Welcome to Forest Valley!
This year, our Forest Valley is home to approximately 300 students from Kindergarten to Grade 5. We offer programs in English and Early French Immersion. We are located in an established, safe and welcoming neighborhood. A forested area is at the back of our school and allows our students and teachers to explore the Forest as part of the Forest Program that is thriving and growing year round.
At Forest Valley you will find a wonderful community of learning, energetic and kind staff, students and parents/guardians working together towards common goals – academic excellence, social and emotional development, and positive attitudes. Our students are encouraged to become life-long learners, responsible citizens and active participants in the community. Kindness and a strong character education is at the heart of all that Forest Valley strives to be recognized for.
This year our theme is Perseverance and Self-Regulation. Students are working hard on taking risks and persevering when tasks are challenging . Students are learning strategies to get back to the green zone (Zones of Regulation) when they feel frustrated or angry.
This supports the OCDSB's five-year plan of building a caring culture, focussing on well-being for students, staff and parents and committing to our work with social responsibility.
At Forest Valley, our School Learning Plan focuses on creating optimal learning conditions in the classroom for all students so that they can learn and grow using their uniqueness and strengths. Another focus of our learning plan will be to use diagnostic tools to identify areas of needs, to reduce gaps in learning by using specific strategies to support concept development.
We will continue to encourage students to continue to use their W.I.T.S. The W.I.T.S. program is an anti-bullying program that empowers all students to make good choices when faced with situations that are uncomfortable for the student. The students are encouraged to walk away, ignore, talk it out and/or seek help. This is part of our school culture and ties in perfectly with our Community of Character. The WITS program is a community-based approach to preventing peer victimization and is supported by our school resource office.
Our amazing school is a wonderful place for students to learn and grow. We establish a culture of high expectations for our students at the beginning of the year, setting goals and success criteria. We monitor and review these goals (academic, wellbeing, social, behaviour) throughout the year. We nurture critical thinking and encourage life-long learning!
Forest Valley staff are dedicated in their efforts to offer wonderful experiences for students both within and beyond the walls of the classroom. With a strong focus on literacy and numeracy, teachers pursue professional development opportunities to deliver the best programs possible for our students. Students at Forest Valley are engaged in their learning and are excited to participate in the variety of extra-curricular experiences that are offered.
At Forest Valley, we value our supportive and involved parent community and welcome volunteers!
We are proud of our students and teachers at Forest Valley and are delighted to welcome you!
Sincerely,
Stephanie Borrens
Principal