Dear Parent(s) and Guardian(s),

Welcome to Rivercrest Junior School!
Our mission is to develop confident, responsible, lifelong learners, by ensuring a balance of quality learning experiences.
Rivercrest Junior School is a small friendly school located in the northern part of Etobicoke, between Kipling and Islington Avenues. Since 1956, second and third generations of families have continued to be a part of our Rivercrest community. We are welcoming, and have a diverse student population. Our student population consists of about 236 students in a one story building and approximately 37% of our students speak a primary language other than English. Sunny Faces Daycare is located in our school and we have formed a strong partnership with them. There are 16 teaching staff members at the school, including French, SERT (communications) teacher, ESL Itinerant teacher, Librarian, Drama/Dance and Music teacher and a Physical and Health Education teacher. Ms. Lahey is the teacher leader-curriculum chair; our Lead Math teacher is Ms. Foster and Ms. Sena is our MaRT -she is key in assisting teachers with respect to strategies for struggling learners.

We believe in each child and encourage our students to recognize their own strengths. Every child has a unique talent. Our goal is to help your child identify that ability. We provide a well-balanced program, which stresses academic, emotional, physical, and social developments equally so that children can grow into healthy and productive citizens. We teach our students personal responsibility as well as responsibility to their community. In our school we are proactively involved in outreach activities that involve assisting others. Some of our projects include fundraising for the Terry Fox Run, Holiday Food Drive, Regular Visits by Mr. Donatelli's Gr. 5s to Kipling Acres Seniors' Facility and Jump Rope for Heart. We are involved in the Milk Bag program to assist the people of Haiti and other countries around the world.

Rivercrest  also has a Nutrition Program that provides a healthy snack to each student daily - we ask parents for a small contribution each term to help offset the costs of this program and welcome volunteers to help Bibi Khan our Nutrition program Co-ordinator.

Rivercrest teaching staff provides a stable and enriched learning environment for our students. The teachers work as a team and they are in close communication with each other and their students’ families regarding student behaviour at recess and lunchtime. Teachers and parents communicate to celebrate accomplishments and set goals for future growth. We have consistent expectations that our students play co-operatively, accept each other's differences, and demonstrate respect for one another. We expect our older students to act as role models, help the younger ones, and lead them by good example. This helps to foster the positive school climate our students and staff experience at Rivercrest.

Our school culture promotes strong student leadership, active student participation in a variety of extra-curricular activities, and student involvement in local and global charitable initiatives. We provide a safe and welcoming learning environment.  and Character Education is an integral part of our school culture. Students, school wide, work on Leadership Binders based on Stephen Covey's 7 Habits for Kids: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand then to be Understood, Synergize (working together is always better), Sharpen the Saw (balance in life is important)

I hope that you find this information beneficial in getting to know Rivercrest Junior School.

Aldona Volunge

Principal