Skip to main content

School Days

Our priority was getting the boys registered for school.

We started with Owen's school. Owen decided that he wanted to go to a middle school (it has lockers) instead of the Catholic school right across from where we will be living! So first thing Thursday morning we got a cab to the school. I had emailed both schools all the proper forms so they were ready for us when we arrived. The school secretary, Liz, was amazing. She jumped up and gave us a tour.

Owen's school, William McDonald Middle School, is shaped in a circle.  The school has a home economics room, shop classroom, music room and art room. These dedicated spaces are amazing. The school has a lunch room so, students get out of their classroom and get to eat lunch with friends. It also has a small canteen so the kids can buy lunches if desired.

The school has so many supportive services for the students. All the students in the school are assigned a Chrome Book. There is a full-time guidance counselor (which is one male and one female splitting their time). There is also a therapy dog at the school full-time. The classrooms have both regular desks and stand up desks for students. They also have exercise bikes in the classroom for kids who need to burn off some energy. There is a weight room designed specifically for students. All students are trained in how to use weights properly (the free weights are made of plastic instead of metal to reduce injuries).

All in all, Owen's school looks like an amazing learning environment. Aiden's school is
View from Aiden's school
also amazing but for different reasons.

Aiden will be attending Sir John Franklin Secondary School. This school is built into the Canadian Shield overlooking Great Slave Lake. The environment can only be described as airy. The ceilings in the classroom must be 15-20 feet. Almost all classrooms have half of the walls as glass, creating a very light environment. Classrooms that don't look out over the lake, have views of the Canadian shield. My favorite room was a mini amphitheater in the science wing where visiting scientists give lunch and learn to students.  It gives students a glimpse of what a university classroom would be like.

While neither of my children will benefit from this program, the school also has an entire room and field of study devoted to elite athletes. Any young person who is training to make a national team can, on their coach’s recommendation, be accepted into this program. The gym bests anything I have ever seen in Ontario. It was staggering. And that was on top of there is a dedicated weight room and dedicated cardio room which each of which was the size of the Brighton YMCA! I know a lot of parents who would love their kids to have access to a facility like this, and then to be able to gain high school credits for participating on top of that!


I am very happy with the programs and services at both of the boys schools and I am looking forward to seeing what they get involved with (fencing, archery and dog sledding are obviously new opportunities for them)!

 All the pictures are of Owen's middles school. William MacKenzie. 



















Location: Yellowknife, NT X0E, Canada

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ups and downs of day one

Today was the first day of school for the boys and work for me. By noon Aiden was back at the hotel, feeling sad about not already making friends. He was also frustrated that his English class was going to be studying the same books he had done in grade nine. I came back to the apartment to check on him. It was actually really nice to be able to see Aiden at lunch! So after a couple of hugs (and letting us know Jay had messaged him to say Aiden would always have him as a friend) he was off. Brent gave me a lift back to work, and to my surprise and delight Jay was crossing the street in front of us. It was such a nice surprise. At my work, my manager had been unexpectedly been called to Toronto and my colleague Sarah was off. So my Director ended up dong my orientation. The good news is there is lots of work that needs to be done, and fairly short timelines to get it done. I share an office with two others - which after working in my own office for 10 years is quite a change- but a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Next Chapter

Double rainbow from our hotel in Yellowknife Three years ago I started a blog called "Sara in Grenada" chronicling my time as a volunteer with Cuso International on the Spice Island. At the time a dear friend, Jay, was working in Iqaluit and while our climates were radically different the challenges faced by our respective communities were very similar.   I loved almost everything about living and working in Grenada although, I was not a fan of my mini-bus ride. When I came back from Grenada I felt invigorated, being able to contribute is really important to me. While I wanted to find another opportunity to contribute for family reasons had decided to stay put in Ontario after our return in 2015. In her book Transitions, Gail Sheeshy talks about a time in your life when you look around and start to wonder "Is this really all there is"? I was definitely in that place. Having done the same job for 10 years, I wasn't learning anything new. I wasn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodie Day

I work in a building called Lahm Ridge Tower, which is a 3 story (four floors) building that houses a good chunk of the Education, Culture and Employment staff (ECE). Every payday the 3rd floor hosts "goodie day". Here's how it works: Each small unit of ECE is assigned a payday. Usually three units cover one pay day. My unit's turn was this past Friday. The units assigned that particular payday bake goodies for the staff of ECE. Usually that means about 20 people baking, cooking or bringing fruit or chocolate for about 100 people. Some units organize themes and sometimes it is just a random mix. I baked about 3 dozen biscotti seen near Benoit's creme brulle!! He had a draw for the creme brulle- which everyone loved! He also dressed the part in a full chef's outfit- now that's commitment! While I am not overly social, I love the idea of a shared coffee break. It gives everyone a chance to get together to share food and talk about what is going on ...
Post a Comment
Read more