illowWood
opened in 1980, the brainchild of Joy Kurtz and Heather Spear. The two
teachers had developed a unique approach to teaching while working
across the
hallway from each other
in the 1970s: by combining the needs of students in the special education
program and those of the general population of students, the two had honed
the individualized approach to education still employed at WillowWood
today.
WillowWood
opened to just 30 students in the Fall of 1980, but
had expanded its size, population and the grades taught within the year.
When a full building
became available in 1983, the school moved to the building on
Willowdale Avenue that many of us remember.
In 1989, Heather Spear opened Northwood
Academy - a
preschool and kindergarten - under the duo's A Right To Learn umbrella.
Northwood Academy has grown and expanded over the decades, and has five
locations in the GTA
to date. Joy Kurtz continues to run WillowWood as director and principal.
In 1997,
when
the
school's
population had outgrown its space, Joy purchased the current building at 55
Scarsdale - 43,000 square feet on three acres. And this is where
the
school
lives
today,
with a population around 250 students: big
enough
to
be
bustling,
and
small enough to be familial.
The new location is now home to a full and vibrant community, with programs developing and growing every year - the sports, dramatic productions, computer technology and music have all come a long way since 1997.
And the core values of the school, set in place decades ago - that all students have a right to learn with dignity; that a warm and nurturing school can serve as a foundation for remarkable lives; that it is the whole person who matters - still inform every aspect of the school and continue to make it a well-loved and powerful institution.
