Welcome to Kindergarten!

• Link to information about Full-Day Kindergarten

Kindergarten Registration

Your local Catholic school provides opportunities for spiritual and academic growth through a diverse range of programs and services geared to meet the needs of each learner. The Toronto Catholic District School Board invites parents to register their children for Junior and Senior Kindergarten and French Immersion Senior Kindergarten beginning on January 9th, 2012. For parents who are not available during the regular school day, most schools are hosting extended hours for registration the evening of Thursday, January 19th. For specific times, contact the Catholic school in your neighbourhood.  

For September 2012:

• Children born in 2008 are eligible for Junior Kindergarten
• Children born in 2007 are eligible for Senior Kindergarten and French Immersion Senior Kindergarten.

The following documents are required:

1.      Child’s birth certificate (certificate of citizenship or landed immigrant
   status)

2.      Child’s Catholic Baptismal Certificate (or other proof of Catholicity)

3.      Child’s Ontario Health Card

4.      Child’s Immunization Record

5.      Proof of residency in Toronto  

Call your local Catholic school for an appointment.

• Registration Information

• Listing of TCDSB schools by region

• Registration Poster

Overview of Kindergarten Program
Kindergarten is a time of wonder, awe and learning! It is an exciting time for children and their families and represents a major threshold in a child’s life at a critical stage of development. In Kindergarten, children’s receptivity to new influences and their capacity to learn are at their peak. During this period they acquire a variety of important skills, knowledge and attitudes that will affect their abilities to learn, their personal development, their relationships with others and their future participation in society. The Toronto Catholic District School Board is dedicated to nurturing the young child spiritually, academically, physically, socially, and emotionally through a faith-based curriculum in a caring, Catholic environment.

• Downloadable booklet: "Welcome Hello...Kindergarten in the Toronto Catholic District School Board"

• Arabic Version

• Czechoslovakian Version

• Chinese Version

• Italian Version

• Korean Version

• Polish Version

• Portuguese Version

• Russian Version

• Spanish Version

• Tagalog Version

• Tamil Version

• Ukrainian

• Vietnamese Version

Our Philosophy

In our Kindergartens:

• We celebrate the wonder and awe of childhood as a trace of God.

• We encourage the development of the whole child.

• We offer developmentally appropriate programming to meet the varying experiences, backgrounds, abilities and needs of all children.

• We believe in purposeful play as the main vehicle to promote all aspects of learning.

• We create healthy learning environments that are safe, secure, stimulating and thoughtfully planned with the child in mind.

• We encourage learning through exploring, playing, talking, risk-taking, problem solving and making choices.

• We use a variety of instructional strategies with the whole class, small groups and individuals.

• We provide experiences that build a strong foundation for literacy and numeracy development.

• We apply ongoing, authentic assessment practices to inform programming and improve learning.

• We welcome parents and caregivers as valued partners in their children’s education.

• We foster partnerships between home, school, parish and the larger community.

A Focus on Faith: In God’s Image

In Kindergarten, we affirm the child in all aspects of growth as we celebrate the wonder of childhood as a trace of God. In God’s Image is the Canadian religious education resource for Kindergarten. It provides an approach to religious education that nurtures and affirms the four and five year old child emotionally, socially, intellectually, morally and physically through song, prayer, activities and symbols. In God’s Image contains eight modules: Me, Earth Times, Special Days, Church Times, Community, Plants, Animals and Changes. A number of more specific themes are contained in each module. These themes are presented throughout both Junior and Senior Kindergarten.

The Kindergarten Program

The Toronto Catholic District School Board offers both Junior and Senior Kindergarten. The programs are based on educational policy and expectations as outlined in The Revised Kindergarten Program (Ministry of Education, 2006) combined with sound pedagogy and current research on exemplary Kindergarten practices. Children are provided opportunities for growth in six areas of learning: Personal and Social Development, Language, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Health and Physical Activity and the Arts. The revised Kindergarten Program document is available at www.edu.gov.on.ca.

Staggered Entry

The Toronto Catholic District School Board supports an effective planning entry-to-school approach for the benefit of all children, families and staff. Staggered entry-to-school is an approach that is respectful of the varying needs, experiences and backgrounds of all children and their families. It assists children in their adjustment to the school setting in a successful and positive manner. Children are introduced to school in small groups over the course of a few days until all children are in attendance. The Kindergarten teacher in collaboration with the parent/guardian decides what is best for the child. This is determined at an initial classroom orientation session in which the child along with the parent/guardian visits the classroom and school and meets the Kindergarten teacher.

Preparing Children for a Successful Start to School

It is natural that starting school can cause mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety for children and families. Before beginning this new adventure, parents/guardians can prepare their child by:

• Visiting the school during an open house, Education week or other special   event.

• Visiting the Kindergarten classroom and meeting the teacher.

• Involving the child in activities that promote learning in the community (e.g., local library programs, The Ontario Early Years Centres).

• Talking positively about school and school-related activities.

• Reading and discussing books about school and making new friends.

• Walking or driving to school before the first day to practice the route.

• Talking through any fears or concerns about starting school.

• Establishing a routine a few weeks before beginning school.  

Parents are encouraged to speak to their child’s teacher if there any concerns or questions regarding adjustment to school. 

Parents/guardians can support a successful transition from home to school by ensuring that their child:

• Dresses in clothes that are easily managed, comfortable, labeled with his/her name and appropriate for the weather
• Manages dressing and undressing himself/herself (e.g., putting on and taking off jackets and shoes)
• Responds to his/her name
• Attends to his/her own toileting needs
• Respects other people and materials
• Has an early, regular bedtime and is well-rested
• Brings a small, healthy (peanut-free) snack for school each day
• Understands daily arrival and dismissal procedures
• Arrives on time for school each day.

The Welcome to Kindergartenä Program 
The Toronto Catholic District School Board is please to be working with the Learning Partnership in offering the Welcome to Kindergartenä Program in all elementary schools across the system. 

The goal of the Welcome to Kindergartenä Program is to provide pre-school children with the resources and experiences to begin their formal education with a foundation in literacy nurtured in their home. Before starting school, parents/caregivers and their children are invited to attend an orientation sessions in their neighbourhood school where they receive a variety of early literacy resources in a canvas bag (e.g., magnetic letters and numbers, books, crayons, scissors, glue, paper, play dough and more) and learn strategies for using the resources. The orientation sessions are provided by school staff in conjunction with community partners and occur in the spring prior to school entry.

The Welcome to Kindergartenä Program is financially supported through various sources including board funds and local Catholic School Advisory Councils. Some schools are also sponsored by the TD Bank Financial Group. 

The TCDSB Full Day Senior Kindergarten Program

In 2004, the Toronto Catholic District School Board initiated a pilot program offering full day, every day Senior Kindergarten in seven schools across the system. This comprehensive program is based on The Kindergarten Program (Ministry of Education, 2006), Toronto Catholic District School Board policies and resources and current research on exemplary Kindergarten practices. The program is built upon three essential cornerstones: student support, teacher support and parent support. The goals of The Full Day Senior Kindergarten Program are to:

• Provide an exemplary full day Senior Kindergarten program that will help children develop morally, intellectually, socially, emotionally and physically in a manner appropriate to their age and stage of development
• Ensure that children leave Senior Kindergarten with a stronger foundation of literacy and numeracy skills
• Integrate concepts of health, social and emotional well being into the full day Senior Kindergarten Program
• Enhance children’s feelings of self-worth and appreciation of their own and other people’s ethnicity, culture and language in a multi-cultural society.
• Provide for prevention, early identification and early intervention of problems that interfere with the development of children’s learning through specific programming and a Kindergarten Support Team (consisting of a speech-language pathologists, psychology and social work staff)
• Recognize the value of parents as partners in the education of their children by keeping them well informed, encouraging their input and involvement and providing support as need.
• Establish links with community services as resources and support for children, parents and teachers.

The following schools offer full day Senior Kindergarten programs:

• St. Dorothy Catholic School
• St. Teresa Catholic School
• St. Augustine Catholic School
• Blessed Margherita of Citta di Castello Catholic School
• St. Luigi  Catholic School
• St. Boniface  Catholic School
• St. Thomas More Catholic School

For further information on the Full Day Senior Kindergarten Program, please call the school directly. 

• The Full Day Senior Kindergarten Program Brochure (pdf)

• Parent News1. The Full Day Senior Kindergarten (PDF)

Kindergarten French Immersion

The aim of the French Immersion program is to provide students with the skills they need to communicate in a second language. It enables students to develop strong fundamental skills in oral communication, reading and writing as well as providing students with an understanding of the cultures of French speaking societies. The Toronto Catholic District School Board offers a French Immersion Senior Kindergarten program at the following schools:

• Our Lady of Wisdom Catholic School
• St. Cecilia Catholic School
• St. Cyril Catholic School
• St. Agatha Catholic School
• Our Lady of Peace Catholic School

To register your child for the French Immersion program, or the Extended French program, please contact the Catholic school nearest to your home that offers the program.

Kindergarten Language Program

The Kindergarten Language Program provides intensive oral language programming to groups of students in Senior Kindergarten who have significant difficulties in speech and language development. The program is preventative with the focus on the enhancement of young children’s oral language development as the foundation for learning, literacy and social development.  Students enrolled in the Kindergarten Language Program attend their home school senior kindergarten program half days and the Kindergarten Language Program two additional half days per week. The Kindergarten Language Program is co-instructed by a teacher and speech-language pathologist. Consultation and support are provided to parents and teachers as needed. The following eight locations offer the Kindergarten Language Program: 

• St. Charles Garnier Catholic School
• St. Matthias Catholic School
• Holy Angels Catholic School
• St. Angela Catholic School
• St. Mary Catholic School
• Blessed John XXIII Catholic School
• Epiphany of Our Lord Academy
• St. Martin de Porres Catholic School

For further information regarding admission and programming, please contact the TCDSB Speech and Language Department at (416) 222-8282 ext. 2261.

   ^{Full-Day Kindergarten Program}

The Ministry of Education and TCDSB have collaboratively designated some schools for the full-day JK and SK program beginning in September 2010. By September 2011, 38 TCDSB schools will be offering this program. The province intends to fully implement full-day Kindergarten in all Ontario schools by September 2015.

For more information, please visit the Full-Day Kindergarten Program section of our website.
 

Resources

• Information for Parents:
  Before- and After-School Program Options for Children Attending Full-Day Kindergarten
• Survey Regarding Before and After School Option
• A Healthy Start to School
• Eat Right and Be Active
• Lunches to Go
• Playing it Safe
• Question and Answer Guide to Full-Day Kindergarten