stcentury.

FLEX utilizes the Tribes Learning Program to promote social and emotional growth, while incorporating the six key learning skills outlined by the Ontario Curriculum – Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative and Self-Regulation.

Through discussion, role-play, team-building exercises, cooperative games, organizational tasks and many other varied activities, students learn how to be respectful of differences, flexible in unforeseen circumstances, and resilient in the face of adversity.

The FLEX program at Junior Academy is reflective of our mission as an institution, where we strive to instill in students a growth mindset and a desire to become lifelong learners.

Outdoor Education

Outdoor Education takes place all year long, across the street from Junior Academy at the Canadian Film Institute. Every 2 weeks, students venture in to the park lands to study science related topics. The river, fields and forest provide the opportunity to spend time in a green space whilst learning curriculum related topics. Students emerge from classes with a better understanding, appreciation and respect for nature.

In addition to the above, the Grade 5-8's take an annual trip at the beginning of the year to Camp Onondaga.

Leadership Opportunities

Leadership Crew

Leadership Crew is an extensive program for grades 5-8. Students may sign up to take one or more responsibilities around the school. Each responsibility has a crew and a LOL (Leader of Leaders). The LOL is in charge of scheduling, training his/her crew as well as covering for students on their crew who are absent. Crews include ; Morning Duty (greeting and helping younger students into school), Milk Crew (delivering daily milk), Kindergarten Crew (Eat lunch and Help Kindergartens get ready for recess) Junior Playground Duty (helping younger students play cooperatively on the junior playground), AV Crew (weekly assembly AV set up as well as concert and event support).

House Team Captains

Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 are eligible to apply to be a House Captain for each of our 4 houses. Interviews take place in September and Captains are responsible for leading their house for the entire year. Some responsibilities include assembly announcements, planning and leading weekly intramural games, planning and leading sports day activities, charity drives and keeping up the house spirit for duration of the year!

Big Brothers and Big Sisters Program

Big Brother and Sisters are assigned one or more younger student to mentor. Once a week, they meet and eat lunch together as well as spend one recess playing together.

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions

A key component to developing social and emotional growth as well as problem solving abilities at Junior Academy occurs through the use of Dr. Ross Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model. The key theme of the CPS model is that “kids do well if they can.”

The model focuses on developing collaborative skills in order to find solutions to challenging situations and problems. Not only is this essential as a life skill in order to function adaptively in the real world, this is also essential for the social – emotional health and development of our students.

Another tenet of this model is that when difficulties and / or challenging behaviour occur, they are best understood as the result of lagging skills. Working together, we can identify the skills the student is lacking and the expectations he or she is having difficulty meeting. We then work together with the student – collaborating – to solve the problems.

References

https://www.livesinthebalance.org/

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