Queen Alexandra Middle School is a diverse community of learners who will be prepared to meet the academic challenges of the 21st century. All members will be empowered to be global citizens by thinking critically and acting collaboratively.
- The school serves approximately 350 diverse, largely inner-city students in Grades 6, 7 and 8. The largest self-identified groups include Caucasian, Indigenous, Latino/a, Black, Middle Eastern, and about half the population identifying as East Asian or South Asian.
- The staff is committed to building a strong partnership with students and parents in order to provide a productive, relevant learning environment which includes an extensive co-curricular program to engage.
Mission Statement
Queen Alexandra Middle School's mission is to build a community of learners that embraces compassion and fairness. Our goal is to provide students with an environment that nurtures their academic, emotional, social, and physical growth. Queen "A" is committed to motivating students to set goals and reach their full potential. The main purpose of our safe, diverse and inclusive school is to create a culture of responsible students, who maintain their uniqueness and passion for learning.
Interesting Feature
Model Schools for Inner City
Queen Alexandra is a part of the Model Schools for Inner City initiative. To achieve the goals of the initiative, we adhere to the five following essential components: 1) Innovative teaching and learning practices. 2) Support Services to meet the social, emotional, and physical well-being of our students. 3) The continued outreach necessary for the school to become the heart of the community. 4) Research, review, and evaluation of students and programs. 5) Commitment to share successful practice.
More Information about Queen Alexandra Middle School
Queen "A" Learning Goals
We are learning to meet the academic challenges of the 21st century by thinking critically, acting collaboratively and contributing in a socially responsible and innovative way to the global community. We value inquiry based learning, and evaluate using success criteria based on citizenship, critical thinking, communication, character, creativity and collaboration.
Commitment to Social Justice
As a school community, our focus on a wide variety of equity and social justice issues is embedded within the curriculum and our co-curricular activities. Our goal is to foster a learning environment that celebrates diversity and enables all students to see themselves reflected within the curriculum. We offer a rich range of experiences and opportunities to students.
Celebrating the Arts
Our arts programs offer a rich opportunity for our students to find their creative selves, appreciate the talents of others and experience the extension of learning. We have a beautiful art room, stage, and music room offering vocal music, as well as an opportunity to participate in strings, band, ukulele, guitar and steel pan programs.
Queen "A" is on the Move!
We know that physical activity leads to active minds and healthy bodies. At Queen "A" every student participates in physical and health education classes, as well as weekly pool classes. Our students engage in a wide variety of physical activities that support fitness and skill building. To support the program, the school also engages in daily physical activity.
Additional Features
- Partnering with Community Agencies
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters
- One-On-One Mentoring
- After School Programs
- Extra Curricular Sports and Clubs
- House league
- Breakfast/Snack Nutrition Program
- Toronto Dance Theatre
Student Life - Where You Belong
Queen Alexandra provides a wide array of extra curricular programming geared to the varied aptitudes and interests of all our students. These programs offer students and opportunity to further develop their self-esteem and social skills. Students can participate in a number of activities such as: sports teams, choir, Young Authors, Environment Club, and many other clubs. Students can engage in leadership through groups like Student Council. In conjunction with our school based programming we also offer a host of programs in collaboration with local community agencies.
What Sets Us Apart
Eighteen months ago, Queen Alexandra M.S. started a program at our school to support at-risk students through our “One Caring Adult” (OCA) program. To initiate the program, teachers put forward names of students who are at risk for any number of reasons. Adults in the building who wish to participate in the OCA program are matched with these students. Together, the adults and students plan their meeting schedule – whether it’s for lunch in a classroom every other week, help with homework after school, or 10 minutes weekly to clean out a locker. Each schedule looks different depending on the needs of the student. The Caring Adult becomes a safe and caring “touch stone” adult for the student. The OCA program is currently in its second year of operation and is still going strong. Queen Alexandra uses twitter to communicate regularly with students and parents. We even "tweet" our student of the month assemblies!
Parent and Community Engagement
At Queen A we believe in regular communication and partnerships with local agencies (e.g., 55 Division Community Officers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Toronto Dance Theatre). We have an ongoing partnership with Dundas Public School, First Nations School of Toronto, and SEED. Our staff is involved with Ontario Studies in Education at U of T and York University's Teacher Education Program. We pride ourselves on our open-door policy for parents/guardians. We have regular communication with our parents through email, our Facebook page and Twitter, along with paper communication.
