All About Us at Hespeler Public School

The original Hespeler Public School opened in 1865. Part of the original building is still standing at the WG Johnson Centre, just off of Cooper Street. Hespeler Public School as we know it today opened in 1982. We are located at 300 Winston Boulevard, just off of Franklin Boulevard, in (Hespeler) Cambridge, Ontario.

Our mission statement is: Developing potential together in a caring community.

Our school boasts excellent academic programs as well as a large number of music, athletic and other extra-curricular activities.

For the 2019/2020 school year, we have approximately 700 students in our school ranging from JK to Grade 8. We offer French Immersion and English programming with Core French. Students from Centennial join our school after Grade 6 to become a part of our Intermediate family. After Grade 8 Graduation, our English stream students move on to Jacob Hespeler Secondary School while the French Immersion students may travel to Galt Collegiate Institute to further their studies en français.

We started Colour House activities last year in cross-grade groupings so that the students are afforded opportunities on a regular basis to work with “buddies” in other grades. For younger students, this is a chance to meet some of the “big kids” in the school while the older students benefit from the leadership opportunities offered during these sessions.

This year we will be implementing the Umbrella Project and focussing on a specific trait each month.  Stay tuned for more information about this exciting project!

Our Senior Student Athletic Council, under the guidance of Mr. Bastin and Ms. Brown, work hard all year to provide a number of different activites for a wide variety of students.

Our staff consists of over 60 people, including a Child and Youth Worker, custodians, an office manager, a secretary, a principal and a vice-principal, educational assistants, early childhood educators, support staff and teachers. All members of our staff are committed to professional development on a continued basis in order to provide students with the best educational experiences possible. Many take part in workshops throughout the school year and some take courses through the summer months. All staff members have embraced the Teaching and Learning environment in which they spend their days and are always happy to learn with and from each other as well as their students. We are very proud that one of our teachers has even been awarded the Barrday Teacher of Excellence Award.

Parents and community members are always welcome at Hespeler Public School. In the Spring of 2008, Susan Ford won the Elementary Teacher’s Federation of Ontario VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR award. At any time, there are a number of parent or comminuty volunteers in the school working on a variety of activities. We have come to depend on our volunteers to do the little “extras” for the kids. Our School Council meets 9 times throughout the year to discuss all aspects of the school community.

Staff and students at HPS have been working hard on CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT initiatives. Here at HPS, we focus on more than curriculum in the education of your child. We continue what you are teaching at home and tie the following traits in with our lessons: co-operation, accountabilty, respect for self, others and equipment as well as empathy.

This whole school initiative was started in September 2009. Its purpose is to help remind ALL students in the school of behavioural expectations and how we should treat others in the school. It is based on the word CARE and the idea that we should behave even when no one is looking:

Co-operation – working with others toward a common goal

Accountability – taking responsibility for one’s own actions and facing consequences respectfully

Respect – treating others the way that we would like to be treated ourselves ~ this goes for teachers, staff, students, visitors and materials

Empathy – understanding how other people feel as a result of our actions