Who are we?

Westboro Academy is a small and familial community. With a maximum student enrolment of 176, and only one class per grade, we are a very close and tightly knit group. The older and younger children play together. Everybody is known to one another. All the staff know all the children by name, and every child is an individual. Our small class sizes also create an environment where relationships are close and people grow to understand each other in meaningful ways. Our strong community sets us apart from other schools. Our teachers and administrators are easily accessible, and every family becomes well known to them. People who come to Westboro Academy come here because our size allows us to build relationships. There is a strong sense of belonging, and having a community means that Westboro students learn in a caring, supportive, and nurturing family.

School Houses

Westboro Academy students are assigned to one of 4 School Houses: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Orioles and Green Herons. Children across the grade levels connect to bond in these smaller communities and participate in friendly competition throughout the year to earn house points. Acts of kindness, consideration for others, respectful behaviours, dedicated efforts, thinking outside of oneself, and community-mindedness are examples of how a child might be recognized on behalf of their house. Houses can earn special privileges throughout the year, and the winning house will earn the coveted House Cup.

Community Service

Westboro Academy helps prepare students for life by reinforcing the expectation of serving others. Our students learn from an early age that they are part of a much wider community, one in which people share resources, ideas, time, and energy. Our Student Council organizes many community service projects and supervises charity fundraising events. Through these activities, our students experience the benefits of giving. Our students organize food drives, charity raffles, a Skate-a-Thon, the Annual Terry Fox Run, bake sales and other activities at their own initiative that all contribute to this experience. We encourage the students to come forward with their own ideas on how to serve others and help them find ways to implement these ideas so that they become a reality.

Middle School students have special opportunities for service. As part of the expectations for independent studies, each student selects a community service project of their own. With the guidance of their homeroom teacher, they develop skills needed to see their initiative through to completion and then share the learning with their classmates.

Another highlight is the opportunity to participate in an international service trip through Me to We. In either grade 7 or 8, students may opt to travel abroad with their classmates for this project. In the past, our students have been to the Amazon rainforest to help build a medical facility, to Nicaragua to help build a school, and to the mountains of Ecuador to work on a water filtration project.

Parent Engagement

Many parents are very involved in school life. There are opportunities to be on the Board of Directors, to be the Head of School’s Committees members, or to make yourself available for other volunteer activities such as skating parties, The Holiday Show, the Terry Fox Run, August BBQ, concerts, and many more. For those that are interested, there are many ways to get involved in school life. We rely on parental involvement as a critical part of our operations, but also as part of our community building.

International Week

Each year the entire school community engages in a week-long festival and celebration of international explorations. We celebrate diversity and learn about music, food, religions, geography, politics and culture. It is a rich time for learning and the the culminating event is a spectacular buffet of international foods in which the entire school community and parents participate.

Student Presentations

Several times a year, students will share what they have been learning with our community of parents.  This also provides a venue to gather community members and build relationships. Students are always proud to share their musical and theatrical performances. With our new facility and our new gym, we hope to be able to do this even more often!

Field Trips

Field trips form a critical component of the educational program at Westboro Academy. They provide a framework for understanding curriculum covered in class, they enrich learning by providing “real-life” experiences for the students to relate to. The unique experiences provided by field trips provide significant learning opportunities as they enable students to better understand and appreciate the world around them. Westboro Academy arranges that every class either participates in a field trip or receives a guest presentation each month.