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Recent Timeline of Heydon Park Advocacy
June 25, 2026
Toronto Star article about Heydon Park's relocation
June 24, 2026
Letter from TDSB - Community Update 2
TDSB confirms new location of Heydon Park as being in former Vaughan Road Academy
June 17, 2026
Heydon Park Parent Statement – June 17, 2026 (In response to Community Info Meeting)
Heydon Park parents leave tonight's meeting frustrated. The TDSB continues to ignore our most pressing concerns about the school's future.
We can accept that the construction and safety issues at Orde St. Elementary are separate from Heydon Park's enrollment challenges, and that decisions affecting both schools have been made under a compressed timetable. We are disappointed that our children bear the heaviest burden in this situation — but the move itself is a logistics problem. We can work through logistics.
What we cannot accept is silence on the larger question. Heydon Park is not just a building. It is its staff, their extraordinary care, and a community that has formed around a shared commitment to our kids. That is irreplaceable.
The decision to relocate coincides with a series of decisions made by the TDSB since it was placed under provincial supervision — decisions that have directly shaped current and future enrollment at Heydon Park. That may be coincidental. But our need for answers about the school's future cannot be dismissed. We are concerned that moving into a facility designed for a far larger school will be used to justify phasing out the program on a timeline that doesn't reflect how our students actually learn. "When the current class graduates" is not a meaningful deadline — our kids do not all progress on the same schedule. This is precisely why having all grades enrolled simultaneously is essential to the program's integrity.
Most urgently: the dedicated professionals who are the heart of Heydon Park need job security. If staff begin leaving because they cannot afford to wait out an uncertain future, the damage will be swift and irreversible.
Heydon Park serves a vulnerable population that has few alternatives. Children across this city depend on this program — and will continue to. Closing it does not make that need disappear.
We are asking for concrete commitments: that the program will be supported and allowed to grow; that the community partnerships built over years — Best Buddies, the TTC Pilot, Co-ops, Special Olympics, police programs, and others — will continue uninterrupted. If the TDSB is moving us from our cozy downtown school into a larger, less central campus, then it needs to provide the resources, staffing guarantees, and long-term commitment to help us grow into it.
Move us — but don't hollow us out in the process.
Parents of Heydon Park Secondary School.
June 11, 2026
TDSB Community Information Meeting (virtual) - Wednesday, June 17 6:30-7:30pm
Please attend a TDSB virtual public information meeting (teams) regarding the relocation of Heydon Park Secondary School
Participants must pre-register to join the Virtual information session (in Teams). To do so, please visit: (If the link doesn't work then copy and paste in browser)
Information about this meeting will be shared on the TDSB website under:
https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Search-All-Reviews/id/215
June 8, 2026
TDSB Planning informs parent council chairs of new potential Heydon Park location:
Parent Council chairs were informed that the TDSB was considering the following locations for Heydon Park:
Neither of these is appropriate for Heydon Park students - their locations and proximity to public transport for a start!
June 3-5, 2026
Extensive news coverage of Heydon Park Secondary School's forced relocation
Reported on by TorontoToday, Toronto Star, CP24, CBC News, Toronto Sun
June 2, 2026
Heydon Park Parents/Caregivers informed Heydon Park will have to vacate current building
Without any prior consultation, parents/caregivers were told that Heydon Park Secondary School would be ousted from its current location during the next school year. This would be done to accomodate Orde Street Public School whose own building would be impacted by nearby construction. No information was available about where Heydon Park would go.
Mar 16, 2026
Article in School Magazine
Why is the TDSB trying to erase high schools for special needs kids?
See Mar 2026 links in Media Coverage.
Mar 4, 2026
Article in Toronto Star
Heydon Park and Eastdale parents are concerned the TDSB is shutting down their children's schools by stealth.
See Mar 2026 links in Media Coverage.
Feb 25, 2026
Update from Superintendent Jennifer Chan
Heydon Park parents/caregivers received a response from Superintendent Jennifer Chan following a letter sent by Heydon Park's councillor, MPP, and Trustee asking for transparency and commitment to due process. Superintendent Chan repeated information she had already shared with us - offering us no further clarity around Heydon's future.
Click on the link to read the letter.
Feb 25, 2026
Article in TorontoToday
Parents from Heydon Park and Eastdale were interviewed about cuts to grade 9 (&10) enrollment.
See Feb 2026 links in Media Coverage.
Feb 25, 2026
Letter to Supervisor from Councillor, MPP, Trustee
Councillor Dianne Saxe, MPP Jessica Bell, and Trustee Deborah Williams wrote to the Supervisor on behalf of Heydon Park parents/caregivers to ask for a committment to keeping the school open - including the building, as well as transparency in communications.
Click on the link below to see the letter.
Feb 22, 2026
Shout Out from Prime Minister Carney
While at a hockey watch party for Team Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a shout out to a student at Heydon Park: "A big shout out to Katherine and Heydon Park Secondary School - best school in Toronto, which means it's the best school in Canada. Go Canada Go!"
Click on the link below to see the video.
Feb 1, 2026
Save Eastdale and Heydon Park Coalition
Eastdale CI was informed it would not have a grade 9 cohort in September 2026, and had to rescind offers it had already made to students. It appears the TDSB may also be moving towards closing Eastdale - another high school for kids with special needs. The two school councils have formed a coalition to support our schools.
Click on the link below to read our communications brief.
Save Heydon Park pins
Save Heydon Park pins
Contact the school council if you are interested in having a pin.
Jan 11, 2026
Heydon Park Advocacy Website launched
Documenting Heydon Park's situation, and efforts of current and past parents/caregivers, graduates, and community members to keep the school open.
Click on the link below to read about what is happening with Heydon Park.
Dec 17, 2025
Visit from Laura Elliott (Supervisor’s office)
In response to a parent's request that the Supervisor visit the school, Laura Elliot spent the morning at Heydon Park. She met with teachers, parents, and the principal, and had a tour of the school. She was given a binder of letters from students and parents in support of the school to share with others at the Supervisor's office. Laura Elliot was visibly moved by the visit. She has an extended family member with developmental challenges.
Click on the link below to see letters from parents.
Dec 8, 2025
Delegation by Heydon Park parent at SEAC
A parent from Heydon Park spoke about the school at the TDSB's Special Education Advisory Committee.
Click on link below to read that speech.
Dec 4, 2025
Parents at Queen's Park
A group of Heydon Park parents were in the gallery during question period. MPP Jessica Bell asked a question about funding for the school. Parents talked to the media after.
See Dec 4, 2025 video in Media Coverage.
Nov 21, 2025
Online Sign up Letter in support of Heydon Park launched by MPP Jessica Bell
In consultation with the school council, Jessica Bell MPP created a sign up letter to support Heydon Park.
Please see the Petitions section to sign the letter.
Nov 13, 2025
Parent/caregiver gathering with media outside Heydon Park
Parents and caregivers protested outside the school after Superintendent Jennifer Chan informed us that there would be no open house in Fall 2025, and no grade 9 admissions for Sept 2026.
See Nov 2025 links in Media Coverage.
Jun 24, 2025
Change.org Save Heydon Park petition launched
A parent created this petition in June 2025 after prospective grade 9 students were turned away from Heydon Park.
Please see the Petitions section to add your name.
Jun 16, 2025
Heydon Park walk out in protest of Sept 2025 blocked admissions
Students and parents/caregivers protested outside the school in June 2025 when the government announced there would be no grade 9 admissions to Heydon Park for Sept 2025.
Please see June 2025 links in Media Coverage.
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