TFS High School

Description

The Toronto Farsi School was founded twenty six years ago as a Persian language and literature centre.
The school is registered as a not for-profit organization and has charitable status. The school's primary objective is to ensure that Iranian-Canadian children are kept in touch with their heritage. Our children deserve to understand the richness and historical significance of the Persian Language and to be familiar with the literary, poetic and philosophical works of masters such as Ferdowsi, Sa'di, Hafez, Khayyam and Rumi. The depth of the Persian language and its culture and the commitment of its leading figures to maintaining it over the centuries, have meant that it is today just as strong an identification of national identity as it has been throughout Iranian history. Iranian culture goes back 5000 years and has made major contributions to global society. It includes landmarks such as The Principles of Human Rights introduced by Cyrus the Great 2, 500 years ago. Principles that were designed to provide freedom and equality for the then population of the Iranian empire. It is our belief that if our children are made aware of the richness and significance of their heritage and the contribution it has made to society then this knowledge will give them the confidence to be strong and upstanding citizens, proud of where they come from and proud of who they are. One of the basic reasons that we as immigrants came to Canada was to provide a better and more settled future for our children. Canada indeed provides that opportunity, but especially for those who have sufficient belief in themselves to take advantage of it. Thus it was that 17 years ago without external financial support and utilizing the considerable skills that exist within our community we established the Toronto Farsi School. To date 3, 500 students have passed through the school that today has almost 30 highly qualified teachers. Also, a number of interested parents have been and will be cooperating with us, as required. In addition to Persian language training, Iranian arts and culture, comparative religion (Islam, Zoroastrian, Christianity, and Judaism), social and family studies are also taught in the context of Iranian culture and tradition. Increased levels of immigration from Iran to Canada mean that if we are to meet our obligations to future generations we have to expand the capacity of the school.