Never in my years working have I experienced a low staff morale (in the last 2 years )as at St. Anne’s. Staff are mentally and physically exhausted with little to no support from admin. There are far too many students in the school with no clear boundaries or consequences for misbehaviour. Which in turn puts staff in dangerous situations. Staff are beat up(one sent to hospital) because a dangerous situation was not made awareness to staff, slapped, hit, kicked, spit on, verbally abused…etc. Staff really do their best to provide each other with support when needed but there is a lot of segregation in the building, there’s no “team” playing. I truly think this is from admin not listening to the needs of staff. Things are not dealt with properly and in turn, people are hurt. It really feels like an unsafe place to work. Sad to say.

I have been an EA for 20 years. This job is not the same job it was 20 years ago. Over the last 5 years or so it has taken a downward turn. My stress level has skyrocketed! Just going into work is stressful because I never know what the day will hold. Less and less, I am helping students with academic needs. More and more I am facing students with extreme violent behaviors. Behaviors that not only impede their ability to learn, but also impede other students' ability to learn. Every day I go into work I hope I can leave the same way I came in, but it has gotten to the point that leaving with "only" a scratch or bruise that will heal quickly is a good day, in what other job do you say that. Since 2019 I have had 3 concussions and 1 count of whiplash at the hands of students I work with, before 2019 I had never had a concussion or been seriously injured on the job. I am currently off work recovering from a concussion and now am facing seeing a neurologist to ensure there hasn't been any brain damage from all the trauma to my brain. This violent behavior not only takes a physical toll on my body, but also a toll on my mental health. Daily my co- workers and I are faced with being spat at and on, sworn at, kicked, punched, and bit. You can only endure so much of that. I am in tears and I see them in tears too. I feel these incidents are not taken seriously enough; every child has a right to an education, I would never argue that, but I have the right to feel safe coming to work. I have the right to have something left in the tank at the end of the day so my own kids get some of me too. So often I have nothing left to give after being at work. I struggle constantly to reconcile loving this job and being so passionate about it, but also legitimately wondering how much longer I can do this for.

Since the previous principal left, the environment at this school has unfortunately declined. The new principal, ***, consistently treats the Black children with disrespect and has made remarks that come across as racially biased. This has created an atmosphere that feels unsafe and unfair for my children and others.

When my children first began attending, *** was very welcoming and respectful. Over the years, however, I’ve noticed a steady decline—not only in how the students are treated, but also in how parents are spoken to and respected.

Another serious concern is the conduct of some teachers. From my understanding, teachers have been searching through parents’ social media accounts in order to gather personal information that does not pertain to school matters. I find this invasive, unprofessional, and completely inappropriate.

Overall, what was once a positive school environment has become one that makes both my children and myself feel uncomfortable and disrespected. I truly hope steps are taken to address these issues and restore the respectful, supportive atmosphere that every child and parent deserves.

I have a physics teacher grade 11, and it is so bad because we get marks back and we are never told about how we can succeed while doing a lab, and our teacher picks and chooses what to mark and it’s very frustrating because she will tell one group information and tell nobody else. We just want to succeed and it is very difficult when our teacher doesn’t want us to.

it was good my teacher is nice to me I am in grade 7th and I kindly love this school but I going to high school so I am going to miss this 🙂

I am an educational assistant. I work in a small class with special needs students. I am hit/kicked on a regular basis. I’ve needed to leave work to see a doctor. Thankfully I’ve never been off long term, yet. We are constantly short staffed. We sometimes have to evacuate our class due to a violent student. Our admin are great and do their best to support us. These students need more help, more support. We are failing these students because our hands are tied by the board and the government. Students and staff should not have to be fearful to go to school/work.