| Trustee Update Zakir Patel • Ward 19: Scarborough - Guildwood
Toronto District School Board
Tel: 416-395-8787 • Cell: 647-709-7973
Zakir.Patel@tdsb.on.ca |  |
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Dear Ward 19 Parents/Guardians, Community Members, Students and Staff,
As we approach the holiday season and 2020 draws to a close, I would like to convey my deep appreciation to all our wonderful Teachers, Teaching Assistants and Support Staff, who every day make a real and vital difference to the lives of our children and young people. Our staff and schools continue to prioritize health and safety and, as a result our students have been able to continue to learn, engage and participate with their teachers, school staff and peers.
Although this year has been challenging, I hope your holiday season sparkles with moments of love, laughter and goodwill, making way for a fresh and bright New Year.
Sincerely,
Trustee Zakir Patel
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Health and Safety over the Holidays
The Minister of Education's Deputy Minister sent a memo to school boards with information for parents and teachers regarding health and safety measures over the holiday break and for the return to school in January.
"The holidays are going to look a little different this year. We understand that there may be challenges as the winter break approaches but we encourage all families to consider what we can all do to make the return to school in January 2021 as safe as possible...During the holidays, it is important for everyone to adhere to the public health measures in your communities when connecting with one another."
Please note at this point, heading into the last week of the school year before the Winter Break, there has been no direction from either the province or from Toronto Public Health for the TDSB to "pivot" the in-school system to Virtual for either this coming week or the two weeks after the Break. Should this decision be made, you will receive a system message.
Just in case, if you have any issues with any of the following actions, please inform your child’s teacher this week.
- Ensure you have a working device at home
- Ensure that the school has your correct email address
- Log into teacher’s online platform to confirm you have access
- Make sure you have teacher contact information in case there are technical issues
Click here for more info on safe practices:
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Parent/Guardian Elementary Switching Survey
Since the beginning of the school year, the TDSB has made parent/guardian and student choice of in-person or virtual learning, a priority. As you know, the last opportunity to switch in early October resulted in many students having to change classes and teachers, class sizes being adjusted, and the addition of more double and triple grades, etc.
The next opportunity to request a switch was originally scheduled for the end of January (to take effect on February 16th) however we are requesting this information sooner to help with decision making.
This week you will be receiving an email from your child’s school asking you to indicate if your child wants to switch between in-person and virtual learning or between virtual and in-person learning. For those wishing to switch, it’s important to note that this email survey will not guarantee that a switch will be possible. However, the information will help inform our decision making for this last opportunity to switch for the 2020-2021 school year.
Should you have any questions, please contact your child’s school prior to the Winter Break.
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Virtual School Newsletters
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PCEO UpdateClick here to see the Parent & Community Engagement Office update from December 15th PIAC meeting. This month's report includes updates on school council emails, Zoom accounts, School Messenger access (coming January 2021), insurance, SSON, and the School Generated Funds/School Needs Assessment (annual fundraising plan).
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ThoughtExchange
Staff have recently been surveyed using Thought Exchange and we are gathering some excellent input from staff in the areas of mental health and well-being, health and safety, and system operations (e.g. communications, relationships, and professional learning). Hearing from staff about their experiences will help shape our next steps in our COVID responses for the remainder of the school year. Please note a parent Thought Exchange as well as Student Survey are also being planned for early in 2021.
Please also note that the Director and senior staff are currently considering if the proposed opportunity to switch between in-person and virtual school and vice-a-versa (Feb 16, 2021 - the day after Family Day) will go forward as determined last August - they are currently collecting data to consider all factors that would affect the continuity of student learning, system stability and the health and safety (including mental health) of both students and staff as well as the present COVID-19 situation in Toronto. More information will follow.
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New Middle French Immersion Program Please note: This program will replace the Junior Extended French program as the Grade 4 entry program in TDSB.
To apply for the MFI (Grade 4 entry) for September 2021, applications must be completed online between January 4 and January 29, 2021. An offer of placement in the program (a specific school) is guaranteed to all on-time applicants and will be made in the weeks following the close of the application window. Please note: Families with an older sibling currently enrolled in a French program and who will be in attendance next year are still required to complete an online application for the new student. Please select the “sibling option” within the online application.
Virtual Web Chat Information Sessions for families interested in the MFI (Grade 4 Entry) application and placement process will be held in January 2021. For more information, please join us on one of these dates and times listed below:
- January 14, 2021 – 10 a.m.
- January 21, 2021 – 7 p.m.
- January 27, 2021 – 7 p.m.
Please note: To participate in a live scheduled web chat, please visit this web page and a link will be available to join on the dates/times as outlined above.
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Central Nutrition Pantry Opens for TDSB Students and Families
To help support students and families, the Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS) has launched the Central Nutrition Pantry. This initiative, supported heavily by TDSB’s Logistics Services, gets nutritious food in the hands of students and families who need it the most.
In the absence of numerous student nutrition programs that haven’t been able to open this year, the Central Nutrition Pantry is helping to fill this gap. The TFSS’ Central Nutrition Pantry is fueled by donations as well as bulk purchases of food. TFSS staff assemble deliveries for schools and then Logistics Services picks up the school deliveries and ensures it gets to students attending in-person classes.
In just one week, 12,995 students in nearly 30 schools have received ready-to-eat snacks. More than 32,500 food items were delivered for a total retail value of nearly $75,000. There are still more than 70 schools on the waitlist, and the TDSB Logistics Services team will keep making deliveries in support of TFSS as long as food is available, to reach as many of them as possible.
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PowerUp PowerUp, run by Prospective Medical Professionals (PuMP) and STEM Fellowship, that aims to connect high school students in Grades 11 and 12 to mentors in university in the health, life, and biological sciences. Mentors will help answer mentees’ questions about university admissions, programs, scholarships, and more to help guide them through the process.
This program is remotely accessible and entirely free of charge! Sign up here.
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2021-22 Education Funding
On December 3, 2020 the Ministry of Education provided the 2021-22 Education Funding Guide to school boards for feedback from the sector. They identified that feedback must be submitted by 15 January 2021 to the Ministry. Staff contacted Ministry staff and requested an extension of the deadline to 21 January 2021 to allow the Finance, Budget and Enrolment Committee (FBEC) to review and approve the submission to the Ministry. The Ministry consultation document asks for feedback in the following areas through targeted questions in each area:
- COVID-19 Outbreak Response;
- Online Learning Adjustment;
- Priorities and Partnerships Fund (PPF);
- Reducing Administrative Burden and Red Tape;
- School Board Administration and Governance Grant;
- Managing Information for Student Achievement (MISA);
- Census Data; and,
- Secondary Class Size Compliance.
In each area, many of the questions are operational in nature. Staff are working to prepare responses to these operational questions and will amend these responses based on feedback provided by Trustees and stakeholders. The Ministry of Education will also be accepting feedback on education funding topics outside the areas identified in this guide.
The Ministry of Education Budget Consultation Guide and a feedback survey tool will be posted to the Board website to allow stakeholders to provide feedback for consideration in developing the final submission. The survey will be open until 8 January 2021 for stakeholders to provide feedback. This report and the final submission to the Ministry of Education on the feedback to the 2021-22 Ministry of Education Budget Consultation Guide will be posted on the TDSB Budget website.
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Beyond 8: Grade 8 to 9 Transition
The list of High School Virtual Open Houses and Information Sessions can be found: here.
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Optional Attendance
If you choose to apply for optional attendance you should know:
- You will be responsible for your own transportation.
- You may only apply to two regular and two specialized schools/programs.
- You may not apply to a school that is not permitted to receive applications (i.e. closed schools). A list of those schools is produced by mid-January.
- A school/program that receives more applications than it has space will run a lottery to determine the successful applicants.
- Once you accept an offer of admission to a regular school through Optional Attendance, it becomes your home school and you are expected to remain there until graduation. For specialized schools/program and alternative schools, you may return to your designated school by address at an appropriate intake opportunity (i.e. semester change, end of term)
Elementary Optional Attendance – Key Dates:
- February 12, 2021 - Optional attendance forms due at elementary school
- March 05, 2021 - Deadline for parents/guardians to be informed of the status of the application request
- March 26, 2021 - Parents/guardians must inform the requested school of their acceptance of the offer
Secondary Optional Attendance – Key Dates:
- January 29, 2021 - Optional attendance forms due at secondary school
- February 12, 2021 - Deadline for parents/guardians of students to be informed of the status of the application request
- February 26, 2021 - Course selection sheets due at secondary schools
- March 1, 2021: Course selection sheets due at secondary schools via myBlueprint
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Staff Changes- On Thursday, Dec. 17, TDSB Chair Alexander Brown announced the appointment of Karen Falconer as TDSB’s Interim Director of Education.
In Learning Centre 3:
- John Currie, currently Principal at Lambton Kingsway Jr. MS, will assume the role of Acting Superintendent of Education in LN16 effective January 4, 2021, replacing Interim Superintendent of Education Rauda Dickinson.
- Diana Panagiotopoulos, currently Superintendent of Education in LN17 will assume the role of System Superintendent of the Secondary Virtual School, effective January 4, 2021.
- Lisa Dilworth, currently Principal, Eastview PS will assume the role of Superintendent of Education in LN17 effective January 4, 2021, replacing Superintendent of Education Diana Panagiotopoulos.
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