Hi,
My name is Shona Farrelly. I graduated from the DHH program at York University in 1995. When I attended, there wasn’t a part time option. I was fortunate to also be a notetaker for many of the courses I was enrolled in.
I am currently the principal of both Davisville Public School and Spectrum Alternative Senior School. However, when I first graduated, I became a Teacher of the Deaf, Elementary panel. I worked at the Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf. Later, I became a Teacher of the Deaf, Secondary panel.
In my role as a secondary teacher of the Deaf, and Head of the Deaf Department, I had the opportunity to partner with Bell Mobility, Motorola, The Rotary Club of Eglinton and the Toronto District School Board. We secured the first pagers for use in the high school setting for both staff and students. Each family was also given 2 pagers for home use. Students were able to get after school jobs and participate in after school activities with much greater freedom as parents now had a way to connect directly with their children. The program was so successful, we expanded to include the second DHH secondary school for inclusion as well.
I became the Vice Principal of the newly twinned Davisville/MTSD in 2003 when the school for the deaf became too small to stand as school in and of itself. I became the principal in 2004. While Principal, I helped co-found “Eyes to the Future”, a small volunteer organization supported by the TDSB, aimed at finding students who were Deaf who also had vision issues. The partnership consisted of an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf, an Itinerant Teacher of the Blind, a Pediatric Optometrist, and me as the Principal representative. We were able to set up appointments for all elementary and secondary students in any DHH program in both the TDSB and the TCDSB. We also offered free interpretation in ASL and in the home language spoken by the parents. Many students were identified as having vision issues that we were able to assist with. Eyes to the Future presented their research findings to the Ontario Vision Educators of Ontario for consideration in other school boards.
I am currently the principal of Davisville Public School and Spectrum Alternative Senior School. While I no longer have any direct connection with students or staff who are Deaf, I cherish the roles I was able to play while I was a teacher, Vice Principal and Principal at a school for the Deaf. Some of my favourite memories when I look back at my career are the amazing field trips we went on and how successful many of the students I taught became. The best moment for me was when one of my first grade 1 students emailed a picture of her child as they entered grade 1, and when a former MTSD graduate enrolled his daughter, who is also Deaf, at MTSD.
I will always be grateful for having attended the Teacher Training Program for the Deaf at York. I gained amazing friends there as well as a start to my career.