October 6th, 2020

Dear P3 and P4 Families,

Thank you for your kindness, understanding and patience as we have navigated Mr. Duff’s absence. After much consideration, he has decided to retire at the end of October. We will continue to provide as much consistency as possible in your child’s Education. Mr. Duff will be greatly missed by staff and students – he was an integral part of our Keatsway family! Wishing him all the best on this next endeavour.

Mrs. Miller

A note from Mr. Duff:

Keatsway: “what a wonderful way to spend the day!”

It has been a privilege to be a part of this community and to teach so many students, work alongside so many wonderful colleagues and staff, and to get to know so many families over the years. What wonderful families I have gotten to know during my time here! Communities are vitally important for schools to thrive and Keatsway’s has been tremendous.

I have decided to retire. It is never an easy decision to leave a place where you have spent so much time, where you have experienced so many wonderful moments, and where you have established so many enriching relationships. Retirement, though, has its way of nudging you and urging you on to new roads and experiences.

I arrived in February 2000, after having taught in Toronto for the Toronto District School Board, at the start of the new millennium: a cold and wintry one at that! I still remember the swings we had behind the library! I knew, after a few months of working at this school, that Keatsway was where I would stay. Keatsway has always had, for me at least, a certain spirit, a certain kindness, and a certain generosity that you can feel throughout the building, perhaps a little less so in its portables! It’s there, though, and palpable. Keatsway allowed me to become the teacher I had always wanted to be; I flourished in its environment. It was at Keatsway that I brought my guitar out from my private life and into the classroom where I incorporated it into my entire teaching model.

I had so many wonderful mentors and colleagues to emulate and to look up to along the way. I learned a lot from other teachers while working here. And I learned even more from the students whom I taught. I told them often, more so towards the end of my career, that the students taught me much more than what I could ever teach them. When I realized this paradox, I looked at teaching differently and grew as an educator.

For me, the words to our Keatsway song echo what my experience has been over all my years at this school: learning and growing together.

 

Au revoir, Keatsway! Et au revoir à tous mes élèves!

Je vous garderai toujours dans mon cœur.

M. Duff