Support specialized programs & schools made possible by optional attendance!
2,353 Comments
C
Celina Le
8 years ago
Students should be able to decide what program or type of education they want. Brings diversity to the school.
O
Oliver Kennedy
8 years ago
TDSB needs to chill
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
Boi
G
Gray
8 years ago
I found who I was through Claude Watson and CyberARTS. I'm now working at Apple in California and I can say I wouldn't have got there without these two programs. Hands down. Taking these opportunities away from students makes your education system bland, boring, and a diploma mill. Specialized programs like these breathe life to students' experiences growing up. Don't deprive kids of this, please. Kids become adults, who become contributors to society. The advancement of the arts, technology, and sciences rely on specialized programs like these.
T
Tara
8 years ago
We as students should have the right to learn what we need. Not everyone can function in a regular program. I believe we should keep specialized programs. To the TDSB, you say this is for equity. That’s not true. Equity is giving each person what they need. Making every school the same would be equality and in this situation we need equity not equality. Everyone is equal however not everyone needs the same things. Please take this into consideration.
H
Helen Wu
8 years ago
We really like the special program and please keep them.
E
Eric Shang
8 years ago
TDSB benefits from having a wider range of options for their students. The students are able to decide their own future and will be able to love what they learn.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
Graduated from the IB Program. Helps differentiate me from other specializations: eg. arts students, etc. TDSB ur dumb
B
Benjamin Choi
8 years ago
The recommendation to phase out the Claude Watson School of the Arts program absolutely diminishes the possible opportunities for future adolescents to find themselves and figure out their identity. As a former collegiate Earl Haig student, without the arts program, I would not have been around other peers whom I have gained priceless relationships and inspiration from. Being surrounded by teachers who specialize in art allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do, despite the fact that I was only a collegiate student. I now financially provide for myself and my family with a job in the arts industry while continuing to attend post-secondary art school at OCAD University. I'm frightened at the idea of having this pathway being taken away from the future generation. What will happen to the future of the arts community in Toronto come 20 years from now? Earl Haig is one of the few schools that offer a specialized arts program in Toronto and it has given so many students to be surrounded by successful young artists and culture. Moreover, It has formed countless careers and provides a healthy competitive atmosphere. I really don't have to be writing this feedback right now. Considering that Earl Haig administration had expelled me for something that I didn't do in my twelfth grade, but the fact that I am writing this is a testament to how much I believe in the fundamental principles of the arts program at Earl Haig Secondary school or any school for that matter. Exposure has and will allow students to thrive and push Toronto to create an upcoming identity in global arts. This is much more than a budget concern or "a level education system", this is for the future of one of the few characteristics we have in Toronto, and that is the arts. I wasn't even in the program and that never stopped me from succeeding.
P
PA Haddad
8 years ago
The TDSB is richer thanks to specialized education. Having a place for the arts, such as the world renowned Etobicoke School of the Arts remain open and public is vital to this city's health and to the future of Canada's arts scene. Get some sense about yourselves.
C
Chloe Lederman
8 years ago
Going to ESA actually makes me excited to go to school. It helps me get up in the morning knowing i get to do what i'm passionate about everyday.
A
Alexi Halket
8 years ago
As a former student of Claude Watson School for the Arts and Etobicoke School of the Arts, I know how valuable and important specialized programs such as these are for young artists.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
this is stupid TDSB i expected better
B
Bethany
8 years ago
Stop it
B
Bethany
8 years ago
Don't cuz I go to an arts school and specialized schools r the s***
A
Alicia Taylor
8 years ago
Programs like ESA have mean the world to me. They allow students be themselves and have given me many opportunities within the field I am interested in, both professional and experiential.
H
Hannah Panov
8 years ago
By doing this, the tdsb is taking away from thousands of students and making things worse for everyone. The equity they say they’re creating is one of the most inequitable things I’ve ever heard.
J
Jo Canning
8 years ago
My daughter attends a specialized programme as do many of her friends and I believe these programs and schools are critical to their educational development and growth and their particular ways of learning - I vehemently appose the abolition of these programs and believe they are critical for the future of Canada's economic growth and it's purported commitment to nvestment in innovation.
A
Anonymous
8 years ago
As a parent with 2 children in specialized programs I can confidently state they would not be where they are today without these programs. My daughter graduated with a 97% average 3 scholarships and 4 awards. She is now in her first year at Waterloo. She flourished in this type of environment, grew into a very confident young adult and will go far. My son was struggling in the "normal" education system until he was accepted into the gifted program. The difference in him was night and day and he will be graduating this year and going into post secondarily. Both children have worked hard for what they have achieved. We are not from a privileged background, we struggled but the well worth the sacrifices. The question shouldn't be to phase out, the question should be to make these programs more accessible to all by increasing the programs not decreasing!
A
Alice
8 years ago
The study habits that I developed in high school as a part of these specialized programs continues to benefit me in medical school. I would’ve been bored out of my mind and slept through every class in high school had I not been a part of TOPS. Getting rid of such wonderful programs would negatively affect many future doctors, engineers, and lawyers etc. How are you achieving equality when students are not encouraged to achieve their full potential and are forced to sit in a class they’ve mastered since elementary school. It is simply not fair to force students who can learn more to know less.
Students should be able to decide what program or type of education they want. Brings diversity to the school.
TDSB needs to chill
Boi
I found who I was through Claude Watson and CyberARTS. I'm now working at Apple in California and I can say I wouldn't have got there without these two programs. Hands down. Taking these opportunities away from students makes your education system bland, boring, and a diploma mill. Specialized programs like these breathe life to students' experiences growing up. Don't deprive kids of this, please. Kids become adults, who become contributors to society. The advancement of the arts, technology, and sciences rely on specialized programs like these.
We as students should have the right to learn what we need. Not everyone can function in a regular program. I believe we should keep specialized programs. To the TDSB, you say this is for equity. That’s not true. Equity is giving each person what they need. Making every school the same would be equality and in this situation we need equity not equality. Everyone is equal however not everyone needs the same things. Please take this into consideration.
We really like the special program and please keep them.
TDSB benefits from having a wider range of options for their students. The students are able to decide their own future and will be able to love what they learn.
Graduated from the IB Program. Helps differentiate me from other specializations: eg. arts students, etc. TDSB ur dumb
The recommendation to phase out the Claude Watson School of the Arts program absolutely diminishes the possible opportunities for future adolescents to find themselves and figure out their identity. As a former collegiate Earl Haig student, without the arts program, I would not have been around other peers whom I have gained priceless relationships and inspiration from. Being surrounded by teachers who specialize in art allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do, despite the fact that I was only a collegiate student. I now financially provide for myself and my family with a job in the arts industry while continuing to attend post-secondary art school at OCAD University. I'm frightened at the idea of having this pathway being taken away from the future generation. What will happen to the future of the arts community in Toronto come 20 years from now? Earl Haig is one of the few schools that offer a specialized arts program in Toronto and it has given so many students to be surrounded by successful young artists and culture. Moreover, It has formed countless careers and provides a healthy competitive atmosphere. I really don't have to be writing this feedback right now. Considering that Earl Haig administration had expelled me for something that I didn't do in my twelfth grade, but the fact that I am writing this is a testament to how much I believe in the fundamental principles of the arts program at Earl Haig Secondary school or any school for that matter. Exposure has and will allow students to thrive and push Toronto to create an upcoming identity in global arts. This is much more than a budget concern or "a level education system", this is for the future of one of the few characteristics we have in Toronto, and that is the arts. I wasn't even in the program and that never stopped me from succeeding.
The TDSB is richer thanks to specialized education. Having a place for the arts, such as the world renowned Etobicoke School of the Arts remain open and public is vital to this city's health and to the future of Canada's arts scene. Get some sense about yourselves.
Going to ESA actually makes me excited to go to school. It helps me get up in the morning knowing i get to do what i'm passionate about everyday.
As a former student of Claude Watson School for the Arts and Etobicoke School of the Arts, I know how valuable and important specialized programs such as these are for young artists.
this is stupid TDSB i expected better
Stop it
Don't cuz I go to an arts school and specialized schools r the s***
Programs like ESA have mean the world to me. They allow students be themselves and have given me many opportunities within the field I am interested in, both professional and experiential.
By doing this, the tdsb is taking away from thousands of students and making things worse for everyone. The equity they say they’re creating is one of the most inequitable things I’ve ever heard.
My daughter attends a specialized programme as do many of her friends and I believe these programs and schools are critical to their educational development and growth and their particular ways of learning - I vehemently appose the abolition of these programs and believe they are critical for the future of Canada's economic growth and it's purported commitment to nvestment in innovation.
As a parent with 2 children in specialized programs I can confidently state they would not be where they are today without these programs. My daughter graduated with a 97% average 3 scholarships and 4 awards. She is now in her first year at Waterloo. She flourished in this type of environment, grew into a very confident young adult and will go far. My son was struggling in the "normal" education system until he was accepted into the gifted program. The difference in him was night and day and he will be graduating this year and going into post secondarily. Both children have worked hard for what they have achieved. We are not from a privileged background, we struggled but the well worth the sacrifices. The question shouldn't be to phase out, the question should be to make these programs more accessible to all by increasing the programs not decreasing!
The study habits that I developed in high school as a part of these specialized programs continues to benefit me in medical school. I would’ve been bored out of my mind and slept through every class in high school had I not been a part of TOPS. Getting rid of such wonderful programs would negatively affect many future doctors, engineers, and lawyers etc. How are you achieving equality when students are not encouraged to achieve their full potential and are forced to sit in a class they’ve mastered since elementary school. It is simply not fair to force students who can learn more to know less.