The Day School
Nurturing resilient, compassionate, and critical thinkers who are equipped to navigate life’s challenges with confidence and contribute meaningfully to their communities and beyond.
Nurturing resilient, compassionate, and critical thinkers who are equipped to navigate life’s challenges with confidence and contribute meaningfully to their communities and beyond.
Emphasizing a balance of strong academic foundations and holistic development, our school encourages critical thinking, creativity, and a passion for lifelong learning.
Each day, our dedicated teachers guide students through a curriculum that is both challenging and engaging, ensuring that learning is both a joyful discovery and a strategic path to future academic successes. With an emphasis on individualized instruction, we adapt our teaching methods to cater to the unique strengths and needs of each child, laying the groundwork for personal and academic excellence.
Beyond our core subjects such as math and language, our program integrates arts, technology, and physical education, guaranteeing a comprehensive educational experience that develops well-rounded students prepared to excel.
Kindergarten classes have a maximum of 13 students, while Primary classrooms are capped at 15 students.
Students have access to more than 14 different clubs each year.
Students engage in specialized sports programs coached by experts in the field.
VMA practices whole child development, shaping each child through a balanced approach to education. Using fundamental concepts from the Ontario curriculum our students build a strong foundation in essential academic skills, such as language, literacy, and math.
These foundational skills empower and aid our students creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration skills unlocking limitless opportunities in an ever-evolving world.
Each student's unique path to knowledge is nurtured, with tailored educational strategies that cater to their individual strengths and learning styles.
Our curriculum is designed to not only meet but exceed provincial standards, fostering deep understanding and mastery in core subjects.
We encourage our students to take initiative and lead, fostering confidence and the skills to guide and inspire others.
Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability are woven into our curriculum to prepare students for a collaborative future.
Hands-on and minds-on approaches reinforce a deep engagement with subject material, promoting long-term knowledge retention.
Regular opportunity for cross-curricular learning merges core academics with arts, tech, inquiry, and students theories and ideas.
Each student’s language programming—including reading, writing, spelling, grammar, oral communication, and media literacy—is tailored to the individual student.
In small groups and/or individually, teachers are able to work alongside students to reach their individual potential and are never capped at grade—level expectations. As language skills span across all subjects, students participate in language programming for 100 minutes daily, practicing these skills consistently throughout the day and are assessed on a regular basis. Students will participate in projects requiring them to practice their writing and communication skills in a variety of subjects and explorations throughout the year.
Beginning in Grade 1:
On a weekly basis, students in Grade 1 and older, will participate in spelling tests. Students in Grade 3 and older will be required to participate in book studies and book reports.
Beginning in Grade 3:
Students will participate in writing a speech to share their interest in a topic of their choice and present it to their peers.
While our program uses the Ontario curriculum to guide its learning, we never cap students’ daily learning with grade-level expectations. Our students participate in math on a daily basis for a minimum of 60 minutes a day.
Throughout the year, our math concepts will also be represented and practiced in class projects to allow our students to make real-life connections on where math can be used.
Beginning in Grade 1:
Students will be presented with unit wrap-ups that require them to demonstrate their understanding of a concept. These wrap-ups will be used to assess our student’s understanding of the topic and will be used to demonstrate a student’s understanding of grade-level expectations.
Investigative Research (IR) puts the interests, ideas, and inquiries of the children at the heart of the learning that takes place in our classrooms.
While our classrooms frame their learning based on the students, wonders, questions, and ideas, our teachers will help guide the learning based on the curricular expectations from the Ontario social studies and science curriculum.
The goal of our IR learning blocks is to build knowledge as a class in real, authentic problems from the world around them. The learning block is designed to be collaborative, exploratory, and integrated with all subjects. The process of this exploration allows students to guide their learning, deepen their thinking, take risks, and allows every student to be a valued contributor to the knowledge we build as a classroom.
Our French program begins in our Kindergarten program and continues throughout to Grade 6.
Our program is designed to dynamically teach and develop student’s skills in reading, writing, and oral communication in the French language. We follow the Action in Motion (AIM) curriculum. Through this program, authentic learning is achieved by using scaffolding techniques which use story-telling, gestures, active collaboration, and repetition. The use of high-frequency vocabulary, introduced with gestures and contextualized in stories, drama, songs and dance, allows students to rapidly achieve levels of oral and written proficiency.
Students participate in dance, drama, and artistic expression as critical vehicles for learning in a Reggio-inspired classroom.
VMA students use the arts to interpret experiences on their own and express their understanding in a personal manner. The arts are integrated into many of our Investigative Research projects and explorations.
Throughout the school year, VMA highlights different communities of artists through various school-wide artist study. Artists from all different backgrounds are further explored as student’s learn about the artist’s history, their techniques, and dive into cultural explorations.
Our Art program is also extended with programs throughout the year with specialized learning experiences. Such as improv classes, specialized dance programs, and theatre production visits. All students also participate in 2 school wide concerts during the holidays and the spring to show off their performance skills.
Students will participate in music classes starting in our Kindergarten classes. Musical theory will be taught in our music classes in preparation for two annual performances. Our music program includes music education, playing instruments, learning theory, and music history.
Beginning in Kindergarten:
Students explore and experience different handheld instruments, introducing them to the basics of musical theory including rhythm and melody. They participate in vocal classes, learn about the history of music, and study featured artists of the month.
Beginning in Grade 1:
Students begin to learn to play the ukulele which helps children develop a strong musical foundation. They learn about basic music theory including rhythm, melody, and harmony, which can be applied to other instruments in the future.
As part of our whole child development approach, our students take time to care for their minds and bodies throughout each day.
On a daily basis, students are provided with time for meditation and participate in gym classes twice a week. They are supported with ongoing conversations about taking care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.
As a part of our physical education curriculum, we offer 6 specialized sports programs for 4-8 week sessions each school year. Specialized coaches from outside of VMA teach these programs either on our campus or through visits to their facilities in the local community.
Sports may include but are not limited to:
All classrooms are equipped with tablets and keyboards to develop contemporary communication skills in an age—appropriate manner. Our students use technology to explore new subjects and deepen their understanding of difficult concepts.
We differentiate our teaching to support different learning styles and abilities, and develop many practical skills including:
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Students participate in monthly outdoor education days to help them in building a fundamental understanding of the world. Regular opportunities to connect with the land and natures builds an appreciation our interdependence with nature.
Each month, we plan at least one field trip and/or outside guest visitor enriching our learning with the voices that impact the world and community around us.
Students build a sense of self and are able to nurture their respect for others by understanding where they fit in the greater community both locally and globally.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a key component in the development of the whole child. Our students build their socio-emotional competencies to help them develop a sense of self and a better understanding of the world around them.
Our goal is to see our students build social awareness and the courage to speak up when they feel their voices—and the voices of others—need to be heard.
Our Before and After-school Care programs provide a nurturing space for continued learning and play. Guided by our dedicated staff, students engage in a range of activities and homework.
The program runs between the hours of 7:30am-8:40am, 3:30pm-6:00pm, and provides care on all PA Days, Winter Break and March Break.
Nutrition is central to our students' well-being and ability to learn. Vincent Massey Academy partners with Real Food for Real Kids to provide delicious, nutritious lunches crafted by dietitians.
Emphasizing a balanced diet, our menu features a variety of flavours and textures, catering to young palates while adhering to food safety standards, including nut-free and pork-free options.
