Email sent on June 11, 2024 to families who have accepted a seat in the Monarch Park International Baccalaureate Programme for grade 9 entry in September 2024 

You all made it to June!  

As you prepare for grade 8 graduation ceremonies and all the fun things that go with the end of elementary school, hopefully your student is equally excited to start their next journey with us in September.  We are completely full with 81 pre-IB grade 9 students.  

As mentioned in the November open house, students who have been successful in the IB programme usually have the following skill set.

• A strong work ethic

• Strong independent learning skills

• Be at or above grade level (gr 8) in our core subjects (Math, Science, English, French)

• Really enjoy school and being challenged academically. 

Please emphasize the importance of these skills with your student.  And continue to work on them over the summer.  This will greatly ease the transition for your student.

Students will not receive their timetables until the first day of school or a couple of days prior.  They will be able to access them through the TDSB Connect app.  There will be Student Ambassadors in the hallways on the first day of school helping our new students find their way.

You all should have received an email from Monarch Park a couple of days ago about Head Start to High School which will take place on Wednesday, August 28th, 2024 for the full day.   This is a great opportunity for your students - especially those who are not coming from one of our local feeder schools - to get to know other grade 9 students without the pressures of being in one of their classes.

As a reminder, you can find out more information about our IB programme on our google site: 

https://sites.google.com/tdsb.on.ca/mpcib/accepted-to-pre-ib-current-gr-8s

Email sent on February 5, 2024 to families who have accepted a seat in the Monarch Park International Baccalaureate Programme for grade 9 entry in September 2024 

As you may be aware, the Ministry of Education has put in a requirement for Ontario students to complete a technology credit in either grade 9 or 10 (press release linked here).

IB students do not have a lot of leeway in their schedules as the vast majority are requirements.  As such, we are advising our pre-IB students to take either the technology course or civics and careers in grade 9 and the other in grade 10.  Leaving one of the courses until grade 10 only leaves one elective course for the students as 6/8 courses were already required.  Many students may opt to complete their technology credit and/or their civics and careers credit through summer school.  The TDSB does not offer summer school credits to students prior to grade 9 other than the GLD2O1 credit (link is from last year's program just as an FYI).  Here is the TCDSB summer school information from last year again as an FYI.

Here is the updated Monarch Park pre-IB grade 9 course selection guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11D37XAHdxnNE48chkaPI4G7ZAnBR8yE3fk9NjcUJJrc/edit?usp=sharing

All emails that I've sent in relation to the pre-IB programme at Monarch Park are all posted here for reference.

Email sent on January 31, 2024 to families who have accepted a seat in the Monarch Park International Baccalaureate Programme for grade 9 entry in September 2024     

January 2024

To the parents/caregivers of incoming grade 9 students to the IB programme,

Congratulations on your selection for International Baccalaureate at Monarch Park Collegiate. We are reaching out to share some important information with you about the next few months.

Applicants who are currently not registered with the TDSB will be sent a unique link to a registration form in early February. Please complete and submit the online registration form as soon as you are able and contact [add school name here] to arrange an in-person registration appointment, where you will be required to provide the necessary registration documentation. Registrations should be completed before March 8, 2024. Additionally, your child will be able to select their program courses for next year at the registration appointment.

Current TDSB students can pick their courses through myBlueprint starting on February 5, 2024. Please submit your course selections before the deadline of February 26, 2024.

The TDSB will be reviewing the fee structure for the International Baccalaureate programs for the incoming Grade 9 class of September 2024. More details about the fee structure and financial supports will be made available once they are known.

If you decide over the next few weeks that our program is not for you, or that you are going to attend your designated school by address, Special Education Intensive Support Program or continue in a French language program, please immediately notify the following by email so that the seat can be given to the first student on the waiting list:

• Our school guidance OA: yvonne.mascioli@tdsb.on.ca 

• Your current TDSB school

• CSIP@tdsb.on.ca

We want to allow as many students as possible to participate in this Central Student Interest Program opportunity. The final day that offers can be made is February 21, 2024.

We look forward to providing your student with rich and dynamic academic rigour through International Baccalaureate programming over the next four years, tapping into their keen interest and passion.

Amalia Pallas

Principal
Monarch Park Collegiate

Email sent December 15, 2023 welcoming families who have accepted seats in the Monarch Park IB programme September 2024 entry.

Hello Families of future Monarch Park pre-IB students!

I am honoured to be the first to welcome you to the Monarch Park family.  Monarch Park is a fantastic community with opportunities for all students.  The IB programme is one of the extra special things that we do.

Many of you have started reaching out to find out more about next year.  I’m hoping to address your excitement in this email.  The main question has been “what should my student do to get ready for the pre-IB program?”

The answer is they don’t need to do anything.  However, many students find that they aren’t having to do any homework in grade 8 and then the transition can be a bit challenging as there will be homework in grade 9.  Here are some things that we’ve suggested to some families in grades 8 and 9 to ease the transition:

ENGLISH

• Encourage your student to read a novel of their choosing for at least 20 minutes a day if they’re not already doing so.  

MATH

• Work on memorizing their multiplication tables up to 12x12 (or further if they’d like)

• Work on quick addition and subtraction without a calculator as our math assessments are divided into two sections - one with a calculator and one without.  

• A solid knowledge base on working with fractions will also be helpful.  

• The University of Waterloo has some excellent math resources if they'd like to get ahead:  https://courseware.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/https://courseware.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/

• BHN Math is also a fantastic resource to look ahead or fill in gaps.  This link goes directly to the grade 9 math page but you can look around for gap filling resources as well:  https://www.bhnmath.ca/students/courses/mth1w1/

FRENCH

• For French, students can try watching some programming in French to improve their accent and listening skills.  There is a focus on grammar & writing, listening and speaking French.

• French at Monarch Park and in the IB program is taught at the Core level.  If your student is coming from the French Board, please sign them up for grade 10 pre-IB French (FSF2D7) instead of grade 9 pre-IB French (FSF1D7).  Students coming from immersion have the option of signing up for the grade 9 or grade 10 French - please consult with their current grade 8 teacher for advisement.  They must be strong in grammar and writing to omit the grade 9 course.  If the teacher is not sure, please email me and we can do an assessment.  Students coming from Extended French should sign up for the grade 9 French (FSF1D7).

ALL

• Build daily work habits in a space with minimal distractions.  There will be homework most days in high school.  Plan to allocate 1-1.5 hours a day in grade 9.  This can be practice to help solidify, it can be reviewing and rewriting notes to help consolidate learning, it can be working on an individual or group assessment, it can be reading material ahead of time to prepare for an upcoming lesson, or many other iterations.  Often, students come to high school rarely having done much homework and they have trouble adjusting.  Please have them start working into a daily habit now.  If they do not have homework from their grade 8 teacher, please have them work through this independent learning Learning Strategies course provided by TVO Learn: https://tvolearn.com/collections/courses/products/gls1o-learning-strategies-1-skills-for-success-in-secondary-school-online-course.  TVO Learn has numerous other courses available at the high school level that are freely available if students want to look ahead or require additional resources in high school. 

• Practice note taking skills in their current classes (lessons on Note Taking available in the Learning Strategies course listed above).

• Create a visual block schedule where they have allocated daily time for reviewing their learning from the day and completing homework as well as their scheduled responsibilities and extra-curricular activities.

• Work on mindfulness through breathing exercises or finding ways to ground themselves when they are stressed.  There are a plethora of mental wellness links on the Monarch Park Student Services webpage: https://sites.google.com/tdsb.on.ca/mpcstudentservices/mental-health-resources

** Please remember that the TDSB Policy is that students who leave the IB program at any point during their high school career must return to their homeschool by address.  This will occur as soon as they are no longer in the pre/IB classes. **

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me: karen.doherty-ross@tdsb.on.ca or 416-393-0190 x20109

I'm looking forward to meeting you and your student in September.

               
Karen Doherty Ross (she/her)

Secondary Teacher, IB coordinator and Guidance

Monarch Park CI
1 Hanson St, Toronto, ON M4J 1G6
416-393-0190 x20109
karen.doherty-ross@tdsb.on.ca