TMS
ESTABLISHED IN 1961
By Jake Courtepatte
When a student gets an advisor in grade eight, they will stay with the same advisor until they graduate in grade twelve
When a teaching faculty knows a child well, they have the ability to provide the absolute best learning environment for them. That is the concept behind TMS’ mission to instill in a student the values and knowledge they need to succeed from an early age, and the basis behind their motto, I Am Known. Delivering the Montessori educational experience for students from as young as eighteen months until a child reaches grade six, followed by the renowned International Baccalaureate programme, TMS provides a meaningful relationship between faculty and students that few schools have. “These students grow with us,” says Kirsten Eastwood, Executive Director, Community Development at TMS. “Many of them experience the full journey from toddler through to graduation.” Following the Montessori pedagogy, TMS students are grouped into classes of two to three grades. That means students in grades 1-3 and students in grades 4-6 stay in the same class with the same teachers for three years, growing and learning with the same students and faculty during these developmental years, before moving on to the Upper School. In a situation unique to so few schools, the bond often runs so deep that a student’s teacher from the Toddler or Children’s House program will arrive for their grade twelve graduation. “You often hear at graduations, a student’s Lower School teacher saying ‘I remember them doing this,” says Rachel Marks, TMS’ Head of Elementary. “And their grade twelve teacher will agree. It’s really a neat way to bookend their whole journey through TMS.” And though Upper School students are split into individual grades, the relatively small student population of 240 allows for I Am Known to follow them into their teenage years, through the implementation of a House system and an advisory program. Guidance counselors work with a student from the day they enter the Upper School, until the day they graduate, to help them find passion in their future studies, career and life.“When a
student gets an advisor in grade eight, they will stay with the same advisor until they graduate in grade twelve,” says Eastwood. “There are different ways to ensure that not just their homeroom teacher knows them and works with them, but everyone in the school gets a
LOWER SCHOOL 8569 Bayview Ave, Richmond Hill, Ontario Phone: 905-889-6882 | Fax: 905-886-6516 Canada L4B 3M7
chance to know them.” At TMS, knowing is not limited to the relationships between the teacher and student or the focus on student self-reflection; it applies to the relationship between the school and the parents of students as well. Faculty and staff spend
T M S
www.tmsschool.ca
an extensive amount of time working with parents, engaging parents in school life and undertaking extensive dialogue to meet their needs by understanding what they are looking for in their child’s education. Massive construction is underway on the Richmond Hill campuses to create spaces to animate the learning of TMS students, with a new gymnasium just breaking ground at the Lower School. With Athletics as one of the four Pillars of the school, the new gymnasium will not only provide a venue for house league and school sports teams, but a “community hub” for all. Set for opening in the fall of 2019, the campus development will include a new entrance as well as a new atrium, which the school sees as a space for student learning, parent engagements, and even hosting community events to further engage the school with the York Region community. “These are spaces that we know will meet the needs of our students,” says Ms. Eastwood. “Space does matter. We did a lot of work to figure out what we really need to help our students thrive.” Plans for the current gym on campus is for it to be transitioned to a performance space, which can be used for school productions, presentations, guest speakers, and the like, repurposing the smaller gym into something that has great value for the students. Once the Lower School construction is complete, plans for the renovations will begin on the Upper School to advance the needs of the students, including a standalone dining hall and student commons for collaborative purposes. TMS is an accredited school by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators (CCMA), the Canadian Accreditation of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Conference of Independent Schools (CIS). . For more information about TMS, please visit: https://www. tmsschool.ca/.
UPPER SCHOOL 500 Elgin Mills Rd. East, Richmond Hill, Ontario Phone: 905-780-1002 | Fax: 905-780-8981 Canada L4C 5G1