Our School

Rockway Public School is an elementary Junior Kindergarten to Grade Six School, which was built in 1961, and is located at 70 Vanier Drive, at the corner of Boniface Avenue and Vanier Drive.  It has remained an integral part of the strong community it serves for over fifty years.

Our school day begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m.

We have two nutrition breaks at the following times:  11:00 – 11:40 and 1:40 – 2:20.

Our School Motto

At Rockway we actively work together to create a safe and caring learning environment.

Our Rockway Creed

We Rock!

We RISE to the challenge

We OWN our choices and mistakes

We CARE about ourselves others and the environment

We KNOW we can succeed

Our Students

We are very proud of our Rockway Roos!  Our school is home to approximately 200 students.  Over twenty-six different languages are spoken by the students in our school.  Our graduates go to Courtland Senior Public School or Sunnyside Senior Public School for Grades 7 and 8.  For secondary school, our students attend Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute or Eastwood Collegiate Institute.

All of our students walk to school.

Our Staff

Our teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants, child and youth worker, library clerk, head secretary, custodians and administrator work hard to create a safe, engaging, respectful learning environment for our students.  Our Rockway School staff members are caring and strongly committed to student learning and success.  They offer a variety of extra-curricular activities and a number of opportunities for student leadership.

Parents and Community

Our School Council is made up of a small, dedicated team of parent volunteers.  Our members work hard to provide feedback and support regarding school activities, initiatives and policies, and to raise funds for classroom and school enhancements.  For many years, School Council has provided a delicious turkey lunch, consisting of turkey, stuffing, vegetables and dessert, for everyone in our school.  Turkey Lunch is an eagerly anticipated highlight of every school year.  Our council also provides money to offset the cost of bus transportation for school trips, to purchase refreshments and locks for Grade Six Graduation, to augment and replace books in our Home Reading program and much more.  They truly make a difference for the students in our school.

This year we are pleased to able to offer a fully accessible nutrition program every morning during the first nutrition break.   We need your HELP to support our Nutrition PROGRAM.  Please let us know if you are able to volunteer.  Your commitment and hard work won’t go unnoticed!

Our school is used after hours by community partners to help high school students earn required credits.  The school’s large field and green spaces have provided the community with baseball diamonds, soccer fields and a place to play and meet outside of the school day for many years.

Academic and Special Education Programs

In addition to the regular academic program, Rockway School offers students opportunities to participate in our Early Literacy Intervention program and Home Reading program.  Our Early Literacy Intervention program provides intensive support to students in Grade 1 to strengthen developing literacy skills. A large majority of our SK to Grade 6 students are participating in our Home Reading program.  Students read at home and record the title of the book in order to track the number of nights of reading.  We celebrate 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and 150 nights of reading.

We are in the process of offering the Strong Start program again this year. Our Strong Start program is run by community and parent volunteers to provide young students with literacy support.  This program is sponsored by the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation and managed by a volunteer coordinator.

At Rockway, we offer resource support through our special education resource teacher and educational assistants. A variety of programs, such as Early Literacy Intervention, and services are provided to support students with special needs both in the special education room or the classroom.

Multi-Language Learners at Rockway

Rockway’s Multi-Language learning (MLL) program supports students in developing vocabulary, oral language skills and literacy. Our multi-language learners develop the ability to express themselves with growing competence, and to read and write meaningfully. The MLL program accelerates natural language acquisition, and we are often amazed at how quickly students acquire basic speaking and literacy skills.

In the classroom, our teachers accommodate Multi-language Learners with visual aids, modified work, peer helpers and volunteers. Supporting Multi-Language Learners is a team effort that involves the school and outside agencies.  We are fortunate at Rockway to have a Settlement Worker to provide support for our new families.

Classroom Organization

We have three Full Day Kindergarten classes and our school offers the extended day program to students in junior kindergarten to grade two.  We have seven classes of Grade 1 to Grade 6 students.

Facilities and Resources

Rockway Public School has a large playground area.  We have an extensive playing field that contains two small and one full-sized soccer field, a general play area and a naturalized section called Habitat Hill.  We also have creative climbing equipment and a tarmac area that has basketball nets and a variety of painted tarmac games, such as Four Square. Last but not least…our Kindergarten green space is finally complete!

The school structure consists of the original school, which has one floor.  The school has 11 classrooms, a library, gymnasium, staff room and offices.  We also have several smaller spaces used by our Child and Youth Worker, ESL teacher and Settlement Worker.

Clubs and Activities

Students at Rockway can participate in a variety of activities.  We offer choir and sports activities, such as soccer, dodgeball and floor hockey, running club and various opportunities for leadership, such as Kindergarten Helpers, Announcement Team, Reading Buddies and Lunch Helpers.

Rockway School families, students and staff members have supported many local charities, including the local Food Bank, Terry Fox Run, Jump Rope for Heart and a number of other initiatives.

The Rockway Attributes

Rockway Public School’s attributes align with the Rockway Creed and the Umbrella Project. This year the attributes include.

Gratitude

Grit

Self Compassion

Resilience

Mindfulness

Autonomy

Intrinsic Motivation

Integrity

Hope