Fairhaven School, which opened in 1978, is:
- A centre of excellence for early learning that includes before and after school care through the Preston Early Learning Centre, a newly renovated prekindergarten classroom for three- and four-year-old children and a vibrant kindergarten program. Our staff members take specialized training to support an inquiry-based model in their classrooms.
- Part of an innovative program to improve student engagement in literacy by using arts education strategies.
Fun facts about Fairhaven School:
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Respectful and peaceful: Our students are very respectful. This leads to a peaceful school climate. Visitors to our school frequently notice students opening doors for others, greeting adults in our building courteously and showing kindness.
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Forging strong bonds: We believe in strong communication between the home and the school. Our staff use various communication platforms to keep parents apprised of learning objectives and projects in the classroom.
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Diversity and cultural responsiveness: Fairhaven is fortunate to have a diverse student population representing over 20 different cultural groups. Our students — regardless of their cultural background — say they feel respected in our school.
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Community engagement: Our School Community Council and Parent Council are highly involved in what happens at Fairhaven School. Our parents are engaged in curricular matters. They provide guidance when we plan our school goals and when we develop priority areas of focus and growth. Our parents help actualize our planning document through shared ownership and through active involvement in implementing action plans. Together, we have planned several information evenings for our families and have held special educational events for our learning community. Typically, over 200 people attend these information evenings and events.
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Green values: Our students and staff possess a strong desire to lessen our carbon footprint. We monitor our energy and water usage with the aim of reducing our consumption. We have won numerous awards for our green projects. Students from our classes have been invited to speak about their sustainability research projects.
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Opportunities for student leadership: Our student leadership team provides students with opportunities to develop their leadership skills by organizing activities and special events for our student population.
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Valuing the arts: Our school has an arts education specialist on staff for students from kindergarten to Grade 8. Students are immensely proud of their skill development in this area.
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Character education: Character education is embedded in our teaching. Students frequently revisit character virtues with their teachers.
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Supporting all learners: We have three resource teachers. They work cooperatively with classroom teachers to support student learning.
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Staff specialties: We have staff who specialize in the arts, physical education, music and early childhood education.
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Extracurricular activities: We offer a variety of extracurricular activities that take place before school, at noon or after school. Some of these activities include team sports for middle years students and noon-hour clubs.