Open House: Saturday April 29th

YMCA Academy Community, Events No Comments

YMCA Academy students with a teacher

Our Spring 2017 Open House, happening on Saturday, April 29th from 11am until 2pm, is the perfect opportunity to discover The YMCA Academy. We invite you to tour our school, meet our teachers and staff, and learn about how we support our students’ academic and personal success through special education integration, health and fitness, technology, experiential learning, and mindfulness practices.

We’re proud of the difference The YMCA Academy makes in the lives of our students. Here’s what the parents of our current students are saying about our program:

“My son was anxiety ridden and terrified about attending high school. I have noticed a huge improvement in his confidence since he started at The YMCA Academy. He enjoys attending school for the first time ever in his school career.”

“[The teachers] really understand children with learning disabilities. Compassionate caring teachers who really go the extra mile for their students. Willing to work with parents to get our children on track so they can succeed both academically and socially. Can’t say enough positive things about the school and its teachers! They really care about the kids. It’s not just a job to them, it’s a passion. Every school should share the same philosophy! It’s about the kids and helping them succeed in life!”

The YMCA Academy is located at 15 Breadalbane Street in downtown Toronto. Find out more about our Spring 2017 open house here.

Special Ballet Creole performance at the YMCA Academy!

YMCA Academy Arts, Beyond the Classroom, Experiential Learning No Comments

The Toronto  based dance company Ballet Creole brought their performance of Saraka to the YMCA Academy. The performance of drum and dance was a celebration of African and Carribean music, song, and dance in a colourful and vivid show that we will not soon forget.  Some students even got in on the act and took their hand at drumming.  The show was brought to us through a generous donation from an Academy family. Thank you to Ballet Creole for this incredible performance and for sharing your artistry with us.

2017 Valentine’s Dance!

YMCA Academy Community, English and Humanities, Events No Comments

The YMCA Academy Leadership and Peer Support class hosted a Valentine’s Day dance on February 14th, 2017. The tickets were sold at the price of $5 during lunch from Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and also at the dance (if you were last minute). Our Leadership and Peer Support class worked to plan and setup the dance for about a week and half. Students requested many songs to be played at the dance and our very own DJ B tried his best to get each student’s request to be played in one long list.

At the Valentine’s Day dance students had fun by dancing, hanging out with friends, eating nice treats made by our very own Cooking Club runned by Katie Clay. All the money that was raised by the Leadership and Peer Support class will be going to the YMCA Youth Exchange Program. The amount raised was a whopping $172.95. All in all the dance was a successful night and everyone in the dance seemed to enjoy their stay. For people that think this might be the last dance. Think not. There will be more dances to be hosted in the near future!

Thank you to Central YMCA for letting us book the auditorium!

Written by: Mahadir & Bailey

Check out more photos from this event on our Facebook page!

Visiting the Royal Winter Fair

YMCA Academy Beyond the Classroom, Community, Experiential Learning No Comments

Four of the YMCA Academy’s classes made a trip down to the annual Royal Winter Fair on November 11th, stopping along the way to observe a minute of silence in the sun.

Once there, we saw horses practicing their jumps, spent some time feeding (and of course petting) the animals in the petting zoo, saw some incredibly large vegetables grown by some incredible farmers, and watched the awesome Super Dogs show.

Students had the opportunity to meet some of the talented canines, and to work on a variety of assignments including taking photos of all the sights they were experiencing, planning what they would write, and discussing food nutrition and the positive aspects of locally grown produce.

The trip has become a much enjoyed annual tradition, and this year was another great one.

‘We Scare Hunger’ Food Drive

YMCA Academy Community, English and Humanities No Comments

YMCA Academy students participate in the 'We Scare Hunger' Food Drive for the Fort York Food Bank.

Our annual ‘We Scare Hunger’ Food Drive for the Fort York Food Bank was a success in giving! We had a goal of six boxes and we ended up with 10!

Thank you so much for all the amazing contributions. One family even chose to forgo giving out candy at Halloween and went shopping for their donations instead.

A special thanks to the Integrated Arts class for their organizing, promotion and schlepping. Well done!