The Lower School Intersession Program will run from March 7–9, 2023.

We are designing a suite of grade-specific programming that will take place in various locations on the Crescent campus and in the local community under the direction and supervision of the Lower School teachers. You can expect our campus to be brimming with energy as the boys participate in activities such as outdoor education in our beautiful ravine, leadership training, community service projects, and hands-on life skills training.

The Middle School Intersession Program will run from March 6-9, 2023. The Middle School team is designing a suite of grade-specific programming that will take place in various locations on the Crescent campus and in the local community under the direction and supervision of its teachers. Our Grade 7 students will engage in hands-on community service and outreach projects that tie into the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Grade 8s will focus on leadership skill development through practical and hands-on workshops and activities.

Our Grade 3 students will engage in hands-on learning and community-building activities designed to help deepen their relationship with one another, their teachers, and the stunning ravine ecosystem that sits right at Crescent’s doorstep. The boys will participate in a number of fun and practical outdoor education experiences including snowshoeing, outdoor shelter building, and “A Day in the Life of the Sneaky Coyote”! They will also complete Adventure Smart’s Hug a Tree and Survive program. In June, the students will receive their Self-Awareness and Engaged Citizenship badges on their banners.

Character Qualities: Self-Awareness and Engaged Citizenship

Grade 4 intersession will focus on the importance of taking personal responsibility and expanding one’s comfort zone. The boys will participate in activities that help further their ability to negotiate small risks, experience some successes, and learn from their mistakes. For example, the boys will visit a local movement training centre to participate in a parkour class. They will also complete Canada Safety Council’s Home Alone Program and receive the accompanying certification. In June, the students will receive their Adaptability and Growth Mindset badges on their banners.

Character Qualities: Adaptability and Growth Mindset

Building on our Grade 5 Character Pledge, this intersession experience will emphasise the importance of fostering positive relationships at Crescent School and beyond. The boys will engage in workshops and activities that are grounded in Crescent School’s Be the One Program. One of the highlights of this experience is a fun and active workshop that draws on the principles and practice of Aikido in order to help the boys understand the benefits of peaceful conflict resolution and inclusion. In June, the students will receive their Positive Communication and Courage badges on their banners.

Character Qualities: Positive Communication and Courage

Our Grade 6 students will explore service leadership through the lens of caring for oneself, caring for others, and caring for the community. The boys will participate in a hands-on personal leadership workshop (which builds on their fall experience with Leaders of the Day), earn their Emergency First Aid Level C Certification from Vital CPR, and complete a service project in the local community. In addition, they will participate in a Random Acts of Kindness initiative with support from their parents. In June, the students will receive their Engaged Citizenship and Positive Leadership badges.

Character Qualities: Engaged Citizenship and Positive Leadership

The Grade 7 Intersession experience focuses on Service Learning. It has been designed to expose students to a variety of community engagement opportunities. Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a guiding framework, hands-on local outreach project work will be interwoven with opportunities for discussion and reflection on the purpose of community outreach work and on how it is most effective when it is grounded in a commitment to authentic and sustainable collaboration with community organisations.

Character Qualities: Engaged Citizenship and Effective Collaboration

Grade 8 intersession will focus on leadership development. The students will extend the learning from their Leadership course with a range of experiential education opportunities. For example, they will deepen their understanding of leadership practice via dynamic guest speakers and an interactive field trip to the Ontario Legislature. They will also participate in an engaging leadership training workshop at Claireville Conservation Area. The learning from these experiences will be deepened by giving the students opportunities to reflect on how they connect to their own personal strengths and areas for development as leaders. This learning will help inform class projects in the lead-up to the culmination of the Leadership course.

Character Qualities: Self-Awareness and Positive Leadership

Our Grade 9 intersession experience will focus on community service. After an on-campus prep day that features engaging guest speakers and workshops, the boys will spend the next three days out in the community participating in hands-on service projects that support three community partners: Out of the Cold, Feed Scarborough, and Global Medic. Using the theme of “I am more than what you see” as a guide, the boys will learn about, engage with, and reflect on, important issues such as food insecurity, the human impact of disaster and conflict, and homelessness.

Character Qualities: Self-Awareness and Engaged Citizenship

Crescent School is a complex organisation that relies on its academic and business sectors to work together to provide our students with an exemplary learning experience. Our students naturally spend their time focused on their curricular, co-curricular and communal programs. During Intersession Week, however, they have the opportunity to turn their attention to a side of Crescent they rarely see.

Using an integrative thinking approach, students will be working to solve a real-world problem defined by one of the following Crescent School areas: External Relations, Marketing and Communications, Admissions, Food Services, Summer Academic Program, Business Advancement and Business Operations.

The students will be positioned as consultants and they will work closely with a member of their designated area. Focusing on our character competencies of critical thinking and effective collaboration, they will also be developing the 21st-century literacy skills of creativity, adaptability, and complex problem-solving. While we will work together through the integrative thinking process, student groups must be able to work independently and follow specific timelines. 

Character Qualities: Critical Thinking and Effective Collaboration

Experiential learning is one of Crescent School’s student-centered pedagogies.

Rooted in three specific UN Sustainable Development Goals and using a human-centered design thinking approach, students will be working to solve a real-world problem issued by a diverse range of community partners such as: Feed it Forward, Don't Mess With the Don, and Silent Voice.

In small teams, they will be positioned as student consultants and will work closely with their respective partner organisations. It is their responsibility to research each of the organisations we are working with and to submit their top three preferences by Friday, February, 24. 

Focusing on our character competencies of positive leader and engaged citizen, students will also be developing the 21st Century Literacy skills of collaboration, adaptability, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving. While we will work together through the design thinking process, the student groups must be able to work independently and follow specific timelines.

Character Qualities: Positive Leadership and Engaged Citizenship

Crescent’s Mission Men of Character from Boys of Promise is a commitment to our community that extends beyond graduation. In an effort to further prepare our Grade 12 students for the next chapter of their life, we will be hosting an alumni-based conference consisting of keynote speakers, specialised workshops, and interactive activities designed to support the wellness of our Grade 12s as they prepare for both the opportunities and challenges that await them next year. 

The aim of the conference is to provide both high-level wisdom and detailed practical advice based on the experiences of our alumni and to give our graduates the opportunity to seek to understand, reflect, and begin to mentally and emotionally prepare for the journey ahead. 

Character Qualities: Self Awareness and Powerful Communication

In addition to our local Intersession Week programs, our Upper School students in Grades 10 to 12 were given the opportunity to participate in a national/international outreach trip or an international student exchange. While registration has closed, we encourage you to visit the Outreach & Intersession Trips page. Please stay tuned for details regarding our 2024 trips!   

Crescent School launched a pilot international student exchange program during the 2019–2020 academic year. We hosted two exchange students from Australia in the fall of 2019. Unfortunately, the pilot was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now excited to resume it as part of Intersession Week. Our students will be travelling to Scotch College in Australia and Westlake School in New Zealand.

Character Quality: Adaptability and Engaged Citizenship

Experiential learning is one of the School’s three boy-centered pedagogies. Simply put, it is the process of learning by doing and reflecting. Experience and research tells us that a hands-on approach to learning is especially powerful for boys. Moreover, an increasing number of Canadian universities are ensuring that every degree program includes some form of experiential learning component so that students graduate with practical experience. It is important to prepare our boys to succeed in these types of learning environments.

Absolutely! Many of our curricular and co-curricular activities are experiential. The difference is the nature of the programming that is being presented to the boys. Intersession will focus on deep learning in areas that can be challenging to fit into the day-to-day academic program. Community service and leadership development are examples of such areas.

Signature Experiences are a key feature of the Crescent Diploma. These experiences are central to a boy’s character journey and include essential elements of our academic, co-curricular, and community programs. Given their importance, each of the Intersession Week experiences will eventually count as a Signature Experience. This will take some time to establish as it is tied into the roll-out of the Crescent Diploma. In the meantime, we know that all boys will benefit from the experiences regardless of whether or not they are explicitly tied into the diploma.

The programming is designed to enrich and extend our curriculum. Experiential learning experiences are by nature interdisciplinary, which means that they pull together curriculum strands from a variety of subjects. It is important for the boys to develop an ability to think and synthesize not only within but also across different school subjects. Moreover, our new 6-Term Schedule in Middle and Upper School has increased the annual number of instructional hours and unlocked additional time for Intersession Week.