Our children have attended this school since 2019. There is an exceptional team of educators and support staff at this school. The ECEs and teachers that we have dealt with have been incredible, with special mention of Campbell, Chapman and Ranieri for being the gold standard. The office staff have changed over the years but current ladies are very responsive and friendly. Our family personally has not had any experience dealing with the EA/SERT team. The custodial team is friendly and attentive, the school always looks clean and safe. The school is bursting at the seams with students to the point where the staff room has become a teaching space and the staff are now to use the stage as their break room which often also is the site for things like dance practices leaving them with no dedicated break space away from students. Parking around the school is a massive headache. Unfortunately, the atmosphere in the school has been negatively impacted this year by the arrival of a new principal. The entire school community has been gravely affected by this. New protocols that seemingly exclude parents from the school community, it feels like we are barred from the school and they are hiding things. The principal is combative and doesn't seem supportive. Progressive discipline doesn't seem to be happening and it has been a very disruptive year behaviour wise in our child's class. Other changes the principal has made have really disappointed the students (ie. removing the birthday shoutouts from the morning announcements, not permitting students to play with balls on the pavement, closing the playgrounds to students from Thanksgiving until Victoria Day).

I work at St Christopher Elementary CS. There are supposed to be 10 EA s on any given day. We have been running at 7-9 since December. We have lost 3 EAs to some sort of medical leave during the school year. All of those EA s have 1.8 full time years with the school board. We are tired and burning out having our schedules changed daily. We are watching kids go without coverage, seeing them lose months from their education. In every classroom we have kids "bundled" together so that 1 EA can work with all of them. Some classes have up to 4 high needs kids in them for 1 EA.
The amount of sickness that has arisen in this school year beats any year I've worked as an EA. (19 yrs including supply). So everyone is always sick.
We have a medically sensitive needs wheel chair bound child in a class with a highly volatile child with autism. The child with autism is getting next to no help causing him to lose a whole year of school. We have two children in one class that both have autism, one is echolelic and the other is highly volatile. The one who is echolelic has now started copying the other one dangerous outbursts. That's not even the half of it.
We have an old closet that is used for a movement room. Room enough for a pressure canoe, mini trampoline a tiny tent and a little tykes basketball net. We have no program support area to take the kids other than the library if it's available. No classroom of our own for resources and such. Our lunch bunch happens in the library along side of the musical rehearsals. This is the hardest year I've ever worked in this job. Mainly because there is no where to go.
However, the EA s we have are not very motivated either. The supplies we get are warm bodies that know nothing of the profession! I have a college certificate in this profession and feel quite insulted that I had to wait 2 years after graduating to be considered to be hired, then another 3 years of supply before becoming full time. Now the profession is treated like garbage.
I love what I do, I hate what is being done to my career.

Working with high needs students that run. We are working with more than one student in the classroom.This creates a safety concern. We are so busy that toileting is done with only 1 EA and student. Shouldn’t it be done with 2 adults at all times?

Excellent experience when I supplied at St. Thomas Aquinas. Staff and admin were very helpful and welcoming. I continue to take ea supply calls there and highly recommend.

I’m Lori, and I’m a retired Educational Assistant.
I worked with the Durham Catholic District School Board for nearly 25 years. I loved my job. I loved the students, and I loved the staff I worked with. I never imagined I’d retire early—but I did. And it wasn’t because I wanted to. It was because I didn’t feel safe, respected, or supported anymore. I had to chose a school for this story but this school doesn't necessary represent the good or bad experiences I am about to share.
Over the years, I’ve been hit, bruised, and bloodied—black eyes, busted lips, and more. At one point, strangers and even my own family thought I was being abused at home. But the truth is, these injuries came from students who were in crisis—students who needed help, but didn’t get the support they deserved.
We talk a lot about how the government is failing schools. That’s true. We absolutely need more funding and better resources. But that’s only part of the story. Leadership in our schools matters just as much. I worked in some schools where I felt appreciated and safe—where leadership made a real difference. And I worked in others, with the same funding, where I felt dismissed and afraid to speak up.
The Board has policies around harassment and bullying. But policies don’t mean much if they’re not enforced— staff are being harassed and ignored, even by those in charge.
That’s why I’m sharing this. Because I know these conversations are happening behind the scenes, and they need to be brought into the light. If you’re a leader and this message hits close to home—reflect. Change starts there. If you’re working in a school and feeling like I did—you’re not alone.
To every EA still showing up, doing the hard work, I see you. I know your battle. You deserve respect. You deserve safety. And you deserve to be heard.
It’s time we all listen.

So far my experience with Hillsdale P.S has been positive. The school fosters a warm, inclusive environment where students feel safe, encouraged, and excited to learn. We’re happy to be a part of this school community.