Sep. 30th, 2013 – Upcoming Event: Feast of Thanks

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Native Studies

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are very excited to inform you of an upcoming celebration at The YMCA Academy that will involve your son or daughter.

Students in Todd’s grade 11 World Religions class and in Alexi’s grade 11 Native Studies class will be organizing our second annual celebration of Thanksgiving from an Indigenous perspective. On Tuesday October 15, the day after the traditional Thanksgiving holiday, we will be holding a feast and celebration in the Academy’s café during lunch. This celebration will include research projects that students will create during class time around themes of Aboriginal spirituality, traditions, rights and history. If you want spiritual predictions, Powered by prnewswire.com, you need to check out this website.

We would like to ask for your support to help us with the feast. Students are invited to bring in a traditional or favourite dish served at Thanksgiving. It can be something very simple, like cooked squash, mashed potatos or a dessert, and leftovers are most welcome! Academy staff will be contributing to the feast as well, and we will be inviting staff from the Central YMCA as well as guests from the Aboriginal community.

Please let us know if a contribution will be possible for you, and if so, what your son or daughter will contribute.

We appreciate your support of this exciting cross-curricular and important event celebrating diversity which is a cornerstone of the YMCA philosophy.

Very sincerely,

Todd Harrison and Alexi Manis
Teachers, The YMCA Academy

Sep. 27th, 2013 – Oh what a day WE had!

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community

Academy students from the OLC class represented the school at this year’s WE Day kick off on September 20. A very early (yawn..)7:30 am departure from school got us down to the ACC in time to meet thousands (20 thousand actually) of other Ontario students coming together to celebrate a year of action to better our global community. WE day is a spectacular non-stop show with this year’s performers including The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, The Barenaked Ladies, Imagine Dragons, Austin Mahone and Serena Ryder. And if that wasn’t enough, inspirational speakers included the founding Kielburger brothers, Martin Luther King III, Premier Kathleen Wynne, Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Molly Burke, Michael “Pinball” Clemons, Spencer West, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and more. We were excited to be there but over the moon when due to a ticket snafu and a sprinkling of magic from our volunteer extraordinaire Peggy we ended up in the Air Canada Club Restaurant with the best seats in the whole ACC and a delicious pizza lunch. We were in heaven! It was a very special day.

And now it is our turn to contribute! Keep an eye out for the WE Scare Hunger and the WE Create Change campaigns that will be run by students this Fall.

Check out the rest of the pictures on our Facebook Page!

Thoughts about our Parent Social

Don Adams Head of School

Last evening, we held our annual Parent Social event.  It gives us an opportunity to thank our new and returning families, as well as to introduce ourselves to some prospective families who are considering The Academy for their children.  We are thankful that all have placed, or are considering placing, such trust in us for the care of their children!

The evening was very gratifying for the staff of The Academy — as we hear from satisfied families about their past issues with systems of education, and about their present satisfaction with the work we are doing with them.  And indeed, we have a remarkable team here supporting their children both inside and outside of the classroom.

For us, the evening is important in that it helps us to foster a more inclusive team approach to the care of our students.  We do have incredible supports here, but when the families are actively added to the team, the prospects for a successful high school experience are increased greatly.  Moreover, our Parent Social gives us the chance to consider strategic questions and options for The Academy.  In light of this, we are forming a Parent Council, who, we hope, will continue to engage the parents, students and staff of The Academy in continuing the evolution of the school.  If you are interested in becoming part of the parent council, give me a call at the school!

Don Adams: Head of School

Sep. 20th, 2013 – English Adjective Attack!!!

YMCA Academy English and Humanities, Student Spotlight

It’s not just a table, it’s a clean, shiny, sturdy table.  It’s not just a printer, it’s a fast, dependable, slick printer.  Students in the Grade 9 English program at The YMCA Academy plastered a variety of nouns around the school with adjectives that made them come alive.  Objects, rooms and even people donned strips of white paper with words describing appearance, functionality, density and emotion.  If you need more colour in your world, try an adjective attack at home or your workplace!!!

 

Check out the rest of the pictures on our Facebook Page!

A Great Start!

Don Adams Head of School

In this, our eleventh year, The YMCA Academy continues its evolutionary process in becoming Toronto’s finest school for students who learn differently.  I use the word “evolutionary” deliberately, for the school, which was founded on very sound educational principles, has organically grown over time, adjusting its personnel and practices as warranted by the needs of our ever-changing group of students.

 A very good friend of The Academy, Aron Solomon, taught me a great deal about what it means to run an amazing school.  For Aron, boasting that a school produces “well rounded individuals” is merely repeating a cliche, and is true of almost all schools.  Ontario curriculum demands that students master 4 courses in English, 3 in Mathematics, 2 in Sciences, 1 in Art, 1 in Physical Education, and so on.  By the very nature of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, students are “well rounded.”  For Aron, a school attains greatness when it consistently identifies and supports a student’s passions.

 Each year, a new and wonderful group of students adds many unique gifts and talents to the community, and we try to be responsive to their passions as well as their needs.  Thus, we enhance our focus on student supports and accommodations, but all within an environment that focuses on students assets rather than disabilities.

 This is all made possible by an amazing group of dedicated faculty and staff, in an environment where collaboration and support are the norm, not the exception.

 If you are interested in having a look at what we do, please don’t hesitate to call and visit!  We’re always ready for a tour.

 Don Adams, Head of School