Latest News

Report Cards

The November Update Report Card will be available on Tuesday, November 17 through a link on your Parent Portal. The reports were intended to be available today but due to a technical error with Veracross they will not be available until November 17. Please see the linked information about how to access your child’s report and key points about the reporting cycle. Your child has access to their marks in all courses through the Gradebook program.

New Build

We are thrilled to announce that we have received occupancy of the Upper School new build. A number of Forms and Cohorts will be moving into the classrooms in the new build on Tuesday, November 17 when we return from the November Break.

Students whose cohorts are moving learned about the move from their Form Teachers/Cohort Advisors on Thursday, November 5 and they will be able to see their new Form/Cohort space on Monday and Tuesday November 9 & 10. 

Remembrance Day & Poppies – November 9th

On Monday, November 9th, we will be having our Remembrance Day Prayers and as per usual, we will be distributing poppies to all students during first period (Grade 7-9) and Flexblock (Grade 10-12). Students are not required to, but are invited to donate money to the Canadian Legion at the time of poppy distribution. Extra poppies are currently available in the rotunda.

Mental Health Awareness Week

We are looking forward to Mental Health Awareness Week (November 17-20). Ms. Parsons, the Upper School Social Worker has been working with the Prefects, Jack.org community partnership, and Guidance counselors to plan an engaging week for all Upper School students.

To kick the week off, students will receive a daily email with an article and linked resources that focus on different aspects of mental wellbeing. These articles explore topics such as sleep, stress, and anxiety, and will provide students with strategies and tools to help them cope and add to their Mental Health Toolkit. 

Students will be invited to take part in daily lunch time activities, organized by the Prefects. Highlights from the week: 

Wednesday, November 18

• Grades 7-9 will hear from (virtual) guest speaker Anastasia Virginillo from Youth Wellness Network who will address self awareness, how to build confidence from within and how to harness one’s internal strength. 
• Grades 10-12 will hear from (virtual) guest speaker Kaitlyn Axelrod from Sheena’s Place. Students will learn about body image and how it relates to mental health and our relationship with food. 

Thursday, November 19

• Grade 9-12 students are invited to join the first Periscope of the year on the importance of mental health. Periscope is a cafe-style forum that takes place after school, where students share their stories, experiences, and thoughts in front of a student audience.

Friday, November 20 

• In Prayers, students will listen in to a panel discussion exploring mental health through the lens of adolescents and mental health professionals. Joining us on this panel will be our Jack.org student lead Ella Lee, our school captain Emma McCurdy-Franks, Ms. Parsons School Social Worker and Adolescent Medicine Physician and Havergal Board member, Dr. Ian Chen. 
• Students, staff and faculty will also be invited to participate in a dress down day with the theme of “Comfy Clothes.”

Invitation to Join ‘Parenting In Place’ 8-Week Masterclass Series (beginning November 17, 2020):

We’ve received an invitation from one of our parent speakers, author of Middle School Matters, Phyllis Fagell, to join the Masterclass Parent Speaker Series that she is helping to organize and will be participating in. Please see below for the details and the link to join.

Are you burned out, concerned about your child’s well-being and wondering how your family will manage during the holiday and flu seasons? There’s a SPECIAL LIVE MASTERCLASS SERIES designed to help you this fall: Parenting in Place: Helping Families Thrive in Challenging Times, featuring 8 live, interactive, weekly masterclasses with parenting experts including Tina Payne Bryson, Mona Delahooke, Tiffany Dufu, Devorah Heitner, Rosetta Lee, Cornelius Minor, Laura Vanderkam, Katie Hurley, Phyllis Fagell and more. Registration for the entire series— including access to replays, a bundle of more than two dozen bonus downloadable resources from our speakers, and a closed moderated Facebook group for the event — is only $39 US. See the whole line up and register here:

Parenting in Place Masterclass

Operational Items

Winter Boots and Coats

Over the past number of weeks, we have been evaluating different approaches to the storage of students’ winter boots and coats. Unfortunately, due to the current state of Covid-19 spread in Toronto, we cannot use lockers as a storage space because it will lead to additional congregation and gathering in the hallways. Our plan for boot and coat storage is laid out for you below. Students have been informed of this plan by their Form Teacher/Cohort Advisor. As is always the case, it is critical that all boots and shoes be clearly labelled with the student’s name prior to bringing them to school. To aid in sharing this message with the students, some student leaders have created the following video.

Boots: 

• Boot mats will be laid out near the Grade-specific entry doors and labelled according to cohort. Each student will be required to remove their boots upon entry and walk to their assigned mat where they will neatly organize their boots and leave them there for the day. 
• Students may choose to leave their school shoes on the mat overnight. If they do this, they will pick up their shoes when depositing their boots and proceed to their first classroom of the day and put their shoes on there. 
• We do not want people gathering at the boot mats and we will encourage students to do a quick drop-off and pick-up.
• The process of removing boots at the door and leaving them on an assigned mat is not new to the students in the Upper School as it’s been common practice for many years. 

Coats: Without lockers, we are asking students to keep their coats with them for the day and simply put them on the back of their chairs.

Middle School Study Buddy Program

It is with great excitement that on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, the Study Buddy co-heads and Grade 12 students, Tori McCarvell and Hannah Tahami, and a team of extremely talented Senior School peer mentors (from grades 10-12), launched the reimagined Study Buddies program for students in the Middle School. 

The Study Buddies program is an opportunity for students in the Middle School to access support from a Senior School student mentor across various subject areas. This year’s virtual approach offers a personalized, on demand, homework and study skills support program for your child. It does not replace the extra help provided by their own subject teachers, but offers peer academic support when they need it outside of school hours. Senior student peer mentors are available Monday – Thursday from 4:30 – 8:30 pm for drop-in sessions and by appointment at other times. 

The Middle School students were introduced to the Study Buddies program during their Wellbeing time on October 27th and have been given access to three separate links that allow them to reach out to a peer mentor/tutor of their choice in a specific subject area (posted on their Guidance page and sent to them via email).