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Dear Northern Families,

We welcomed a full house of prospective students and their families this past week. Thank You to all our students and staff who assisted in putting the events on- both afternoon and evening!

That was followed up by our WInterlude ARts Night on Wednesday. Another fantastic turn out. Thank You to our staff, performers, and of course audience members!

Please see Trustee Rachel Chernos Lin’s most recent NEWSLETTER.

While exams are still a little over a month away we are starting to try and put an emphasis on preparation...this coming Tuesday December 19^th we have an exam prep session in room 111 at lunch.

As we approach the semester one exams, we are aware that this can be a stressful time for students, especially for those that have not been through a high school exam before.  Northern is Here to Help! 

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

The Special Education ARC department is preparing for exams and has surveyed students with computer accomodations on their IEP. We are building self advocacy skills and would like your help by asking you to confirm with your child/ward that they have completed the Google Form emailed to them Wednesday. The deadline is next Friday - Dec 22nd. If your child has any questions please tell them to come to room 112 and speak to Ms. Kearney or email amanda.kearney@tdsb.on.ca.

The easiest way to figure out your exam schedule is to just look at the days below…however, I am attaching the EXAM SCHEDULE this week with courses that actually are running exams.    Exams will be written in the regular classroom.  Students with IEP accommodations will have access organized through our Special Education department heads.  Exams will range from 1-3 hours in length INCLUDING additional time.  This means the longest exam would be 2 hours and additional time (1.5 time) makes that 3 hours.  All students will have access to this additional time if required.  This approach is to remove as many barriers to success as possible. 

Exams:  First semester exams will be held from Wednesday January 24^th to Monday January 29^th.  Students will follow their Day 1 schedule as follows for exams:

Wednesday January 24^th- Period 1 Exam

Thursday January 25^th- Period 2 Exam

Friday January 26^th- Period 3 Exam

Monday January 29^th- Period 4 Exam

ALL exams will begin at 10am.  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 11:40am lunchtime). Teachers have shared with students if there is an exam for their classes.  There may be changes to this up to and including Friday December 15th, but there will be no change to the four day cycle laid out above.  As an example, if I have math period 2 on a day 1, I will write my math exam Thursday January 25^th at 10am.

CULMINATING TASKS AND EXAMS While we are a few months away from the end of the Semester, it is important to remind all families of the following information related to culminating activities 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.

 

Upcoming Week:

1. Monday-Friday: Spirit Week! (details below)

2. Tuesday:  Exam Prep Session room 111 at lunch

3. Wednesday:  Late Start @9:55am

Winter Spirit Week

Hey Staff and Students! The holidays are here, so let's celebrate with some festive spirit and activities.  Next week is Winter spirit week - join us in sharing your holiday cheer!

Monday: Pj Day - Wear your pajamas to school!      At lunch in the foyer there will be winter crafts.

Tuesday: Holiday Hat day (Wear your winter accessories!)     Movie at lunch in the auditorium at noon (no food inside!) 

Wednesday: Flannel and Frost (wear either a flannel or snow/white/silver)    Photobooth in the hall at lunch.  

Thursday: Festive Spirit Day (wear some festive colours or school spirit wear)   Cast your door decorating VOTES @SACNSS Instagram

Friday:  Sweater Day (ugly or awesome sweaters)    Holiday treats in the front foyer throughout lunch.  Bring change!  

Happy Holidays Northern!

 

Review of Legacy Technical and Commercial Boundaries:

As part of the Long-Term Program and Accommodation Strategy, the TDSB aims to address outdated technical and commercial boundaries that exist in certain areas of the city.

These outdated boundaries were established during a time of academic-vocational streamlining, but now hinder equity of access. The Board is proposing the dissolution of these legacy boundaries by September 2025 to provide equal access to all Toronto students.

The affected schools include Central Technical School, Central Toronto Academy, Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute, Northern Secondary School, Victoria Park Collegiate Institute, and Western Technical-Commercial School. The proposed changes would not affect current programs. 

I encourage you to attend public engagement opportunities, which are scheduled for mid-January 2024 through three virtual meetings, details of which will be provided before the winter break.

For more information, please visit the Boards’ Secondary Program Review which can be found here: www.tdsb.on.ca/High-School/Secondary-Program-Review

A webpage dedicated to the review of legacy technical and commercial boundaries can be found here: www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Search-All-Reviews/id/189

 

Northern trip to Chicago:

We are sorry to announce that we have cancelled the Northern trip to Chicago scheduled over March break. Edutravel will be contacting parents to reimburse all finds. You may contact Flora Wellsman if you have any  Questions or concerns - flora.wellsman@tdsb.on.ca

 

Library:

 1) Library Book Returns

Hi Parents and Guardians! 

Please help your Northern Student look for their overdue Library Books and return them to the Library. There are no library fines for students to pay and they are welcome to sign out new books! We want to get some of our missing titles back in circulation. 

2) Chromebooks (aka 1:1 Devices) ????

If your teenager has not yet received their Chromebook, they can pick it up in the Library Learning Commons any day of the week, outside of class time, during afternoon Library Drop-in times:

→ Monday to Friday, 12:20-12:40 pm (the last 20 minutes of lunch)

→ Mon. Wed. Fri., 3:15-3:45 pm

→ Tues. & Thurs., 3:15-4:15 pm

 

Student Success:

Peer Tutoring- Peer Tutoring is now available! We are able to offer tutoring support in all compulsory subjects for Grades 9 and 10. Students, please complete the Tutee Registration Form in order to be matched with a Peer Tutor this semester.

 

 Northern Secondary School Foundation

Season’s Greetings from the Northern Secondary School Foundation. May your holiday season bring many moments of peace and joy!

 Your support has enabled us to-

Honour outstanding student achievement in our scholarship program.

Help fund new student initiatives in Robotics.

Recognize excellence in teaching and learning.

It’s  not too late  to make a tax-refundable donation to the Foundation at www.nssf.ca/donate  to help up continue our work in 2024.

For more information, contact us at info@nssf.ca

 

School Council:

Thank a Teacher. As the calendar year draws to a close, we encourage all Northern students and families to think about Northern staff who have made a difference to them this school year and consider sending a note of thanks. Who has really made an impact for you?

 

Guidance Updates:

1. Guidance Week-in-Review:

• Our Grade 8 Welcome events were a HUGE success this past Tuesday. The biggest THANK YOU to all staff, students and parents who made this event a welcoming, warm, supportive and fun day!  There has been so much positive feedback from our community – Go Northern!

Guidance Week Ahead:

• Exam Prep Session room 111 at lunch hosted by Mr. Moyer (Sp.Ed. Gifted) & Ms. Stassis (Guidance)
• Guidance is planning for Course Selection for the 2024/2025 school year.

2. Semester 2 Night School Registration and Course Offerings:

Continue to check our website for updates as all of our information you can find here: https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/conedsecondarycreditprogram/

Registration Opens: December 1, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. and Closes January 19, 2024.

3. TDSB eLearning Semester 2: Registration OPENS December 5, 2023 at 10 am.

For more information and course offerings click here.

            Options are filling up fast! Don’t wait to register!

4. University of Toronto Outreach Opportunities: 
   Summer Mentorship Program:

• Program Dates: Four Weeks in July 2024
• Application deadline: First Deadline January 12, 2024
• The Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) gives high school students of Indigenous or African ancestry a chance to explore health sciences at the University of Toronto over four weeks in July.
• Click here to APPLY

STEAM Design:

• Program Dates: July 2 - 26, 2024
• The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Design Program is an experiential learning program with an equity focus, as it is designed for grades 10-12 students identifying with groups that are underrepresented in health sciences (i.e. Black, Indigenous, Filipino, Latin American, racialized, and/or from any background experiencing socio-economic barriers)
• Click here to APPLY

Blueprint

• Program Dates: July 8 – August 2, 2024
• Blueprint is an academic enrichment program designed for highly motivated Black students interested in science and engineering. Blueprint is open to students currently in Grades 10 and 11, and are interested in careers in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math).
• Click here to APPLY

5. 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.

6. Post Secondary Updates:

1. UPDATE FROM OUAC: Holiday Hours
   The OUAC department is officially closed for the holidays from
   December 22, 2023 to January 2, 2024, inclusive. The OUAC website and online
   applications WILL BE available during this time.

2. Do you have questions about how to access accommodations at your post-secondary school? This chart lists each university's policy/needs around what is required to get accommodations: https://caddac.ca/wp-content/uploads/Post-Secondary-documentation-Requirements-Chart.pdf

3. NSS Post-Secondary Individual School Lunch Visits 2023/24

4. NSS Post-Secondary Guide is here!

7. Scholarship Information:

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

2. Seeking Scholarships has released their November Scholarship Report which has upcoming scholarship dates listed for students applying to post-secondary programs. It also has some great tips this month for writing scholarship essays

Northern students, teachers, and families can access from this link using the password, scholar58: https://seekingscholarships.com/the-scholarship-report-2/

Please note: This resource is copyrighted and only available to Northern families - please do not share outside of the Northern community. 

8. 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.

 

Have a great weekend,

Adam Marshall

Principal

Follow me @PrincipalNSS