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Da Vinci Parents

da Vinci strives to build a community where educators, students and families work together to provide a learning environment that is challenging, inspiring, empowering and caring

Photo of children with facepaint waiting for a marshmellow to roast

Parents are children’s first and life-long teachers. We value the partnership between home and school and know that parental involvement is the key to success in school. You can be involved by helping your child with homework, volunteering in our school, or joining our school council. By welcoming you and providing opportunities for you to be involved, we can work together to ensure that our students receive the very best learning experience.

We recognize that many parents work during the school day, and are not always able to come into school during class time. Parents can also help in the organization of seasonal festivals, class trips, fundraising activities, playground greening and communication. Each class has a class parent representative who is responsible for organizing volunteers and keeping other parents up to date on events from the classroom. Participation in the Waldorf parent talks is also a good way to meet others and share our own growth as parents. 

As an all-weather school, da Vinci asks that parents send students with appropriate gear to learn in all seasons and well fed and rested so that they can take advantage of all the adventures their day offers.

If you have concerns about something that happened at school, we ask that you follow the TDSB’s recommendation to speak to your child’s teacher, so problems can be addressed as soon as possible.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Da Vinci School thrives with a high level of family involvement to help create a positive, creative and encouraging close-knit school culture. As an alternative school, parent and guardian volunteering is both welcomed and appreciated. There are many ways for parents and guardians to support the school by volunteering their time and skills. These include:

If you wish to volunteer in the classroom or on school trips, the TDSB requires a Police Record Check to be completed. The school will provide the appropriate form to fill in. All forms are to be completed at the school and forwarded to the Police Record Check Office at the TDSB. The cost, $16.75, of the police reference check is at the volunteer’s expense. It can take up to 12 weeks for processing. The applicant receives back the form, not the school. Once the volunteer receives the form, they need to bring the original to the school. Each year thereafter, the volunteer needs to make an annual offence declaration (at no charge and takes about 30 seconds). Which they can do by contacting the principal or contacting the PRC office at 416-393-0759 or email policereferencecheckoffice@tdsb.on.ca and ask for a hard copy of the current AOD to be sent to your school.

At the beginning of each year, da Vinci school council kindly seeks donations from our da Vinci families to support the Waldorf learning aspect of our school. These funds enable us to  provide each class with high quality supplies such as water colour paints and paper, beeswax crayons, modelling wax, pencil crayons, books, lantern making supplies, yarn, looms, and other art and handwork tools and supplies. It also allows us to offer special programming and visiting artists.

The funds raised here make a huge difference for our children, their teachers and the staff by allowing for advanced planning and budgeting of programs that excite and inspire us all. Alternative schools receive no extra funding from the TDSB to implement our specific curriculum, so we rely on donations to bring the Waldorf experience to da Vinci. Please consider what you can offer, and give what you can. We suggest $100 per child based on the forecasted needs for this year. But we warmly welcome any contribution possible from your family.

You can make a donation via School Cash Online. Once you are logged in, you will see a blue “Donation” button on the right of the screen. Select the amount you wish to donate and select da Vinci School from the dropdown menu. In the “Message to School Board” box, write Waldorf Donation.

If you prefer to make a donation via cash or cheque, please make it payable to “da Vinci Public School” and send it to the office.

LUNCH

Due to serious allergies, no nuts or nut products are allowed at school. We encourage children to always bring a litter-less lunch to school. We also encourage healthy food choices.

PIZZA LUNCH

The School Advisory Council of da Vinci and Lord Lansdowne work together to offer school-wide pizza lunches throughout the year as a fundraising initiative. Payment can me made through School Cash Online a few weeks before each lunch. Pizza options include pepperoni, cheese, lactose-free and gluten-free.

SNACK PROGRAM

With the support of the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, we run a healthy snack program, following the Toronto Public Health guidelines and Canada’s Food Guide. The snack program typically starts in October. We ask each family to make a donation to support the snack program. Donations can be made through School Cash Online.

Outdoor activities are a key part of the da Vinci school experience, so children need to come to school with appropriate clothing for outdoor exploration in all seasons. A change of clothes to keep at school is also encouraged for the younger grades. Indoor shoes, to be worn in the classroom, as well as running shoes for indoor gym are also required for all grades.

There are several options for before and after school childcare in the area, some options include: St. Stephen’s Community House (which operates within the school), Cecil Community Centre, University Settlement Recreation Centre, St. Alban’s Boys and Girls Club, and Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

For more information on childcare in the area, we recommend contacting Toronto Children’s Services 416-392-5437

Where possible, we encourage families to walk, cycle or transit to school.

da Vinci is accessible by TTC, on the following routes: 510 Spadina streetcar and 506 Carlton/ College streetcar.

Unfortunately, the TDSB does not provide bussing for students at alternative schools. 

There is no designated drop off zone at Lord Lansdowne/da Vinci school, and no guest parking on the premises. There is 10 minute street parking at limited hours on Spadina Cresent.

The closest street parking is on Spadina Ave. north of Willcocks Street, and on College Street.
Please note Police ticket aggressively on Robert St and Russell St as parking there is by permit only. 

We cannot stress enough that parents should, under no circumstances, stop their cars in school bus zones, or on the sidewalks around the school. It is a serious safety hazard for our students.