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Phillips Falcons soar with success

With high dreams for each and every student, soaring to success is exactly what Dr. S J. Phillips is doing. Dr. S. J. Phillips is more than just a school and it focuses on teaching each student more than just the basic school subjects. Our school is willing to work at students’ character and encourages school unity. Dr. S. J. Phillips is more than just a positive learning environment; it’s a chance to grow in many ways and to prepare to enter the world positively.

I have attended Dr. S. J. Phillips for 10 years now, since kindergarten. Our school has always had many school spirit initiatives such as our house league teams. Each team tries to earn the most points. Each child earns points by doing a good deed. When I was younger I always enjoyed earning points for my team and now I enjoy encouraging the younger students on my team.

We have also recently added many positive programs such as our student council and peer mediators. Our student council represents our student body and shares many ideas and initiatives. Our peer mediators are a trained group who helps our younger students. In the past few years we have also started recognition assemblies, which occur once a month. Our whole school gathers together and students are recognized for their special skills and achievements. This teaches us that everyone’s skills are important even if they are different. We also have many other awards like the team spirit award, the kindness award and the love of reading award. Each encourage positive personality traits which we will need in the future.

I know there are many students, like me whowill credit their elementary school with giving them such a positive foundation to the rest of their life.

Victoria Zotz us a Grade 8 student at Dr. S.J. Phillips Public School.
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Long, proud history at Dr. S.J. Phillips


Jun 30, 2007 By: Jillian Follert

OSHAWA -- When Dr. S.J. Phillips P.S. first opened its doors in the 1920s, every school day started with an assembly.

The students would gather on the stairs to sing O Canada, while the principal read from the Bible.

In those days, the average class size was 50 students, which explains the spacious classrooms in the historic Oshawa school.

Principal Barbara Hardy has only been at the helm of Phillips for three years, but she knows its history well, thanks to generations of former students who still drop by to visit.

"The school has been here so long a lot of parents and grandparents in the community were students here," she says. "They come in and ask to walk through the school with me."

Phillips is one of Oshawa's original schools and a recognizable landmark at the corner of Rossland Road and Simcoe Street North.

Today, the small school of 450 students is also known for strong academics, arts and athletics.

This year, the four Grade 7 and 8 classes participated in Art Smarts, a unique program that teaches core subjects through art, while students from Grades 3 to 8 performed a production of Rats -- the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The school offers all the regular sports teams and is branching out into the unexpected with new teams like ultimate frisbee.

There are also plenty of intramurals, ensuring everyone gets a chance to play.

"The notion of inclusion is important here," Ms. Hardy says. "We want anyone who can get a team together to be able to participate, not just the top 10 athletes every time."

At Phillips, character education is just as important as reading and writing.

Every month, staff and students gather for assemblies that emphasize a different theme, such as friendship, and teachers hand out "gotchas" to students caught exemplifying that lesson.

Students can also enter peers who commit random acts of kindness, into a draw to win a stuffed animal.

The principal says students are also taught the value of giving back to the community, through food and clothing drives, adopting a family at Christmas and participating in events like the Terry Fox Run, CIBC Run for the Cure and Jump Rope for Heart.

In turn, the community gives back to the school through a strong School Community Council that fundraises to purchase books, team jerseys and new technology like the school's Smartboard.