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Jesse Ketchum Public School is located at Bay Street and Davenport Road near Yorkville Village. The school was established 175 years ago and the present building dates from 1914. The school is named after Jesse Ketchum, a philanthropist who donated the land to the School Board to build the school and to the city for the park.
• The school serves almost 410 students, coming from all over the world and from all socio-economic groups.
• There are 40 different languages spoken in the homes of our students.
• Jesse Ketchum is a composite school offering both the Junior and Senior level (Kindergarten - Grade 8) programs.
• There are a wide variety of extra curricular activities for our students to participate in such as Chess Club, choir, steele band, sports teams (football, volleyball, basketball, soccer, cross country, hockey, track and field), Me to We, band and strings.
• The school grounds blend with a public park, and the Jesse Ketchum Child Care Centre is housed in a separate building.
• The school strives to promote a safe and secure environment that ensures educational excellence for all students. In such an environment, our students build self-esteem and confidence, learn to work together in mutual respect and trust, and to value diversity.
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Nelson Mandela Park Public School is a downtown inner city school located in the heart of the Regent Park Community. Our school was renamed in October of 2001 in honour of Nelson Mandela with his visit to our school. The original Park School was built in 1853. The present Nelson Mandela Park School is the oldest public school in Toronto on its original site.
• The school serves a highly diverse population of just under 500 students coming from a mix of ethno-racial backgrounds, including Asian, Black, South Asian and White students. The newest group of students immigrated in recent years from African countries, mainly Somalia, and from South Asia, mainly from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A common characteristic of our student population is that all deal with issues related to poverty.
• Nelson Mandela Park is a composite school offering programs from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. The school has an active Parenting Centre and a LINC Parenting Program.
• As a model inner city school, we have developed our Mission Statement. We believe that staff, students, parents and community are all members of a learning community. As members of this community, we strive to affirm the social justice values that Nelson Mandela represents. We value: clear and effective communication; ongoing partnerships between school, parents and community; academic development resulting from appropriately challenging and engaging experiential learning experiences; fostering leadership in all members of our learning community; equity and diversity through the development of learning opportunities that promote social justice; and a collaborative environment in which staff help, support and respect each other. To achieve this vision, five essential components of a Model Inner City School will be implemented. They are:
1) Innovative teaching and learning practices
2) Support Services to meet the social, emotional, and physical well-being of our students
3) The continued outreach necessary for the school to become the heart of the community
4) Research, review, and evaluation of students and programs
5) A committment to share successful practices
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Queen Alexandra when founded in 1889 was known as Hamilton Street School. After the building was destroyed by fire in 1904, a new school, named after the wife of King Edward VII, was opened a year later on the present site at Broadview and Dundas. The present school was built in 1957 with an additional wing built in 1969. We celebrated our 100th Anniversary on Saturday, April 29, 2006.
• The school serves approximately 350 students in Grades 6, 7 and 8 with more than half of the population of east Asian backgrounds.
• Presently the program consists of a half-day homeroom, half-day rotary system with specialist teachers in History/Geography or Social Studies, Science, Health and Physical Education, French, Music/Visual Art, and Computer. Homeroom subjects include English, Math, and Media Studies.
• An Extended French program is offered in Gr. 7 and 8. In this program, students study Language, History and Geography in French. English and Mathematics are delivered on rotary. These students have the opportunity to continue the program in secondary school.
• Queen Alexandra staff is committed to building a strong partnership between staff, students, and parents in order to provide our adolescents with a productive and relevant learning environment. By making use of our excellent facilities, including 2 gyms and a pool, we are also able to offer an extensive extra-curricular program to meet the needs of our largely inner-city population.
• The transition to Middle School and the process to Secondary School are important aspects of senior school. Our strong guidance program facilitates the appropriate choices for our students.