‘Winning Women’: Isabelle Leblanc, Canadian School

 

Every March, women’s month, Magenta Florence runs interviews on notable women in Florence.  This year, Magenta has chosen a profile of Isabella Leblanc, head of the Canadian School of Florence.

Isabelle Leblanc fell in love with Florence when she visited the city for the first time over 15 years ago. Now, more than a decade and three children later, Leblanc finds herself as the Head of the Canadian School of Florence.

The Canadian native graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and moved to Germany soon after. A year there passed, and then she moved to Belgium, France, and then to Italy where her children were born in Pisa. Following the birth of her sons, Leblanc moved to France again, and lastly, to Turkey. After her adventures concluded in Europe, she settled back down in Canada where she raised her kids and obtained a post-graduate diploma in public relations from Western University in 2006.

At one point in her career, Leblanc — a lover of learning and studying — worked for herself in the field of public relations and communications. She stumbled upon a project that involved creating a communications plan for a French school board in southwestern Ontario, which brought her into the educational environment. She realized that this kind of work excited her.

“My mom is a retired principal, and my sister is currently an elementary school principal. I had always said I was never going to be in education until I was in this environment; until I was in the doors of the schools, meeting with the teachers and meeting with everyone,” said Leblanc. “So, I went back to school.”

In 2009, Leblanc became a teacher at École Secondaire Mgr Bruyère in Ontario, and in 2012, a French teacher at École Secondaire Notre Dame in Ontario. In 2013, she accepted a position as a teaching consultant at Conseil Scolaire Catholique Providence (CSC Providence) in Ontario. Her most recent role before moving to Florence was as a Vice Principal at CSC Providence, which started in 2019.

In December 2021, Leblanc saw an opportunity she couldn’t refuse that would move her to Florence. It was just the right timing: she had just become an empty nester as her children moved out of the house for college, and her parents were still healthy, active and young. It was the perfect window of time, she said.

“My (older) son would send me job descriptions because they all knew how much we loved it (Florence) — we’ve been back (to Florence) several times renting apartments over the summers,” said Leblanc. “The job that was posted for the Canadian School in Florence, might as well have said, ‘Isabelle Leblanc, please apply,’”

After going through a series of interviews at the Canadian School of Florence and visiting the campus in March 2022, she moved to Florence to be the principal of the junior school – a branch of the Canadian School of Florence that teaches students from first to fifth grade. Things changed quickly, however, when Leblanc’s predecessor announced his retirement in June 2022. She became the Head of School in July 2022 and has been in the position since.

Since then, she has been working tirelessly to make the educational experience for the children at all branches of the Canadian Schools – the junior, middle and high schools – effective and enjoyable.

The Head of School said teachers are helping their students develop into global citizens in the classrooms. The school puts a heavy emphasis on making each student aware of much more than what is occurring inside the classroom they are sitting in, but what is happening across the globe, including the celebration of a variety of traditions from different cultures. Critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and collaboration are all 21st-century skills students learn at the school so they can communicate with one another. In this way, she said, learning becomes more meaningful.

“The Ministry of Education in Ontario has a policy called growing success; growing success says the students are at the center of their learning,” said Leblanc. “We use an approach called differentiation. Teachers will differentiate their assessments and differentiate their teaching approach to meet the needs of as many students so that every student feels understood.”

Of course, Leblanc plans to improve the school during her time as Head of School. Nevertheless, she said that there’s not a school on the planet that doesn’t need to improve; schools are one of the oldest institutions in the world that have failed to adapt quickly enough to keep up with a constantly changing society. The Canadian School of Florence focuses on giving students meaningful information through interactive lessons that are shaped to their needs – never expecting students to memorize and regurgitate information that, essentially, sets them up for failure.

“Why not take them from exactly where they are, and find out what their passions are and what their interests are? We’re getting everyone to reach the same goal, they’re just all taking different pathways,” said Leblanc. “We’re growing as a school; I just want to make sure that we continue to provide the quality, as opposed to just the quantity.”

Leblanc spoke on how important it is to Italian families to give their students an English education and experience, along with all the international families that aren’t Italian. The Head of School has a passion for children and makes it known that every student needs to feel understood at school; regardless of their level of education. She said she loves the people; from the students to the teachers to the staff, and that it’s a beautiful, diverse community that provides an incredible pathway for students from kindergarten to grade 12.

“This is just such an exciting adventure, and I can’t imagine being anywhere else right now. So many things have occurred over the year where you’re just like, ‘Oh, this is why I’m here,’” said Leblanc. “I’m bringing with me so many experiences and things that I went through in my previous positions as an educational consultant and school principal back in Canada. There’s a lot to look forward to.” (Parker Hurley)