Down the Hall

At the Elementary School, learning is integrated by design. Interdisciplinary projects help students make real-life connections across subjects, and each specialist class adds its own piece. When students head down the hall to the science room, the art studios, the gymnasium, and the library, they learn from a team of teachers who share one belief: children understand the world best when they’re free to try things and get a little messy along the way.

Thinking Like Scientists

In Marina Gillis’s science classes, students explore the natural and technological world through hands-on investigations. They observe, handle materials, run experiments, and draw their own conclusions. Along the way, they build the critical thinking and problem-solving skills to use what they learn to help people and the planet.

Building Confidence Through Movement

Emily Flaherty and Mark Schulz, known to students as Ms. F. and Mr. S., teach physical education at the Elementary School, and Emily also leads outdoor education. Their program centres on physical literacy and on building competencies students will carry for life.

“Physical literacy is a person’s ability to feel competent and confident in a wide range of activities taking place in all kinds of different environments.”

— Emily Flaherty, Physical Education Teacher and Outdoor Education Instructional Lead

Each unit is paired with a life skill, such as respect, fair play, sportsmanship, or teamwork, so that these lessons carry into other parts of students’ lives. Some lessons start before anyone even laces up. Each winter, students and staff build the school’s outdoor skating rink together, then spend the season skating on the ice they made.

Room to Create

Zenia Dusaniwsky teaches art in Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 5, and Shannon Carmichael teaches art to Grade 6. Every student has an hour of art each week, in one of two studios, and in outdoor learning spaces. Here, every child is an artist. Working with a wide range of materials, students make their own creative decisions and produce authentic work that reflects their individual point of view.

“This is learning at its best, and it’s messy.”

— Zenia Dusaniwsky, Art Teacher

In music, Harry Skinner invites students to immerse themselves in the musical world around them. They sing, move, compose, conduct, and play, learning the fundamentals in both theory and practice. Over the years, students try several instruments, building toward the Grade 6 band program. Harry encourages them to connect music to the world’s cultures, languages, dances, and history, and to find their own unique voices.

Where Every Student Is Known

Students in Kindergarten through Grade 6 visit the library once a week to read together and borrow books in French and English to enjoy. Library time includes discussions that build social-emotional skills. Shannon Carmichael, who also teaches weekly digital citizenship to Grade 6, ties library time to what students are exploring in their other classes and to big schoolwide events.

“We’re always updating our collection to meet our students’ curiosities and to help nurture their love of reading.”

— Shannon Carmichael, Library and Digital Citizenship Teacher

When a teacher is away, Julie Kaegi, our internal substitute teacher, steps in, whatever the subject. Because she works with every student, the day keeps its rhythm.
“I work with all the students, so I get to know them, they get to know me, which allows for a smooth transition whenever any of the teachers are absent,” says Julie Kaegi, Internal Substitute Teacher.

Each of these teachers brings a different passion into the building. Together, their classes connect into one experience for every child. Wherever the hallway leads next, our students have someone ready to help them explore and see where their curiosity takes them.