Dear Community of McBride Annex,
Now is the time to let the Vancouver School Board know we care about our school. Let your MLA, Mabel Elmore and the school trustees know your opinion. It’s the only thing that will sway our status on the closure list. Below is a sample letter from one of our parents and PAC Members. Use this as a guide or follow one of our pdf templates (download the mcbride_letter for parents, and/or use the mcbride_letter_kids_large ) to make your voice heard. Don’t forget to sign our petition that Lilli Wong (Kindergarten parent and Little Mountain Daycare attendee) is currently circulating.
Our hope is that for the next month, our school community can develop a strong voice speaking out against the closure of the Annex. We need to involve parents of past, current, and future students. As well, it is important to include the rest of the community at large because having a vacant school in the middle of our neighbourhood is detrimental to our community. Further, we want to ensure the preschool at the Annex is not negatively impacted as well.
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Sample Letter to Trustees:
I am writing to you as a parent of a McBride Annex student, as a member of the Kensington community, and as a Vancouverite who was born and raised in this city.
Growing up in Vancouver, I attended public school. I had the benefit of an excellent education, during which I was taught by amazing teachers and also was able to experience numerous extracurricular activities in the schools I attended. In my opinion, closing any school in the City of Vancouver is short-sighted and will have a grave detrimental impact on public education in our city. The City of Vancouver is a fast-growing metropolis in which the word ‘densification’ is used daily in the media, at City Hall, and amongst its residents. We should be opening more schools in the neighbourhoods where that growth is happening, which bring me to my next point. Even if some schools are deemed necessary for closure, I feel the VSB needs to look closely at reliable, proven statistics to determine where children are living in this city and to keep the schools open in those communities.
McBride Annex should absolutely not be on any school closure list. The Kensington neighbourhood is one of the most fastest growing, family-oriented neighbourhoods in this city. On every street block, there are numerous children living and playing within their community. Children should be able to go to a school in their community because that is one of the key elements in developing and prospering the types of neighbourhoods for which Vancouver is known. There is a wait list for the Annex – this, in and of itself, proves a need for more space in schools in our catchment, not a reduction.
The Annex is also unique because there is a preschool within the school. This preschool, for the most part, is an introduction to school for future Annex students. We need to ensure this excellent, well respected and sought after preschool continues to operate within the Annex.
The Annex has very strong parent participation. Our PAC raises significant amounts of money to support the Annex each year. Furthermore, through the tireless work of current parents at the school and our former vice principal, a few years ago, we raised enough money to build a new playground at the school. This was solely through community support and involvement.
All in all, the Annex is the heart of our community. I am writing to not only urge you to protect the education of students in Vancouver as a whole; but to also consider the Kensington community in particular. This is a catchment where schools should not be closed. If McBride Annex was to close, it would be an overwhelming loss to the both current and future students and the community.
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VSB Trustees:
Mike Lombardi – mike.lombardi@vsb.bc.ca
Janet Fraser – Janet.fraser@vsb.bc.ca
Allan Wong – allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca
Christopher Richardson – christopher.richardson@vsb.bc.ca
Fraser Ballantyne – fraser.ballantyne@vsb.bc.ca
Joy Alexander – joy.alexander@vsb.bc.ca
Patti Bacchus – patti.bacchus@vsb.bc.ca
Penny Noble – penny.noble@vsb.bc.ca
Stacy Robertson – stacy.robertson@vsb.bc.ca
Please note that Joy Alexander is our trustee liaison.
