Official Garden Planting @Eastdale

Monday June 12 was a special day at Eastdale with the official garden planting in the school's front yard. The beautification of the school includes includes a garden on both sides of the main entrance to the school. It is the first of a three part phase that will eventually see the 'greening' of the entire area from Boulton Avenue to Degrassi Street . The former bicycle rack has been removed and will be replaced at the back of the school by Toronto District School Board.
Thanks to City of Toronto who provided the plants and the garden plan and Foodshare for maintaining the plants over the summer. Photo below is: (L to R) David Servos (Assistant Curriculum Leader teacher), Orlando Gomez (Foodshare), Jennifer Story (School Trustee), Paula Fletcher (City Counsellor) and Brian Hill (Principal).

Eastdale CI Achieved EcoSchools Gold Level Certification!

Congratulations Eastdale CI on achieving GOLD certification on your recent EcoSchools audit!   

EcoSchools performs a bi-annual audit every year. This year our score was 85.5 out of 100 (5% improvement from last year 2016-17).
Here is an excerpt from the EcoSchools audit:

We were impressed by:

1. Your school is using a ‘Super Group’ to tackle the environmental program, as well as other important programs throughout the school. This is a great way to connect caring for the environmental with other community-focused practices. This group of dedicated students, led by strong staff members have completed some great campaigns throughout the year. The auditor noted that your team is able to maintain regular monitoring of energy categories, and has made important connections to the local community. The consistency and creativity of the team members is what is allowing your eco-team to flourish! Amazing work!

2. The auditor noted that your school has done an outstanding job at focusing on waste minimization. One amazing  accomplishment was that your school is no longer using disposable dishware in the meal program. Your school has purchased re-useable dishware and as such, is significantly reducing the amount of waste produced throughout the school. Eastdale has also completed two waste audits this year! Your data has revealed that you achieved a huge
improvement in your diversion rate, coming up to 80% diversion. These initiatives are helping to prolong the life of our landfill, and are working to reduce your school’s ecological footprint. The auditor also noted that your school is providing students with free re-useable water bottles! This exemplifies the ways in which your school is focused on offering students equal opportunities to sustainable practices. Continue to do what you are doing as it relates to waste- your
improvements are truly commendable!

3. Your green space remains to be a highlight at your school! Your rooftop garden offers students and staff an amazing space to participate in hands on environmental education! The connection to TDSB Youth Employment is a great way to maintain this space throughout the summertime whilst offering students practical work experience. The auditor also noted that you’ve introduced a salad bar, using the vegetables harvested from the school garden! This sort of sustainable behaviour is fantastic!

New Roof @ Eastdale CI Update

Late spring the TDSB facilities department started the work on replacing the rooftop at Eastdale.
The new roof has a much needed design to accommodate our rooftop garden with appropriate walkways for students, visitors and foodshare partners. The project was completed in ten days!
To quote Justin Nadeau from TDSB (Green Projects Team Leader):

"In addition to a very fast membrane replacement, the crews managed to crane off over 200 garden boxes and place them back in the exact layout that was provide. ‎Detail was taken down to the half inch and as issues came up with the proposed layout, they were able to adapt and find a good solution. Just 10 days after the boxes were removed, we had student harvesting radishes in their newly restored rooftop garden. 

I could not have asked for a better result. Thank you for the ‎hard work, attention to detail and care for the roof garden which is a vital piece for the program and employment offerings at Eastdale CI."

The planters have been moved to the back field (below)

Eastdale Softball Tournament!

A big congratulations to the softball team who did an incredible job on Wednesday, May 31, at the tournament in Adams Park. They played very well, showed great teamwork, and demonstrated true school spirit. The team placed 3rd and made everyone at Eastdale very proud. Way to go Eagles! Thank you to the coaches Mr. Grant, Ms. Hanoun and Ms. G for their time and support.