Mother's/Father's Day not inclusive enough for elite Toronto private school Waldorf Academy
Sunday is Mother’s Day. But not at the Waldorf Academy, a private school in Toronto where tuition can cost over $20,000 per year.
Recently, a parent tipped us off regarding a survey that was sent by the academy regarding Mother’s and Father’s Day from Cheri Grogan, the director of school and child care:
Dear Waldorf Academy Families,
The Faculty and Administration Team have been discussing what our school can do to make Mother/Father’s Day more inclusive?
Please share your ideas!
Over the years, the Waldorf Academy Kindergarten and some lower school grades have crafted cards and gifts to honour parents on the days we traditionally know as Mother and Father’s Day.
Because we are shifting away from gender-specific events and celebrations, we are exploring options to rename Mother/Father’s Day, whilst continuing to uphold special-day opportunities for the children to express their love and gratitude.
Ideas include (but are not limited to):
a) Parent Day
b) Family Day
c) Not celebrate it at all (Families can celebrate at home)
d) Spring
e) Other
Kindly indicate with your preference in reply to this email.
Thanking you in advance for your thoughtful collaboration.
Yikes…
Seeking clarity, we fired off five specific queries to Ms. Grogan regarding this whiz-bang/uber-woke rebranding idea:
Is there anyone else backing this initiative in terms of faculty members or parents?
What feedback have you received from parents so far?
If most parents state in your survey that they don’t want Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to be renamed, will you respect their wishes?
Is there not a degree of irony here? Namely, in attempting to be “more inclusive” with a name change, aren’t you being less inclusive to the vast majority of children who presumably do have mothers and fathers and have no issue with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day?
I assume one of the reasons parents pay high tuition fees so that their children can attend a private school such as Waldorf is so that they can avoid the politically correct nonsense that is so de rigueur in the public school system. What makes you think there is an appetite for changing Mother’s Day or Father’s Day to Parent Day or Family Day or Spring Day or any other alternative in the first place?
Ms. Grogan didn’t answer the questions, alas, choosing to email us a blanket statement:
As a school community, Waldorf Academy has taken up the work of social healing. We hold space for discomfort as it arises and encourage dialogue as we audit our curriculum, our operations and our ethos.
As a Faculty and Administration team, we have reached out to our Waldorf families for input ahead of the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday to help inform our work.
Putting these questions before our Waldorf families for consultation is critically important at a Waldorf school. We are gathering feedback and consulting with our community.
We are heartened by our collective ability to foster healing and sustained community care.
In the days to follow, we shall see what the new and not-so-improved names for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are — or whether these days of honour will simply and shamefully be cancelled outright.
Postscript: Ms. Grogan’s previous place of employment was none other than the Toronto District School Board. And that nugget of information surely explains all you need to know about the sort of social engineering that is taking place these days at Waldorf Academy…
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