Back-to-school for English Montreal School Board

It’s back-to-school week in Quebec – with some French students starting class on Monday. For the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), Wednesday was their first day of school.

Students, parents, and educators were excited to kick off the new academic year at Carlyle Elementary School in Town of Mount Royal.

“I feel good,” said Annamaria Di Zazzo, who’s starting Grade 3. “Because I’m excited to meet my friends and my teachers.

“I like learning and seeing my friends and having fun.”

Annamaria’s mother, who dropped her off at school, was also excited for the start of the new school year.

“It’s a different cycle. So she’s going to be having new subjects, new learning, and most of all, for her to be happy at Carlyle with her friends, her community, and for her to feel safe at school,” said Angela Chronis. “Annamaria loves the Carlyle community, so I think it’ll be a great year.”

Grade 4 student Lea Paduano was curious to see who would be in her class this year.

“I’m excited to see if I’m with my friends,” she said.

Lea, whose favourite subjects are music and gym, has one big goal for 2023: “To make some friends.”

Siblings Tristan and Mia Chaviri were also ready for the new year.

“I’m excited about Grade 2 part, just the Grade 2 part, that’s my favourite,” said Tristan.

His older sister Mia, going into Grade 6, has her mind on graduation.

“I’m nervous. I don’t know why,” she said. “I’m feeling nervous for Grade 6 because I guess it’s the hardest year and I’m going to be leaving Carlyle probably. So I’m going to miss it.

“I’m going to see all my friends. I’m going to have the best moments. Like, have fun here, and realize that it’s my last year, so I’m going to have fun.”

Their mother Suzanne Chaviri joked that back-to-school day meant a break for the parents.

“I’m excited that she’s starting her Grade 6 and my Tristan, his second year here in Carlyle, because I love this school so much. And very happy. Very relaxed that I can go to work.

“For my kids, I always tell them, just enjoy it, to come every day to school and have fun with friends and just try to learn something new every day.”

Carlyle teachers were also thrilled to be back in the classroom.

“We finished off our vacation. We’re excited to see our students and welcome them. We’re very, very excited,” said Sia Tzovanis-Manolias, Grade 1 teacher and International Baccalaureate (IB) coordinator.

“I’m looking forward to meeting my students and kicking off our year with our IB units of inquiry. They’re very fun in Grade 1 and we’re just looking to have a really fun and exciting year with them.”

Grade 6 teacher Daphne Galanopoulos says the feeling in the air on the first day back is the same for staff as it is for students.

“They’re nervous, they’re excited, and so are we,” said Galanopoulos. “We’re looking to kick off a great school year and we’re looking forward to that.”

“I’m teaching Grade 6 this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing my students, had them again last year and we’re going to be working on our exhibition project this year.”

Staff shortages weighing on teachers

Both Carlyle teachers shared their concern about the news last week that Quebec still had thousands of vacant teaching positions to fill ahead of the school year.

“Well, we’re feeling it. Definitely feeling it,” said Tzovanis-Manolias. “If I’m not mistaken, there are a few positions that need to be filled at our school still. The workload is high. We love what we do, but the support needs to be in place for sure.”

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“It certainly is a little bit discouraging,” added Galanopoulos, who’s been teaching at Carlyle for four years. “Because we can put teachers who are qualified and have them in this position and have that support. And it really needs to be in place, of course.”

EMSB Chair Joe Ortona confirmed there were still 12 vacant permanent positions at the school board, but that every class had a qualified substitute to start the year.

“Well, we’ve been working very hard throughout the summer career fairs, looking to recruit, interviews around the clock,” said Ortona. “The important thing is that in every class, even if there is a substitute teacher, it’s a qualified teacher that’s there. We’re not looking to fill spots with high school graduates. There’s no babysitter there in the classroom. It’s really a qualified teacher.

“We shouldn’t be aiming for that either. I think that’s setting the bar extremely low, and that’s certainly not what somebody who prioritizes education should be doing.

“I’m very confident that by next Tuesday, the day after Labour Day, every class is going to have a full time permanent teacher.”

Sudden change in academic requirements

Ortona adds the EMSB has always had difficulty retaining support staff, but could not say offhand how many of those positions needed to be filled.

“The government doesn’t really prioritize these positions,” he said. “The pay isn’t always the greatest and so sometimes we have difficulty with retention there. But our human resources department does work around the clock and we’re in a much better situation than I would say the province overall or in the French sector, because everything is centralized there and everything is done at the local level here.”

In a sudden announcement Tuesday, Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville revealed academic requirements this year were returning to pre-pandemic levels. Since 2020, the weight of Ministry exams, for instance, dropped significantly. That will no longer be the case.

The EMSB Chair says teachers will need to adapt.

“Our teachers throughout the pandemic have demonstrated their resilience and how good they are at adjusting and adapting and sometimes in a very unfair way,” said Ortona. “They’ve had to switch on a dime in the middle… new measures, different changes that they made. So I’m confident in our teachers and their ability to adapt their teaching methods or to adapt to to those requirements.”

This year marks the EMSB’s 25th anniversary and they’ll be holding a special assembly Wednesday to mark the occasion.

In 2012, Carlyle Elementary School was put up for closure due to low enrolment. A pledge to relaunch as an International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program convinced the Council of Commissioners to keep it open and the student population has grown ever since. The board considers it a “success story.”

Students and teachers with the Lester B. Pearson School Board will start classes on Thursday.

And, the official back-to-school start is Friday for the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.