Sunnybrook School (Toronto)

Sunnybrook School
Address
469 Merton Street
Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1B4
Canada
Information
School type Private
Elementary school
Motto The WILL to Learn
The COURAGE to Act
The CONFIDENCE to Succeed
Religious affiliation(s) none
Founded 1952
Director and Principal Irene Davy, Ph.D.
Grades JK – 6
Enrollment 130 (1985-2013[1][2])
Language English
Campus Urban
Mascot Merton the Wizard
Website www.sunnybrookschool.com

Sunnybrook School (SBS) is a coeducational, private elementary school offering Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6, with one class per grade. Founded in 1952 as one of Toronto’s first Preschools,[3] Sunnybrook is located on a residential street in North Toronto, specifically in the Mount Pleasant West area of Davisville Village west of Bayview Avenue. Sunnybrook School has been family-run for over 60 years. In April 1999, Sunnybrook School became Canada’s first English speaking school to implement the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP). In 2002, Sunnybrook School became the first authorized IB PYP school in Canada outside of Quebec.

Since 1960, the school has occupied its own purpose built premises, which have been renovated and enlarged three times (1985, 1998, 2011).

History

Founding and Naming

Sunnybrook School was founded in 1952 by Mrs. Irmingard Hoff. Hoff “studied early childhood education in Vienna”[4] and immigrated to Canada from Austria in 1950.[3] Sunnybrook School was one of North Toronto's first Preschools. It was first located in the basement of St. Augustine of Canterbury Church in Leaside.[3] The name of the school came from its original proximity to two contemporaneous developments: first, Sunnybrook Hospital, which was at the time a hospital for veterans, called the Sunnybrook Veterans Hospital, and second, Sunnybrook Plaza, which was built in 1951 and was the first shopping mall in Toronto and one of the first malls in Canada. The school’s teaching philosophy was originally based on a combination of Montessori and Fröbel methods.

Move to Merton Street

Sunnybrook School's original purpose-built facility on Merton Street, circa 1960.

In 1960 the school moved to the present 469 Merton Street location, which borders on Mount Pleasant Cemetery. The new, purpose-built facility on Merton Street was funded by loans from parents of students.[3] In 1960, Sunnybrook School had 65 students in 5 classes and was the first “privately operated nursery school in the city in a building designed for the job.”[3][4] In 1967 the school had 94 students and a staff of 20, with 12 teachers.[5] With housing prices increasing and more women and mothers pursuing careers of their own, the nursery school filled a growing need not only for morning child-care but also for all-day services.[6] The all-day services provided a “planned learning program” and also included “‘real tea’ at 4p.m., complete with sandwiches, to stay [the students] until dinner. Unlike morning pupils, many all-day pupils [had] mothers who work[ed], who [couldn’t] get dinner ready by 6 o’clock.”[3]

The founding director of Sunnybrook School, Irmingard Hoff, was also President of the Nursery Education Association of Ontario (NEAO).[5] In the 1960s, “one of the [NEAO’s] primary objectives [was] to qualify teachers to train ‘exceptional’ or ‘handicapped’ children.”[5] To this end, the NEAO coordinated with “the Ontario government to set up teaching courses in universities and community colleges.”[5] During a 1967 speech, Hoff promised to increase the number of certified nursery teachers in Ontario from 190 to 800 within five years.[5]

Since 1960 the Sunnybrook School facility on Merton Street has undergone three expansions.

First Expansion

Sunnybrook School after the first expansion and renovation, circa 1985.

In 1985 Irmingard Hoff's daughter, Irene Davy, Ph.D. (Educational Psychology, University of Vienna), became the director of the school. That same year a neighbouring property was purchased and an addition was built, improving the facilities by adding a gym, three classrooms and a new kitchen.[4] In order for the school to offer the full complement of elementary grades, preschool classes were phased out in the 1980ʼs.[4]

Second Expansion

In 1998 a new gym was created at the back of the building (facing the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery) and the old gym was converted into two classrooms.

Third Expansion

Sunnybrook School after the third expansion and renovation.

Having purchased the neighbouring property of 471 Merton Street, Sunnybrook School undertook another expansion and renovation project in 2011. The renovation involved all extant classrooms and offices.

New facilities added during 2011 expansion

Adoption of IB PYP and Involvement in the International Baccalaureate (IB)

In April 1999, Sunnybrook School became Canadaʼs first English speaking school to implement the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP). Sunnybrook School became fully authorized as an IB PYP school in 2002.[8] The Director and Principal of Sunnybrook School, Dr. Irene Davy, has been actively involved with the IB in a variety of roles.[9][10] Dr. Davy’s work on educating for international mindedness has had an influence on a number of other educational institutions in Toronto and around the world.[11][12][13][14][15]

Curriculum

Faculty at Sunnybrook School refine the curriculum annually in accordance with the framework of the IB PYP[16] and with reference to the guidelines of the Ontario Ministry of Education.[17] Sunnybrook School educates its students according to the IB principles of global competence and citizenship.[18] Sunnybrook School draws on the IB Learner Profile[19] for a common vocabulary of values and behaviours that contribute to the development of the attributes of global citizenship.[20][21] The curriculum at Sunnybrook School is focused on international mindedness[22] and includes the Singapore Mathematics Programme, an early Literacy Curriculum, full day enriched Kindergarten and Inquiry-based learning.

Twenty-first century pedagogy includes a focus on concepts, learning through inquiry and learning skills and dispositions that are transferable and enduring, leading to lifelong learning. Sunnybrook School applies this pedagogy, using the methods and ideas of current educational thought leaders, including David Perkins,[23] Heidi Hayes Jacobs,[24] Lynne Erickson[25][26] and others.

Student Life

Sunnybrook School is a member of the Small Schools Athletic Federation (SSAF).[27] Students compete with schools across the city in soccer, basketball, soft ball, cross country,[28] track and field and ball hockey.[29]

Notable Alumni

References

  1. ↑ Freeman, Joshua (17 June 2010). "Merton row hits OMB". My Town Crier. Toronto: Streeter Publications. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  2. ↑ Freeman, Joshua (18 November 2009). "Private school gets ready for expansion". My Town Crier. Toronto: Streeter Publications. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Henderson, Ross (17 November 1960). "Parents Believe in Training: School gets $65,000 Loan". Toronto Star. Toronto. p. 30.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Celebrating 60 at Sunnybrook School". My Town Crier. Toronto: Streeter Publications. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Training in Nurseries to improve". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. 30 May 1967. p. 42.
  6. ↑ "Nurseries said Essential". Montreal Gazette. Montreal. 12 December 1967. p. 22.
  7. ↑ "City of Toronto – Staff Report – 469 & 471 Merton St. Rezoning Application – Preliminary Report" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  8. ↑ "Official IB World Schools Website: Sunnybrook School". Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  9. ↑ Abrioux, Marc; Rutherford, Jill, eds. (2013). Introducing the IB Diploma Programme. Cambridge University Press. pp. 71, 324. ISBN 9781107606289.
  10. ↑ "Official Website of International Baccalaureate Council Members: Irene Davy". Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  11. ↑ "Toronto French School - Senior School Discussion Forum". Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  12. ↑ "International School Manila: Learning and Teaching in the ES". Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  13. ↑ "International School Moshi: Moshi Campus News". 11 August 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  14. ↑ "Not Just for Little Kids: Using picture books in the middle years to engage and teach about the world". Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  15. ↑ Byrne, Duncan (August 2006). "Chairman's Report for Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School" (PDF). Independent Schools' Modern Languages Association: 7. Retrieved 2013-12-13.
  16. ↑ "Official Basis for Practice for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme" (PDF). p. 14. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  17. ↑ "Ontario Ministry of Education: Curriculum Documents, Guidelines, Policies and Resources". Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  18. ↑ Veronica Boix Mansilla and Anthony Jackson (2011). "Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World" (PDF). Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  19. ↑ "IB Learner Profile Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  20. ↑ Davy, Irene (2011). "Learners without Borders: A Curriculum for Global Citizenship". International Baccalaureate Organization.
  21. ↑ "Official Sunnybrook School Curriculum Website". Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  22. ↑ "Creating an Internationally Minded Community: The IB Primary Years Programme at Sunnybrook School. International Baccalaureate Case Study: Canada (2007-2008)" (PDF). p. 2. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  23. ↑ "Harvard Graduate School of Education: Archives that Tag David Perkins". Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  24. ↑ "Curriculum 21: Mapping the Global Classroom of the Future (posts that tag Heidi Hayes Jacobs)". Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  25. ↑ Erickson, Lynne (2008). Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum, Instruction, and Concept-Based Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN 978-1-4129-2522-8. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  26. ↑ "Lynne Erickson: C & I Consulting". Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  27. ↑ "Official Small Schools Athletic Federation Website: Sunnybrook School". Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  28. ↑ "SSAF Cross Country 2013 Results" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  29. ↑ "Official Sunnybrook School Student Life Website: School Teams". Retrieved 2013-11-16.

Coordinates: 43°41′56″N 79°22′57″W / 43.69889°N 79.38257°W / 43.69889; -79.38257

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