Northern Secondary School

June 26th, 2020

Monday, June 29, 2020 11:29 AM

Good Evening Northern Families,

If you graduated from elementary school this week and are pre-registered for Northern next year (or are the parent of an elementary graduate) welcome to our weekly bulletin. This has not been a normal year in many ways, and our communication with you has been a challenge. Please know that you are receiving this because you are all set with a timetable for next year! Welcome to Northern!

For our current students and graduates, Congratulations! You made it through an incredibly challenging year. All of you have a ton to be proud of, and particularly our graduates. You have reached this milestone under the incredibly difficult circumstances. Well Done.

This will be the second last weekly bulletin- one more will follow next week with some final updates for the summer. I have tried to use as short a format as I can here today:

Report Cards:

Due to the current school closures resulting from COVID-19, final report cards will be distributed to TDSB students and parents/guardians in a digital format using School Messenger, an email communication system currently used by schools.

As per Ontario Student Records (OSR) guidelines, a signed, printed copy of the report card will be filed in the OSR when schools reopen.

The TDSB will take the following steps to deliver a report card for each student in a secure manner:

  1. You will receive an email with the report card attached as a password-protected PDF file.
  • Secondary report cards will be emailed to both parents/guardians and students’ TDSB email address between July 3 - 8.
  1. The password will be unique for each report card.
  2. The password format will be communicated in each email, not the password itself.

 

Summer School:

As we approach the summer holidays, we are cognizant that students may require a device so that they can complete their on-line learning over the summer. If applicable, please share with your families and staff that the TDSB will no longer be accepting student device requests after June 30, 2020.

 

Important Opportunity for graduating students:

The Federal Government has just announced a unique opportunity for our graduating Grade 12 students and alumni, to assist with their tuition and living expenses, entitled the “National Youth Service Campaign ”. Our students can earn up to $5000.00 throughout the summer for completing volunteer service hours. This is on top of the $1250.00 that they may receive for each of July and August Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG). More information on the CSSG is later in this newsletter.

 

New leadership team members:

I want to formally welcome some new additions to Northern for the 2020-2021 school year. Welcome to:

Mr. Geoffrey Watson- ACL of Science

Ms. April Vibert- ACL of Student Success

Ms. Chana Boxer- ACL of ESL

Ms. Jessica Beresford- CL of Special Education LD

 

Information for Students Leaving TDSB:

TDSB accounts for graduating students or students leaving the TDSB will also be made inactive after the summer, in September. To prepare students for this transition they will need to either move/download the content using Google Takeout or use Google Transfer to move content to their personal Google account. Grade 12 students have also received this information through an email.

A Message from Dale Callendar:

Skylark in school counseling service at Northern Secondary......we want to let you know about some exciting news regarding our organization. As you will see on the attached eblast, Skylark Children Youth & Families has merged with three other amazing organizations and is now known as Lumenus Community Services . There is no worry at all about the work we are doing at Northern, which we have collaborated with the TDSB since the early 1990’s, as nothing about that will change! When you go on the Skylark website you will be taken to the new Lumenus landing page. You will also hear our new Lumenus greeting when you call our main phone number. Please take a minute to read the attached eblast to learn more about Lumenus and to see how you can contact us to ask any questions you might have.

 

Mental Wellness Supports:

Please consider this information, amalgamated to support mental wellness:

CAMH 1

CAMH 2

Mental Health Resources

 

Celebrations (historical):

Virtual Athletic Awards Ceremony

NSS Northern Lights Art Show

NSS Visual Art Website

 

For Graduates:

Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)

The Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) provides financial support to post-secondary students, and recent post-secondary and high school graduates who are unable to find work due to COVID-19. This benefit is for students who do not qualify for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance (EI).

From May to August 2020, the CESB provides a payment to eligible students of:

$1,250 for each 4-week period

or

$2,000 for each 4-week period, if you have dependants or a disability

Click here for more information.

 

  1. Student Information Sessions – Canada Emergency Student Benefit

Service Canada with the support of TDSB’s Student Equity Advisors is hosting live webinar INFO SESSIONS for students to learn about CESB - funding of $1250 or $2000 a month, as well as other supports and job opportunities.

Students may join us on any one of the following dates: June 23 or June 30 from 1-2pm to learn about the available Service Canada programs, services, and benefits.

Students will be introduced to the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) as well as other programs that were established to support those impacted by COVID-19. Students will be given an opportunity to engage in a question and answer period during the session. Students will also learn about getting a Social Insurance Number online, the Canada Summer Jobs program and other available tools.

Date: Tuesday, June 30

Time: 1-2pm

WebEx link: HERE

Phone Access Available

Call in for the audio portion of the webinar

Call-in toll-free number (Canada): 1-877-413-4788

Call-in number (Canada): 1-613-960-7513

Attendee access code: 931 974 4#

 

Attending York University and have academic accommodations?

For incoming York University students who require academic accommodations we are offering two programs, Head Start and Project ADVANCE.

Head Start is a program we introduced last year as an information session for incoming students and families who want to know more about York University’s Students Accessibility Services and how to register with us. Head Start will be offered as a 20 minute online presentation followed by a question and answer period. We are offering this session on 4 different days in July to provide some flexibility for students and their families to attend. Please feel free to pass along the attached flyer to any of your students who are graduating and heading to York for the upcoming year. To attend, students or their families can click on the link in the flyer and they will be directed to a sign up form. Info HERE

Project ADVANCE will be offered over the course of the month of August. Students will attend a one hour webinar followed by a one hour online tutorial later in the week. Our focus is on self-advocacy, wellness, and learning strategies. Emphasis will be placed on online learning and navigating Moodle, the online platform used at York. We do require that students register with Student Accessibility Services first and then sign up for Project ADVANCE. To register with Student Accessibility Service, students should visit our Register with Us page. Info HERE .

We have also created a video series addressing the top five questions we receive about our service. Please feel free to pass these along to your students and their families. Here are links to the videos:

  1. Introduction to video series
  2. Glossary of terms
  3. Should I register with Student Accessibility Services?
  4. How do I get my IEP at York University?
  5. What documentation do I need to get registered? Is my IEP enough?
  6. What types of accommodations are available at York University?
  7. Are there financial supports for students who have disabilities?
  8. Helpful resources and next steps

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about our programs or service.

 

From Guidance:

University Program Placement Info: see FLYER

The Admission Information Service (AIS) will open on June 5, 2020.

The AIS allows Ontario high school students to determine which universities have places remaining in specific programs.

NEW this year:

Visit the 101 web page at https://www.ouac.on.ca/ouac-101/ and click “Search Open Programs” to access the AIS.

Starting the second week of June, Northern Secondary School students can go to the OUAC website and use the Admission Information System (AIS) to find possible openings at Ontario universities. To begin your search, visit www.ouac.on.ca/ouac-101 and click on SEARCH ALL PROGRAMS.

Once you find an open program of interest, add it to your 101 application.

Requirements:

• You will be completing or have completed the OSSD (or equivalent),

including six 4U/M courses, by early September 2020.

• You must have an average of at least 60%, although higher averages are usually required.

To find out more:

• Visit: www.ouac.on.ca/ouac-101

• Call: 519-823-1063

 

Summer School:

eLearning Summer School: AUGUST ONLY - grade 11 and 12 courses

Update: July eLearn courses are closed.

TDSB e-Summer School is still offering classes in August.

TDSB e-Summer School is a free high school credit program for secondary students who wish to pursue courses online. Registration for August eLearn classes closes July 8, 2020 at 4:30 pm. For more information please go to https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/elearning/e-Summer-Online-Program

 

Update from the eLearning Department about Fall 2020/2021 programing:

2020/2021 Day School eLearning courses:

Registration dates for Grade 11 and 12 e-Learning courses for 2020-2021 are currently on hold and are being reviewed to ensure they align with the TDSB back-to-school strategy that is being developed. We will update you with the revised registration dates once they have been determined.

 

NSSF:

The 3rd Annual Northern Secondary School Foundation Silent Auction will be held in September 2020. We are currently accepting donations to the auction. Proceeds to student scholarships and grants

Contact us at info@nssf.com to donate an item or service to the auction.

Thanks to all alumni and parents who have already made a donation.

 

From Trustee Rachel Chernos Lin:

My latest newsletter is found here: Chernos Lin Newsletter

 

School Council:

Please visit nsscouncil.com or email us at: nss.school.council@gmail.com for information from School Council. It will be important to visit the site for information moving forward until meetings can resume again.

 

Have a safe and relaxing summer!

Adam