ICS Building Campaign and Our Future
Nobel Prize-winning chemist and U of T professor John Polanyi is a past parent of ICS and a strong supporter of the institute’s goals:
“The ICS Lab School draws on its scholarly links with a great university, but it does more; it transforms the study of children into a study of the entire world by children,” he says. “This enchanting enterprise, with which I have been associated one way or another for generations, now needs new space. It abundantly merits it.”
Dr. John C. Polanyi
Chemistry, University of Toronto
Nobel Laureate (1986)
Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science & Engineering (2008)
A Vision for an International Landmark for Children's Development and Education at the University of Toronto
Improved education and re-defining optimal development for children in Ontario, across Canada and around the world are the over-arching goals of the Institute of Child Study (ICS). Since 1925/1926, the Institute has been a leader in setting new standards for children’s education and well-being, and it continues to raise the bar for excellence through its uniquely integrated, tri-partite mission:
• graduate teacher education — Master of Arts in Child Study & Education at ICS
• demonstrating teaching practice rooted in inquiry-based learning — ICS Lab School
• innovative research — Laidlaw Research Centre at ICS
The Institute has raised $3 million towards a Building Campaign Goal of $12 million. The beautiful Leighton G. McCarthy House, home to ICS since 1953, after the Institute moved from St. George Street, will receive a much-needed renovation. A new wing will be added on the two properties behind McCarthy House, which front onto Spadina Road, just steps from the Spadina/University/Bloor Subway lines. The expanded facilities will include a large multi-purpose Auditorium/Gymnasium (mobile stadium seating for 400), allowing the Institute to open its doors to many more educators, the community-at-large, and to hosting parent/family workshops, research conferences and teacher professional development programs. More powerful dissemination and outreach will become possible, which is vital to enabling ICS to strengthen its mission, work, and future – towards making a bigger impact in advancing childhood development and education.
For more information or to make a donation to the ICS Building Campaign, please contact Robin Farb, Capital Campaign Director, at (416) 934-4515, or by email: rfarb@oise.utoronto.ca.
Support for what we do today and tomorrow, from two of Canada's leading child advocates (Co-authors "Early Years Report") . . .
“Your Campaign to expand [the Institute of Child Study] is valuable. It is important because of an increasing need for staff who can integrate early child development with the public education
system.”
Dr. J. Fraser Mustard
Co-author, Ontario's Early Years Reports
The Founder’s Network/Council for Early Child Development
"An expanded Institute of Child Study, featuring a large public assembly place, will serve to set the bar higher for quality community outreach programs in literacy, parenting, and other related activities that will benefit from a research-based and leading professional education environment for our families."
Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain
Co-author, Ontario's Early Years Report
Former Lt. Gov. for New Brunswick
The Founder’s Network/Council for Early Child Development