Mary Jane: Jones Avenue School was built in 1910. It was a school serving children and adolescents. Durint the 1980s, the school opened high school credit courses for newcomers. Since September 1998, the school has become a non-creedit school.
Mary Jane: We have sixteen ESL classes, four LINC classes and two literacy and Basic Skills classes. From ESL Level 1 to Level 5, we have three classes in each level. Each of the three high levels, from Level 6 to 8, has only one class - plus a TOEFL class. WE also have ESL literacy classes proveded for students who are not familiar with the Roman alphabet, as well as another two literacy classes serving the Canadian born students who have problems with reading and writing for various reasons.
Mary Jane: Approximately 15 ethnic groups or more can be found in our school. Some of the students were skilled technologists and academics in their countries of origin.
Mary Jane: I hope to expand programs to meet the needs of newcomers at high levels.
Mary Jane: We want to create some special classes such as Academic Writing and Business English courses, but the problem is that our school is not a high priority for government funding. We are always short of fumds in our budget.
Mary Jane: Many community colleges as well as universities also provide ESL, but students have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Mary Jane: No, I don't think so. We have excellent teachers in this school. All of them are very responsible and skilled in curriculum planning.
Mary Jane: I'm impressed with the work bering done by the editorial committee. I hope all classes will give full participation. I support this newsletter and encourage students to keep working on it. I hope i can see it once a month.
Mary Jane: The Jones Mosaic is a useful tool to help students gain experience in writing, editing, interviewing and literacy. Students like to see their writing in a formal way. This is also a good experience for students to add to their resumes and to present at a job interview.