The Upper School will participate in UCC’s Winterfest on Friday, Jan. 19, a day to show school spirit and support our diverse athletic teams. Many of our students and colleagues will take part by attending athletic fixtures scheduled throughout the day and wearing blue and white spirit gear. 

We are very excited to celebrate this special day with our Prep community! For the first time, Year 4 and 5 students will come to the Upper School for a basketball game (and cotton candy!). In the afternoon, there will also be a Year 7 and 8 hockey game in the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex, with several Year 8 and 9 students in the stands. We look forward to cheering together and are eager to build our community and make good memories across year levels.

Please see the special events this week included in this schedule.

We hope to see our students celebrating their school spirit during Winterfest!

The Upper Leadership Team

Course selection for the 2024–25 academic year is underway for students entering Year 9, 10 and 11.

Deadlines
Students must have course selections ​and ​online parent/guardian approval completed as follows:
Friday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. | Year 8 students entering Year 9
Friday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. | Year 9 students entering Year 10
Friday, March 1 at 4 p.m. | Year 10 students entering Year 11 

The course request system for each year will be closed according to the schedule above. 

Parent/guardian approval process
Please use the following steps to complete the approval process: 

Review student choices in their Bluenet account (login required).

• Have students log in to ​their Bluenet account ​and view selections. 

• There are specific directions available in a link in their Bluenet. 

• Any course a student wishes to change can be deleted by using the trash can icon. Then add the preferred course.

Approve course selections by ​the dates above.

• Log in to Bluenet with your parent/guardian account.

• Click the yellow banner at the top of the page alerting you to the school form.

• Click the ​REVIEW​ button next to the ​appropriate course selection approval for 2024–25 form​. There are three separate forms — one for each year level.

• Follow the prompts on the form in order to submit your approval. Only one parent/guardian needs to approve the ​course selection form​. 

• You will receive a message upon submission of your approval.

If you would like to discuss your student’s choices before approving them, please contact one of the university counsellors listed below: 

Students entering Year 9, 10 or Year 11: 

David Thompson, Bremner's and Howard's 

David Hanna, Jackson's 

Stephanie Rose, McHugh’s, Mowbray’s, Martland’s (L-Z)

Nili Isaacs, Orr's, Scadding's, Martland’s (A-K)

Andrew Turner, Seaton's and Wedd's

Thank you for your ongoing support as we prepare for the 2024–25 academic year.

Dear UCC Parents/Guardians,

The Upper School three-way conferences will be taking place in-person on Wednesday, Feb. 14 from 2–8 p.m., and virtually (via Google Meet links) on Thursday, Feb. 15 from 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m.

Feedback is an important tool to help students grow through their educational journey. The Upper School’s three-way conferences provide an opportunity for this to take place. 

In-person interviews will be held in five-minute intervals. Students are expected to attend and participate in these interviews with their parents/guardians to encourage ownership over their learning and develop self-advocacy skills. 

Virtual interviews will be held in five-minute intervals via Google Meet. Students are expected to attend and participate in these interviews.

*It’s important that you access the Google Meet link at the time of your scheduled appointment, and not before. Please use your email address and not your child’s UCC email. Upon entry, you will be placed in a “waiting room” until the meeting begins. At the start of the meeting, introduce yourself so that the teacher can confirm that the conversation is about your child. Please keep the conversation to the scheduled five minutes so that our faculty can meet with all families during the selected interview time slots.

Please feel free to book appointments on campus, virtually, or a combination of both. Registration must be completed through our pickAtime booking system. Please see below for instructions on how to book your appointments.

Accessing pickAtime

Each faculty member will have appointment times available between the opening and closing of each day. You will see their availability on the pickAtime system. You can begin scheduling appointments when the pickAtime system opens as follows:

pickAtime opens: Friday, Jan. 19 at 9 a.m.
pickAtime closes: Tuesday, Feb. 13 at noon

Please click here for instructions on how to book conferences. Please ensure that you can print or access your schedule when you’ve finished booking. 

Sincerely,

Joe Smith

Assistant Head of the Upper School

On January 16, the Upper School Academic Team hosted a virtual course information evening for Year 10 parents, outlining course options in the Diploma Programme leading up to course selection. Please find a recording of the presentation here (passcode: 3%v$GySX), as well as the presentation slides.

Dear Year 11 Parents,

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the Year 11 parent information evening. It was wonderful to have an opportunity to connect with such an engaged and positive group of parents. 

Please find a recording of the session, as well as the presentation slides. 

Lastly, in order to continue to improve on future iterations of this event and ones like it, we would appreciate anyone who is able to take a few minutes to give us feedback using this form.

Sincerely,

Maria Gauthier
Year 11 Year Level Coordinator

Andrew MacDougall
Assistant Head of the Upper School

The Upper School will observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, Jan. 22 in our Principal’s Assembly. We are honoured to have Holocaust survivor Elly Gotz as our special speaker. Interviewed by Ms. Rachel Metalin, Mr. Gotz will reflect on his life experiences and answer community questions, focusing on the dangers and impact of living with hatred.

Is your son missing clothing, bags, water bottles or shoes?

All lost and found items will be on display outside the Lower Dining Hall from Friday, Jan. 12 to Friday, Jan. 26. Parents and students are encouraged to drop by during school hours and take a look to see if anything is yours. Note that after January 26, any remaining items will be donated to charity.

If you have any questions, please email The Used Blues Store (TUBS) team.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, Year 8s from Havergal have kindly been invited to a skating and cookie decorating social at the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex. The social will take place after school from 4–6 p.m. and there will be pizza and hot chocolate to enjoy!

Although students do not need to be able to skate to enjoy socializing with their peers in the Foster Hewitt Foundation Lounge, please note that students MUST have appropriate safety equipment if they are going on the ice and will not be permitted to skate without the necessary gear. Please ensure they have an approved helmet if they are planning to skate. 

A permission form will be sent to parents via email for consideration. There will be a limit of 50 participants from each school.

Many thanks for your support and best wishes,

Alvin Jugoon and Gillian Levene

We are excited to offer this unique partnership opportunity with Collège Jean-Eudes, one of Montreal’s top high schools, for students Year 9–11 students. UCC students will interact with French-speaking students as they collaboratively create and share a business venture guided by principles of social entrepreneurship. 

The students from Collège Jean-Eudes are already working on exciting business proposals that will be submitted in a competition with JA Quebec, and they want our support! This work is done within the framework of a course called Sensibilisation à l’entrepreneuriat.

Interested students will have an opportunity to create their own pitch to present to the group or simply engage in authentic conversations with the aim of providing meaningful feedback. Along the way, all participants will get a chance to grow and refine their mastery of French conversation in a business context.

As part of this program, there will be four virtual meetings and an opportunity for students to visit each other's schools in person. If you are interested in participating, students are asked to complete this Google form by Jan. 22. 

All respondents will be invited to an information session which will be held during Flex Time on Jan. 22 in Room 247. Please watch for the invitation on the morning of.

Virtual meeting dates during Flex Time:

• Tuesday, Jan. 30

• Monday, Feb. 12

• Tuesday, Feb. 20 

• Tuesday, March 28

For any other information, you may reach out to Sophia Berezowsky, chair of the Modern Languages Department.

We have an exciting opportunity coming up for Year 9 and 10 students to attend a dance at Branksome Hall. The dance will be a Y2K-themed event (come dressed in your best circa 2000s wear). 

Friday, Feb. 2, 2024

8–10 p.m. 

AWC Gym at Branksome Hall (6 Elm Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4W 1N4)

Cost: $15 (billed to your UCC account)

Snacks provided

If students are interested in attending, please have them fill in this sign-up form to secure an invite. We will request spaces based on demand from sign-ups. If you have any questions please contact Lindsay Rielly (Year 9 Coordinator) or Sarah Khalanski (Year 10 Coordinator). 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

On the evening of Feb. 6, we will be hosting a parent/guardian information session for the Class of 2028. The goal is to provide information about the academic program, ongoing support for academic success, extracurricular opportunities as well as social and emotional wellbeing. 

Please indicate here if you will be attending so that we may prepare for your arrival.

Time: 6:30–8 p.m.

Format: In-person

Location: Manucha & Bellamy Studio Theatre (Room 201)

Many thanks for your support!

Gillian Levene and Alvin Jugoon

On Feb. 12 and 13, the Language and Literature department is thrilled at the opportunity to welcome Marvin Karon and Shakespearience to UCC. Marvin and company will join our Year 8 classes to complement our current unit of study focusing on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. 

Shakespearience is a dynamic, interactive in-class workshop led by certified teachers with extensive acting backgrounds. Each of the 75-minute sessions will be guided by a seasoned professional actor sharing specific acting experience, techniques and even a few trade secrets to make Shakespeare immediately accessible, relevant and enjoyable. Our teaching team is excited to learn alongside our students in what will surely be a memorable event.

UCC's Outdoors Club is running its annual winter snowshoeing trip in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park from March 1–4, 2024. We will hike into the backcountry hauling sleds, camp out in tents with wood stoves, and cook over campfires. The trip will be supervised by Mr. Borden, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Murtaza.

Please see here for more information on the trip and here for the trip’s agenda.

If you are interested in coming, please complete the permission form here. Permission forms are due by lunch on Feb. 13. Note that the trip will be filled on a first come, first served basis. We can accommodate 5–12 students.

Sincerely,

Dave Borden
UCC Outdoors Club Supervisor