School Buses and Lucas Oleniuk Toronto Star Hussein

Dalaa al Sarji: She and her six siblings — from 3-year-old Hussein to 14-year-old twin brothers — were among some 75 children living temporarily at the Plaza who hopped on school buses Monday in an unusual pilot project to give these uprooted children a feel for the routine of school in satellite classrooms, while they wait to find out where their new homes, and permanent schools, will be, according to Toronto Star. Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star Hussein al Sarji, 3, is the baby of the family. A-B-C! — happy! said a beaming 12-year-old Dalaa al Sarji, who, like most Syrian refugee children arriving in Canada, hadn’t been in a classroom in more than two years. We did reading — and the teacher was so pretty, reported brother Said through an interpreter. Concerned that housing delays were leaving refugee children with no way to start integrating into Canada — the average hotel stay has been about four weeks — Toronto public and Catholic school boards scrambled together last week to find empty classrooms and hire supply teachers and Arabic interpreters to run two-hour morning classes for children while they’re living at the hotel. Noted 14-year-old Ahmad: I like school in Canada so much; everyone makes us welcome. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.