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schools future students. Alexiou said the par- ent community has been very involved with the school so far to help make it a true com- munity school, including the transition process. Were a bilingual school. We want to make sure were able to bring the two groups together so that they look at themselves as one school as opposed to two groups within the same building, he said. There will also be parenting resources available at the school, including a partner- ship with Oak Park Moms and Tots. The school is also one of 11 in the region with the Early Learning Program for JK/SK students and only one of four in the region with the before and after school extended day program. Furthermore, the school has a pilot program in which French class will start in Grade 1 for the English track stu- dents. Normally children start French in Grade 4. In another part of town, the other new school will be filled with technology in the classroom designed to help children learn. All classrooms in James Hill have an inter- active white board. It is similar to a Smart Board in that a teacher can operate a monitor- like board. But the interactive boards go fur- ther in that they are also regular white boards that teachers can use when the monitor tech- nology is not needed. Its really cool. I think its better than Smart Boards thats why I went with it, said McRae. Also, in each classroom there is a four- speaker built-in sound system that transmits the teachers voice as he or she speaks with a microphone hanging around his or her neck on a pendant. Everyone will have to use it because research shows that there is an increase in childrens learning with the sound systems in the room, McRae said. There are a lot of these implemented in the states and there have been studies done and its amazing the difference between with a sound system and without. She said the sound systems will lead to an increase in engagement and therefore result in better grades for students. All the teachers indicated they are comfortable with using technology. Its a unique situation in that I was able to have a staff thats filled with people who cant wait to use the technology, she said. Aside from the technology uses, students will definitely be pleased to learn about anoth- er initiative at the school. Were piloting a no-homework policy, McRae said. Were focusing on formative feedback and formative feedback is a way of teachers giving children feedback so that they can demonstrate improvement and take more control of their own learning. She added that research shows that chil- dren are more engaged in their learning when they dont have homework. The technology-based theme also includes environmentally friendly participation. The school is participating in the Active & Safe Routes to School, and has a walking-only policy. It will be an eco-school and will be par- ticipating in the regions clean water program to educate students about the importance of conservation. Additionally, the school will focus on phys- ical fitness. Each day children will either par- ticipate in Quality Daily Fitness (QDI) or Phys Ed along with learning about proper nutri- tion. Days when a class does not have Phys Ed, it will do 20 minutes of QDI fitness. This is all research based. They found that if kids have physical activity in their day their able to learn better, McRae said. James W. Hill is located at 2860 Kingsway Dr. in Clearview and Palermo is located at 2561 Valleyridge Dr. in, as the name suggests, Palermo. Come and see why we have been voted Bestyear after year! Fall Registration on Now Book Early - Spaces Are Limited Offering The Finest in Arts Exploration and Development! 1011 Upper Middle Road East & Eighth Line 905.844.ARTS (2787) www.oakvilleacademy.com Call to Book Your Birthday Parties! R.A.D. Ballet (ages 2-adult) Princess Pre Dance Baby Ballet Kinder Ballet R.A.D. Ballet Grades & Majors Recreational Dance Jazz Tap Ballet Hip Hop Kiddy Hop Acro Lyrical Contemporary Music Instruction New! Violin Piano Guitar Sax Bass Drums Flute Clarinet Vocal Lessons Musical Theatre Drama Ages: 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14+ Call for information on our triple threat programs. Programmes 6 years and under FREE dance skirt with new ballet registration. Princess Pre-Dance, Baby Ballet Kinder Ballet , Pre-Primary Ballet Primary Ballet, Ballet/Jazz Kiddy Hop, Kinder Jazz Kinder Tap Piano/Vocal Combination Fine Arts Afternoon Arts Adventure Program Ages: 3-5 Specialized program Tuesday/Wednesday and/or Thursday Afternoons 12:30 - 3:30 Incl. Dance, Music, Art Fine Arts Numerous programs for artists of all ages Journey into GLEE Ages: 7-10, 11-16 Love the show? Come see our version. Over 12,000 sq ft of premium dedicated Arts Instruction Mon-Thurs 9:00 am - 8:00 pm Friday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm 9 Friday , Septem ber 3, 2010 O A KVILLE BEA V ER w w w .o akvillebeaver .co m Community at one, new technology and no homework at other BRINGING FUN TO SCHOOL: Educator Shawn McRae will be the first principal at James W. Hill Public School opening this year. The school is the first to boast classrooms equipped with Epson Bright Link, a computer that makes whiteboards into interactive teaching tools. NIKKI WESLEY/OAKVILLE BEAVER Continued from page 8