TDSB prepares to help Syrian refugees integrate into new schools

Among the most critical next steps for young Syrian refugees arriving to Canada will be integrating into the country's school systems.

It is a challenging but essential step to ensure that they are afforded the same opportunities for an education as any other Canadian. In Toronto, a city that Mayor John Tory has said expects to take in between 2,000 and 2,500 refugees in the coming months, schoolboards are moving to ensure the transition to Canadian classrooms is as seamless as possible.

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Susan Guarino is a Toronto District School Boardguidance counsellor at the West End Welcome Centre, one of twofacilities established by theboard to help ensure new Canadiansstart off on the right foot at their new schools. They are preparing to help Syrian refugees in the coming weeks.

"The first thing we do is a brief interview with the high school-age students and their families," she told CBC News. "We check documents, demographic information, find out about their education backgrounds."

Once that information is discussed, the next steps are hours-long math and English assessments, critical elements to understand where students might be placed.

"We have a range of materials, which are based on our own Ontario curriculum," said Madhulika Shukla, a math assessment teacher with the board, who says the work helps teachers and administrators determine where Syrian students will be "successful based on our own curriculum in TDSB classrooms."

David Goman, an English assessment teacher, told CBC News that perhaps the most importantcomponents for understanding how best to place new Syrian students inEnglish classes are speaking, listening and "more formal assessments in the way of reading and writing."

"We'll have stories that we might do with them and formal writing in the way of paragraphs and essay formulation, depending on their level of English."

A day at the welcome centres finishes with a meeting between Guarino and the new students' familiesthat centres on what school they will be attending and how to make sure they are getting the most out of the TDSB system.

It's not yet clear how many Syrian refugees will end up in Toronto school systems, as the government's plan to resettle 25,000 Syrians by the end of February is still ongoing. The TDSB's west end welcome centre, however, expects to help seven new students from five different families find their footing in new classrooms later this week.