OAPCE Parent Partner News June 2020 - Toronto Catholic ...

OAPCE Parent Partner News
                               June 2020

               MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

It has been quite the year, to say the least, and many parents are relieved that it is over.
Over the past year we have had many parents that have reached out to us in need of

addressing concerns, issues and just in need of support. No one would have thought
that going into March Break we would not return to school and that parents would have
to adapt to working at home, participate in long distance learning and deal with the
pandemic. Through it all, parents have persevered and done their best
to juggle everything that came our way. Ahead is more uncertainty of what the new
school year will look like in September, but we will prevail. A HUGE thank you goes out
to ALL of you, for continuing to be the strong and committed parents you are.
Remember we are all in this together and take the summer as time for true relaxation
and time to just enjoy one another. Now that our parishes are open I hope you find the
time to go and refresh your souls and begin to take time to breath. On a personal note, I
would like to dedicate this blog to my mother, in honor of her legacy in advocacy for her
children and all students in her work on parent councils. Without her passion and
dedication I would not have become the Education advocate that I am today.

Annalisa Crudo-Perri, Executive Director, OAPCE

The OAPCE Board of Directors would like to express our deepest condolences to
Executive Director Annalisa Crudo-Perri at the passing of her mother Marta Crudo. Mrs.
Crudo was one of the Founding members of the Parent Community Council at Madonna
Catholic High School. She is fondly remembered by many. Her contribution and her
legacy are well expressed by former teacher Ms. Toscano “How can anyone ever forget
Marta? She was the SOUL of every Multicultural activity at Madonna Catholic
Secondary. She was always ready to lend a hand any time help was needed, and help
she gave with a beautiful smile. When she was around, everyone knew we were going to
be successful in every way. Marta was one unique, generous, and truly caring woman
who can never be forgotten.”

We wish our sincerest thoughts and prayers to the entire Crudo-Perri family during this
difficult time.

The OAPCE Board of Directors continue in their advocacy of Catholic Education
especially at this unprecedented time, we will be having our last meeting of the school
year and are compiling feedback from our OAPCE reps and parents in regards to the
parameters around going back to school in the fall. Plans are also underway for our
virtual AGM in the fall and revision of our by-laws.

June’s Virtue is Faithfulness

Your love, O Yahweh, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. - Psalm
36:5

Tip of the Month for June

Like all of the virtues, faithfulness belongs to God. When God tells us to have faith…to
be faithful…the expectation is that we will stand firm upon the promises that God has
made.

As Church and community, we have just celebrated the great feast of Pentecost, the
birthday of the Church. In our COVID-19 days and in these challenging times of racial
unrest, we offer these daily reflections and pray for the continued presence of the gifts
of the Holy Spirit. We pray for an increased awareness of the dignity of each human
person and acknowledge the need for an end to systemic racism.

The following reflections have been adapted from the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops and prayers have been adapted from the Sister of Mercy website and
the Dominican Sisters of Peace website.

God created humankind. He made them in the likeness of God. He blessed them and named
them “Humankind” when they were created.
   Genesis 5:1b, 2b

Racism is an attack on the image of God that has been given to every one of us by the
Creator. Because each person has been created by God, we are all united together with
the Lord and with each other. Racism rejects what God has done by refusing to
acknowledge the image of God in the other, the stranger and the one who is different.
The fact that we were created in the image of God should remind us that each person is
a living expression of God that must be respected and preserved and never
dishonoured.

Let Us Pray:

Good and gracious God, you invite us to recognize and reverence your divine image
and likeness in our neighbour. Enable us to see the reality of racism and free us to
challenge and uproot it from our society, our world and ourselves, always through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Adapted from the Opening Prayer. Prayer for the Elimination of
Racism, Sistersofmercy.org

Also, you can pray and reflect with this link below:

https://www.livingwithchrist.ca/index.php/intentions

This above message was courtesy of Anita Bartolini, Principal of Loreto Abbey, Toronto
from her weekly Parent Message.

                                      OAPCE NEWS:

May 9th, 2020 OAPCE hosted its first virtual Parent Summit as a wrap up to Catholic
Education week.

The session started with a welcome message from our Executive Director, and then
welcomed the Education Minister, the Honourable Stephen Lecce. The Minister
addressed the many concerns that are in the minds and hearts of parents as we
navigate supporting our children through this pandemic. We would like to express our
appreciation to the Minister for taking the time to engage directly with the Catholic
Parent community. We would also like to thank Bishop Dabrowski for his wonderful
words of hope and leading us in prayer as a parent community of faith.

Our presenters provided thought provoking insights for a meaningful and productive
day.

Thank you to Sara Westbrook for providing a wonderful session that provided parents
with words, ideas, tools and strategies to support parents. We are grateful for her
sharing so many wonderful exercises including the Choice Making Formula and tips for
finding our calm.

Next was a fantastic session delivered by Rob Gallo. During this pandemic our world
has moved online what seems like overnight. Rob challenged us to explore how we are
living our virtues in our virtual world. This session challenged us to consider how as
Catholics, we find our way.

Our afternoon presenter was Paul Davis who provided an eye opening and informative 2
part session. The first session Paul focused on how to keep our kids safe online. The
second session focused on online safety for adults and seniors.

There are many individuals that we would like to express our appreciation for making
this webinar possible. Special acknowledgement to Gus Gikas that spent many hours
preparing, testing and coordinating the event in real time. Oftentimes, large events like
this run a high risk of “technical difficulties” impacting the overall quality of the event.
Because of Gus and his time and effort our virtual summit was a tremendous success.

As the world begins to set its sights on what a post COVID19 world will look like, this
event has demonstrated that parent engagement can be achieved more widely and in a
more inclusive way for many parents. This Virtual Summit has representation from
across our great province with 150 parents participating.

OAPCE would like to also thank all of the parents that attended and actively participated
to make this an amazing event. We are working on another one in the Fall in conjunction
with our AGM.

                        From the Ministry of Education:

On Friday June 19th, we received information about the Grant For Student Needs (GSN)
funding for 2020-21 and the framework for returning to school in the fall. OAPCE
continues to be one of the recognized parent groups by the Ministry of Education. We
thank the Minister for his continued support and we will ensure to advocate for parents
as part of our mandate.

Ministry of Education Funding - 2020 - 2021

      Ontario Makes Historic Investment in Public Education – June 19th, 2020
      Grants for Student Needs (GSN) Funding for 2020-21
      Capital Funding for the 2020-21 School Year
      2020-21 Priorities and Partnership Fund
      Appendix A – 2020-21 Priorities and Partnerships Funding Allocations
      Special Education Grant Funding for 2020-21
      Student Transportation – Grants for Student Needs 2020-21
      Technical Paper 2020-21

   Grants for Student Needs Projections for the 2020-21 School Year
      2020-21 Education Funding: A Guide to the Special Education Grant
      Special Education Funding Guidelines: Special Equipment Amount (SEA), 2020-21
      Special Education Funding Guidelines: Special Incidence Portion (SIP), 2020-21

Safe Reopening of Schools

      Ontario Prepares for the Safe Reopening of Schools – June 19th, 2020
      Letter to Parents on the Safe Reopening of Schools – June 19th, 2020

                  From Our Catholic Education Partners:

ACBO - Assembly of Catholic Bishops

The ACBO is pleased to announce the appointment of the new General Secretary of
Bryan Beal, he is the current Director of Education from Simcoe Muskoka and will
commence his appointment as of September 1, 2020. We congratulate Roger Lawler on
his retirement and thank him for all the many years as an advocate for Catholic
Education.

                                From Our Regions:

OAPCE-Algonquin Lakeshore

At Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic District School Board, (ALCDSB), we have been
having great success with online learning. We are trying our best to come up with safe
and successful ways to have our graduates of grade 8 and 12 have a special time at a
great milestone in their life. As we want them to continue into their future with great
success.

We honour the inherent dignity in each other by treating one another with care,
compassion, and respect. As ALCDSB prepares for a new year, you can be assured that
our core values will be predicated on Catholic learning environments that promote
social justice, diversity, and equity each and every month. Our Catholic schools are
committed to nurturing safe and inclusive learning environments where every student
and every member of the community is welcomed, valued, and respected.

OAPCE-Dufferin Peel
http://www.drapce.com/

The Central Committee for Catholic School Councils (CCCSC) offered an online
presentation by Dr. Pepler to our Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
Parent/Guardian community. Dr. Pepler is a professor of Psychology at York University
and an expert on bullying. She spoke about the benefits and challenges of social
media. Her presentation provided us with information about children and adolescent
brain development and the impacts from technology. The webinar was a hit, with over
200 attendees. The webinar recording will be posted at a later date.

The regional council team continues with its mandate as an information sharing council
by forwarding content from OAPCE, and the school board. April and May in-person
meetings were cancelled due to the pandemic. Alternatively, parents have been
canvassed by a survey to provide their experience and insights on their experience with
the last 2 months of the pandemic. This will aid in the development of a parent share
report.

We recently held the first ever regional council online event. A. Farmer (a long time
OAPCE rep in DP) facilitated a Zentangling workshop and explained how we can use
Zentangle art to aid with relaxation. Zentangling is believed to help with relaxation and
many other mental wellness benefits. We learned about the 6 steps to creating our
artwork along with 4 basic patterns. This is an activity we can continue to do off-line
and with our families for fun. It was awesome to see some of the artwork from the
parents and their children.

The DPCDSB continues to highlight school and community events on a daily basis
through their social media accounts. Parents and students were surveyed at the onset
of the pandemic to address needs and are currently being surveyed again to include
assessment for next steps. Most recently, the Chair of Trustees and Director of
Education reminded us as a Catholic community, we are called to speak out against,
and work to address injustice.

OAPCE-Halton

Despite the physical closure of schools within the HCDSB, the learning community has
rallied together with the result being some news of outstanding student achievements.
A student from Bishop Reding CSS was selected for a prestigious NASA internship as
one of 45 interns chosen from student applications from around the world. Another
student from Bishop Reding CSS and Sacred Heart of Jesus ES placed third in their
divisions in Ontario in the COSTI Immigrant Services Poetry Contest. The contest
brings attention to human rights and the plight of refugees. And in response to the
pandemic, HCDSB staff have hosted driveway food drives to help families in need and
schools such as St. Benedict showed their appreciation for the healthcare heroes at
Milton District Hospital for National Nurses Week, by partnering with Tim Hortons to
donate 400 gift cards to nurses in the hospital and created 200 thank-you cards.

The Catholic Parent Involvement Committee (CPIC) of the HCDSB will be hosting the
next Council of Chairs meeting virtually in June where the focus will be on challenges
that school councils may have been facing to continue engaging their parent
communities during this time of distance learning, and how CPIC can support and keep
communication strong in this new environment. OAPCE is a standing item on the
agenda and the Halton director will be working in conjunction with a school council
chair to present some strategies for parents attending.

OAPCE-Toronto
http://toronto.oapce.org

The last meeting of the school year was held on Monday June 1st, 2020 via Zoom where
we had many of our OAPCE representatives join and discuss the long distance learning
plan and how parents are coping with it. We thank all our parents for their hard work at

home in supporting their children and their commitment to OAPCE and parent
engagement.

We would like to congratulate Director of Education Mr. Rory McGuckin on his
retirement. Rory McGuckin has been a key member of the senior administrative team
since 2010, most recently serving as Associate Director of Academic Affairs. A highly
respected educator, he has worked in various capacities within the MSSB/TCDSB for 33
years. Prior to his appointment as Associate Director, Mr. McGuckin served as
Superintendent of Human Resources and Labour Relations, and held other crucial
leadership portfolios supporting the Board’s work as head of the Safe Schools
Department, overseeing governance and policy development, and direct responsibilities
for Parent Engagement and Community Relations. As a graduate of TCDSB, he brings a
unique and intimate perspective having attended St. Andrew Catholic School and Father
Henry Carr Catholic Secondary School.

We thank him for his tremendous contribution to Catholic Education in Toronto during
the course of his career. We would like to extend our appreciation for your leadership
during this difficult time. You have helped parents and staff navigate uncharted paths
with a steady and support way that has always had the best interest of children at the
centre of every decision. We wish all the best in your retirement.

OAPCE-York

York Catholic District School Board will be losing a tremendous champion for Catholic
Education, as the community says good-bye to Ab Falconi, Director of Education, who
is retiring in August.

During his time at the helm of York Catholic, Mr. Falconi was responsible for leading
many significant achievements. Maria Marchese, YCDSB Chair, Board of Trustees says:

“In his first year, he pivoted the Board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan by conducting
significant stakeholder consultation and strengthening the focus on each of the four
strategic commitments. Faced with a significant debt position prior to his arrival, he
championed the Board’s multi-year financial recovery plan and delivered a balanced
budget for 2019-2020. Mr. Falconi has been a strong advocate for the health and
wellbeing of students, staff and families. He championed the need to address human
rights and equity at the Board. He launched initiatives to address all forms of racism,
including Anti-Black Racism (ABR), and was committed to working with students, staff
and families to ensure services are provided in an equitable and inclusive manner. He
enabled expansion of the Board’s successful STEM initiatives with a more robust focus
on STREAM (science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math). Under Ab’s
leadership, York Catholic continued to achieve the highest graduation rates in the
province and its students consistently outperformed their peers in all areas of
Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing. In 2019, the Board
celebrated its 50th Anniversary of delivering excellence in Catholic education across
York Region.” When asked to comment on his retirement announcement, Director
Falconi had this to say: “I am honoured to have been part of the York Catholic family
and am proud of what we have accomplished together. Not only is it one of the highest
performing school boards in Ontario, it is also filled with amazing people who care
deeply for the students they are entrusted to serve. I am grateful for the opportunity to
work with such talented staff both on the senior team and across the system. I also
appreciate the support and guidance I received from the Board of Trustees. Working
closely within York Catholic’s strong school-home-parish partnership has been a
highlight over my career in Catholic Education. I know York Catholic will continue to
soar for another 50 years and beyond.” The Board of Trustees will meet later this month
to initiate a recruitment process to hire Director Falconi’s successor. Ab will be missed
by everyone at YCDSB and wishes him the very best.

YCDSB continues its communication with parents during this challenging time and
offers support to families and students who are in the distance learning program. In
addition, parents and students are encouraged to review the summer online courses.

The Board website also offers numerous resources for parents, covering: Distance
Learning, Mental Health, Online Learning Database and Special Education. Click on the
link to review https://www.ycdsb.ca/covid-19/resources/. The Board website also directs
families to spiritual and provincial support.

   1. As many in our community are directly or indirectly affected by the COVID-19
       pandemic, take a moment to pray – for yourself, for others and for our
       community. Click on this link to pray for the daily Mass with His Eminence
       Cardinal Collins https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6dTaamqU0EMeHOahI-
       EIicu1klWYR-bo.

   2. There is a link to the Ontario government website, where parents can learn about
       funding due to COVID-19. Visit Get Support for Families to find out if you are
       eligible and how to apply.

WE end our final news blog of 2019/2020 with a prayer for you all, on
 behalf of the OAPCE BOD have a wonderful and blessed summer!

                              Summer blessing for families:

                  May we make our homes places of relaxation,
                              joy, love, peace and safety.
                       May we be generous and considerate,
                         not thinking only about ourselves,
           but helping others enjoy the blessings of the summertime.
                           Lord God, Creator of all things,
                    guide our steps and strengthen our hearts

during these months of summer and vacation days.
               Grant us refreshment of mind and body.
       May we constantly strive to make a meaningful difference
        in the lives of our loved ones and in the world around us
              as we enjoy the warm days of summertime.
                  We ask this through Christ our Lord.
                                 Amen.

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About OAPCE

As Ontario’s parent voice association, the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic
Education (OAPCE) is the authoritative voice of Ontario parents and guardians in
Catholic education. We are the provincial voice that is authorized through the
Education Act and Regulation 612, to represent families with children enrolled in
the English Catholic education system. OAPCE is a vital connection between the
Ministry of Education, Catholic District School Boards in Ontario, the Institute of
Catholic Education, Ontario Catholic Trustees, Parish, Regional Parent’s
Associations, School Councils and other valuable parent groups, and prominent
advocate for Catholic education excellence and student success. OAPCE elevates
the profile of a publicly funded Catholic system of education by providing
opportunities for ongoing information sharing, resources, learning, networking and
community building.

For media requests, please contact oapce@oapce.org

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                                           OAPCE
                                       PO Box 60562
                                     RPO JANE/WILSON
                                  Toronto, Ontario M3L 2N5
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