Candy sent a letter to Education Minister Kathleen Wynne
for revitalization program. Thank Candy for her great effort !
Dear Kathleen
Revitalization Program - Arbor Glen P.S.
The reason I am writing is to voice our concerns with respect to the proposal put forward by the Revitalization Program (RP) to close Arbor Glen P.S.
Arbor Glen has consistently achieved excellent academic results – ranked as No. 1 by Fraser Institute for outstanding academic achievements during the past five years in EQAO testing. Toronto Sun recently published an article regarding ranking of over 1,000 schools in GTA, Arbor Glen is again ranked No. 1. The publication from C D Howe Institute published by Toronto Star yesterday also proves that Arbor Glen has been achieving excellent results. Arbor Glen is valued by so many through various generations and new comers in the community. The reason is very obvious – it brings out the best in our children. It is very focused on behavoral education. The team of staff is extremely dedicated to their work that we are amazed at all the wonderful activities during lunch and the after school programs that provide very good development aids for our kids.
We are not against changes. However changes have to be the right ones, which should truly reflect the essence of the RP. Arbor Glen is neither below 65% utilization (it is running at about 80% capacity, at the target level set for funding, and projected to go up) nor is it so old that it needs a lot of repair and maintenance. With Highland running at 100% capacity and situated at such a busy and accident prone intersection, long flight of stairs posing potential danger to younger children, it is definitely not the right option for consolidating Arbor Glen or Cliffwood regular English into.
The enclosed information binder contains information supporting our proposal to keep Arbor Glen. A copy of this information binder has been provided to the following individuals:
- Mari Rutka, our school trustee, during our recent ward meeting on Feb 15, 2007.
- David Zimmer, MPP, during our meeting on Feb 16, 2007.
- David Shiner, Councillor on Feb 23, 2007 (by courier).
Both David Zimmer and David Shiner are very supportive of our rationale for proposing to keep Arbor Glen P.S. They both feel that we have very valid points supporting our proposal.
I understand from speaking with other parents that you have been a very strong advocate for parents regarding their school issues. I would appreciate if you could kindly help us find other alternatives that can be beneficial to the community as well as meeting the objectives of the RP.
Thank you very much for your kind attention to this matter and we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Candy
Arbor Glen Community & Concerned Parents
