Dear students, staff, and parents:
With great pride and pleasure, I welcome you all to a new school year at The Great Lakes College of Toronto (GLCT) – a centre of quality education and excellence. At GLCT, excellence is achieved through high standards that ensure that all students grow to reach their highest levels year after year and are ready for the next steps in their lives. We serve a student population from a rich array of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. By providing a safe and caring learning environment, with high standards and excellence, we empower our students and enable them to become intellectually independent and responsible individuals. We are proud of our well-planned and personalized ESL program which helps address the diverse needs of English Language Learners. Throughout the program, students are personally assisted to acquire language proficiency while at the same time remaining engaged with the learning curriculum and developing a full range of literacy skills. We offer a comprehensive and authentic university preparation program, in accordance with all Ontario curriculum expectations, with multiple means of assessments administered to help ensure our students are ready for any reputed university.
GLCT has made great strides to provide rigorous and high-quality education for every learner because we believe that every learner has the potential and capacity to grow and experience success. We have created and nurtured a culture that manifests itself in increased student learning, therefore, more students are being provided with opportunities to succeed at a higher level than before. We hold ourselves accountable and are relentless in our efforts to create and maintain a kind, caring and equitable environment that inspires our staff and students alike. We take this responsibility extremely seriously and with humility because we understand the great distances our students have traveled, away from their families, to pursue higher education. As such, we not only monitor their academic performance but also their health and wellness – this is our top priority and commitment.
I believe the driving force of every successful school is the teaching staff and, as such, having a passionate, dedicated and responsible team of educators is critical to our school’s success. I assure you with absolute confidence that our experienced, qualified and responsible teachers strive to motivate all students by providing an intellectually challenging and positively stimulating learning environment. As an instructional leader, I am a great believer and supporter of innovative professional development that encourages our staff to continuously reflect and collaboratively engage in reviewing and revising our instructional programs for better outcomes. I aim to motivate and inspire all team members to continuously improve their skills and take all steps to help ensure student success.
Personally, no better learning context than two groups of caring adults, teachers and parents, working together to build close relationships for the overall success of our students. I would encourage all parents to stay informed and involved in their child’s education. Parental engagement and involvement can bring both sides of a student’s life – home and school – together for marked improvements in attitude and achievement.
As a firm believer in the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child, I make special efforts to invite and involve the community as a support circle to promote overall student success and wellbeing. I look forward to serving you and your children over the coming years with the utmost dedication and sincerity. Please do not hesitate to contact me at leila.nazar@glctschool.com
I wish you and your children a wonderful school year.
Leila E. Nazar
Principal