As a parent of a child who attends St Cecilia Catholic School I been a part of the St Cecilia community since 2008 with already one graduated student in the French Immersion program therefore have knowledge of the classrooms capacity and building structures. Due to the pandemic we all have to undergo major changes and comply to the safety regulations by the COVID-19 by-laws.The reorganization may benefit some students but not all.

Our children have been blessed finally with teacher who truly wants to teach and watch her students thrive.  We have work hard  to make many changes to our children lives with Covid -19 from depriving them of simple entertainments, celebrations, birthdays family and friends.

The new school year was everything but normal yet Mme Jacoby went above and beyond to provide our children with security understanding and care to work around the restrictions to provide the children with effective teaching styles, structure and security since last year after the lost of Mme Walsh. Many of us watched and endure the consequences of the administration inability to provide a suitable French teacher during her absence and watch the negative impact it had in the children education as well as their emotionally and mentally state!

Through the past two months the children have accommodated to the new normal with Covid-19 restrictions. They were their masks without being asked to, sit in their assigned seats without moving, play within their cohorts, the only friends whom  they come to create a bond with, still restricting themselves to hugging each other, sharing snacks/toys and avoiding to play together in the empty play structures as they aren’t allowed.

Everyone found a way to deal with Covid. it’s not perfect, but it’s been working keeping staff and students safe. And now, the board has made a decision to disrupt this routine. To cram classrooms with more children who are already sitting barely 2 meters apart, to increase the wait time to get to the sink to wash hands three times a day thus decreasing learning time, to mix cohorts who were already accustomed to staying away from each other, and to introduce students to new teachers and force them to realign their way of learning.

To use our children as pons while in this pandemic as an excuse for their agenda without considering the students been negatively affected is cruel.

Our children deserve an effective, appropriate, and  structural education program for their achievement and well being, by disbanding Mme Jacoby class it be simply  abusive and in violation of the Education Act.

Further more this changes will not only violate our children rights but will have yet another negative impact from the one endured the year before setting the students up for failure as this infriges massively with the French Immersion program.

We are been ask to refrain from socializing outside and staying within our circle of peers, not to dine out or have large gatherings, to limit our children from socialization and now their emotional and mental health is been jeopardize by having to say goodbye to their classmates, friends and teacher.

We here plea with you for the sake of our childrens well being and educational success to reconsider your decision to eliminate Mme Jacoby class for the safety, mental and emotional health of the students you represent. Their academic success is in your hands!