Our School
Rogers "the little school with a big heart" has built a strong reputation as a community school with a supportive and involved parent community and a caring professional staff who provide a solid education in a sensitive manner. The school is characterized by a number of strengths: excellent communication among teachers/parents/students/principal, a strong parental presence in decision making and day-to-day activities, a concern for the environment, high academic expectations for each child, a wide variety of extra-curricular activities and the ability to provide students with outstanding access to computer technology. Rogers Public School was opened in 1971 with an enrollment of approximately 500 students from Kindergarten to Grade 8. It was the first “open concept” school to be built for the York Region Board of Education.
Changes in areas such as size requirements for classrooms and school halls, advances in technology and a greater emphasis on safety within schools, caused some concerns about the structure of Rogers P.S. A decision was made in the Fall of 2003 to rebuild Rogers P.S. and incorporate the gifted program. Rogers P.S. reopened its doors in September 2006 and welcomed the gifted program community.
This year Rogers P.S. currently serves approximately 430 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 and is composed of three quite distinct groups. One residing in the area surrounding the school is an established population. A second, slightly smaller group, lives at some distance from the school and travels by bus to attend the grade 4-8 Gifted program. The third is comprised of a very small group of students of the PRIDE Gifted program which attends Rogers once a week, according to their grade level, coming from Georgina, Aurora, Richmond Hill and Newmarket. There are approximately 40 staff members working in teaching and non-teaching roles. Kindergarten programs are a blended all day-alternate day program. Regular instructional programs are offered in all grades from grade 1 to 8. Specialized programs are area north gifted program from grades 4-8, area north and central PRIDE program, instrumental music for grades 6 -8 students and French for students in Grade 4 to 8.
Rogers’ students enjoy many varied extra-curricular activities such as sports, choirs, bands, computer club, chess club and creative opportunities. Many special events are held throughout the year which welcomes the community. These include concerts, talent show, Grandparents’ Tea, Arts Nights, Good News Assemblies, Terry Fox Run and special presentations. Volunteers are welcomed to assist in some of the classrooms. Traditionally, Rogers has maintained close community connections through several activities and celebrations. The Loonie/Toonie drive originated over 30 years ago as a penny drive. This activity is held near Christmas with all proceeds going to support a Children’s’ Aid family. There are the regular events such as the Meet the Teacher Night in September and parent/teacher interviews in November.
The School Council holds its elections in May of each year and meets monthly to discuss and debate issues at the school and board level. Rogers’ School Council is a very busy and active group of volunteer parents who work hard to make the school a better place for the students. They organize Hot Lunch sales each week, the yearly fundraiser, gift baskets at the grandparents tea, purchase materials and equipment for classrooms and outside activities, fund special events and activities and support many of the special activities within the school. This group meets once each month and through all of their work, the money they raise goes directly to the students’ classrooms.
Rogers P. S. is situated in the middle of a stable community that will see little, if any growth, in the next few years. The “home” high schools are Sir William Mulock Secondary School and Newmarket High School.
Programs
As with each school in the York Region District School Board, Rogers P.S. support student learning through the curriculum standards set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education and many other co-curricular activities.
Our school:
- promotes a safe and supportive learning environment. This is done through the Board’s Safe Schools Policy and Procedures and the Character Education Initiatives
- provides Special Education Programs
- provides a before and after school program. Service is provided by Upper Canada “Quaker Hill Child Care
We are also very proud to offer the following programs to our students:
- Anti-Bullying Programs
- Guest speakers and workshops
- Ongoing and informal social skills counseling
- Kinark Family Services
- Progressive Discipline Model
- Student Leadership program
- VIP program
- Pals
- Good News Assemblies
- Rainbow
