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This is a brief synopsis of the last Ward Forum held at Sunny View.

It was a full house with many parents, principals and staff attending to hear our new TDSB Director of Education, Dr. Chris Spence outline his “Vision of Hope” for the future of teaching and learning in our schools. His top 3 priorities are student achievement, parent engagement and financial stability.

His main focus is to prepare our students for the 21st century in our ever changing world of global technology. From chalkboards to interactive smart boards, notebooks to laptops, textbooks to search engines…the list is comprehensive and reflects a different classroom experience than many of us experienced in school. Dr. Spence believes our classrooms need to change into hubs of activity to keep our kids “powered up” instead of “powered down” at classroom desks.

Another focus of Chris’s Vision of Hope is a focus on raising the achievement gap of boys. Statistically, boys lag behind in EQOA scores, drop out of school at greater rates than girls, are over represented in special education and 80% of suspended students are boys. Although he feels that the vast percentage of students will be taught in coeducational classrooms and schools, he is advocating single gender classes and the formation of two single gendered boys schools as an option for parents. The teaching would be geared specifically to the best way to engage boys and keep them interested in school.

To learn more about Dr. Spence and his hopes for turning his visions into realities, visit his web page at“Welcome to Chris’s Place” and learn about a program dear to his heart “Boys 2 Men”

Looking forward to seeing you at my future Ward meetings on January 27, February 25, April 29 and May 31 all at 7 pm … stay tuned for locations.

Gerri Gershon
Trustee, Don Valley West
416 395 8408
gerri.gershon@tdsb.on.ca

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