Dear UCC Families,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jill Strimas as our new Director of Academics. In this role, Jill will collaborate with colleagues across the College to support our exceptional continuum of teaching and learning.

We welcome Jill to UCC from Branksome Hall where she currently serves as the Director of Boarding and the Coordinator of Faculty Growth. Jill is a respected academic leader with more than 15 years of experience in independent schools. In her current roles, Jill has enhanced the culture of care and support for the school’s boarding program as well as led initiatives including the development of a new teacher evaluation model, an interdisciplinary mentorship program, and an individualized growth program for established faculty.

An experienced educator, Jill was the Instructional Leader of English at Branksome Hall for eight years and has guided teaching teams in delivering both the Ontario and International Baccalaureate curricula. Additionally, she spent many years in Branksome’s senior school teaching English, Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and film studies. 

She is a frequent collaborator with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and has led global pilot projects for Film Studies, Language and Literature and TOK. Notably in 2022, Jill and Jordan Small were recognized with a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence for their work with Indigenous thought leaders and creators to reshape curriculum design and integrate Indigenous knowledge frameworks in English and TOK courses.

Jill holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Victoria College at the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and is undertaking her Master’s of Education at the University of Ottawa.

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Jill as she joins UCC!

Warm regards,

Julia Kinnear
Head of the Preparatory School
Academic Dean

The College's calendar of school holidays and key dates is available at the following link: Major Dates 2024–25 Calendar.

Tickets for this year's Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Music Festival (CISMF) will go on sale Friday, March 1, 2024 at noon and will close on Monday, April 1, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.

There is a limit of 2 tickets per family. If the box office finds multiple purchases (more than 2 tickets) to the same family between March 1 and April 1, all tickets will be refunded. If availability allows, families may be able to purchase additional seats during a public sale on April 2 beginning at 10:00 a.m. 

Click here to purchase tickets (link will not be active until March 1 at noon) and use the promo code CISMF2024. Be sure to purchase early as tickets for last year's festival sold out within 90 minutes!

DGN-Kilters will be conveniently stationed on campus with their mobile sales van, located just outside the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex on Tuesday, March 5 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Prep and Upper School families will have the opportunity to purchase warm weather dress uniforms only, as well as facilitate exchanges or returns. 

Warm weather dress begins on Monday, March 25 for all students. 

From the theatrical phenomenon of “Barbenheimer” to surprising releases like Poor Things, to foreign films like Fallen Leaves and Anatomy of a Fall, it is another great year for cinema!

In the spirit of celebrating the motion pictures, The College Film Club would like to invite you to participate in the annual UCC Oscar Pool! As we near the day of the awards (March 10) you can have a little fun and try to pick the winner for each Oscar category. 

Points will be accumulated for each correct guess, with the scores weighed differently depending on the relative prestige of the category.

It's free to join and we have wonderful prizes!

3x$50 Toronto International Film Festival gift cards will be awarded to the highest-scoring individual in each category:

1) Student 

2) Staff and faculty 

3) Community (parents, Old Boys, etc.)

Please feel free to share the link below with your UCC community contacts.

Go to our UCC Film's website to enter. You are free to use your UCC email as long as you don’t choose Google login since IT does not allow registration of this website. Here is the full set of instructions if you run into any problems.

A couple of quick notes: 

• Picks can be changed up to the start of the ceremony's broadcast.

• You must use your full name (first and last). Anyone using abbreviations or nicknames will be ineligible for the prizes.

If you want to catch up on a few films, many of them are available right now at TIFF. 

Do you know a volunteer who has made a significant contribution to College life? If so, the UCC Association would like to know by midnight on March 20, 2024.

The Harold A.D. Roberts Circle Award is given annually in recognition of substantial contributions or special service by members of the UCC community, either through short-term involvement or long-term commitment. It recognizes those who go above and beyond the call of duty to significantly improve the UCC Association and the College. 

This award complements the John D. Stevenson Award and expands the ability to recognize outstanding contributions to UCC. The 2023 recipients were Barry Hill ’62, Matt Flynn ’96,  Sarah D’Souza, Zachary Schwartz ’05, and Dr. Samantha Nutt.

Nominations are welcome from all members of the College community in written format. They should include information about the nature and time of the nominee's volunteer service and the reason for the nomination. Please click here to fill out the online nomination form.

All nominations will be reviewed by the awards committee and the recipient(s) will be selected by the Association Council. Nominations must be submitted by midnight on March 20, 2024.

With the March Break ahead of us, the UCC Health Centre team would like to remind families about staying safe and healthy while travelling.

Recently, TPH announced an investigation of a confirmed case of measles linked to travel. This virus continues to spread in many parts of the world. If you are planning to leave the country over March Break, get the best protection for you and your loved ones by staying up-to-date with your routine vaccines, including the measles vaccine.

We encourage you to stay up-to-date with your child’s routine vaccines. They are available from your primary health care provider or at a TPH community clinic for school-aged children by appointment. Visit TPHbookings.ca for more information. If you are unsure of your child’s vaccination status, check their yellow card (Ontario Immunization Record), TPH’s Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON) or by speaking with their primary health care provider. 

To learn more, visit toronto.ca/immunization or contact TPH at publichealth@toronto.ca, or 416-338-7600 (TTY: 416-392-0658), Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Please join us for our annual Norval Maple Madness Open House on Sunday, March 24 from 10–12 p.m. or 1–3 p.m. 

All members of the UCC community are welcome to attend and tour the sugar bush, learn how trees are tapped, see sap boiled into syrup and even get a taste test. 

Back at Stephen House, we will have pancakes and sausages with real Norval maple syrup, plus an assortment of other goodies and refreshments.

At this time of year, our trails can be quite muddy and often slippery. Rubber or snow boots are recommended. Come dressed for the weather, and we suggest bringing towels or a change of clothes for the drive home. Dogs on leashes are welcome to join (but won’t have access to the indoors)

Click here to register or contact Amanda Vieira-Hasz in the Association Office at 416-488-1125, ext. 2038.

Parking information
There is limited parking on the Norval Campus. Please consider coordinating with fellow attendees to share rides and reduce the number of vehicles on the grassy area. Additionally, we recommend using vehicles with four-wheel drive if available.

Directions
Take Highway 401 west to Winston Churchill Boulevard. Follow Winston Churchill Boulevard north and go through the Village of Norval. Continue straight ahead. The entrance to the Norval property is on your left, 1.2 km north of the village stoplight. The drive takes about 50 minutes from UCC in light traffic.

In celebration of Greek Heritage Month, we are excited to announce that The Hellenic Culture Club, along with their parent volunteers, will be hosting our second annual Panegyri (Greek Festival) on Thursday, March 28, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Upper School Student Centre. Building on the success of last year's event, we anticipate this year's festival to be even more vibrant and engaging!

The Panegyri will feature a variety of activities, delicious Greek cuisine and informative tables. 

Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks as we finalize the schedule and offerings for the day. We encourage all members of the UCC community to mark their calendars and join us for this cultural celebration and create lasting memories together. 

OPA!

Christos Paschalidis
Hellenic Culture Club Supervisor