SCHOOL ON THE MOVE
In June 2008, the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of Ontario honored Frère-André Catholic Elementary School by designating it a School on the Move. Frère-André has demonstrated improvement in EQAO scores in reading, writing and mathematics in both Grades 3 and 6. The selection was also based on the staff being able to articulate the strategies used to improve student achievement. Schools on the Move are exciting places for children because everyone is learning and staff members understand and can describe practices and strategies that make a difference to their learning as well as to their students’ learning.  Principal, Mrs. JulieAnne Lewis, and teachers are using sound evidence based strategies for making sure that all students learn.

Schools on the Move are networking across the province and was launched in 2006. Schools in this network, Catholic and Public, French and English, from all parts of the province will connect with each other and with other schools to share successful practices and continue the learning journey. Frère-André Catholic Elementary School opens their doors to share their successes and ideas for moving into the future.

FACULTY
École Frère-André has over 20 devoted teachers supported by 4 educational assistances, 3 resource teachers, and a teacher mentor.  There is also a teacher specialized in Physical Education and Health and another specialized in Arts (drama, music and visual arts) who teach every student from grade 1 to grade 6 twice a week.  The support staff is made up of 2 secretaries, 3 custodians, a library technician and 5 lunch supervisors.

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING:
In January 2009, the following teachers have been nominated for excellence in teaching at the Ministry of Education of Ontario.

• Mme Maryse Crochetière:  excellence in teaching
• Mme Isabelle Morin : exceptional new teacher
• Mmes France Noël, Anne O’Connell, Julie-Anne Pellerin : team of the year
• Mme JulieAnne Lewis: excellence in leadership

In January 2007, the following teachers have been nominated for excellence in teaching at the Ministry of Education of Ontario.

• Mme Lyne Drolet: excellence in teaching and in leadership
• Mme Jocelyne Tassé: excellence in support services for teaching
• Mme Nicole Black: exceptional career (25 yrs+)
• Mme Myriam Alizé: excellence in school spirit
• Mme Julie-Anne Pellerin: exceptional new teacher
• Mme Sylvie Rivest : excellence in parent and community participation
• Mme Natalie Ginglo-Robert : excellence in literacy and numeracy

LEARNING SUPPORT
There is a maximum of 20 students per classroom from junior kindergarten to grade 3.  Although there is no limit for grades 4 to 6, the class sizes range from 20 to 28 students.
In order to help junior kindergarten students learn the French language there are two distinct classrooms:  a classroom for students who have little or no understanding of the French language and a classroom for students for who French is their first language.  The same program is taught in both classrooms.  The only difference is, in the classroom for students who have little or no understanding of the French language, there is more emphasis on building vocabulary and on sounding strategies.  There are no distinct classrooms for students of senior kindergarten to grade 6.

There are two teachers who help children from Junior kindergarten to grade 6 learn the French language vocabulary and sentence structures.

An intervention pyramid is in place to follow every student’s progress and professional learning communities are established.

• Teachers meet bi-weekly by grade levels to do common evaluations, analyze students’ results and establish strategies to answer the statement “What to do when a student does not succeed”.
• Parents are informed by the teacher of the child’s difficulty and are offered strategies and activities to help at home.
• The student is given another chance to show his or her progress.
• If there is little or no progress across the subjects, the resource team is informed by the teacher and a meeting is set to determine strategies and required adaptations.  The teacher informs the parents of the student of the strategies and adaptations discussed at the meeting.
• If again, there is no progress, some members of the school board team can be consulted by the resource team: speech therapist, social worker, behavior consultant, psychologist.  Also, a reference can be made by the resource team to the Community Access Services.

LIBRARY
The library is centered in the middle of the school and is accessible to all students and staff.  There are over 11 000 french language books and many videos and cassettes.

STUDENT COUNCIL
The student council is voted by school students and staff.  There is a prime minister (voted amongst grade six students) and deputies (voted one per classroom, from grades 4 to 6).   The main duty of the student council is to voice students’ suggestions of school fun activities, promote community events (Terry Fox Run and Food Bank) and participate in the anti-bullying committee. 

OUR MISSION:
To discover everyone’s potential, their talents, their curiosity and their pride of being French and Catholic.

OUR VISION:
We aim :

• Pride in everyone :
• Of themselves
• Of success
• Of being French
• Of being Catholic
• Of their accomplishments
• Of their work
• Quality of life
• Quality of learning
• A social environment
• To surpass ourselves
• Development of the total person : physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual, emotional, cultural
• Respect
• Learning

WHAT WE WANT FOR THE STUDENTS

• Their happiness
• Learning
• Safe learning environment
• Autonomy
• Respect
• To become great leaders
• To make the right choices
• To take risks
• A home environment
• Pride of the French language
• Success
• Their wellness
• Security
• Will to learn more
• Acceptance from peers
• Confidence
• Self esteem
• A great education

OUR VALUES

• Respect for God, others and yourself
• Respect for the environment
• Responsible for our actions

OUR COMMITMENT

• To dispense a high quality teaching
• To be positive
• To accept chalenges
• To communicate what is positive and negative
• To be devoted to a child’s needs
• To actively participate in school comities
• To listen to a child or a parent
• To share and work together
• To help
• To be patient
• To participate in professional development activities
• To evaluate
• To monitor every student’s progress
• To respect
• To respect learning differences and styles
• To be prepared
• To value
• To be a model
• To demonstrate pride

EVERY CHILD CAN SUCCEED 
What they require is :

• time
• tasks adapted to him or her
• a learning environment
• someone who believes in him or her
• motivation
• a bond

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
The student council and the anti-bullying committee established what they expect from all students at Frère-André.

“At Frère-André, we must do positive actions and use positive words, such as:”

We emphasis the development of moral intelligence, such as empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance and fairness.