Letter from former Alternative student and now Teacher Laura Farina

Laura Farina

address redacted

Jennifer Adams

Superintendent of Curriculum

Ottawa Carleton District School Board

133 Greenbank Rd.

Ottawa, ON

K2H 6L3

November 10, 2009

Dear Ms. Adams,

As a former student at Churchill Alternative School, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the Elementary Alternative Program Review currently being conducted by the Ottawa Carleton District School Board.

My concerns stem from the fact that I do not believe that your committee has given itself enough time to properly review a model of education that aims for a diverse approach, a long-term commitment to each student's individual learning path, and a group of stakeholders that extends beyond students and teachers to include parents, grandparents, care-givers and community members. Alternative education is complicated and a proper review of Ottawa's elementary alternative schools requires more the six months you have allotted it.

In fact, I believe that your review process could learn a lot from the alternative model.

Alternative education is rooted in cooperation and teamwork. From my time at Churchill I learned to work with many different people. I learned how to listen to those who had a harder time expressing themselves, and I learned how to ask questions of those who understood more about a subject than I did. I learned how to use every member of a group's abilities to get a job done. During your review, I believe you would benefit from a more cooperative approach. It concerns me that you have engaged in very little formal consultation with stakeholders and that the steering committee you have selected will not serve a larger role in the review process.

Alternative education is child-centred. While attending alternative school I learned how to take responsibility for my education, set achievable goals and work towards them. It concerns me that you are not consulting current alternative students about their education during your review. As these students will be directly impacted by your decisions it seems only fair that they be heard.

Finally, alternative education puts emphasis on self-evaluation and anecdotal reporting. During my time at Churchill I learned about reflecting on my own strengths and weaknesses and about hearing constructive criticism from my teachers and peers. Through innovative reporting methods such as student-led conferences, and by frequently having my parents in my classroom, participating in my education, I learned that evaluation cannot just happen three times a year on a piece of a paper. To truly facilitate a student's learning, students, teachers and parents must work together, and must participate in the idea that learning is an ongoing and lived process. It concerns me that your review does not include visits to any of Ottawa's elementary alternative schools, nor does it include feedback or input from other alternative programs in Ontario.

It is even more concerning to me that with a group of stakeholders so invested in the evaluation of the alternative program and and in keeping the program vibrant and innovative, we are once again fighting to keep alternative schools open, rather than focusing our energy on making Ottawa's alternative schools centres for innovative education in the region. What would be obvious if the committee would take the time to look at what is actually happening in alternative classrooms, is that what is being offered is truly unique. Alternative education is making it possible for children with diverse learning styles, from diverse backgrounds to understand each other, work together and feel connected to a learning process that will last them for the rest of their lives. The Ottawa Carleton District School Board should be proud of its alternative schools, and should be spending its time supporting the innovative teaching and learning that goes on in them.

I wouldn't be a product of the alternative system if I didn't believe in honest evaluation, particularly of the things I hold dear, but for once, it would be wonderful if a review of alternative education in Ottawa was about the ways that students, parents, teachers and the board could work together to make improvements to the programs being offered at Churchill, Lady Evelyn, Grant, Riverview and Manor Park, without the threat of discontinuing these programs.

I remain grateful for the education I received at Churchill Alternative School, and hopeful that children in Ottawa will continue to have access to the same quality education that I did.

Sincerely,

Laura Farina