Our School

History

Ashton Meadows Public School is named after the beautiful Ashton Meadows Park, located to the west of the school. Our school mascot is the majestic Falcon, known for its power and speed. Ashton Meadows P.S. was officially opened in 1997. Prior to being named, the school was known as "Buttonville-North” in honour of its location and in reference to the holding school, Buttonville P.S.

Our school motto is CHARACTER, LITERACY, LEADERSHIP & COMMUNITY and we endeavour to live by the Golden Rule, Treat Others The Way You Wish To Be Treated.

Our school mascot is the FALCON. Go Falcons Go!

Facilities

At Ashton Meadows Public School, students enjoy a well-equipped school, complete with gymnasium, library, music room, science lab and other classroom facilities. A full-day, as well as before and after school, child-care centre is located on site, owned and operated by Upper Canada Child Care. The centre staff work closely with teachers, parents and administration to support students attending the school, and the day care is an integral part of Ashton’s student involvement/leadership plan. Ashton is also a partner with Children’s Breakfast Clubs – enabling communities to provide nurturing care and social/educational stimulation for school-age children while serving nutritious breakfast meals.

Programs

As with each school in the York Region District School Board, Ashton Meadows complies with the curriculum standards as set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education.

In addition, Ashton Meadows:

• Promotes a safe and supportive learning environment. This is done through the Board’s Safe and Supportive Schools Policy and Procedures and the Character Education Initiatives. For more information visit Character Matters Page or Safe, Caring and Supportive Schools
• Special Education programs: For more information about Special Education in the York Region District School Board, visit the Special Education Home Page
• Before and after school program. Service is provided by Upper Canada Child Care.

Curriculum:

• School Council Fundraising Activities
• Focus on reading comprehension strategies for higher order thinking – member of learning network
• Focus on assessment, with particular focus on descriptive feedback – literacy team and consultant
• Focus on common understanding (students/staff/parents) of quality literacy instruction – school literacy display
• Focus on clear understanding of expectations – Learning Targets/ Success Criteria

Parent, Family and Community Engagement:

• Parenting Guest Speakers
• Community Partnerships – see Community section

School and Workplace Climate:

• Student Surveys - As part of Ashton’s commitment to student voice, student surveys and “dotmocracy” voting are used to collect input and measure impact as perceived by our students. This input is then used to help drive decision-making.
• School-wide Tribes Program – twice a term students from kindergarten to grade 8 get together to celebrate the Ashton Community and to build cross-grade relationships. Each Tribes activity has a different theme, ranging from celebrations of different cultures to student leadership training.
• Sports - Ashton has a number of after school, house league, and “pick-up” sports activities that run throughout the year and are offered to primary students through intermediate students. As part of Ashton’s focus on student leadership, many of our students are integral to the success of these programs.
• Conversation Cafés – As part of their responses to the student survey, Ashton students asked for activities where students get to know both each other and the adults in the building better. One of our responses was to start Conversation Cafés. Each Café is based on a different topic and both students and staff submit their names to attend. One of our rooms is then decorated as a restaurant, and participants come together to eat lunch together and discuss the topic of the day.
• Music and Drama Productions - Ashton is proud of its bands, choirs, and various music and drama productions.

Safe and Supportive Schools/Character Education

Every student has the right to learn in a safe and supportive environment. The York Region District School Board has a Safe Schools Policy and a defined procedure to implement the policy. Both the policy and procedure support the view that student discipline involves a continuum of support including prevention, intervention and appropriate consequences. For more information on safe schools, visit the Board's Website.

In addition, Ashton Meadows supports the development of character education in the York Region District School Board. The following is an overview of the school’s Character Education initiatives.

• We Caught You . . . – The front lobby of Ashton proudly displays our Character Tree mural. Throughout the year, we also have our We Caught You campaigns and the mural gets decorated with additional pieces appropriate to the season. We our proud to say that many of our students are regularly caught CARING, SHARING, LEARNING and the list goes on.
• Principal’s Proud of You – As part of ensuring that every student at Ashton views the office and the administration as a place of celebration and support as well as discipline, the students of Ashton are regularly “sent to the office” to celebrate their learning and accomplishments. As part of these visits, students often receive stickers indicating that their principal is proud of them as well as some special pencils.
• School Climate Focus – One of the sections of Ashton’s SPCI relates specifically to building a positive school climate and engaging our students in that quest. For more information on activities in this area (Tribes/Confersation Cafes/ Student Leadership Training), please see that section above.