Toronto school board 'ready to go' for arrival of Syrian students
Crucial question of where newcomers will live remains
After weeks of anticipation, Syrian refugees are expected to land in Toronto in the coming days.
Many of them are families with children who will go to schools across this city. It won't be as easy as filling in empty desks though.
Karen Falconer, the Executive Superintendent of the Toronto District School Board, is up for the challenge.
"We actually do feel prepared," she told Metro Morning. "It's part of what we do all the time — we welcome refugees on a regular basis."
The TDSB has two newcomer reception centres in the city.
Most of the Syrians coming in the near future are privately sponsored refugees. The TDSB has "incredible infrastructure to support refugees coming in," said Falconer, including ESL classes for both high school-age and adult students.
The Toronto schools will likely lean on sponsors for communication, but getting students into classrooms is something the school board is able to do.
"We know what to do when they arrive," she said. "We're at the mark, ready to go."
Special staff will assist new students
That process starts when the new students arrive at the school. There will be special office staff to assist them. From there, there is a program to assess how ready the new arrivals are to enter high school classrooms.
The addition of all the new students will not be challenge-free, however. The most serious unanswered question for the TDSB is where new arrivals to Toronto will live.
"We're more interested in that than anyone else," said Falconer. "Where you live dictates what schools you attend."
That is out of the hands of the school board. What it is focusing on, Falconer said, was fundraising guidelines and how to use volunteers. She said the TDSB wants to "capitalize on volunteer energy out there" and make sure effort and money is directed in the right places.
Falconer said there will be some periods of adjustment. She said it's important to remember the situation is temporary, for both students and the schools. She said the only way to know how well the school board did in their resettlement efforts is to look back after a year.
"We've done this before — large influxes of people have come in past and we've adjusted in order to manage it," she said, adding that the students and teachers involved have grown from the process.
Either way, she said, the board must do its part in this Syrian refugee crisis.
"Bottom line is that the alternative is frightening," she said.
If you're a teacher, Metro Morning would like to hear from you. Have you had refugee children in your classroom in the past? How prepared were you then? And how prepared are schools now?
Tweet us at @MetroMorning or call the Vox Box at 416-205-5807.