Good Afternoon Northern Families,
A grade update will be distributed electronically to all students through Markbook, Brightspace, or Google Classroom next week. Please follow up with your student to find out how they are progressing.
This update is essential for senior students who may be weighing whether to drop a course. The “Marks Maintain After Date- MMAD” deadline to drop a course (for senior level students) is on November 2nd by 12 noon. MMAD means if you drop a course by this date it is removed from your transcript. After this date, any mark whether a pass or fail, will remain.
- mark update is also important for our juniors to inform where extra attention, effort, and resources are needed. We will work with you to support your student's improvement.
If your child is at risk of not earning a credit you will be receiving a call from their teacher in addition to the electronic mark update.
There was an important email that was sent to parents by the board yesterday- please find it here .
COVID Updates:
Updated Health Screening Guidelines – Toronto Public Health has updated the screening guidelines for students. Learn more about the daily self-assessment process.
Back to School Confirmation Form- Toronto Public Health has developed a Back to School Confirmation Form for parents/guardians to sign in the event of their child have a suspected or confirmed illness to confirm their child is safe to return to school. Please share this with your school community. Toronto Public Health is not recommending or requiring medical notes for return to school.
School Council Election Results and Upcoming Events:
"Grade 9 Parent Chat" - Wednesday, October 21, 7-8 pm. If you are new to Northern, this is for you! Come and meet other Northern parents, ask questions, and learn more about your new school community! To get a Zoom link to the meeting, send an email to nss.school.council@gmail.com with "Grade 9 Parent Chat" in the subject line. Feel free to send questions ahead of time as well, so we can find you the best answer!
"News for parents, by parents" - sign up for our email list for updates and news written for parents by the parents at School Council. Send an email to nss.school.council@gmail.com with "Count me in" in the subject line. And check out our website for updates, links, resources, and upcoming events!
We are also pleased to introduce the parent members of the 20-21 School Council:
Laura Aguilar, Andy Anderson, Janice Barnett (co-chair), Rita Czarnecki, Abby Dwosh (co-treasurer), Samir Fahs, Andrea Fowler, Diana Goldie, Sabina Holder, Linda Kennedy, Debbie Levy, Grace De Souza, Ellie Morch, Tania Osmond (co-chair), Karri Paradi, Melissa Rosen, Sohinee Ray (co-secretary), Steve Sims (co-treasurer), Mary Ann Stewart (co-secretary)
Psychological Services Newsletter:
Please find attached a copy of the October issue of the psychology newsletter “Hearts and Minds ”
GAC Study Skills Presentation
As students approach the mid-point of the first quadmester, we’d like to share a GAC Study Skills presentation. It provides helpful tips for every type of student, from the most challenged, to the most organized, and every student in between! Improving study skills is an ongoing exercise, and it’s never too late to start.
The slides summarize many suggestions to help students build better habits for high school and beyond, including how to more effectively use school time, get organized, and understand learning processes. They also include numerous study and exam / test preparation tips useful in general and for specific subjects (i.e.math and science, languages). Here’s a link to the presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1crAGT44Tb4FfeLPdOjcq5mQ1Pz4c4CuvV643_Wjuqx4/edit?usp=sharing
If you have any other tips, links, or resources to share, we’d appreciate hearing from you (reply to northerngifted@gmail.com) and we’ll be happy to share with others.
————————————————
GAC (Gifted Advisory Committee) virtual meeting - Thurs. October 22 at 7:00 p.m.
All parents of gifted students are welcome, to connect with other parents and to learn more about the gifted program and Northern. Please send an email to northerngifted@gmail.com to obtain the meeting link.
Canadian Intermediate and Senior Mathematics Contests:
The NSS Math Department is excited to be running the Canadian Intermediate (CIMC) and Senior (CSMC) Mathematics Contest this year! The CIMC is open to all students in Grades 9 and 10, and the CSMC to all students in Grades 11 and 12. The contests will be held on Wednesday, November 18.
Interested in testing out your mathematical problem-solving ability? Sign up by Monday, October 26 using this form! [Note: Signing up is confirmation that the student is writing the contest, and they will be required to pay the $12 contest fee using the School Cash Online system.]
Please direct any contest questions to stephanie.kendall@tdsb.on.ca
United Way Committee:
The United Way campaign is starting up at Northern this year, and now more than ever our community needs donations! United Way is a non-profit organization that works with hundreds of charities to pool efforts in fundraising and support. Northern's campaign will look different this year, but we're excited to start fundraising!
Normally, a big event we run in our campaign is the CN Tower Stair Climb, but due to COVID concerns, The United Way has created the GetUp Initiative. GetUp encourages everyone to stay active in their neighbourhoods while raising money for a great cause! Over a two week (Nov. 9th - 22nd) period, people will be encouraged to be active for 280 minutes (that is the number of frontline community agencies United Way supports across the GTA). As well as raising money for your community, students will also receive volunteer hours for your efforts (7 volunteer hours for $60 raised, 10 volunteer hours for $100 raised). If you are interested in signing up, go to http://uwgt.convio.net/site/TR/CommunityEvents/General?team_id=4621&pg=team&fr_id=1280,
click join team and sign up. Once you’ve signed up, start fundraising, and wait until November 9th to start exercising!
Thanks Northern!
Mental Health Counselling Support at Northern Secondary; FLYER
- Community Services provides a registered psychotherapist , Dale Callender, on-site, full time at Northern, to work in partnership with the existing school support services. The service uses an early intervention model and supports students by allowing them easy and immediate access to mental health and counselling services provided through the In-School service. Dale Callender works in collaboration with TDSB staff in order to customize a program to enhance the mental health services and supports that are available to students on-site at the school. This program allows Northern priority access to Lumenus’ mental health service program, and offers students a seamless referral process to other community programs as dictated by their individual needs. Dale Callender is available currently via virtual sessions and/or phone calls to provide psychotherapy counselling support to students, parents/caregivers. If you would like to consult and /or set up a time to talk with Dale, you can contact him via his email at dalecallender@lumenus.ca or 416-489-9586.
Guidance Updates:
- Full disclosure date: Quad 1: November 2, 2020
BUT please begin the drop process by October 27, 2020.
- Want to drop a course at Northern SS or Virtual SS?
To ensure we can follow the drop procedure, WE ASK YOU TO START THE DROP PROCESS NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 27, 2020 if you are planning on dropping a course in Quad 1.
STEPS:
1. Complete the Northern SS - VSS Request to drop a course google form.
2. Have your parent/guardian email your guidance counsellor with:
1. your name
2. the course they are approving you to drop
3. you cc'd on the email
3. Your Guidance Counsellor will connect with you.
- Applying to Post-Secondary: What to Know
Please see our NSS Guide to Applying to Post-Secondary: What to Know
If your student is not in a class block A at NSS, they are invited to attend our online session - information will be shared on the grade 12 Guidance Google classroom.
Want to attend a postsecondary virtual workshop? Check out this document with NSS specific live stream meetings as well as post-secondary virtual tours.
Looking to start your scholarship research? Check out this document with information about scholarships.
Please note: students in a graduating position will have their information shared with OCAS/OUAC to allow for the application process to run smoothly. If you have any questions about this information transmission, please reach out to your Guidance Counsellor.
Northern Secondary School Foundation:
Our Silent Auction was a great success! Thank you to our alumni, parents and teachers for their support. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of businesses and professionals in the community who were so eager to support public education and Northern in particular. You can find a list of donors on our website at www.nssf.ca. Thank them on your next visit.
Historical:
Academic Resource Supports:
Do you have an IEP or ILP and are looking for academic support?
Please feel free to book an appointment with
MS. JESSICA BERESFORD
Available daily from 1:10-2pm
Following the link: https://nss-guidance.parentinterview.com/
Have a great weekend!
Adam
Follow Me @PrincipalNSS