Keep Winchester Jr. and Sr. PS a Dual-track Community School

Keep Winchester PS a Dual-track, JK-8, Community School: A Petition to the Trustees of the TDSB: We, the community members of Ward 14 in the TDSB, want to express our dissent regarding the proposed changes to our school, Winchester Jr. and Sr. PS, that have been recommended by the Pupil Accommodation Review Committee (PARC) in Ward 14. They have proposed changing Winchester PS from a dual-track (English and French), Community School to a single-track French Immersion. During the public consultation process of the Pupil Accommodation Review for Ward 14, proposals to keep the school the same were declined and the community was told by the PARC that keeping Winchester Jr. and Sr. PS as status quo was not a viable option. PARC has based their decision on current and projected enrolment numbers. The projected number, however, is based upon reducing Winchester’s catchment area and a projected decreased enrollment in the English stream. With active community involvement, the projected numbers need not become a reality. In the past, the community has banded together to save the once-troubled (now flourishing) French Program and can do the same for the English Program, if given the chance. Winchester Jr. and Sr. PS has a very unique position as a central, Community School that serves a neighbourhood that is among the most ethnically, religiously, and economically diverse in the entire TDSB. Winchester’s very existence as a successful Community school is a tangible positive reminder of what makes this city, its communities, and its children so great. We are strongly urging you to please keep Winchester PS the dual-track, JK-8, Community school that so many community members have dedicated time and resources to create. We ask you to withhold any further decisions about changing Winchester for at least another 2 years and then re-evaluate its viabilty before deciding. Please sign the petition below to show TDSB trustees that we do feel that Winchester Jr. and Sr. PS should remain a dual-track, English and French, school. Thank you.