Good Evening Northern Families,
There is a lot of important information in this bulletin- the entire contents are worth checking- please take a moment to read this over a coffee at some point this weekend.
Northern has a strong tradition of raising funds for the United Way. In a typical year there are two major events- the CN Tower Climb and the Fashion Show- plus numerous smaller fund-raisers. COVID is impacting fund-raisers like this at just the time the community needs them most. Our incredible United Way Team (student led along with Ms. Sohn!) has been actively working on supporting the “GetUp” United Way fundraiser in place of the CN Tower climb. Many have already signed up.
In recognition of Northern’s long-standing support of the CNTower Climb KPMG has offered to match the registration fees ($10) for the first 200 participants from the school. The first 10 classes to raise $100 will have that amount matched by KPMG- bringing the total donation to Northern’s team to $3000!!! Please consider supporting this important initiative if you are able. The residents of the City of Toronto need your help. Please see “United Way Committee” below for details.
For grade 9 students and families we can confirm that the EQAO math assessment will NOT be taking place for Quadmester 1.
The OSSLT has been waived as a graduating requirement for this year’s graduating class. We are seeking clarification on what this means for the test for all students in grades 10 through 12. Lots of time before OSSLT testing – we will update you as soon as we can.
From last week, but important- Students and families have been asking about confirmation of quadmester 2 timetables. We will endeavour to get these to you as quickly as possible. Northern is a full-year school so we are not used to changes mid-year, but this is normal in a semestered environment. We will be taking the approach of minimal change while trying to accommodate the needs of all students.
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!
United Way's Silent Auction is here!
Northern’s United Way Committee is hosting an online silent auction this year starting on November 23! We are asking local businesses if they are willing to donate and wanted to open it up to the parents/guardians as well! If you have anything you are willing to donate ($20+) to our silent auction that would be greatly appreciated. This year our committee is aiming to raise $30,000 (100% of the proceeds go to United Way) so we would be happy to accept anything that would help us reach our goal. If you have any questions feel free to let us know! You can contact us at taylor.dalton@student.tdsb.on
2019-2020 Academic Awards:
Every fall we run an academic awards ceremony to recognize effort, commitment, and excellence. In light of the fact we are unable to hold large events like this we have gone ahead and printed programs/ certificates/ awards for distribution to students. With this in mind, Congratulations! to our Northern Red Knights in achieving high academic excellence in the 2019-2020 school year. Next week, students who earned a cumulative average between 80% to 84.9% will be presented with a Northern Scholars certificate. Students who earned a cumulative average above 85.0% will be presented with a Northern Scholars Certificate. Students will also be recognized for academic excellence through subject and Northern Foundation awards. Students receiving a subject or additional academic award (not including Honours/ Scholars) will also receive a copy of the program.
Pay it Forward Announcement
Hey Northern! The Pay it Forward club will be holding a food drive fundraiser for the next 2 weeks from November 2nd to 13th. Please bring in any non-perishable food items to school between November 2nd and 13th to donate! All proceeds will be donated to a local food bank and support people in need of critical food supplies. Between 8am and 9am every morning at the entrances for the first, second and third floor there will be boxes set up to drop off your non-perishable items!
FROM THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTRE:
On Thursday, November 12th, there will be a virtual presentation for students at Northern who need information regarding academic support at the post secondary level. The target audience would be a student with an IEP looking to have some accommodations follow them to their post secondary institution.
**The time and link to the presentation will be emailed to parents and students early next week**
Presenter:
Angela Lecompte, M.Ed.
Accessibility Counsellor
Student Accessibility Services
York University
From the Student Activity Council:
Check out an important message from the School Affairs Council (SAC) here: SAC Video
Social Justice Speakers Series
The Social Justice Club will be hosting our first event in our online speakers series on Tuesday, November 10th at 3:30. We are proud to welcome guest speaker Michelle Shephard. Shephard is an award winning journalist, producer and author. Ms. Shephard will be discussing journalism, the story of Omar Khadr, the war on terror, and her investigative journalism on the plight of the Uyghurs. For more information, go to our instagram account @nss.socialjustice.
School Council:
Thank-a-teacher- as we approach the end of the first quadmester, we want to encourage parents to write a quick email to teachers, staff, or administration to recognize the efforts that they have put forth to adapt to extraordinary changes and keep student success a priority amidst many challenges. We appreciate their efforts to make this quadmester as meaningful as possible and look forward to a time when we can say thank you in person!
Post-Secondary Planning Overview- slides from the presentation last week by the guidance team are available on our website under “What’s On”.
"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 notes from meetings and presentations, resources, and upcoming events!
Gifted Advisory Committee (GAC):
GAC presents: Study Skills and other Tips for Student Success in 2020-21 - Tues. Nov. 10, 7:00 p.m.
We encourage all students and parents to tune in from the comfort of your phone or computer screen at home for this virtual presentation on “How To Find Success at School in 2020”. This is the “2020” version of GAC’s annual Study Skills presentation, with tips added on how to navigate, better manage, and succeed in this unusual school year. Topics include Tips on Working from Home, Organization, Study Skills, and helpful Resources for both academic and social / emotional support.
If you’d like to receive the meeting link, please send an email to northerngifted@gmail.com, and we’ll send it to you on the afternoon of November 10. This virtual presentation is designed to have content and provide support for all types of students in all types of programs. Everyone is very welcome and we especially encourage students to listen in (anonymously if you want), from the comfort of home. We hope that you’ll join us!
Canadian National Math League Contests:
Congratulations to our top 3 CNML#1 contest writers Jonathan Uy, Sam Kim, and Alessia Novielli for their impressive performance on last month’s contest! A special congratulations to Jonathan Uy for being among only a few students in Canada to earn a perfect score!
The NSS Math Department is pleased to announce that the CNML Math Contests will now be conducted fully online. Registration for the next contest, on November 10, is now open to all students, and there is no registration fee!
Interested in testing out your mathematical problem-solving ability? Sign up by Monday, November 9 on our Math Contests Google Classroom, using the class code: j5mmrwq
Please direct any contest questions to stephanie.kendall@tdsb.on.ca
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.
- 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.
The school calendar can be found here:
https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/northernss/Students/Calendar-Schedules
Have a great weekend!
Adam
Follow Me @PrincipalNSS