8 Top Schools | Jill's Team

West Rouge was built with families in mind. There are top schools peppered throughout the neighbourhood, and we’ve listed the best 8 here for you:

1. Centennial Road Junior Public School

Located on the quiet but accessible corner of Centennial and Lawson Road, Centennial Road Junior Public School welcomes approximately two-hundred and fifty students into its doors each day. In doing so, it keeps alive a history established in 1836, when School Section Number 11 (S.S. #11) was formed and Centennial was built to educate the growing population of children living in east Scarborough.

Despite its age, Centennial Road Junior Public School remains committed to preparing students for success in today’s world. They are home to both an Eco Club and a Glee Club, in addition to their more traditional Folk Dancing Club. Community involvement is encouraged through the students’ active participation in fundraisers like the annual Food and Toy Drive for the Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities. Their school is also registered with the Scientists in School program – a local charity that connects students with a fantastic array of science and technology workshops, enriching their learning experience and sparking a lifetime interest in the scientific discovery.

Centennial’s school property is home to a baseball diamond and soccer field which border with the wider greens of Centennial Park. This gives students lots of space to stretch their legs as they jog with the school’s intramural cross country team, or tryout for their favourite event at track and field. The school also boasts some exciting special features designed to promote physical activity – an outdoor beach volleyball court and a brand new rock climbing wall! In addition, the school is currently undergoing phase-one construction of a brand-new Playground Learning Environment.

271 Centennial Road
p: 416.396.6125
f: 416.396.984
e: centennial@tdsb.on.ca
Grades: JK-6

More about Centennial Road Junior Public School.

2. Charlottetown Junior Public School

Tucked in just a short hop away from the corner of Port Union and Lawrence, Charlottetown Junior Public School is flanked by the large green field of Charlottetown park. Just over 475 students arrive on its property daily, from the smallest junior kindergartens to the tallest sixth graders.

One of Charlottetown’s proudly made claims is its tradition of collaborative parent involvement. Even a short visit to the school’s personal website – which provides information on everything from entry and dismissal times to the daily weather – shows this to be true. Parents are welcome to sign-up as volunteers with the school’s “Kiss ‘n’ Ride” program, a program established to help usher children safely from their parents vehicles onto school property each morning, or instead, to help out for an hour at a pizza lunch.

There is no shortage of options in extracurricular activities for Charlottetown’s students. There are a wide-variety of clubs and teams to support the development of student talent. Charlottetown’s staff members volunteer to dedicate their time coaching everything from baseball, basketball, soccer and volleyball to flag football, bordenball, track and field and cross-country. In addition to the standard Band and Strings program, Charlottetown is home to both a choir and a folk-dance program. Students interested in the performing arts are also given a unique opportunity to showcase their budding talents in the school’s dramatic productions – this year, in Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka Junior.

Address: 85 Charlottetown Boulevard
p: 416.396.6135
f: 416.396.5843
e: charlottetown@tdsb.on.ca
Grades: JK-6

More about Charlottetown Junior Public School.

3. West Rouge Junior Public School

Situated just west of the Rouge River at the bend in the road of Friendship Avenue, the aptly-named West Rouge Junior Public School is the daily home for approximately 200 students from the West Rouge neighbourhood. It is a small school with a big reputation.

West Rouge Junior Public School is well-known in the community for hosting an annual Fun Fair. Each May, the event draws in children, youth and parents from the West Rouge neighbourhood and beyond. While the younger crowd looks forward to games, inflatable jumping castles, sweet treats and pony rides, parents anticipate the impressive array of donated prizes on offer at the silent auction. The West Rouge Fun Fair is so successful and well-attended that the school is able to draw sponsorships and support not only from reputable local businesses, such as Fratelli’s Village Pizzeria, The Black Dog Pub, Yvonne’s Coffee Haus, Audrey’s Flowers and Energy Martial Arts Academy, but also from larger corporate entities, such as Subway, Loblaws and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt.

The annual Fun Fair is only one way in which West Rouge rallies forces together for the benefit of their students. The school hosts a multitude of enriching programs, such as Scientists in School and Beginning Robotics, and provide their students with the opportunity to participate in exciting events, like their annual dramatic production (Aladdin and Willy Wonka in the recent past), Ski and Skate Days and Speech Arts. Students who attend West Rouge can also boast that their school is a “Certified Platinum ECO School,” as they join their teachers and parents in an effort to make themselves, along with their school, more environmentally sustainable.

401 Friendship Avenue
p: 416.396.6635
f: 416.396.6629
e: westrouge@tdsb.on.ca
Grades: JK-6

More about West Rouge Public School.

4. William G. Davis Junior Public School

The changes William G. Davis Public School has undergone since it opened its doors in the fall of 1967 reflect the changes of the West Rouge community in the past fifty years. Originally under the jurisdiction of the Durham Board of Education, it was officially transferred into the hands of the Scarborough Board of Education in 1975, when the boundaries dividing Scarborough and Pickering were redrawn, changing the shape of what is now known as the Waterfront Community of West Rouge. Expanded in 1994 to double its original capacity, William G. Davis Public School grew with its community in the same spirit as it would later join its community in becoming part of the Greater Toronto Area, and thus, the TDSB, in 1998.

Located at the crest of a small hill on East Avenue that inclines toward Lake Ontario, W. G. Davis continues to evolve with its students and community. The school is a proud participant of the Toronto Schools on the Move program, helping their kids to achieve optimal physical and mental health by ensuring all students are engaged in high-level activity for 30 minutes each day. William G. Davis further promotes well-balanced development through their Character Education program, which takes reading books as an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of qualities like empathy, honesty and co-operation.

William G. Davis is also home to a variety of clubs and teams. They also provide opportunities for students to learn responsibility by allowing them to fill unique leadership roles such as Door Monitor, Office Helper, Library Helper and more.

128 East Avenue
p: 416.396.6650
f: 416.396.3468
e: williamgdavis@tdsb.on.ca
Grades: JK-6

More about William G. Davis Junior Public School.

5. Joseph Howe Senior Public School

Joseph Howe, located on Winter Gardens Trail just a short turn east off Port Union, is the neighbourhood’s one and only middle school. Grade 7 and 8 students who attend Joseph Howe continue to develop and discover their talents through a well-rounded offering of courses and extra-curricular activities.

20 Winter Gardens Trail
Phone: 416.396.6405
f: 416.396.6454
e: josephhowe@tdsb.on.ca
Grade Range: 7-8

More About Joseph Howe Senior Public School.

6. Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate Institute

Located on the northwest corner of Lawrence Ave and Charlottetown Blvd, Sir Oliver Mowat CI is the home to approximately 1150 students in Grades 9 through 12. This high school which was founded 40 years ago boasts a reputation for academic and athletic excellence and strong support from the community.

Mowat offers a wide variety of courses to students in the following subject areas; Art, Business, Drama, English, Family Studies, Modern Languages, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music, Cooperative Education, Health and Physical Education, and Science and Technology. They also have an excellent Co-op program which allows students to earn course credits while gaining valuable life experience in the workplace.

Mowat CI offers an extensive collection of extracurricular activities to the students population, including clubs and teams in Science, Math, Arts and Athletics. Sports teams at Mowat include basketball, cheerleading, curling, dragon boat, field hockey, flag football, hockey, nordic ski, rugby, slo-pitch baseball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. In the area of the Arts, in September 2014 Mowat will be piloting a special Performing Arts program which will allow students to graduate with a Performing Arts certificate upon completion of the program.

Giving back to the community is important to the Mowat community. Each year during the holiday season Mowat staff and students select a charity to raise money for at their annual “Christmas Cheer” event. Students organize a variety of fundraising efforts over the weeks leading up to the holiday, finishing with a Christmas Assembly which showcases the many talents of the students at the school.

5400 Lawrence Avenue
p: 416.396.6802
f: 416.396.6758
e: sirolivermowat@tdsb.on.ca
Grades: 9-12

More about Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate Institute.

7. St. Brendan Catholic School

St. Brendan Catholic school is a K to 8 elementary school located on the quiet neighbourhood street of Centennial Road. The school focuses on accommodating the diverse group of students at their school by fostering Christian values, self-esteem and respect.

The school offers a wide range of extra and co-curricular activities to the students at their school including musical productions, choir and drama clubs in the area of the Arts and hockey, soccer, volleyball and cross-country in Athletics. The school also runs a house league program for its students so that all students get a chance to participate in sports and learn and develop their sportsmanship skills. The also offer a school chess and WH5 team for students.

Giving back to the community is important to St. Brendan Catholic school. The school participates in a number of charity organizations including food drives, the Share Life campaign, ME to WE and supporting families in need both in our local community and in other communities around the world.

186 Centennial Road
p: 416.393.5359
f: 416.393.5593
Grades: K-8
Parish: St. Joseph

More about St. Brendan Catholic School.