To the MTMS Family:
With climbing case numbers in our city and the return to remote learning for a second time this academic year, we are back to where we began just over a year ago. Schools and many offices have emptied as work, education, and home life are once again blended under one roof.
For Mother Teresa Middle School (MTMS), the pandemic upended many aspects of programming and changed how we operate on a day-to-day basis. It was not just the move from classrooms to computer screens. It tested basic ideas about instruction, attendance, student well-being, funding, the role of technology and the human connections that hold it all together. While we are grateful that technology has allowed learning to continue, remote learning is a supplement, not a substitute, for in-school instruction. This technology-laced year has made it abundantly clear that most students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, learn best in person - real life, face-to-face connections and communities are missed and needed.
Across the country, an unprecedented number of students have gone off the radar even as schools try to track them down. During this extraordinary time, many people are looking to schools and support programs including the Graduate Support Program at MTMS, to provide the same exceptional and compassionate care that was provided prior to COVID-19. In everything we do and with every decision we make, this is our absolute goal, but it has not been easy. Life in the midst of COVID-19 has sparked fear, frustration and anxiety all around.
One of the grimmest chapters in modern health history has also spawned incredible acts of kindness, compassion and generosity from community partners, local businesses, volunteers, friends and families. If there is one overall sentiment that we wish to express, it is a resounding and heartfelt THANK YOU to our beloved Mother Teresa Middle School community.
To our students and alumni: thank you. From our newest grade 6 students to MTMS’s first ever class who are now in their third year of post-secondary, you have demonstrated tremendous perseverance, resilience and positivity, even through these COVID-19 times. Your ability to adapt and grow is something you should be incredibly proud of.
To our teachers and staff: thank you. The evolving protocols and quick transitions require flexibility and adaptability. The ongoing implementation of remote learning requires extra effort, patience and endurance. All of you are invested in enhancing the quality of experience for students within our active community and you have distinguished yourselves and our program with your commitment to do the very best for the students and their families. We are blessed to have you.
To our volunteers, Board of Directors, donors and friends of MTMS: thank YOU! We are continuously overwhelmed by the unquestionable strength and character of our community and encouraged by the outpouring of support we have received. The messages of gratitude, acts of generosity and words of encouragement are powerful affirmations for our MTMS team. For us, this positive energy has a direct correlation to excellence in student care.
We are all weathering the same storm in different boats. Just like in our classrooms, no virtual experience is going to look the same and that’s ok. We are hopeful that sometime during the coming weeks and months, we will look at this difficult time in the “rearview mirror.” When we do, it will be with immense pride in how we individually and collectively, responded - doing our utmost to add to the safety of others. Our school community and our greater communities will depend upon it. Thank you for your continued efforts.
With immense gratitude,
Curtis, Terri, Ron & Mira