Dear TDSB Virtual School Parents/Guardians and Students,
We sincerely apologize for the ongoing delay in staffing classrooms in the Elementary Virtual School. This is a challenging situation and we understand that families are becoming increasingly frustrated as the days pass. We continue to work as quickly as possible and are moving forward but it is taking much longer than expected. We simply cannot hire teachers fast enough to meet the demand for virtual learning, a difficulty that other school boards in Toronto and across Ontario have also faced.
We can assure you that if you are receiving this email update, your child will soon be in a virtual classroom with a teacher assigned. For some, this will happen as early as tomorrow and we expect to have all teachers hired and remaining classrooms up and running by mid-to-late next week. Again, this is not the timeline that any of us wanted or anticipated and we recognize that families are understandably upset. We most sincerely appreciate your continued patience as we work to meet our shared goal of having virtual classes underway for all TDSB students. It is not possible to email parents/guardians of individual classes as they come online so please continue to check Brightspace on a regular basis.
While the teacher numbers are changing on an hourly basis, the most recent information available indicates that approximately 400 teachers have been hired since the beginning of the week, with fewer than 100 remaining. We anticipate these remaining positions will be filled over the next few days. All teachers are provided with Brightspace training once hired, which takes two days to complete and means that they will be online and leading the remaining virtual classrooms next week.
Principal Contact Information
We understand that you may have questions or concerns and would like to speak directly with someone at your child’s Virtual Elementary School. Please find Principal contact information by Learning Centre and grade below (to determine your Learning Centre (LC), please search for your child’s home school here: Learning Centre School List).
| Virtual School | Principal Contact Information |
| Learning Centre 1 | Grades K to 2: Tamara Schwarz – [email protected] Grades 3 to 5: Amelia Dennis – [email protected] Grade 6 to 8: Juliet Sesanker-Daniel – [email protected] |
| Learning Centre 2 | Grades K to 2: Fiona Bennett – [email protected] Grades 3 to 5: Dayna Neiman – [email protected] Grades 6 to 8: Hugh Reynolds – [email protected] |
| Learning Centre 3 | Grades K to 1: Zorina Alli – [email protected] Grades 2 to 4: Phyllis Jackson – [email protected] Grades 5 to 8: Laura Slater – [email protected] |
| Learning Centre 4 | Grades K to 3: Susan Yun – [email protected] Grades 4 to 8: Mary Salvarinas – [email protected] |
Independent Home Learning
As shared earlier this week, for those students who do not yet have a classroom teacher, please continue to access independent learning resources on the Asynchronous Learning web page. We have continued to add more activities throughout the week and will do so until all classes have a teacher so students have access to ongoing learning opportunities. We will also be adding additional live video sessions for students to take part in.
Brightspace and Technical Support
We know that some families have had login challenges and difficulty accessing Brightspace. If you are experiencing account and password issues, the quickest and most efficient way to access support is to complete this form. Once the information has been verified, login and password information for your child will be emailed to you. Additionally, you can access Brightspace support 24 hours a day.