A Small School Behind Glass Towers

The History of Heritage Language Programs at Orde Street PS Podcast

Mahler, Toronto Star, 1998

Mahler, Toronto Star, 1998

A Small School Behind Glass Towers is a documentary-style podcast exploring the history, impact, and legacy of Toronto’s Heritage Language and African Heritage Programs, as told through the lens of Orde Street Public School — a small, multicultural elementary school tucked behind downtown skyscrapers.

Hosted by Iva Delic, a former student of Orde and now a teacher and researcher, the podcast blends personal memory, community interviews, and historical analysis to ask powerful questions:

  • How did heritage and cultural programs shape students’ identities?

  • Why were these programs celebrated by some — and resisted by others?

  • What happens when public education makes space for every student’s full self?

  • And what do we risk when those programs are cut?

It’s Personal

Here’s me in grade 2 in 1997 at Orde.

Our classes were always a mix of children from Pakistan, China, Eastern Europe, Portugal, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Canada. I was one of many immigrants who attended Orde St. Public School. During my time as a student there (between 1995 and 2001), I participated in Spanish class, Cantonese class, Mandarin choir, French, and the African Heritage Program, all before the age of twelve.

One of these programs, the African Heritage Program, was piloted and integrated by Veronica Sullivan first at Orde St. Public School. Her classes were warm, inviting filled with storytelling and excitement.

Episode 1

The pilot school

 

LOCATION

Orde Street Public School is nestled behind the huge glass hospital buildings on University Avenue. It’s hidden, and unless you know it’s there, you wouldn’t see it. However, the experience there is one of the reasons I wanted to pursue my Master's in Teaching. One of the most impactful programs that I was a part of at the school was the Heritage Language Program.

Heritage Language Program

Flyer for Heritage Languages Program and classes in Cantonese and Mandarin, 1977 (Funké et al., p. 174, 2025).

An undated brochure from the Toronto Board of Education advertising the Black Cultural Heritage Program (Funké et al., p. 176, 2025).

 

Mi Ling Cheung teaches Kindergarten students at Orde Public School Chinese songs during a 30-minute class at the end of the normal school day from Toronto Public Library - Toronto Star Archives) (Dick, The Toronto Star, 1987).

 

A Cantonese language class at Ogden PS (Stawocki, Toronto Star, 2000).

A quote by Tony Succi, the TDSB’s heritage language Supervisor in reaction to the backlash that HLP received (Brown, The Toronto Star, 1984) Toronto Public Library - Toronto Star Archives.

What HLP were available at what schools in the year 2000 (Brown, The Toronto Star, 2000) from Toronto Public Library - Toronto Star Archives.

Episode 2

The Backlash

Turning Red

If you have ever watched the film Turning Red (2022), you have seen a school that looked familiar to me. In an interview with Toronto Life, director Domee Shi (a student at Orde St. PS in 1998, a few years ahead of me) mentions, “I was never the only Asian kid in my class, and I formed a tight circle of friends who were all immigrants like me (…) [t]hey came from Korea, India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe” (Landau, 2022).

 

Article about the controversial battle against the Heritage Language Programs (Brown,Toronto Star, February 2, 1987).

Article about the required Heritage Language classes (Brown,Toronto Star, September 27, 2000).

“Heritage Language Dispute:Students Caught in Struggle.”Pictured in this newspaper article are Karen Brathwaite and Alberto di Giovanni in the top-right corner, as well as other members of the Coalition for Language Rights in the picture at the bottom (Funké et al, p. 192, 2025).

 
 

Special Thanks

Emily Miekle

Hannah Wong

Veronica Sullivan

Rose Fine-Meyer for the opportunity to do this

 
 

Resources

Beaton, B. (2017, August 10). Kensington Market. The Canadian Encyclopedia. https:/www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kensington-market 

Brown, L. (1987, February 2). Battle looms over language in our schools. The Toronto Star, p. 14.

Brown, L. (2000, September 27). Language furor reignites. The Toronto Star. p.27. 

Digital Archive : Toronto Public Library. (n.d.). https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/

Feuerverger, G. (1997). “on the edges of the map”: A Study of Heritage Language Teachers in Toronto. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(1), 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/ s0742-051x(96)00044-3

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Keary, A. (2018). Learning English, learning Chinese at Orde Street School. Orde Street School: 100 Years of History. https://ordestreetschool100.blogspot.com/2015/03/learning-english- learning-chinese-at.html?q=heritage

Keary, A. (2018). Orde Street’s open-air school. Orde Street School: 100 Years of History. http://ordestreetschool100.blogspot.com/2015/03/orde-streets-open-air-school.html 

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