Upper School College Blog – Friday, April 1, 2022

On By Havergal Upper School

Dear Parents,

Students arrived after the break to discover many exciting surprises. Chartwells opened the Servery to the Havergal Community, offering service as it was pre-Covid. Students were welcomed with a Carnival theme complete with festive decorations, games, free cotton candy and popcorn. Later in the week, students left the building with hot chocolate and cookies in hand. Finally, we had an amazing Winter Athletics Awards Assembly which highlighted the accomplishments of the 16 different teams. 

Although the weather is not yet cooperating, spring is in the air. We have had a record number of students trying out for our numerous spring teams and the excitement is palpable. Arts Week is coming up and there will be dance and music performances that parents can attend in person. 

We are delighted to see all these changes and are looking forward to a wonderful spring term with many exciting events to share with families. 

The US Blog contains information and updates on the following: 

Sincerely,

JJ Patterson, Head of Middle School

Deirdre Timusk, Head of Senior School

Latest News

Upper School Update Report Card – Monday, April 11 @ 4:00pm

Parents and students will be able to access the update report card on Monday, April 11 at 4 pm through Veracross. Middle School parents should be aware that for the full-year courses (Math, French, English, Health & Physical Education), there have been few classes and a limited number of assessments since the Parent-Teacher conferences in March. For details on the report card format and how to access the report, please click here.

Recording from NEDIC Parent Presentation

Thank you for joining us on Wednesday for our evening event with NEDIC – Finding the Balance: Navigating Conversations Around ‘Healthy’ Eating and Exercise. For those of you who were not able to attend the event, please find the video recording here. We hope the event was insightful and helpful to our parents and school community as we partner to promote disordered eating awareness, prevention and treatment. Together, through health promotion, early intervention, and prevention efforts we continue to support the wellbeing of our community. You will find a list of resources provided to us by NEDIC here. 
We value and appreciate your input as we continue to develop presentations for our parent community. Please take a few minutes to complete the embedded google feedback form.

University Information: Applying to UK & US Schools

Please find here the recording from the presentation earlier this year.  Here is the slidedeck for UK University information. Here is the slidedeck for the US University information.

In-person Parent Presentation by Dr. Alex Russell

You are invited to join us Wednesday, April 13, 2022 in the Brenda Robson Hall to hear psychologist Dr. Russell speak about this important and timely topic. This evening will offer parents an understanding of academic, social and emotional impacts of the pandemic, as well as clear and helpful guidelines to help support teenage children in the months and years ahead.

Doors open at 6:00 pm; the presentation will run from 6:30 – 8:00pm. The session will be livestreamed over Zoom if you prefer to attend virtually, and will be recorded for viewing and reviewing. Please RSVP here by April 8 if you plan to attend in person, and submit any questions you would like Dr. Russell to answer. All guests must be fully vaccinated and pass Toronto Public Health’s health screening.

Performing Arts

Check us out on our Performing Arts Instagram page!

Keep up to date on what’s happening in the performing arts on our new insta page. You can find us at: @hc.performingarts

April 4 – 8 is Arts Week!

The information regarding the daily activities, can be found here: Arts Weeks Poster

Senior School Dance Troupe Performance

The Senior School Dance Troupe is thrilled to be putting on the annual Dance Show: It Came to Me in a Dream with two live performances Thursday, April 21st at 4pm and Friday, April 22nd at 7pm. Why are we so sleep-deprived? What are our dreams really trying to tell us? The show features an amazing collection of original student choreographies in ballet, urban and contemporary dance all revolving around what happens between sunset and sunrise. 

If your family, friends or your child would like to see the show in person, tickets can be purchased by your child at lunchtime in the Temerty Commons during the week of the shows, through Mme Bryant in the Languages Office, or tickets can be bought at the door. Tickets are limited; $20 will be charged to your student account. 

Come celebrate live dance and a good night’s sleep in the Legacy Theatre! No pyjamas required.

Grade 7 Parents: Reach Ahead Math Application Reminder

Please be reminded that if your child would like to apply for Reach Ahead Grade 8 Mathematics, you must complete this registration form by April 30. All Grade 7 parents have already received an email from Alex Shum, Head of Mathematics & Computer Science, with all the pertinent and detailed information. Please refer to this email and, if you have any questions, contact Alex Shum at ashum@havergal.on.ca.

COVID-19 Testing & Reporting Positive COVID-19 Results

When a student is ill, or has symptoms associated with COVID-19 they may test using a PCR take home test, two Rapid Antigen Tests separated by a minimum of 24 hours, or isolate for a minimum of 5 days after symptom onset. See details on how to complete testing in the Symptomatic COVID-19 Testing For Students and Employees at Havergal. Even with negative test results, students must have symptoms improving for 24 hours, prior to returning to school. All students should maintain a stock of two Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) at home in the event that they become ill. Most students will have many tests at home from our previous Rapid Antigen Screening Program (RASP). If a student does not have any RATs at home, or has used up their test supply due to illness, please contact covid@havergal.on.ca or visit the Health Centre to obtain a pack of two additional RATs. As the RASP has concluded, we are no longer using the Thrive Health web-based application, so please inform covid@havergal.on.ca of any positive COVID-19 tests and we will continue to update the COVID-19 Case Reporting Spreadsheet. 

Reporting Student Absences

In order to maintain accurate attendance records, we need parents to use SchoolPass to communicate student absences to the DSO. We need a SchoolPass entry for each day your child is absent. For a multi-day absence, you can make a single entry where you select ALL dates they will be absent. Please do NOT indicate a multi-day absence in the “Notes” section. If the absence is due to COVID isolation, please include “Isolating” in the “Notes” section.
Click here to review instructions on reporting student absences in SchoolPass.

Student Immunization Update (meningococcal, human papillomavirus, hepititus B)

Beginning in March 2022, Toronto Public Health will be re-starting community vaccine clinics to administer meningococcal, human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccines for any students in grades 7 to 12 who are missing these vaccinations. These vaccines were previously administered in school-based clinics in grades 7 and 8, however, all TPH school-based vaccine administration was placed on hold at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last 2 years, many students have received these vaccinations through their family doctors or primary care providers.

If your child has not yet had the above-mentioned vaccines, families may review the Parent Vaccine Information Package, book an appointment for a community clinic at www.tphBookings.ca/tph/studentvaccines, and complete the TPH Consent Form to bring to the appointment. The meningococcal vaccine is mandatory for school attendance, so please ensure that your child’s vaccination records are updated on the Toronto Public Health Vaccine Reporting Webpage. 

Mask Reminder

The Ontario government announced that mandatory masking for schools has been removed as of March 21. Masking at Havergal will now be optional for all students and employees. We recognize that students and employees may choose to continue to wear their masks and Havergal will remain a mask-friendly environment. We ask that everyone in our community be supportive of students and employees’ individual choices and model kindness and compassion.

Additionally, we ask that you have individual discussions with your children about being respectful of individual choice, including refraining from asking questions about why or why not someone is wearing a mask, and to ensure that children understand there are some circumstances at school which will still require mask-wearing, such as during some group assemblies. Students are still required to have a medical mask with them for times and circumstances in which they are required.

Instances in which masks will still be required:

  • For this period of transition, we ask that all students continue to wear masks when in large gatherings such as Prayers.
  • For 14 days upon return from travel outside of Canada, as required by current federal travel requirements.
  • For six to 10 days after a self-isolation period of five days, following a COVID-19 diagnosis as outlined by TPH.
  • If you are identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19, masks are required for 10 days from your last exposure, as outlined by TPH.

COSSOT Relay for Life

This year, a group of leaders from Havergal and UCC are organising the annual COSSOT (Coalition of Single Sex Schools of Toronto) Relay for Life in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. The event will be from 4:30pm to 8:30pm on April 28th, 2022. This year’s entertainment will include themed laps, mechanical bulls, dunk tanks, food trucks, and so much more!  Crescent, RSGC, BSS, Branksome, Haveragal will all be attending this event at UCC.

We will be looking for teams of students to sign up to fundraise for and participate in this event to support the Canadian Cancer Society, and strongly encourage all of your children to join a team and participate in this exciting event. Parents are also welcome to put together a team. To sign up or support please click here. 

Book Drive Update

We collected a grand total of 1,402 books from the Havergal community! Thank you for your support with this project, we couldn’t have done it without you. 

Dates on the Horizon

Senior School Music Night

  • Tuesday, April 12th – 7:00 pm 

Dr. Alex Russell Parent Presentation 

  • Wednesday, April 13th – 6:30 – 8:00 pm (in-person or virtual), details above

Easter Weekend

  • Friday, April 15 – No School
  • Monday, April 18 – No School

Founders’ Day

  • Thursday, April 21 – details to come 

Senior School Dance Troupe Performance

  • Thursday, April 21 – Legacy Theatre – 4 pm 
  • Friday, April 22 – Legacy Theatre – 7 pm 

PD Day

  • Friday, May 6 – No School for Students

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