Fully equipped cafeterias with daily snack and lunch service are offered in most of our secondary schools. Our goal is to promote healthy eating habits among students. Nutritious food items are subsidized to encourage their consumption.
Furthermore, lunch service for participating elementary schools is offered by EMSB Food and Nutrition Services. Parents may register and order meals online at Le Mini Bistro. Meals are prepared fresh
Trained dietitians and food technicians follow the guidelines of the EMSB’s Nutrition policy (PDF) and oversee food preparation in school cafeterias.
The EMSB views the use of technology as integral in a 21st century educational experience.
Classrooms, both elementary and secondary are digital interactive learning environments enabling teachers and students to work collaboratively using specialised technologies such as SMART Boards, multi-touch displays and mobile computer labs and most recently augmented reality environments.
The traditional computer labs have been transformed into multi-media labs, offering students the opportunity to learn and create projects for not only print and digital mediums but also 3-dimensional projects and robotics.
All of our school buildings are equipped with modern and secured Wi‑Fi, that support all desktop and mobile devices. Students and staff have access to the Enterprise Resource Portal (ePortal), providing a broad range of educational applications and cloud storage services.
A number of secondary schools have bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs, allowing students to use their personal devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones) in the classroom.
Our technical support team together with our educational consultants, provide in-school computer and software support for the thousands of devices in our school network.
Physical Education and Athletics- Supporting the Development of Physical Literacy in All Students
The EMSB recognizes the importance of providing all students with the knowledge and skills they need to value and participate in physical activity throughout their lifespan. To provide opportunities for students to develop competence and confidence in as many physical activities as possible, EMSB schools use all available facilities develop students’ physical literacy in multiple environments (indoors and outdoors, in water, on snow and on ice) through Physical Education and Athletic programs.
In recent years, several EMSB secondary schools have developed or enhanced their strength and conditioning centers. Through physical education classes, students learn proper technique for using free weights and weight machines and are introduced to the principles of weight-based training. Strength and Conditioning centers are often kept open for students during lunch or extra-curricular hours.
Three EMSB secondary schools have pools and aquatic instruction is included in the Physical Education program.
Some EMSB secondary schools have recently had new gymnasiums constructed. Vincent Massey Collegiate officially opened their new gym in March of 2016, and a current new gymnasium project is underway at Royal Vale school. Having more space for physical education and athletic instruction allows for a higher-quality learning experience for students.
EMSB schools also prioritize working closely with municipalities to maximize use of the community facilities. This not only provides additional environments for students to be active and develop their movement skills, but it serves the important role of introducing students to opportunities for physical activity in their neighborhoods.
The EMSB strives to offer flexible, welcoming and inclusive library spaces for its K-11 learners. Our libraries provide a wide range of materials in English and French including picture books, beginning readers, graphic novels, magazines, and young adult fiction. A collection of high quality digital resources, including encyclopedias, databases, e-books, magazines, newspapers, and video streaming is also available from school and from home via the EMSB Virtual Library.
Using a differentiated approach, librarians and documentation technicians work with students and teachers to understand their information or reading needs, and help them to select and access the materials that fit. Engaging activities such as book clubs, contests and author visits nurture literacy and help to create a school-wide culture of reading and lifelong learning. Our high school libraries are also positioned to help develop their students’ independent research and information skills.
Increasingly, EMSB libraries are being modernized to facilitate collaborative work and hands-on thinking and learning.
Caretakers work in schools and facilities to do general maintenance and cleaning. Their objective is to maintain a healthy and favourable environment for students with the help of all the school users (including teachers, students and the principal). The school caretaker performs various tasks which mostly fall into the following categories:
- Making sure the premises are clean;
- Maintenance of equipment, furniture, appliances and tools;
- Minor repairs;
- Outside maintenance;
- Safety, surveillance;
- Replacing lamps, air filters when required;
- Checking of heating and ventilation systems;
- Checking of alarm system, extinguishers
These tasks are completed once a day, once a week, once a month, or once a year depending on the assigned schedule of the employee based on GES standards and provided in writing by the Material Resources Department. The principal of the school is the caretakers direct supervisor, however they are also overseen by regional supervisors from the Administration building and work alongside special contractors, and supervisors from the Material Resources department.
The Material Resources Department of the English Montreal School Board is responsible for the maintenance of schools and EMSB buildings. The areas which fall under the heading of school maintenance include Procurement Services, Architecture, Repairs, Landscaping, General Engineering, Security, and the organization of caretakers (who are responsible for the maintenance and cleanliness of schools). The department oversees repairs, contractors, landscaping, building surveys, water treatment, ventilation systems, sprinklers, heating and air conditioning, fire alarms, building and grounds improvement projects, and caretaking. Caretakers are generally the school level liaison for all contracted maintenance of the building they are assigned to.