Sir Alexander Mackenzie Senior Public School

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Senior Public School
main entrance on Heather Road
Address
33 Heather Road
Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, M1S 2E5
Canada
Coordinates 43°47′22″N 79°16′23″W / 43.78944°N 79.27306°W / 43.78944; -79.27306Coordinates: 43°47′22″N 79°16′23″W / 43.78944°N 79.27306°W / 43.78944; -79.27306
Information
School type Public
Motto Today a Learner, Tomorrow a Leader
Founded 1971
School board Toronto District School Board
Superintendent Andrew Howard
Area trustee Abdul Hai Patel
Principal Alison Gassi
Vice Principal Jack Levy
Grades 7-8
Enrollment 470
Language English, French
Color(s) White, Red, Green             
Team name Mustangs
Website schools.tdsb.on.ca/sam/

Sir Alexander Mackenzie Senior Public School is a senior middle school (grades 7 and 8) located in Agincourt neighbourhood of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was found in 1971, and was named after the explorer Alexander Mackenzie. SAM (abbrev.) is a part of the Toronto District School Board. The Scarborough Board of Education (later amalgamated into the TDSB) originally named the school after Mr. Horton, a developer in the area who had donated the land for the school. Before the school opened it was renamed at the request of parents who felt that donating land was not sufficient to be honoured with by the naming of a school.

SAM also has three French programs. One is the 'French Extended Program,' which has 3 periods of French in place of the English core classes, and vice versa. The students in the 'French Extended Program' learn French, geography and history in French. 'French Immersion Program,' where they learn French, geography in French, history in French, as well as math in French. Lastly, in the 'Core Program,' which is the normal program, there are 3 periods of English classes and one French class.

The students usually continue education through Agincourt Collegiate Institute. students are exposed to different resources and tools that help to create a better learning opportunity. North Agincourt, C. D. Farquharson and Agincourt Junior are the home elementary schools. Other non-feeder schools that contribute in making up the schools population may include: Anson S Taylor, Percy Williams, Brimwood, Agnes Macphail, Iroquois, and Alexmuir.

Sir Alexander Mackenzie is one of the most diverse schools in Toronto, with the student population consisting of 1% African American, 89% East Asian/Oriental, 20% South Asian, 1% Middle Eastern, 0.7% South American, and 0.3% Caucasian descent.

Every 2 years, all of the students get to go on a trip to Quebec City to improve their French language skills; and every other year, all the students has the opportunity to go on a big trip for their annual music trip (Past trips have been to Boston, New York and Chicago.)

Unlike any other schools, SAM hosts a 2-week program at the beginning of school to teach students about the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Albeit it is based on the popular book by Sean Covey, according to the Handbook of Self-Help Therapies the book has not been thoroughly tested as a part of a treatment plan.[1] SAM also phased out of TDSB's character traits with Habitués.

A Tribute to SAM's Vice Principal

Scott Gardner was a vice principal at the school from 2008- 2011. He recently passed in 2016. They school dedicated to him a new outdoor learning area. In pursuit to select a Scottish name, it was decided to call the new outdoor space "the Cèilidh Place". Cèilidh, pronounced ‘kay’lee’ in Gaelic.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Watkins, Patti Lou (2007). Handbook of Self-Help Therapies. Routledge. p. 144. ISBN 0805851712.
  2. ↑ http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/alexmackenzie/Scott-Gardner
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