Leo Baeck Day School
Encyclopedia
The Leo Baeck Day School is a Greater Toronto Area
Reform
Jewish day school
composed of over eight hundred students from Nursery to Grade Eight. Named in honour of Rabbi Leo Baeck, it has two campuses, in Thornhill
and Toronto
.
s in every classroom has been accomplished, as the first phase of a major introduction of technology into the teaching programme. in 2007-2008 school year, the school introduced a "roaming lab" of laptops for student use, and installed Smartboards at each campus.
According to the Toronto Star
, Prashker resigned in 2008 after the parents responded negatively to the discovery of sexually explicit poetry that he had published decades earlier, but was available on the internet.
At the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, Dennis Grubbs took the reins as Interim Director of The Leo Baeck Day School, as he helped during the school's transition year. At the end of his much lauded term, Dennis Grubbs handed the position over to Eric Petersiel, who had long-served as the school's South Campus principal.
In January 2011, the school was accepted as an official International Baccalaureate school for the Middle School years. The introduction of "Best Practices" in the Primary grades supports the IB philosophy, although the Primary School is not an official International Baccalaureate school.
Leo Baeck is run by the Head of School (Eric Petersiel), a principal at each campus (Ron Mintz [interm] at the South Campus and Yvette Burke at the North Campus),and the Board, which is composed of parents and members of the community. The school is affiliated with the Mercaz, the Union for Reform Judaism
, and PARDeS, the Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools.
The North Campus includes classes from Nursery through Grade 8 and the South Campus includes classes from SK through Grade 8. In the year 2005-2006, The Leo Baeck Day School South Campus had its first graduating class. The North Campus recently renovated its main building to now include a wider, more attractive entryway as well as replacing its main gym's tiled floors with highly anticipated wooden ones. This renovation also replaced some classrooms with office space and a new multi-purpose room to be used by Temple Kol Ami, a reform synagogue that has been and will continue to be stationed at Leo Baeck's North Campus.
Leo Baeck publishes "The Baeck and Call" every season, a magazine with school updates and events.
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...
composed of over eight hundred students from Nursery to Grade Eight. Named in honour of Rabbi Leo Baeck, it has two campuses, in Thornhill
Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
School information
Former School Director Zita Gardner retired in July 2004. She was replaced by David Prashker, formerly a senior teacher at a British private school and Housemaster of Polack's, the last Jewish boarding facility in Europe. The Leo Baeck Day School, under David Prashker's direction, released a five-year plan, which, among other things, reconstituted the school's Board of Trustees as a Strategic Board, focusing on the future of the school and leaving day-to-day management in the hands of the professionals. The installation of laptopLaptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
s in every classroom has been accomplished, as the first phase of a major introduction of technology into the teaching programme. in 2007-2008 school year, the school introduced a "roaming lab" of laptops for student use, and installed Smartboards at each campus.
According to the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, Prashker resigned in 2008 after the parents responded negatively to the discovery of sexually explicit poetry that he had published decades earlier, but was available on the internet.
At the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year, Dennis Grubbs took the reins as Interim Director of The Leo Baeck Day School, as he helped during the school's transition year. At the end of his much lauded term, Dennis Grubbs handed the position over to Eric Petersiel, who had long-served as the school's South Campus principal.
In January 2011, the school was accepted as an official International Baccalaureate school for the Middle School years. The introduction of "Best Practices" in the Primary grades supports the IB philosophy, although the Primary School is not an official International Baccalaureate school.
Leo Baeck is run by the Head of School (Eric Petersiel), a principal at each campus (Ron Mintz [interm] at the South Campus and Yvette Burke at the North Campus),and the Board, which is composed of parents and members of the community. The school is affiliated with the Mercaz, the Union for Reform Judaism
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
, and PARDeS, the Progressive Association of Reform Day Schools.
The North Campus includes classes from Nursery through Grade 8 and the South Campus includes classes from SK through Grade 8. In the year 2005-2006, The Leo Baeck Day School South Campus had its first graduating class. The North Campus recently renovated its main building to now include a wider, more attractive entryway as well as replacing its main gym's tiled floors with highly anticipated wooden ones. This renovation also replaced some classrooms with office space and a new multi-purpose room to be used by Temple Kol Ami, a reform synagogue that has been and will continue to be stationed at Leo Baeck's North Campus.
Leo Baeck publishes "The Baeck and Call" every season, a magazine with school updates and events.