Janet's Story

What did your family consider when deciding to send your children to Churchill? Did it relate to the Alternative program? If so, what was it about the program that interested your family?

Our local community school is Elmdale Public School. At the time that our children were elementary students (1984-1995), this was a dual-track English-French Immersion school. Laura attended Junior and Senior Kindergarten at Elmdale, and on the whole had a good experience. However, it became clear during her time there that the prevailing sentiment within the school community was that Immersion was the favoured option and that students in the English/Core French stream were there only because they were unable to cope with the demands of a French program. This was not the case at all for Laura. We felt that it would be best for her, as a curious, very verbal child, to have the opportunity to express herself freely as a beginning learner at school without the limitations of having to speak solely in French - an expectation at that time in Early Immersion. We also felt it important for her to have a good grounding in English culture - language, songs, stories, traditions - before broadening her horizons to include French ones. 

To be honest, we didn’t know a great deal about the philosophy of the school at the time we decided that Laura should go there. We were looking for a strong English/Core French program for her that wasn’t too far from home. Churchill was recommended by her SK teacher at Elmdale, who thought she would do well there. However, once there, we were excited to learn of the alternative philosophy and we totally embraced it.

What do you see is the differences of Alternative schools like Churchill (if any) as compared to other OCDSB schools?

When our family became a part of the Churchill community in 1986, there were many differences between alternative schools, including Churchill, and other OCDSB schools. Some of the differences at that time included: 

• a focus on hands-on, experiential learning rather than a more traditional paper-and-pencil approach often found in other schools

• a purposeful decision to have multi-age groupings with children of different ages and stages of development in the same class. Several classes at that time had 3 grade levels. In other schools, single-grade classes were strongly preferred, and teachers and parents often expressed concern about split grades.

• flexible seating, often around a circular table, rather than individual desks in rows which was the norm in most other elementary schools in the early 1980s

• ungraded, anecdotal report cards that outlined in detail a child’s strengths and areas of challenge, along with proposed “next steps” instead of a report with only a letter or number grade and very little specific feedback 

• an expectation that parents would be involved in the school - both at the classroom and at the whole-school level. In other settings, parents were often involved in the school solely for fundraising, and were often not welcome in classrooms.

• conferences with parents that included the child instead of parent-only meetings

• class meetings with parents to discuss curriculum, program and any classroom issues that arose

I suspect now that there might be fewer differences between alternative schools and some other OCDSB schools because these non-alternative schools have adopted many alternative practices over the years. From my work as an instructional coach at the Board level, I visited classrooms that had at least some of the practices found at early Churchill. However, what I didn’t see then, and I expect might not see now, was a whole-school commitment to a philosophy - a roadmap provided by the seven tenets that teachers, parents and students work together to put into practice. 

What strong core practices or components to the alternative program do you remember? Why do you think those practices were important?

Some important core practices and components of the alternative program from our time at Churchill include:

• student-led and three-way conferences

• portfolios of each student’s work that followed them from Kindergarten to Grade 6, when they left the school

• peer assessment

• student self-assessment, goal setting and evaluation of how goals were met. This included student-written report cards in addition to teacher-created ones in some classes.

• performance-based assessment

• reading/learning buddies - younger with older classes

• inter-class collaboration on projects

• focus on the arts

• community involvement - expert local guests, seniors’ residence visits, posting book reports in local bookstores, distributing copies of student stories in waiting rooms at CHEO

• an integrated curriculum whenever possible

• working to develop a classroom climate that encouraged reflection and provided a safe and non-threatening place where assessment, evaluation and feedback became very natural, expected parts of classroom life

• the use of real-life tasks and experiences to meet curriculum expectations e.g., students looking after the tallying of staff members’ coffee consumption, preparing a bill for them at the end of each week, and ordering coffee when supplies were low; students writing to Board maintenance staff about graffiti on the wall of the new school, asking if it could be removed; students ordering specimens from museums; book launches of children’s hardcover picture books at nearby bookstores where students read to their classmates (and any interested bystanders) from copies of their stories

• giving students choice

• non-competitive philosophy

• recognition without rewards

• regular discussions at staff and division meetings of Churchill’s philosophy and how better to implement it 

In all of these practices, children are an integral part of their own learning - part of the student-parent-teacher partnership.  All help students become empathetic, involved members of both their classroom and local communities. All provide opportunities for self-reflection, risk-taking and growth within a safe environment. All attempt to put the school’s shared philosophy into practice in concrete, meaningful ways.

What do you think your children came away with from Churchill (e.g., skills; attitudes; perspectives) that you might not have gotten if they had attended a non-Alternative school?

We strongly feel that Laura and Heather’s experiences at Churchill helped them develop effective time-management skills, the ability to work both independently and collaboratively, curiosity, self-confidence, empathy, critical thinking skills, respect for self and others, and the values of justice and equity. They also gained an understanding that learning is a lifelong journey and that everybody learns in different ways and at different rates. They are comfortable interacting with people of all genders, races and intellectual abilities.     

How would you describe your child’s skills in French (e.g., strong; weak) now?  Did you feel you received a good foundation in French from Churchill?  Do you feel your child lost out in learning French through not attending French Immersion? 

Both children received a good foundation in French at Churchill. They had excellent teachers who delivered a strong French program. It was our conscious choice not to enrol either in an Early French Immersion program, trusting that if they wanted to extend their French skills, they would pursue opportunities to do so at some point later in life. Heather enrolled in the Late French Immersion program after leaving Churchill. Both girls currently understand French reasonably well, but are less able to speak it fluently. 

What was the transition like to grade 7-8 and to high school?  

Neither of our children found it challenging academically to transition to Grade 7-8 from Churchill. Both attended Broadview for these grades - Laura in the congregated Enrichment class, and Heather in Late French Immersion. They did, however, have a period of questioning the increase in rules they found there - rules that, to them, seemed silly (e.g., students not ever being allowed to access the school through the front door). They also missed not being as actively involved in decisions regarding their own learning. Both girls attended Canterbury Arts High School - Laura in the Literary Arts program and Heather in Music. Again, they had no challenges making the transition. Canterbury was an excellent experience both academically, socially and emotionally for each of them at that time. 

Do your children enjoy competitive sports? Churchill and the alternative program embraces a non-competitive philosophy. Do you think this had an impact on your children’s enjoyment and playing of sports (negative or positive) ? Tell us a bit about that.

Both of our children enjoyed competitive sports outside of school. Laura was involved in competitive softball at our local park, and Heather was a competitive gymnast, training 3 days a week and participating regularly in meets with other clubs across the province. By participating in competitive sports away from school, the girls learned how to win and lose gracefully and how to deal with competition that they encountered later in life. 

However, Churchill’s non-competitive philosophy was an important core element of the school for our family. It fostered a culture of inclusion and encouraged our girls to try new things, even when they might not be the best at them. It promoted internal motivation that didn’t rely on winning to feel good about what they had achieved. It gave them opportunities to work with others who had very different skill levels, and to value the differing contributions of everyone. 

What did your children do after high school? And what are they doing now?  How do you think their alternative elementary education shaped their direction and who they are (if at all)?

After high school, both Laura and Heather attended university. Heather became a nurse, practised at Hospital for Sick Children, and after several years, obtained her Masters of Nursing degree. She subsequently took further courses and is now a qualified Nurse Practitioner for both children and adults. She currently works as part of a team in the Suspected Child Abuse Network at Sick Kids.

After graduating from university, Laura had several writing jobs - with the federal government and Girl Guides of Canada - and then became program coordinator at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and later at a private lyceum for literature and the arts in Vancouver. She is currently coordinator of the Writers’ Studio at Simon Fraser University. She has published two full-length books of poetry and a children’s picture book. 

We believe that the experiences that the girls had at Churchill were instrumental in them becoming caring, creative young women, committed to lifelong learning and to helping others.   

Why is it important that the OCDSB continue to invest in having a thriving Alternative program?

Much has been written in recent years about the importance of equity and diversity in learning environments. On its website, the OCDSB states that it “strives to build learning communities that provide students with equitable opportunities to reach their potential and develop into respectful, creative, and knowledgeable community members who contribute to society.” We firmly believe that alternative schools provide the best learning approach for some students, and should, therefore, be strongly supported. Since all students deserve to have an equal chance at academic success and since not every student learns in the same way, alternative schools offer an important and necessary choice to children who learn and develop best in this type of setting.

 Do you have any stories about Churchill and what made it really special ‘back in the day’ that current families might not know about but could learn or be inspired from?

There are so many special Churchill stories that both our daughters, as students, and I, as a former staff member, could tell… 

There was the time when Heather’s class, following a school performance by Opera Lyra, became passionate about opera, and created their own full-length one, writing both the words and the music which they composed using a tone-bar. The presentation of this opera to parents was a gala affair that included a gentleman in the audience dressing up in a tuxedo and handing out long-stemmed roses to everyone involved in the performance.

There were the musicals that my class put on every year in June where students built sets, prepared costumes, learned songs and dances and performed for parents and the whole school. There were happy tears from staff and students alike one year when a child on the autism spectrum, who had struggled previously to handle the noise and vastness of the gym, sang on the gym stage with the class for the first time.

There was the parent and student delegation that went to Toronto to present Churchill’s case for ungraded report cards to staff at the Ministry of Education, following notification that this type of report card was no longer going to be permitted. The group’s arguments in favour of this fundamental alternative practice were successful, and Churchill was given permission to continue sending only anecdotal ungraded report cards to parents as long as a copy of each student’s report that included grades was put into their Ontario Student Record (OSR). 

However, perhaps the story that best illustrates the true meaning of Churchill for our family is one involving Laura, our oldest. When Laura was 8 years old, she developed a serious lung condition which scarred her lungs and caused her to become short of breath when doing  aerobic activities so that she often had to stop until she could breathe normally again. One year, despite this, she desperately wanted to be part of the cross-country team that ran annually at Terry Fox stadium. She approached her teacher to ask if this was possible. We are convinced that, in almost any other school, where only those who excel at a sport are chosen for the team, Laura would have been told no. Instead, her teacher promised her that if she came out every morning before school to train, she could go to the meet as part of the team. The following poem, which I wrote for a memory book celebrating Laura’s 40th birthday, sums up this experience for us.

Cross Country
by Mom
There were many who thought that it couldn’t be done -
That you running cross country was hopeless.
But despite the lung issues that you had to face,
You refused to accept this prognosis.
You practised each morning at school with the team
And if you were worried, you hid it.
And then on the day of the cross country meet,
You ran your heart out and you did it!!
We sat in the stands and watched as you ran.
We waited for what seemed like days.
Long after the rest had completed their race,
We waited with growing malaise.
When you entered the grandstand last and alone,
The spectators stood to applaud.
Tears streamed down our faces, our hearts swelled with pride.
Your courage left everyone awed!

Thank you, Churchill, for all that you have meant to our family!