Dear Northern Families,

It has been an exciting week here at Northern. Students busy with culminating activities, arts, athletics, clubs and more celebrating their successes. It is fun to be around all this energy. Some highlights have been an amazing series of activities for Pride Week put on by Northern’s GSA. Thank You to everyone who helped put this together!

On Tuesday evening I had the chance to attend the TDSB Excellence Awards with student-presenter Jacob K. We were there to cheer for Mr. Stephen Wong who was one of a select few educators to receive the honour this year. Mr. Wong’s contributions to Student Achievement and Engagement were celebrated by an audience made up of award recipients and their families, TDSB brass, and the Mayor. Mr. Wong has made a huge impact at Northern in just 3 years at the school and puts countless hours into the Robotics Team among other endeavours. Congratulations Mr. Wong!

Need some more inspiration? On Wednesday Northern students Youssef H. and Bella R. were interviewed by CP24 about an initiative they have started at Northern. Click on the link: Youssef and Bella on CP24 to hear more about the Award they have created!

At my time of writing provincial high school championships continue to happen. More updates to come next week!

A reminder to students- now is the time to buckle-down and focus on making sure summative work is completed on time to the best of your ability. It is also time to get organized for/ begin studying for exams. Hard work now will pay off with a feeling of accomplishment in just a few short weeks!

The 2024 Summer Well-being Guide is now available! The Guide has resources, community connections, events and ideas for students and parents/caregivers/guardians to promote mental and physical wellness during the summer months. The resources are culturally responsive with many resources for students with disabilities/special education needs.

 

Things to Know for Next Week:

Tuesday: Northern Athletic Banquet- details below.

Wednesday: all 70% (term) coursework returned.

Thursday: Moratorium begins.

Thursday/ Friday: Yearbook Distribution

Friday: Locker cleanout

 

Tennis:

Congratulations to Nolan Chow who won the silver medal at the Ofsaa Tennis Championships. Nolan came within a few points of winning first in the entire province and will be back next year to go for the title. Honourable mentions go to Theo Buck who placed 5th and Jane Krutiakova who placed 7th. Yea Northern!!!

 

Reach for the Top:

Congratulations to Northern Reach for the top for being invited to and competing at Nationals on June 1 and June 2 in Ottawa. Reach for the top is Canada's academic quiz competition for high school students. The team, represented by Max Baldwin, Gwen Chasson, Sean Gao, David Lawetz and Aidan Hoffner, played well on Saturday qualifying for the winners division, then lost a few close games on Sunday to miss out on the semi finals. Northern finished seventh in the standings, but scored the third most points (of sixteen schools). Along the way the team defeated St. George's from Vancouver and Glebe from Ottawa. A big thanks to Northern Secondary School Council for helping to fund the trip.

 

CBC First Page Writing Competition:

Congratulations to Anya Thadani in grade 9 for being a finalist in the CBC First Page Student Writing Competition! The 22 finalists were chosen from over 1,500 entries submitted in 2024. The winners will be selected by middle-grade writer Basil Sylvester and be announced on Wednesday, June 12. You can read about Anya and her submission HERE. You might want to read some of the other shortlisted entries by heading to cbc.ca/thefirstpage. "Break a Leg in the Finals, Anya." OR, better yet, "Break a Pencil!" Track & Field Team News!!!

 

Track and Field:

Congratulations to Northern's Track & Field Team for their amazing results at the South Regional Championships and the Metro City Championships, and for bringing home too many medals and top 10 finishes to list them all here! Congratulations to Northern's Novice Girls, who won the titles of Novice Girls South Region Champs and Metro City Champs! Overall as a team, Northern came in 2nd in the South Region. At Metros, our girls came in 3rd overall and our boys 4th overall. Special congratulations go out to our athletes who broke track records: Lucas Dyck broke the South Region track record in the Junior Boys 200m and Rebecca Pribaz broke the 800m Cities track record in the Novice Girls 800m! We have 8 athletes who qualified for the OFSAA Track & Field Provincial Championships in London: Kieva Birmingham - 1st at Cities in 1500m & 3000m; Mia Blackmore - 4th at Cities in 3000m; Maya Dalmao-Caton - 1st at Cities in triple jump & 3rd in high jump; Lucas Dyck - 2nd at Cities in 400m; Will Greenfield - 2nd at Cities in Steeplechase; Kaine Hamilton-Wright - 4th at Cities in 300m hurdles; Rebecca Pribaz - 2nd at Cities in 1500m & 3rd in 800m; Kate Wansbrough - 3rd at Cities in Pole-vault. Thank you to everyone on the team for a great season so far, and best of luck to our athletes advancing to OFSAA!

 

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 Athletic Banquet

Athletic Banquet Tickets will have a final last-day sale on Monday at lunch in the front foyer. This will be your last chance to grab your ticket for Tuesday's banquet - please bring $10.00 cash if you don't want to miss out!

 

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

 

Northern Lights 2024:

Thank you again to all admin, staff, student volunteers, parents and community members who joined us last week for our annual Arts and Tech Show! We couldn't have done it without you. A special thanks to all students in our arts and technology classes and clubs whose brilliant work was showcased. You are incredible!

Raffle Winners - For attendees who were able to contribute to the entry, you should have received a raffle ticket to draw to win an artwork by one of our staff. Winners were announced at the end of the show. The winners of the Teacher Arts Raffle are (in order of selection):

1. 611131
2. 611025
3. 611147
4. 611027
5. 611096
6. 611136
7. 611114

Congratulations to all our winners!

To claim your prize, please email Arielle Horvath (arielle.horvath@tdsb.on.ca) with an image of your winning ticket. Winners will be able to select their prizes according to the order in which the tickets were drawn (see above). Participants have until 4:00 p.m. on Monday June 10th to notify us of their win in order to maintain their drawing order. If winners do not meet the deadline we will then go to the next person in drawing order to make their choice.

Should a winner miss the deadline, you will be eligible to still receive one of the remaining prizes but you may not have your first choice available.

We will begin to return contact winners starting on Tuesday June 4th to make their selections. Photos of the artwork will be provided.

Please note that prizes will not be sent without proof of ticket.

 

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:

Chromebook REMINDERS

Students in grades 9, 10 and 11: You are expected to take care of your TDSB-assigned Chromebook and plan to use it effectively in classes. Ask yourself:*

• Where is the Chromebook? Do you have the charger? Where is it plugged in every night?
• How do you remember to charge the device every evening? Can you set a reminder for yourself?
• Do you remember to bring it to school when you need it? Can you set a reminder for yourself?

*Parents, please help your adolescents with this planning and follow-through, especially during the last couple of weeks of the school term.

Upcoming Library Closures:

• Thursday, June 13 - Periods 1, 2, 3, 4 - EQAO Math Practice
• Monday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 18 - closed during class time in Periods 1, 2, 3, 4 - for EQAO Math testing
  • (no Chromebook loans, printing, or drop-in for students on spare)
  • open: 8:00-8:55am, 11:40am-12:40pm, 3:00-3:45pm
  • students should be arranging to print, exchange books, during drop-in hours

Return your Overdue Books!

• Keep searching for overdue books from the Northern Secondary School Library.
• All school library books are due by June 18th, 2024.

Lost and Found

• Are you missing a favourite hoodie? trusty water bottle?
• The Library hosts two totes of medium- and large-sized lost and found items. The totes do not have wallets, keys, electronics, jewellery or glasses.
• Items remaining after June 18th will be donated to charity.
• Come to the Library to look for your missing items!

 

Northern Secondary School Foundation:

Congratulations to Northern Alumni in the News...

• Ali Velshi NSS’88 and Chief Correspondent MSNBC for his new memoir Small Acts of Courage
• Justin Herlick NSS ’10 Founder of Pine a Canadian real-estate technology company that enables young Canadians to buy a house on his recent partnership with Wealthsimple.
• Morgan Reese NSS’23 for helping Harvard’s Women’s Rugby team win the CRAA 7’s National Championship
• Jacob Weinrib NSS ’01 former SAC President, now Professor of Law Queens University for receiving the Stanley M Corbett Award for Teaching Excellence....

For more information about the Northern Secondary School Foundation contact us at info@nssf.ca

 

Review of Secondary Alternative Schools

There are 21 Secondary Alternative Schools across the city. These schools are designed to be small and offer unique and innovative approaches to learning. Currently, nearly 1,100 secondary students are enrolled in these programs.

In response to a recommendation from the Alternative Schools Community Advisory Committee, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution on May 26, 2021, to conduct a review of Secondary Alternative Schools.

To support this review, we will be launching a survey that seeks to gather feedback on TDSB's Secondary Alternative School programs. Participation in this survey is entirely voluntary and anonymous, ensuring that respondents can provide honest feedback without any privacy concerns.

The data collected from this survey will be important in informing the Secondary Alternative Schools Program Review, helping us understand the strengths and areas for improvement within our alternative education offerings.

We appreciate your support and encourage you to fill in the survey link for the program.

 

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 AUGUST Summer School Registration is still open. Registration closes July 4, 2024. For more info about TDSB e-Summer school go here
5. OUAC Updates:

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.

6. 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.
7. 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).

8. 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).

9. 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.

10. 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.
11. 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.

12. Mental Wellness Resources

Kids Help Phone: text 686868.

In an emergency, call 911.

 

Have a great weekend!

Adam Marshall

Principal

Follow me @PrincipalNSS