Important Notice:
The TDSB has changed their assessment procedures. Please read a letter detailing this, written by Susan Kelsall and Michelle Worley (your current and former TDSB SEAC Representatives). Click Here.
Introduction
This page includes information to those schools which are part of the Toronto District School Board (TBSB). Information here was provided by Annie. If you are from this area and you know of some more information that would benefit parents of this region, please let us know.
This is a large web page, so please take your time and scroll as needed ;)
Address for the TDSB:
2nd Floor, 155 College Street. Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1P6 (416) 397-3000, (416) 393-0887 (fax)
Website: TDSB
The TDSB is divided up into four areas those being, East, North, South and West. In each of these areas, there are co-ordinators of special education (intellectual). While these individuals listed below are the co-ordinators, and their jobs include assisting parents with queries and concerns, they should not be the first contact a parent uses when embarking on the information road of gifted education. The next section will outline the steps a parent should follow regarding gifted education for their child(ren).
East: Vera Bratten (416) 396-7964
North: Peggy Belcher (416) 395-9828
South: Wendy Murchie (416) 397-3558
West: Gail Kitamura (416) 394-6143
Steps to take regarding gifted education for your children
First
do your research. Find out as much information on giftedness
that you can. Review this site and especially pay attention to
links to other gifted (general) sites. The more you know about
the various learning styles there are, the issues common to gifted
children, the better.
Examine available documentation regarding provincial legislation
regarding your rights and responsibilities. Do the same for
your own school board. In the TDSB there are two important
documents which you can download from their site in PDF format they are:
The Parents' Guide to Special Education
Ask for a copy of the Gifted Identification Guide for Parents.
This can be obtained at the school office. (we also hope to include
it here on this site in the future).
Examine your own expectations with regard to the educational and
emotional goals for your child in the school setting.
Gather
and collect a portfolio of your child's work, including art,
writing, and report cards. If you have assessments, include these as well.
And finally, approach your child's teacher diplomatically and in the spirit of collaboration. Your child's teacher may be able to offer you some great, surprising suggestions to assist your child within the classroom.
After you have contacted the teacher, the next contact person is the principal, or a school support team meeting. The gifted identification process is described as follows:
Parents/Teachers request that student be discussed at the School
Support Team (S.S.T.) Meeting
School support team meet to discuss student's learning profile.
School Support Team MAY recommend individual Psychological Assessment
by the WISC III (Canadian Norms)
School Support Team discussed assessment results and decides whether
or not to proceed to an IPRC
IPRC (leads to gifted placement or regular class with enrichment)
School Support Team: What to Expect:
Possible Team Members: Principal/Vice Principal, teacher,
psychologist, S.E.R.T. (Special Education Resource Teacher), Special
Education Consultant
Items for Discussion:
Documentation of communication with parent, observations and anecdotal notes, a collection of work and samples, relevant assessments, OSR information (Ontario Student Record), resources available, student portfolio, extra-curricular activities, home, family, and community activities, recommendations, criteria for an I.P.R.C.
Giftedness is determined by:
Classroom assessment, educational assessment, and a professional assessment which includes a psychological assessment indicating that the student is functioning at the 98th percentile, full scale, on a recently administered WISC III, or that the student is functioning at the 99th percentile on either the verbal or performance scales of that same intelligence test.
In response to questions about outside assessments, please note that the TDSB Special Education Plan 1999, page VI - I states that 'Parents may request that a report from an outside, qualified professional be considered.'. Principals and school support teams are advices that any outside assessment must be reviewed by the TDSB student support service staff.
Please note that the congregated gifted classes most often start at grade 4.
However, in the TDSB there is a gifted program for children in grades 1-3. This program is the 'Gifted Program for Severe at Risk Primary Students'.
'For some students with very high and multiple needs, intensive support may be necessary at the primary level'. (TDSB Special Education Plan 1999, p. IX-18). When considering if a primary age student should be referred, all the following criteria must be met:
The student meets the intellectual criteria for the gifted program; In school intervention through an IEP, including consultation with Education Office Special Education staff, has taken place; The student continues to demonstrate significant social/emotional needs; The student is not meeting with school success; And, without more intensive intervention, the student is at risk for behavioural problems.
Request for Admission of non-TDSB students to Gifted Programs
Refer non-TDSB parents, with questions regarding gifted programs, to the Special Education Co-ordinator for Intellectual Exceptionalities in the specific Education Office. All enquiries are welcome.
NEW: As of January 2005! Click the following Toronto Region Gifted High School Courses.
Note: The following information was provided in 2002 and may be out of date. We are working on updating this information. Thank you.
Schools with Gifted Programs: South District
The following is a list of schools with gifted programs in the South District. This list will be changed next year as a result of plans to harmonize services across the four districts (hopefully, this means that districts with fewer services will see the number of programs increased rather than a reduction in services in other districts?). The list will also be changing because of plans to allocate gifted programming more uniformly throughout the district. For example, of the four high schools offering gifted programs in the district, two (Northern and Leaside) are within walking distance of each other whereas there are no high schools with gifted programs East of the Don Valley. Some students currently identified as gifted are not placed in a congregated class because parents are refusing to have their kids bussed to the closest available school. This problem will hopefully be resolved as the school board moves towards a system where a family of schools will feed into particular programs. Their goal is to try as much as possible to find schools that can accommodate both the Jr. and Sr. programs in the same location.
Annie will post any updates on future changes as soon as she hears about them. She has tried to list the schools in families, so that schools in the same area are listed together. Unless otherwise specified, Pr refers to gr. 1-3, Jr refers to gr. 4-6 and Sr. to gr. 7,8. High school is listed as HS.
HIGH PARK (short distance N. of High Park)
JR Annette (265 Annette St.)
SR Annette (265 Annette St.)
HS Western Technical and Commercial school (125 Evelyn Crescent)
High Park is the ideal location, with the Jr. and Sr. programs in the same school and the HS program in a school just around the block. Both schools are a short distance N of High Park, by Ravina Gardens Park and Annette Recreational Centre, site of an indoor swimming pool.
SOUTH CENTRAL (College to Dupont, Bathurst to Dufferin)
PR Palmerston (734 Palmerston) Early French Immersion
JR 5/6 Palmerston (734 Palmerston)
JR Clinton (460 Manning)
SR Kent (980 Dufferin)
SR King Edward (112 Lippincott ? just outside area bounded by College and Bathurst, Extended French)
This is an area that clearly needs consolidating and streamlining. The jump from grades 1-3 to grades 5-6 at Palmerston means that children in the primary gifted program, particularly those for whom Palmerston is their local JR gifted school will be subjected to far too many school changes. (1-3 at Palmerston, gr. 4 at Clinton, 5/6 at Palmerston, SR at King Edward). The closest HS program is in the High Park area.
NORTH (St. Clair to Lawrence, Spadina to Bayview)
JR 5/6 Bedford Park (1281 Ranleigh Ave., N. of Lawrence, just East of Yonge)
JR Forest Hill (78 Dunloe Rd.)
SR Forest Hill (78 Dunloe Rd.)
SR Hodgson (282 Davisville, Mt. Pleasant and Davisville)
SR Deer Park (23 Ferndale Ave., Mt Pleasant and St. Clair)
HS Northern (851 Mount Pleasant Rd., Mt Pleasant and Eglinton)
HS Leaside (200 Hanna Rd., Bayview and Eglinton)
Although Leaside is listed as the HS for East York, geographically it is in the Northern area, across the Don Valley Parkway from the other East York schools and within walking distance from Northern HS. Bedford Park is next to a community centre. The location of a Jr and Sr. program at Forest Hill is a plus, but both HS in the area are outside the immediate community surrounding Forest Hill.
EAST YORK (O'Connor and St. Clair)
JR 4/5 Presteign Heights (2570 St. Clair Ave. E.)
SR 6-8 Gordon A. Brown Middle School (2800 St. Clair Ave. E.)
The proximity of the JR and SR program makes this a pleasant location. Gordon A. Brown is next to an indoor swimming pool. However, it is unfortunate that the HS that these schools ultimately feed into, although a short distance away, is across the Don Valley Parkway and therefore cut off from the rest of the community.
EAST (Greenwood to Woodbine, Gerrard to Bloor)
JR Bowmore (80 Bowmore Rd.)
SR Bowmore (80 Bowmore Rd.) Extended French
HS Danforth C&TI(800 Greenwood Ave., just N of Bloor)
This area also has the JR and SR program in the same school, and a nearby HS, although not as close as in the High Park area. Monarch Park, with an outdoor swimming pool, is located halfway between Bowmore and Danforth C&TI.
Scarborough: Churchill Heights (749 Brimorton Dr.), near Ellesmere and Markham
Grade 1-8 gifted in the same school is fantastic, but it is the only school for all of Scarborough? And it's not at all central, no wonder some parents choose not to send their children in the gifted program because of transportation issues.
We are still working on information for North York and Etobicoke