GuelphToday received the following letter to the editor from Shawna Varganyi regarding the effects recent Wellington Catholic District School Board cuts are having on Kindergarten students.
*************************
Dear Editor
St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School recently announced that they would be closing a kindergarten classroom and losing a teacher due to cutbacks.
Combining three classrooms into two means our youngest learners will receive less individual attention and places additional stress and expectations on educators. It’s proven that students are more engaged in smaller classes, especially when they are young. Over the past few years teachers have been expected to deal with increased rates of behavioral and learning challenges, but are also expected to now cope with increased mental health issues as a result of the pandemic. Teachers who were already struggling to meet students’ needs will be unable to support one third more students with additional challenges.
In times of uncertainty, routine and continuity reassures and comforts small children. Only toddlers when the pandemic started, kindergarten students cannot remember what normal life was like. Their earliest memories are of masking, distancing, missed celebrations, sanitizing, isolating, testing and lockdowns. For many, school was the first time they were able to socialize with their peers, but next year their class will be broken up with friends and teachers missing.
One of those missing faces includes a much beloved teacher. Over the past two years, she has worked alongside an ECE as an effective educational tag team. This staff member has pivoted from in-person to online learning seamlessly reassuring students with her positive attitude and continued emphasis on learning. In an online petition started by discontented parents and caregivers, one caregiver shared how this teacher helped a developmentally challenged non-verbal student to learn how to count and recite the alphabet this past year. The impact on this particular student is immeasurable.
The Wellington Catholic District School Board is caught up in the bureaucracy of budgets and quotas overlooking the human element of our education system. Our youngest learners are expected to navigate endless changes again without ever knowing a normal school year.
Regards
Shawna Varganyi, Guelph
