Upper School

Attendance

To report an absence, please call 416-631-0082 and select the Upper School menu option.

Main Office Administrator 

Rosa Schawill

rschawill@hudsoncollege.ca

416-631-0082 ext. 119

Academics 

Frank DeFina, Upper School Principal

fdefina@hudsoncollege.ca

Jack Bavington, Upper School Director

jackbavington@hudsoncollege.ca

Guidance 

Lisa Streff, Head of Guidance (University counselling, individual education plans, learning skills, social-emotional support)

lstreff@hudsoncollege.ca

416-631-0082 ext. 104

Student Affairs (Course selection and changes, attendance, discipline-related concerns/issues, small fees in QuickSchools, social-emotional support)

Jeff Gaffen, Head of Student Affairs

jgaffen@hudsoncollege.ca

416-631-0082 ext. 410

Admissions & Fees

Ha-My Nguyen, Head of Admissions

hamynguyen@hudsoncollege.ca

416-631-0082 ext. 108

Student Life & Leadership (Events, orientation, camp excursions)

James McMaster, Coordinator

jmcmaster@hudsoncollege.ca 

Student Programs & International Student Support

Matilda Knarr, Student Support & Programs Assistant

mknarr@hudsoncollege.ca 

Technology

Dan Hyslop, IT Manager

IT@hudsoncollege.ca

Please see our faculty and staff page for individual teacher bios.

Faculty

• Brooke Cafaro, bcafaro@hudsoncollege.ca (English & Social Science)

• Suzanna Cermak, scermak@hudsoncollege.ca (English, Drama, Canadian & World Studies)

• Sarah Daldoss, sdaldoss@hudsoncollege.ca (Science/Biology/Chemistry/ Environmental Science)

• Lucas Fitch, lfitch@hudsoncollege.ca (Humanities & English)

• Jeff Gaffen, jgaffen@hudsoncollege.ca (Mathematics)

• Matt Leiss, mleiss@hudsoncollege.ca (Mathematics & Computer Studies)

• James McMaster, jmcmaster@hudsoncollege.ca (Health & Physical Education, Social Sciences, Business Studies, & French)

• Dylan Mimna, dmimna@hudsoncollege.ca (Science & Mathematics)

• Austin Muckinhaupt, amuckinhaupt@hudsoncollege.ca (Canadian & World Studies, English)

• Yovanny Munoz, ymunoz@hudsoncollege.ca (English as a Second Language, Business Studies, Humanities, & Spanish)

• Kurt Nielsen, knielsen@hudsoncollege.ca (Music)

• Sayi Panandiker, spanandiker@hudsoncollege.ca (French)

• Dolly Patel, dpatel@hudsoncollege.ca (Media Arts & Visual Arts)

• Marco Reda, mreda@hudsoncollege.ca (Health & Physical Education)

• Ron Uba, ruba@hudsoncollege.ca (Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Technology, & Business Studies)

• Andrew Winter, awinter@hudsoncollege.ca (Canadian World Studies, English)

• Sining Yang, syang@hudsoncollege.ca (Science/Chemistry & Mathematics)

Administrators

• Alumni Coordinator: Bailey McMullen, bmcmullen@hudsoncollege.ca

• Communications Coordinator: Emma Macklin, emacklin@hudsoncollege.ca

• Director of Athletics: Marco Reda, mreda@hudsoncollege.ca

• Director of Enrollment: Michelle Gow, mgow@hudsoncollege.ca

• International Admissions & School Director: Sai Li, saili@hudsoncollege.ca

• Main Office Administrator: Rosa Schawill, rschawill@hudsoncollege.ca

• Upper School Principal: Frank DeFina, fdefina@hudsoncollege.ca

• Upper School Director: Jack Bavington, jackbavington@hudsoncollege.ca

• Head of Guidance: Lisa Streff, lstreff@hudsoncollege.ca

• Head of Student Affairs: Jeff Gaffen, jgaffen@hudsoncollege.ca

• Head of Admissions: Ha-My Nguyen, hamynguyen@hudsoncollege.ca

• IT Manager: Dan Hyslop, IT@hudsoncollege.ca

• Student Life & Leadership Coordinator: James McMaster, jmcmaster@hudsoncollege.ca 

• Student Support & Programs Assistant: Matilda Knarr, mknarr@hudsoncollege.ca

The QuickSchools Parent Portal is where you can:

• View report cards and attendance

• Order and cancel hot lunches

• Complete field trip waivers and payments

• Update student allergies and medical information

• Download official receipts for the calendar year (see Online Documents)

New parents will receive an invitation to QuickSchools by email the week before school starts. Please contact Rosa (rschawill@hudsoncollege.ca) for help with your account. The portal is closed for updates during July–August. 

The Finalsite Enrollment and Billing Portal is where you can:

• View upcoming and past charges for tuition, annual school fees and extended care

• Update your preferred payment method 

• Complete re-enrollment forms for the next academic year 

• Submit application forms for siblings

Please contact Ha-My (hamynguyen@hudsoncollege.ca) for help with your Finalsite account.

Remind is a text message and smartphone app service we use to send key dates and information, reminders, and event details to Hudson students from our Student Life, Athletics and Guidance Departments. It is designed specifically for school use.

• Parents/guardians must consent to students receiving these text messages. 

• Students can only receive messages, not send them. They cannot communicate with one another through the service.

• Students do not have to download a separate app to receive messages through Remind. They will receive messages by SMS. 

• Remind is not used for homework reminders/due dates, one-on-one communication or call-outs, and/or disciplinary communication.

• You may opt-out at any time.

• Student contact information will remain confidential. It is not recorded on our other Student Information Systems, nor used to contact students outside of the app. You control information deletion, and should you choose, after signing up, to delete your student’s account, all information will be deleted.

Fall 2025

September 1 Labour Day Holiday

September 2 First Day of School

September 12 Course Withdrawal Deadline

October 10 PD Day - No School

October 13 Thanksgiving Day Holiday

October 23 Midterm

November 6 Parent-Teacher Interviews (TBC)

December 15–18 Final Exams

December 19 Last Day of Fall Semester

December 19 PD Day - No School

Dec. 20–Jan. 4 Winter Break

Winter 2025–26

January 5 First Day of Winter Semester

January 16 Course Withdrawal Deadline

February 13 PD Day - No School

February 16 Family Day Holiday

February 26 Midterm

March 11 Parent-Teacher Interviews (TBC)

March 16–20 Spring Break

April 3 Good Friday Holiday

April 6 Easter Monday Holiday

April 24–29 Final Exams

April 29 Last Day of Winter Semester

Spring 2026

April 30 First Day of Spring Semester

May 1 PD Day - No School

May 8 Course Withdrawal Deadline

May 18 Victoria Day Holiday

May 28 Midterm

June 22-24 Final Exams

June 25 Graduation Ceremony

June 25 Last Day of School

June 26 PD Day - No School

Fall 2025

August 28    Grade 9 Orientation and Parent Welcome

September 10–12 Grade 9 Camp Trip

September 17 Club Fair

September 19 Club and Sports Sign-ups

September 19 House Council Elections

September 24–26 Grade 10 & 11 Camp Trip

September 26 Terry Fox Run and BBQ

September 30 Orange Shirt Day

October 6–9 Homecoming Week

October 9 Pep Rally

October 21 School Photo Day 

October 27– 31 Halloween Spirit Week

November 11 Remembrance Day Assembly (TBC)

December 8–12 Holiday Spirit Week

December 12 Holiday Potluck

Winter 2025–26

January 12–16 Frost Week

January 23   Ski Trip (TBC)

February 9–12 Friendship Week

February 17–20 STEM Week

February 20 Science Fair

February 25 Pink Shirt Day

March 11 House Olympic Games (TBC)

March 12-22 International Trip (Grade 10–12) (TBC)

Spring 2026

April 16 Art Fest (TBC)

May 4–8 Spring Fever

May 15 Culture Day

June 4 Prom (TBC)

June 19 June Day

June 24 Canada’s Wonderland Trip (TBC)

June 25 Grade 12 Graduation Ceremony (TBC)

Fall 2024

September 2 Labour Day Holiday

September 3 First Day of School

September 13 Course Withdrawal Deadline

October 11 PD Day - No School

October 14 Thanksgiving Day Holiday

October 25 Midterm

November 5 Parent-Teacher Interviews

December 16–19 Final Exams

December 20 Last Day of Fall Semester

December 20 PD Day - No School

Dec. 23–Jan. 3 Winter Break

Winter 2024–25

January 6 First Day of Winter Semester

January 17 Course Withdrawal Deadline

February 14 PD Day - No School

February 17 Family Day Holiday

February 26 Midterm

March 10–14 Spring Break

March 18 Parent-Teacher Interviews

April 18 Good Friday Holiday

April 21 Easter Monday Holiday

April 28–May 1 Final Exams

May 2 Last Day of Winter Semester

May 2 PD Day - No School

Spring 2025

May 5 First Day of Spring Semester

May 9 Course Withdrawal Deadline

May 19 Victoria Day Holiday

May 29 Midterm

June 23-25 Final Exams

June 26 Graduation Ceremony

June 26 Last Day of School

June 27 PD Day - No School

Fall 2024

August 29 Grade 9 Orientation and Parent Welcome

September 11–13 Grade 9 Camp Trip

September 16 Club and Sports Sign-ups

September 20 House Council Elections

September 20 Terry Fox Run and BBQ

September 25–27 Grade 10 & 11 Camp Trip

September 30 Orange Shirt Day

October 7–10 Homecoming Week

October 10 Pep Rally

October 22 School Photo Day 

October 28– 31 Halloween Spirit Week

November 11 Remembrance Day

December 2-6         Food Drive

December 9–13 Holiday Spirit Week

Winter 2024–25

January 13–17 Frost Week

January 24 Ski Trip

February 10–13 Friendship Week

February 18–21 STEM Week

February 20 Science Fair

February 26 Pink Shirt Day

March 5 House Olympic Games

March 6-23 International Trip (Grade 10–12)

Spring 2025

March 7 House Olympic Games

April 17 Art Fest

May 12–16 Spring Fever

May 16 Culture Day

June 5 Prom

June 20 June Day

June 25 Canada’s Wonderland Trip

Semester 1 and 2

9:00-10:30 Period 1 

10:30-12:00 Period 2 

12:00-1:00 Lunch 

1:00-2:30 Period 3 

2:30-4:00 Period 4 

4:15-5:30 Optional after-school clubs, sports and teacher tutoring

One period per day will be a Study Period (supervised in Grade 9 and 10).

Semester 3

9:00-12:00 Period 1

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-4:00 Period 2

4:15-5:30 Optional after-school clubs, sports and teacher tutoring

The Upper School occupies the third floors of both the East and West sides of our campus. Each room number aligns with its relative location. For example: Room 304 (3 indicates the 3rd floor on the East Side), Room W304 (3 indicates the 3rd floor, W indicates the West Side).

The first two floors of the West Side are occupied by Stella Maris Elementary School. Hudson students must only use the stairs on the north side of the building to access the third floor on the West Side. 

Key Locations: 

• Gymnasium - 1st floor, East Side 

• iHub - 3rd floor, East Side 

• The Zone - 3rd floor, East Side 

• The Post - 3rd floor, West Side 

• Common Room - 3rd Floor

• Cafeteria - 3rd Floor, East Side 

Students must complete a Locker Registration Form to obtain a locker. School lockers are the property of Hudson College and are loaned to students while enrolled in the College. No posters, markings or writing is allowed on the outside locker doors. Students are responsible for any damage caused to lockers.

For space and safety reasons, backpacks are not allowed in classrooms and must be stored in lockers.

Lockers must be secured with combination locks only. No key locks are allowed. Lockers using key locks will have the lock removed. Hudson College reserves the right to enter lockers in cases of emergency and for health and safety reasons. 

Never share your lock combination number with other students. Be sure your lock is closed each time you use it, and never leave your locker open or unattended. Hudson College accepts no responsibility whatsoever for lost or stolen belongings, or any items removed from student lockers. 

• Do not store valuable items in lockers: they are not completely secure. If for any reason a valuable item needs to be brought to school, please bring it to the Main Office or the Principal for safekeeping.

• Near the end of each school year, the school will have “Locker Clean-out Days” to allow students to remove unwanted materials. Advance notice will be given.

• When a student withdraws, it is their responsibility to remove the lock and locker contents. Hudson will not be responsible for items left in a locker once the student ceases to be enrolled.

• It is the student’s responsibility to look after the personal items at school. Do not leave items like purses, bags, wallets, cell phones, iPods and similar things unattended.

Hudson is a wireless campus and students have internet access through tablets, laptops and personal devices on the designated student WiFi network. Students must follow the guidelines listed in the Code of Conduct (see Upper School Policies) for proper computer usage at all times. 

A list of textbooks will be provided in the first week of school. Students can purchase new and used textbooks at Alpha Textbooks: 

3709 Chesswood Drive Toronto, Ontario M3J 2P6

416-461-3542

To order online, visit alphatextbooks.com and:

• Click on the button “Student Order” and sign up, or log in if you already have an account.

• Select your school - Hudson College.

• A list of textbooks for your courses will be available.

• Place the order; textbooks can be mailed to Hudson College if required.

Digital textbooks may also be available; families can check for digital versions using the ISBN code provided. Administrators will also provide a form for all returning students interested in selling their used textbooks at the beginning of the year, then share the list of available textbooks with all students. 

Students entering Grade 9 will receive a Chromebook with educational software.    

Students entering Grade 10–12 must provide their own laptop meeting the following minimum specifications: 

• Chromebook: 4GB RAM, 32GB Storage, Quad-core or i3 Processor 

• Mac: 8GB RAM, 128GB Storage, i5 Processor or M1 Processor

• PC: 8GB RAM, 250GB Hard-Drive, i5 Processor 

• All: 8-hour rated battery run-time

• All: compatible with Google classroom and cloud services 

Software: Google Chrome Web Browser 

• Google Drive Backup and Sync

• VLC Video Player

• Adobe PDF Reader

(Optional for Mac or PC)

Access to social networks, games, chat sites or anything that will distract from classroom learning will be filtered from the school’s network during the school day. Home and mobile hotspots cannot be controlled without the parental monitoring feature enabled. We can offer setup of these features on parental request.

• Backpack or messenger bag; lunchbag

• #2 pencils, colored pencils and pencil sharpener

• Pens: red, blue, black

• Highlighters

• 30 cm ruler

• Scientific calculator

• Dictionary, thesaurus

• Pocket folders

• 3-ring binders; tabbed dividers; college-ruled loose leaf 3-hole paper

• Single-subject spiral notebooks

• Sticky notes and sticky flags

• Book covers

• Weekly planner

Follow our newsletter for school highlights throughout the year.

Hudson’s young journalists manage the Husky Herald, your source for student news.

Log into the QuickSchools parent portal. It will display attendance for the day. To check previous attendance, click on “see all” under attendance, and you will be able to see the attendance for each month with different colours. 

Blue indicates Present for class. Red/pink indicates that the student is Absent, and the school has not been informed. Orange/brown denotes Absent with excuse, for example, a medical appointment and the school has been informed by the parent(s)/guardian. Light blue indicates that the student is Late /Tardy for class, and the yellow color denotes that the student is Late/Tardy with excuse, for example, a medical appointment and the school has been informed by a parent/guardian.

To make a change in phone number, address or other details, please complete the Contact Information Update form or email Rosa Schawill: rschawill@hudsoncollege.ca

Students begin using myBlueprint in Grade 9 study skills workshops. Students will create personal profiles by answering a variety of academic and personal questions, which will build a variety of unique pathways for each student over time. This information can be used to help students in planning their various university and career pathways. 

Students in all grades use myBlueprint for course selection in the spring semester each year. Students will be guided in grade-specific course selection workshops prior to the course selection due date.

Parents will be automatically emailed for final approval immediately following student course selection. Once approved, the course selection for each student will be forwarded to school administration to create their timetable.

Students are invited to Google Classrooms for each course at the beginning of each semester. Google Classrooms are used by students for assessment submission and as a place to locate class resources, syllabi, and announcements. Parents will receive an email invitation from the school during the second week of each semester to sign up for Classroom email summaries. In these email summaries, you can review your child’s missing work, the upcoming week, class announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers.

To order online, visit alphatextbooks.com and complete the following steps: 

• Click on the “Student Order” button and sign up or log in if you already have an account 

• Select: Hudson College 

• A list of textbooks for your child’s courses will be available 

• Place the order; textbooks can be mailed directly to Hudson College if required 

When ordering your textbooks, there will be a checkbox that you can select if you want only new textbooks or opt for used textbooks where possible. Textbooks can also be purchased in-store to avoid having to wait for an online shipment at: 

Alpha Textbooks 

3709 Chesswood Drive 

Toronto, ON M3J 2P6 

416-461-3542 

Hudson also collects a list of used textbooks for sale by current students (Hudson email account required for access): Used Textbooks for Sale

Please visit or email our Head of Student Affairs Jeff Gaffen to request the change: jgaffen@hudsoncollege.ca