Catholic Education Week: Catholic Education Week: Celebrating our Parents, Guardians, Trustees, Volunteers, Bus Drivers & Community Members

Catholic Education Week: Celebrating our Parents, Guardians, Trustees, Volunteers, Bus Drivers & Community Members
Posted on 05/07/2021
The theme for Catholic Education Week 2021, “Nurturing Hope”, reminds us that publicly funded Catholic education is a call to service. Regardless of our position or our responsibilities within Catholic education, it is a calling to bring the message of Jesus Christ into the lives of those students and their families whom it is a privilege to serve in the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

Even though we are celebrating Catholic Education Week in a very different way this year, there are still many opportunities to recognize the good fortune that the gift of Catholic education affords each of us. During this week, it is fitting to express my thanks and gratitude to the people who work collaboratively and collectively to provide our students with a strong, vibrant, faith-based education in a safe and caring environment.

Each day this week, we are honoured to express my appreciation in the form of “thanks” to all those who play an integral role in the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board family.

We understand the enormous responsibility and challenges that remote learning has placed on parents and guardians as they had to create time, space, routine, and support for their child’s learning at home. We realize that many of our families are experiencing a difficult time. In addition to student learning, students have many other needs, especially their mental health and well-being. Thank you for your support, care and guidance, as a partner in Catholic education, as we collectively navigated through our learning journey this year.

Our Board of Trustees have provided strong leadership throughout these challenging times and are presently embarking on the journey of updating our Board’s Strategic Plan. The updated strategic priorities will be developed in response to the ever changing needs of our system and will offer a renewed vision for excellence in Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

Our volunteers, and in particular our Catholic School Community Council members, our Special Education Advisory Committee members and our Catholic Parent Involvement Committee members have played a vital role in supporting our school communities “virtually” in a variety of innovative ways this year. In addition, our External Audit Committee members have offered sound corporate guidance relative to business and financial matters.

Through the hard work of the transportation consortium and our school bus drivers we continue to provide students with a safe and reliable way to get to and from school during the many types of weather conditions we experience throughout our diverse geographic boundaries.

Celebratory and personal wishes of good health and much happiness are extended to our retirees, whose years of service, dedication and valuable contributions to Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board have made our Catholic education system the great workplace that it is known to be. We look forward to celebrating you, in person, when we are able to do so.

God bless you for the work you do every day. It is such an honour to work with each of you.