Cliffwood Public School is located near the intersection of Don Mills Road and Steeles Avenue. The school opened over 30 years ago. In the last two years we have gone from having completely open concept classrooms to partially open classrooms. We serve students representing 24 different language groups. More than 70% speak English as their second language. Cliffwood is a dual track school offering English (JK to Gr. 5), and French Immersion (SK to Gr. 5) Many of our students speak English, Cantonese, or Mandarin at home. Other areas represented at Cliffwood include Korea, Japan, the Middle East, and Turkey.
Cliffwood Students Think Globally
Cliffwood students regularly take part in activities that foster a world view. Our school participates in the annual Terry Fox Run and each year in December supports our holiday caring and sharing fundraiser to collect mittens and food to donate to North York Harvest. These programs teach our students empathy, respect, and a caring attitude to support causes that will aid those both within and outside their own community.
Expectations
Student safety is a top priority. Our Code of Behaviour is supported by a set of School Rules. We have high expectations for student behaviour and work collaboratively with parents to take advantage of the 'teachable moment'. All guests to the school are expected to sign in at the office and wear a badge to identify themselves as visitors. Our nut-free policy addresses the needs of students with nut allergies.
More Information about Cliffwood Public School
The Arts
Cliffwood students take part in a wide variety of Arts activities. In our Music classes, students have opportunities to play instruments such as recorders, ukuleles and Orff instruments. We regularly have a Dance Club as well as a Music Club. This year, some of our classes will begin a two year community mural project for our front foyer.
Literacy/Numeracy
Our students work hard to master these essential areas of the curriculum. Our teachers use a structured process to work on skills identified from an examination of our data as being most in need of attention to make sure students are challenged and guided in a manner which best meets their needs.
Physical Activity
Physical activity is a part of the daily life at Cliffwood. Our Cross Country runners take part in Regional and Board level events. We value the times when everyone can get outside at recess to put themselves in motion. Soccer, volleyball, basketball and track and field are part of our regular roster of activities.
Diversity
We strive at Cliffwood to make our classes models of diversity at work. We celebrate our various cultures and recognize the common ground that makes us one family at Cliffwood within a complex world.
Additional Features
● Cliffwood Community Child Care
● Vision, Hearing, Dental Screening
● Chess, Mad Science ● Scientist in the School
● International Languages Programs
● Morning Meal Program
● Monthly Pizza Lunches
● Cliffwood School Council
Student Life - Where You Belong
Cliffwood students work with dedicated teachers. They have daily opportunities to learn and succeed in their academic and social activities. The goal is to work hard and to have fun at school! Students in the English program are taught in English with French introduced at the grade 4 level for forty minutes each day. Students in the French Immersion program are taught in French with English language instruction introduced at the grade 4 level for forty minutes each day. We offer a variety of extracurricular activities to support student development, social skills and to provide ways for students to explore their interests while having fun. Students are encouraged to express their voices and work with staff to create activities that they are interested in. These include sports teams and activities such as volleyball, cross country running, soccer and track and field, as well as clubs such as kindness club, music club, dance club, games club, knitting club, and comic club.
What Sets Us Apart
Our school focus for this year stresses strong literacy and numeracy programs in both the English and French tracks. We are engaged in planning to ensure we are delivering programs which foster critical thinking skills in all our students. We continue to develop our capacity to use technology through the use of Chromebooks, I-pads, document cameras and the use of assistive technology tools such as Google Classroom, Google Voice and Read and Write Gold. Each of our classes also has the opportunity to work in the computer lab and the STEM makerspace area. In partnership with the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, we have a Morning Meal program in which all students receive foods from 3 food groups every day just before morning recess.
Parent and Community Engagement
Cantonese, Mandarin and Farsi classes are offered weekly to students in the community. Local organizations often use the school facilities for their activities. We have a shared working partnership with the staff of the Cliffwood Community Child Care and run a successful Preschool, Full Day Kindergarten and School Age Before and After School Program. The School Council meets regularly and raises funds to support Performances and Science programming in school as well as to fund technology improvements and special program supports. Parent volunteers are welcomed in classrooms and our Learning Resource Centre. We use a School Planner to provide regular communication between the home and school for all children from Kindergarten to Grade 5.
