Support specialized programs & schools made possible by optional attendance!

Equity is about giving students what they need, not giving everyone the same thing. Please find a way to keep these much-needed programs AND make them more accessible to marginalized students.

I’m supporting this petition to ensure that my grandchildren have all the required channels and support in their education and development that will allow them to succeed in life.

It is unwise way to close those programs such as IB, TOPS. You have to realize that the world is changing fast, if you dont make up the solid base for our country, then it is the right time to eliminate those program. Think about it

Diversity in education should never be overlooked, let alone overruled.

support to keep special programs for talent kids

The special school program has nothing to do with equity. If there is no competition among our kids, our kids will behind the world.

My son is new to the Interact program at Oakwood CI, He is a dual athlete competing in Baseball and Alpine skiing at a provincial, national and sometimes international level. So outside of school he is extraordinarily busy. He has never been more engaged in school. I have never seen him do any homework proactively but he now completes all of his homework Friday evening! The concentrated learning schedule and focus are helping him immensely. He is no longer getting lost in the class, as the nice kid everyone likes who does the minimum to "get by" with average marks, not reaching his full potential. With his training schedule, he misses a lot of school. He also competes and practices often late at night, not getting home until 11:30pm. For a teen who is having "second dinner" at midnight some nights, he knows he will have time to "recover" and that his teachers will understand why he may be exhausted if his practices and games are late 3 or 4 days in a row. This understanding of what he is doing outside school is not available on conventional TDSB programs. I have every confidence that my son will thrive through his high school career at Interact, have the discipline to do well and the freedom and accommodation to pursue his passions without the academic restrictions of a conventional high school program. In grade school, at the higher levels once he became more competitive in sport, he never thrived, teacher had unwavering expectations on him. If he is competing at a provincial ski race on a Friday about to be going 80km an hour down a hill, I do not need him worrying about the math test he is missing, one his teacher said he had to write that day because his race was not a "good enough excuse" and that he would get a 0 because he is racing and not at school that day. Understanding a highly active and competitive Child is paramount to their success. The Interact program could not be a better fit for my son, understanding the pressure he has outside of his school ca

My grandson is in one of these programs and it changed his life dramatically. Please don't close the programs.

This is very bad idea. Please re-think about it.

Don't do it

My son is currently in IB and I think it is a great program. I would hate to see future students not being able to experience it.

To be operating under the principle of "all must suffer equally" is hardly the goal we would desire of an education system. To close these programs of excellence would achieve exactly that.

This is a terrible idea. Equity is giving students what they need. Whether it be arts, science or giftedness. Students learn and need to be taught differently. It’s called differentiation. And individualized learning. Not equal teaching for all. It’s a disservice to think this is being equitable. One size shoe does not fit all!!!!

IB and Monarch Park are genuinely the main things keeping me alive currently. If I had to go to my home school my mental health would go down the toilet, and I'm genuinely unsure I'd still be here to graduate. Please don't do this. I like the opportunities IB provides me, the challenges, and the people. I've made so many great friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. I can't go to my home school. Please.

8 years ago Featured

Specialized schools are in line with equity. In respecting and honoring diversity we create inclusion and promote excellence Shirley Katz, Ph.D Former student of TDSB Specialized Program and Academic Researcher on the subject of School Success

This might be the most backward idea in our school system in the last 100 years. Why would you take these fantastic programs away and completely neuter the system? If you are going to be “fair” then you must also intend to also ban private schools, school trips and pizza lunches. I encourage the TDSB to step out of the “stupid room” and into the real world. Leave these programs alone and instead develop more gems and have our kids better prepared for the society which you are currently failing at miserably.

We love IB, Tops etc. Programs. HELP OUR CHILDREN GET STRONGER SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE!

Schools like ESA are essential, as they enrich the lives of the students who attend them, as well the whole community. Students thrive in the unique, creative environment.

The TDSB says that cutting these programs will level the playing field. That’s wrong. Cutting them will eliminate the less oppurtunities from the lower and middle class and the only the upper class will have achieved access to these via private schools

Arts schools need to STAY