Dennis Avenue Community School (Gr JK - 5)
17 Dennis Ave, York, ON
M6N2T7
M6N2T7
416-394-2311
416-394-4175
We are located in the historic community of Mount Dennis, near Weston Road and Eglinton Avenue. Mount Dennis was founded in 1797. The first school opened in 1891.
- Many families have ancestral roots in this former small town. About 30% of the students speak English as a second language. Home languages include Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese, and Somali.
- A partnership between our school, parents and community is essential to create an environment that promotes academic growth, social development, and a positive feeling of self-worth.
- In partnership with Macaulay Child Development and Syme Woolner Centres, we house the Dennis Avenue C. S. Early Years Centre.
Model School and Improvement Plans
We are part of the Model Schools for Inner Cities program. Our vision for student success is founded on the Five Essential Components for Model Schools: Innovative Teaching and Learning; Support services to meet the social, emotional, and physical well-being of students; School as the Heart of the Community; Research review and evaluation of students and programs; and Sharing Best Practices.
Students, staff, parents, and our community are important partners in our plans. Our SMART Goals and Action Plans reflect this and are listed in greater detail on our web site.
Parent Engagement
Building parent partnerships and improving our home and school communication are important goals for our school. Engaging our parents through newsletters, phone calls, conferences, volunteering opportunities, and workshops are some ways we continue to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to ensuring a strong and supportive home and school partnership. This year, upon receiving feedback through a parent survey, we will be offering a variety of parent information/engagement sessions during different times of the day (e.g., reporting and assessment, healthy eating, cooking, safety).
Student Achievement
Some of our key goals to increase student achievement are:
-creating Critical Learning Intervention Pathways (CLIPS) to improve students' success in literacy and numeracy
-using Ministry exemplars and school data as baselines to determine students' needs
-providing a variety of opportunities to nurture and celebrate student sucess
A Safe and Caring Learning Environment
We believe that every student must be respectful and be a respected citizen of our school. We will provide a caring, secure, healthy, and safe learning environment to promote student success for all students. High expectations will assist students to realize their full potential and achieve lifelong goals. Our Code of Conduct also clearly supports what we stand for.
Our Literacy SMART goal
-to increase literacy achievement by 10%
Some strategies and actions:
-ensure a Guided Reading format is used
-interventions for all students
-professional development for teachers
-host a variety of initiatives to engage students and parents (e.g., Family Storytelling, EQAO night, Family Literacy Day, Read-A-Thon, Silver Birch Reading, Borrow-A-Book program)
Our Numeracy SMART goal
-increase the percentage of gr. 3 students achieving the level 3 on EQAO by 10%
Some strategies and actions are:
-60 minute teaching blocks
-inquiry-based problem-solving model used
-students use "math talk" to explain their thinking and show understanding
-use math manipulatives and access technology
-host an EQAO/Family Math night
-professional development
