Dear Northern Families,

We have had an amazing week as co-curriculars start wrapping up for the year!

For Arts and Technology and Arts departments held our Northern Lights event. Nearly 400 students were involved as artists and techies. Amazing work was produced all-around. Thank You to the teachers who made the event possible!

It was also a busy week in athletics with the Girl’s Senior Rugby Team, Boys Junior Rugby Team and Boy’s Senior Rugby teams all winning the City Championships. Congratulations! If there are other sporting endeavours missed here please have your coaches share them with me!

Important Reminder- Deadline for accepting a university offer – Monday, June 3, 2024 is the deadline for students to accept a university offer through the OUAC. All grade 12 students that are accepting a university offer for Sept 2024 must log in to their OUAC account and indicate their acceptance by this date. Video Tutorials are available https://www.ouac.on.ca/videos/how-to-videos/#respond

 

Commencement Reminder:

Attention Graduates!

As you determine your plans for next year please email them to danielle.trotto@tdsb.on.ca

Don’t forget to buy your commencement tickets on School Cash Online - https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com/

If you have any questions please feel free to email danielle.trotto@tdsb.on.ca

 

Things to Know for Next Week:

Monday- Friday: GSA Pride Week! Various Events- see below.

Friday: Prom

 

Special Education (Ms. Kearney):

Parents/Guardians of students with assistive technology/computer accommodations on their IEP, please ask if your child/ward has filled out the Exam Computer Accomodation survey I emailed them? I need to know if they do or do not need a computer. If they have questions please tell them to come and see me in room 112.

 

Northern Pride Week June 3-7

This upcoming week is Northern Pride Week. The GSA will be fundraising for a charity called Rainbow Railroad which aims to help 2SLGTBQ+ individuals escape countries with restrictive rules regarding 2SLGTBQ+ rights (https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/about). During the week, GSA students will provide information over the announcements. Events will include Queer book talks in the library on Monday at lunch. On Tuesday, History club will teach about 2SLGTBQ+ movements and important figures at lunch in 217. Students will be selling buttons, stickers and pins at lunch on Wednesday and Thursday in the foyer. Please join us in raising funds to support 2SLGTBQ+ communities here and abroad."

 

Northern Athletic Banquet

Hello Red Knights! This year's Northern Athletic Banquet is taking place on Tuesday, June 11 from 3:15pm-5:15pm at Northern. Tickets will be on sale all of next week from June 3-7 in the front foyer at lunch for $10.00. Don't miss out!!

 

EXAMS

Final exams run from June 19-24, 2024. The moratorium period begins on Thursday June 13^th. There will be no excursions or athletic events during this period.

You can find information about the culminating activities and final exams for each course here (organized by grade) here: NSS Culminating and Final Exam Information Sem 2 2024

You can find a detailed exam schedule here: NSS Exam Schedule - Semester 2 2023-24

The schedule follows this format:

Students will follow their Day 1 schedule as follows for exams:

Wednesday, June 19 - Period 1 Exam

Thursday, June 20 - Period 2 Exam

Friday, June 21 - Period 3 Exam

Monday, June 24 - Period 4 Exam

ALL exams will begin at 10:00 am.  Exam duration will vary by subject/year.  Looking ahead, students should make sure they eat a good breakfast as they will eat a “late” lunch on these days once exams are over (late relative to our usual 11:40 am lunchtime).

Please take some time to look through our Exam ReadiNSS site for information and resources.  More information will be added as exams approach – including some in person exam preparation sessions provided by our student services and special education departments.

CULMINATING TASKS AND EXAMS

Culminating activities and examinations carry the same importance and the same attendance requirement. Thus, attendance during culminating activities is mandatory. Some courses have culminating activities that take place over several days. Thus, attendance during culminating activities/summative evaluations is mandatory. A culminating activity is the final evaluation in each course which is worth 30% of the final mark. “This evaluation will be based on evidence from one or a combination of the following: an examination, a performance, an essay and/or another method of evaluation suitable to the course content” (p.41-Growing Success). Students who miss culminating activities or summative evaluations will be given a mark of zero for the portion missed with no opportunity to make up the missed work unless there is an extenuating and documented circumstance, such as a medical situation, court date, funeral etc. It is absolutely crucial that students do not miss any time during the end of a semester. Under Ministry of Education and TDSB regulations, there can be no accommodations made for students who miss the 30% culminating activities and summative evaluations at the end of a semester for personal reasons such as vacation or work. Students and parents should be aware that scheduled vacations at this time can significantly impact student achievement. With the exception of a medical emergency, all summative tests and assignments that are missed as a result of these absences will be assigned a mark of zero.

 

Library:

Return your Overdue Books!

• It’s time to start hunting for those overdue books from the Northern Secondary School Library.
• Students who have overdue books received email notifications last week with a list of the titles that are overdue.
  • All school library books are due by June 18th, 2024.

 

School Council:

Walking Buddies - Saturday, June 1st - 9:30-10:30 am Join other Northern parents for some fresh air, exercise, and conversation about school, kids, and life! Email nss.school.council@gmail.com for more details.

 

Northern Secondary School Foundation:

The Foundation is pleased to offer over 40 Scholarships and Awards to Northern students . We are grateful to former teachers, parents and alumni who fund these awards through endowments or annual donations.

326149. scholarships and awards recognize academic achievement in math, science, social science, business, family studies, music, art and design.. Others recognize leadership in community service, environmental and humanitarian initiatives, participation in athletic and extracurricular activities, and perseverance in face of adversity.

If you are interested in honouring a family member or recognizing achievement in a particular area, we would be happy to assist you. We are hoping to find donors for awards recognizing achievement in engineering, technological studies including robotics.

Contact us at info@nssf.ca for more information

 

Guidance Updates:

1. Exams are coming! Be sure to check out the WELLNESS and STRESS MANAGEMENT page of the NSS Exam Readiness Site. It is your one-stop shopping for all things NSS exams!
2. 2024-2025 Semester 1 e-Learning Registration is OPEN: Wednesday, May 29, 2024

A list of courses being offered can be found here.

Registration may continue until September 20, 2024 BUT classes will fill up early

Please check out this information flyer and poster for more information.

3. 2024-2025 Saturday International Languages School Registration is now open. For more information about dates and registration, please click here.
4. TDSB e-Learning Summer School Registration OPENS: Monday, April 22, 2024. For more info about TDSB e-Summer school go here
5. TDSB In-Person/Remote Continuing Education Summer School information here. Registration for TDSB In-Person/Remote Summer OPENS Friday April 19, 2024.
6. OUAC Updates: June 3rd & Offers of Admission
   Students must accept offers by June 3/24. OUAC recommends watching their video link for how to accept an offer. We've posted the video below so please watch it - it's only 3 min.https://youtu.be/vN34g9lgTxY

Students often make a mistake and do not finalize/submit their offer properly.
Students that have accepted an offer for one school can override by accepting another offer after. However, this may invalidate the original offer of admission and the student would have to reach out to the first school if they change their mind again and wish to go back to the first offer.
To OUAC’s knowledge, students should still continue to receive offers of admission even if they have already accepted an offer elsewhere (and they can still accept later offers to override according to the presentation - see video).
Students must reach out to institutions if they are planning on taking a summer course or repeating a course in the summer to clarify conditions of their offers. In many cases, universities won’t accept a course taken after June 30th unless the admissions team approves this.

NSS Post-Secondary Guide is here!

7. Haven’t received an Ontario university offer?

Use the Admission Information Service (AIS)!

Starting June 5, 2024, Ontario high school students can use the AIS to find possible openings at Ontario universities.

8. Graduating Students: be sure you have submitted your 40 Community Service Hours and your Opt Out of eLearning form (if you are not completing two eLearning courses) by mid May to ensure there are no issues with your graduation status. Please see your Guidance Counsellor if you have any questions.
9. Scholarship Information:

Thank you to all the students who applied to an NSSF Scholarship. Students will be notified about their application status closer to commencement (which takes place June 27, 2024).

10. Seeking Scholarships has released their April Scholarship Report which has upcoming scholarship dates listed for students applying to post-secondary programs. It also has some great tips for preparing for interviews for scholarships, admissions to special programs, or for employment opportunities.

Northern students, teachers, and families can access from this link using the password, scholar58

Please note: This resource is copyrighted and only available to Northern families - please do not share outside of the Northern community. A copy of the report is posted on the Guidance Google Classroom for Grade 12 students.

NSS Scholarship Information Chart 2023/2024 where Northern-specific scholarship information and deadlines can be found (along with other common awards).

11. IMPORTANT Volunteering Information:

PLEASE NOTE: Events and activities supporting a not-for-profit initiative are approved. If you are unsure if your activities supports a not-for-profit program, please see your Guidance counsellor for approval of the volunteering initiative.

For more information about the TDSB’s policy on Volunteering, click here.

Students: for volunteering information and opportunities, please visit your Guidance Google classroom or www.volunteertoronto.ca.

You can find the TDSB Community Involvement form here.

12. Students, are you LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES? Be sure to check out your Guidance Google classroom: Gr 9 Google Classroom: x6sh4ue; Gr 10: 4ixv2jl; Gr 11: kmv6fcz; Gr 12: twdxca6.
13. Online Graduation Requirement – Information and Opt-Out Form

Looking for information about the new Ontario Ministry Online Learning graduation requirement? Please click here

Overview Info: applies only to students who entered Grade 9 on or after September 1, 2020. Students may withdraw/opt out of this new requirement and graduate with an OSSD if you have decided now to withdraw from the graduation requirement, please complete the TDSB Opt Out/Withdrawal Form and return it to your Guidance Counsellor.

14. Mental Wellness Resources

Kids Help Phone: text 686868.

In an emergency, call 911.

 

Have a great weekend!

Adam Marshall

Principal

Follow me @PrincipalNSS