Don't miss a thing, check out The Flash weekly.

Don't miss a thing, check out The Flash weekly.

Junior School - April 24, 2025

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, April 25 - JS House Color Casual Day

Friday, April 25 - YPA Spring Recess Event

Friday, April 25 - Gr. 5 Grad Sweatshirt Order Form 2025 will need to be completed by Friday, April 25 at 5:00pm to purchase a sweatshirt for your child

Monday, April 28 - Friday, May 9 - Junior School Spring Book Drive, Give the Gift of Reading!! Donate your gently loved books.

Tuesday, April 29 - JS Lice Check

Thursday, May 1 - PYP Exhibition

Tuesday, May 6 - Gr. 4s & 5s Author Visit with Evanka Osmak - 11:00am - 12:00pm

Wednesday, May 7 - G4 & 5 Science @ 1320 UN SDGs, 1:00 - 3:00pm

Thursday, May 8 - JS Fire Drill

Tuesday, May 13 - Forest of Reading Field Trip, 11:00am - 2:30pm

May 14 and 15 - Mark your calendars for Grandpals and Special Friends Days!

Friday, May 16 - Founder's Day Holiday (No Classes)

Monday, May 19: Victoria Day (No Classes)

Monday, May 26 - Friday, May 30 - Spring Co-Curriculars Make-up classes

Spring Camp Dates:

  • Grade 5 - Monday, June 2 - Wednesday, June 4

  • Grade 4 - Wednesday, June 4 - Thursday, June 5

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • Lost and Found Update: Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather. With that being said, our lost and found is piled up with winter clothing. Please have a look whenever you are on campus to claim your belongings.

  • Join us for the Grade 5 PYP Exhibition,Thursday, May 1, 2025 | 3:30pm – 5:00pm
    This is a celebration of our student learning, inquiry, and action. The Grade 5 students have worked hard over the term to explore issues they care about and take meaningful action. This is a community event, and everyone is welcome — we hope you’ll stop by to see the incredible work they’ve accomplished.

York’s 2025 Grandpals and Special Friends Day

We are excited to host York’s 2025 Grandpals and Special Friends Day at our Junior School Campus. This annual celebration acknowledges the important and unique role that extended family and friends play in the lives of our youngest learners by inviting grandparents and other friends or family members to join us for some learning and fun.

Please register on behalf of the Grandpals and Special Friends that will be joining your children for this event, or forward this message so they can register themselves. Due to capacity restrictions, we can only accommodate two guests per student. If you have more than one child attending York’s Junior School you will need to register for each applicable session. 

We are hopeful that each student has at least one Grandpal or Special Friend to join them at their session so that nobody feels left out.

We look forward to seeing a great turnout of Grandpals and Special Friends at this event. If you have any questions, please contact the Advancement Team at advancement@yorkschool.com.

Spring Co-Curricular Schedule

Spring Athletic Practice Schedule

Spring Lunch Menus & Schedule

STUDENT LIFE & BELONGING

JUNIOR SCHOOL ECO WEEK 2025

Our Eco Week and Earth Day initiatives raise awareness about how we can all be more environmentally friendly and protect our planet. 

Friday, April 25

HOUSE COLOUR CASUAL DAY - It is the last Friday of the month but we are wearing house coloured clothing and accessories for our 5th HOUSE MEETING.

YPA RECESS EVENT - Thank you to our YPA Co Chairs and parent volunteers who will be out on the playground leading fun games and activities as we enjoy being active in the outdoors.

LOST & FOUND

As we honour Eco Week, please stop by and look through our Lost & Found to claim items that students have misplaced. We want to get these textiles back into circulation. Many of our school branded sweatshirts do not have name tags. If you have lost a uniform piece please come by and take an identical item with no name tag.

SPOTLIGHT ON STUDENT LEARNING - PYPX ACTION

We are excited to share that our Grade 5 students are in the final stages of completing their Primary Years Programme Exhibition (PYPX). The PYPX culminates students' PYP journey through collaborative and individual research on real-world issues.

This year's transdisciplinary theme is 'Sharing the Planet,' with students using the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to explore topics of global significance. Over the past weeks, Grade 5 students have been diligently researching their topics, analyzing data, and preparing presentations.

Along the inquiry cycle, students seek ways that they can to positively contribute to local and global communities. Whether through advocacy, social justice initiatives, entrepreneurship, or lifestyle choices, they're discovering how they can make positive impacts on the world around them. 

Some students have chosen to advocate for their topics in the JS Flash this week. Visit the PYPX 2025 Website to explore these students' initiatives now, and return on Thursday, May 1 to view all Grade 5 PYPX projects.

PYPX highlights our Grade 5 students' commitment to sharing our planet equitably as responsible global citizens. We invite all families to join us for the PYPX on Thursday, May 1 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm. It promises to be an inspiring exhibition of our students' abilities to think critically, work together, and take meaningful action. Thank you for supporting them on this meaningful step in their learning journey.

JUNIOR SCHOOL SPRING BOOK DRIVE

Our JS Spring Book & School Supplies Drive and house challenge launches on Monday, April 28 and runs to Friday, May 9. This is the PYPX action for Gemma L and Logann S.L. as they learn about refugees who are seeking a safe place after being forced to flee or leave their home country to escape violence, war or natural disaster. For this house challenge we are partnering with the United Way and The Children’s Book Bank as we collect gently used books and new school supplies.

  • To help elementary and high-school students start off the school year with confidence, we are asking families to donate school supplies. (markers, pencils/pens, pencil sharpeners, erasers, scissors, crayons, glue sticks, pencil cases, 1-2 inch binders,water bottles or backpacks)

  • As you do some Spring cleaning, we are asking students to look through their home libraries for books that they no longer read and are willing to donate. Give the gift of reading to someone else! 

  • All of the gently used books donated will be distributed, free of charge, to provide equal access to books and literacy support to children in high-needs neighbourhoods in Toronto.

GRADE 5 GRAD SWEATSHIRT ORDERING

Each year, the Grade 5 class has been invited to purchase a special sweatshirt featuring their graduating year from the Junior School and the names of all their classmates. Please remember that the purchase of this keepsake is completely optional. The student vote is in and the winning design out of 20 different submissions has been selected. It will now be submitted to 

The sweatshirt will be a black cotton hoodie with the small York School logo on the front left side and on the back will be the student selected design with their names.

  • The school has confirmed that the sweatshirt will be able to be worn as a uniform piece in Middle School. (Tip: It might be best to size up for wear next year!) 

  • The cost of these sweatshirts will range between $50 - $75 and will be charged to student accounts. We will not have an exact price from the vendor until the artwork of the final design is created. We will update families on the exact price once we receive a quote.

The Gr.5 Grad Sweatshirt Order Form 2025 will need to be completed by Friday, April 25 at 5:00pm to purchase a sweatshirt for your child. We are hoping to place the full order with the vendor by Thursday, May 1 to be sure that the sweatshirts arrive in time for the Grade 5 Celebration.

GRADE 4 & 5 SPRING CAMP NEW MOON

Our Grade 4 & 5 classes are heading up to Camp New Moon this June to celebrate all of their hard work, the end of the school year, and for our Grade 5 students the end of their Junior School experience. 

  • Spring Camp Dates:

    • Grade 5 - Monday, June 2 - Wednesday, June 4

    • Grade 4 - Wednesday, June 4 - Thursday, June 5

  • The objective of these overnight Spring Camp excursions is to enrich our students’ connections to themselves, others, and their environment while developing awareness, communication, and problem-solving skills. 

  • These Spring camp excursions also help to prepare our students for the Fall Outdoor education trips and programming that they will participate in at Camp Arowhon in September.

During the week of May 5 - May 9, we will be hosting our Student Information Sessions in all homeroom classes and sharing the slide deck with parents. Our Spring Camp Level 2 Venturing Out forms (with all trip details) will be shared via YorkNet during this week as well.

Questions? Please contact Sarah Charley, Director of Student Life & Belonging scharley@yorkschool.com.

Or Andrea Lossing, Experiential Educator alossing@yorkschool.com.