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Dear Upper School Students and Families,

Conversations around phone bans have been a topic of late for schools and families across the GTA due in part to the recent news that the TDSB and some independent schools have implemented a phone ban and blocked social media sites in schools. 

Please allow me to confirm, as outlined in UCC’s Family Handbook, that our current practice generally reflects the changes the TDSB is proposing. UCC’s practice is more proactive and extensive in that restricted phone access includes not only class time but also community time and lunch. Our current practice as outlined in the Family Handbook is:

Policy 

We recognize that most students use cell phones for communication, organization and personal entertainment. However, these devices often have a negative impact on the learning space serving as tools of distraction and disengagement. Increasingly research is pointing to potential harms of mobile phone use in class. Further, as all UCC students have a laptop, mobile phones provide almost no benefit to learning that cannot be provided by their computer. 

Expectations 

Cell devices are not to be used, seen or heard during instructional or community time, which includes during assembly, advising, house meetings, and during lunch in the Lower and Upper Dining Halls and the Student Centre. Mobile devices may be used ONLY if explicitly required by the course/project/curriculum as authorized by the teacher. No student may record or photograph any member of the community anywhere on campus without their explicit permission. Students who connect their personal mobile devices to the College network should expect that anything accessed or transmitted may be discoverable by UCC, thus, the same rules apply regarding anything done that contravenes UCC policies or provincial or federal law.

Disciplinary Consequences

Students who violate UCC’s policy regarding cell phone use will receive an infraction. A second violation of this policy will result in a note home and a formal written reflection to be completed by the student. Students who record others without permission will face a range of disciplinary consequences beginning at conduct advisory. Further violations will result in an escalation of consequences. Please be aware that cell phones can, at the discretion of the teacher/supervisor, be confiscated and picked up at the end of the day at the main office.

Please note that we review the policy annually to make new or updated recommendations for the coming academic year.

In reference to network security, you will be aware that the school currently blocks a number of inappropriate websites and some social media platforms. After a recent network security review, there has been an increase in blocked sites to protect students from distractions during the day. The school will continue to review our network protection provisions. 

Additionally, according to our acceptable use policy, students are not permitted to install or use any software or configurations that circumvent the content filter or firewall, which includes the use of a VPN.

To help the school manage distractions for students, we kindly ask you, as parents, to turn off your child's phone data plan during school hours. This can be done through the APP for most cell phone providers. This will help ensure that students are not bypassing network protections in place at school. Your support is much appreciated. 

Regards, 

Dr. Jeff Aitken

As exams continue at the Upper School, students in Year 8 to 11 are engaged in final summative planning and preparation, while participating in a number of positive community events. This past Fun Friday was a very special event dedicated to raising funds to plant a Japanese Maple tree in memory of Max Ishida '26. It was a moving opportunity for the entire Upper community to contribute to a lasting legacy that will beautify the school and offer a place of tranquillity for everyone to enjoy. Year 10 students led many of the activities, including tennis and baseball, and The Parent Organization generously sold snacks in the Quad, with all proceeds going towards purchasing the commemorative tree.

Parents and guardians of students entering Year 8 in September attended a transition evening where they enjoyed social time, heard from key figures at the Upper School in an assembly in Laidlaw Hall, and went on school tours led by Heads of Houses of the House community their students will join in the fall. This Monday’s Principal’s Assembly honoured Red Dress Day and was very powerful, led solely by student voices including the club head of the Truth and Reconciliation committee highlighting the Moose Hide Campaign, and a Year 10 student reflecting on their experience taking the new Year 11 Ontario English Course: NBE3U, Understanding Contemporary First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Voices. 

The Year 7/ Year 10 mentorship program also started this week at Norval, with our soon-to-be youngest students in the Upper School. They engaged in programming centred around bonding and problem-solving. A great time was had by all and our mentors are excited to spend much more time with their mentees next year!

Year 12 | Leaving Class FAQs and information

Date: Saturday, May 18

Location: Upper Canada College

Ceremony: Hewitt Athletic Centre

Reception: Massey Quad

Schedule of events:

Detailed instructions for graduates 

Please note that this document, as well as more detailed instructions for graduates, has been emailed to the Leaving Class students. Mr. MacDougall will also be reviewing the processional, recessional, and ceremony protocol with the graduates the day before at the Leaving Class Dinner. 

Ceremony Overview
The ceremony will include opening remarks from our Principal Sam McKinney, presentations of diplomas and awards, as well as remarks from the class valedictorian and closing remarks from the Head of the Upper School Dr. Jeff Aitken.  

Following the ceremony, all will be invited to a reception in the Massey Quadrangle. There will be buffet-style food stations with a variety of light food options and desserts. While there is no formal seating in the quad, cruiser-style tables will be placed throughout. Two photo booths will be located in the quad, one of which will be staffed by a hired professional photographer. 

What is the dress code?

Guests: Families may dress in business casual attire; traditional or religious dress is welcome.

Graduates: The dress code for graduates is First Dress, UCC house tie, cap and gown. Stewards wear their UCC blue blazers (not the white blazer). Caps and a rental gown will be provided by UCC. Students have submitted their requested sizing for the gown rental and will be required to pick it up in their house locker room immediately prior to the ceremony, and they will return it to the house locker room following the reception. The cap can be kept as a memento. More details will be provided directly to students with direction as needed by Andrew MacDougall, Assistant Head of the Upper School. Please note that there will be a fee charged to your student account for gowns not returned.

Photography

UCC has hired a professional photographer who will capture a photo of your graduate as they receive their diploma. Additionally, our photographer will be taking a class photo of students in First Dress prior to the graduation ceremony, and a photo of students in their gowns tossing their caps following the ceremony. These photos will be available to families a few weeks following the Leaving Ceremony. 

There will be another photographer present at the reception following the ceremony to capture photos of graduates and their families. These photos will also be made available to families in the weeks following the ceremony. 

Live stream

The Leaving Ceremony will be live-streamed beginning at 9:45 a.m. Please click here to watch the ceremony, which is also being recorded. This link can be shared with family or friends who are unable to attend the ceremony.

Is the Hewitt Athletic Centre wheelchair accessible?

Yes, it is wheelchair accessible. If you require accessibility assistance of any kind, you are asked to email leaving.ceremony2024@ucc.on.ca to advise us of your specific needs. We have also accounted for all the requests that have been made while sending in your RSVPs.

Is there assigned seating?

No, seats are available on a first come, first served basis beginning at 9 a.m. on May 18.

Where can we park?

The Avenue, arena parking lot and the “Parkin surface” will all be available for parking. Guests who have an accessibility parking sticker will be accommodated to park in the west lot. The Bishop Strachan School has kindly made parking available on its premises at 298 Lonsdale Rd. Guests may park in their Lonsdale Road turnaround, the Warren Road or Russell Hill Road surface parking spots between 9 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. BSS is a short five- to seven-minute walk from the College.

Guests with mobility requirements can be dropped off at the west parking lot beginning at 8:45 a.m. and there will be staff there to greet and direct them. 

We look forward to seeing you at the Leaving Ceremony!

Year 12 | Laptop return deadline on May 17

As we approach the end of the school year, we'd like to inform you about the process for returning the MacBook Airs and their power supplies. An email has also been sent to all Year 12 students.

Year 12 students must return their laptops and power supplies before graduation. Both items must be dropped off at the Upper School Help Desk between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. The deadline is Friday, May 17 at 3:30 p.m. Please ensure all files are backed up. 

The laptop must be returned in its case, in good condition, and without damage. Any damage beyond normal wear and tear not covered under AppleCare will be billed to the family's UCC account. Kindly remove stickers from the laptop to avoid potential charges due to excessive sticker residue.

Please return a working Apple 30W power supply designed for the MacBook Air (M1 chip). If you do not return the Apple branded power supply, a replacement charge of $80 will be billed to your account. 

Students are responsible for transferring all their files from the laptops before returning them. Ensure all files are in the UCC Google Drive. Google Takeout can be used to export the files from the UCC account to a preferred location. Once the laptops are returned, they will be wiped immediately, and there will not be another opportunity to access the files. Rest assured, we will securely erase the hard drives. Your UCC Google Drive and email accounts will remain available until the end of October 2024, but we recommend exporting the files before the end of summer.

Year 12 student UCC Gmail and Drive accounts will remain active until Oct. 31, 2024. This allows students ample time to transfer important documents and update any important email contacts. After this date, the UCC account will be deleted, and there will no longer be access to any stored files or emails. Use Google Takeout to move content from the UCC Google environment.

Look for a reminder about the account deletion of your UCC email accounts in early October 2024.

Thanks in advance, and do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Kathleen Peak

Executive Director, Information and Innovation

Year 8 | Students prepare for exams

On Tuesday, May 14 students in Year 8 had a chance to participate in an informative presentation from Mr. Lincoln Smith (CFL Coordinator for Jackson’s, Orr's, and Scadding’s) on gearing up for exams by discussing strategies for studying and reviewing.

The main messages from his presentation were:

1. The process of learning takes time and involves effort. Simply looking over information once is not enough to build meaningful connections in the brain. Just like going to the gym involves working hard to build muscles, so does the process of building long-term memory connections via practice and repetition. 

2. Successful preparation for exams takes the right set of conditions so that a positive outcome may be optimized. This includes keeping phones (and other distractions) out of sight, seeking out a quiet location for study and ensuring adequate nutrition and sleep. This also includes figuring out what work is best done individually, and what is best done as a group.

3. Employ a variety of strategies to help retrieve what has been learned. For example, this may include writing down everything that is known about a topic, explaining concepts to others, or spending time doing practice questions, all from memory and without assistance! Also, the use of mnemonic devices and flash cards are great tools to concretize the learning process!

The session ended with an open forum Q&A where students took the liberty to ask various questions about exam preparation and other exam logistics.

Finally, students were reminded that the most important tip for success is to start reviewing early and to avoid procrastination. If procrastination is an issue, a good thing to try is to start small, for example, committing to doing one question. It is easier to keep going once we start! Ultimately, students will learn what strategies work best for them. This is the perfect time to go back and practice skills - and to seek assistance from subject teachers to clear up misconceptions and strengthen areas of opportunity.

Wishing our wonderful Year 8 students all the best in June!

Mr. L. Smith, Ms. Levene, and Mr. Jugoon

Year 11 | Exams, wrapping up, and looking forward

As we approach the end of the school year, we want to keep you informed about important upcoming events and opportunities for your child in Year 11. This communication provides a brief overview of topics such as exam preparation, university prep applications, CAS activities, and an optional trip to Norval. Please take a moment to read through this information and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We appreciate your continued support in your child's academic journey.

Maria Gauthier

Year 11 Coordinator

From the wings

Congratulations | Canadian Chemistry Olympiad Winners

The Canadian Chemistry Contest (CCC) is a national chemistry competition for high school students in Canada. To compete, students must complete a multiple-choice exam and write an essay on chemistry topics. Over 600 of Canada's most competitive students wrote and all 3 of our competitors received Merit recognition. Congratulations to (from left to right) Johnny (Year 11), Tommy (Year 12) and Lawrence (Year 8). In an amazing outcome, our Year 8 student, Lawrence, has received a cash prize and recognition for ranking 4th in the region. 

Tommy and Lawrence further competed for the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad (CCO) contest, which involved a very difficult third exam in chemistry. The CCO is a national chemistry competition that selects the top 4 high school students to represent Canada in the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). In an amazing outcome, Tommy has received a silver medal and cash prize ranking 8th in the country. He has been invited to the national camp where the final top 20 will compete to represent Canada in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this year.  

All of our competitors are commended for extending themselves in this extremely difficult competition, and representing UCC  with grace! 

Congratulations | Intermediate Jazz Ensemble Wind Gold at Nationals

We congratulate the Intermediate Jazz Ensemble for winning a Gold Award at the Nationals of Music Fest Canada. Under the direction of Dr. Cigolea they performed a challenging program that featured several Year 9 and Year 10 soloists. 

Musicians: Alexander Aitken,  Artun Arat, Kyle Au‑Yeung, Alexander Barclay Sharpe, Ayden Boire, Luke Chapman, Bill Cheng, Christian Ciraco, Rayka Farahmand, Matthew Faralla, Xander Gage, Emmett Ho, Yiyang (Leo) Jiang, Ethan Leung, Ethan Lu, Bosco Luo, Chetan Malhotra,  John Mboutsiadis,  James Medland, Ruijie (Jerry) Pang, Charles Paterson, Elijah Pearson, Noah Rizvi, Ryan She, Matthew Tong Henry Wang, Samuel Zambonini, Adam Zhu  Roger Zhu 

RECORDING | How to help your teen through exam stress

On Monday, May 6 the PO Community Events team hosted a virtual talk on strategies to support students through exams. Key speakers were UCC’s Associate Academic Dean and Executive Director of the Wernham West Centre for Learning Kathryn Barnes and Upper School Counsellor Caitlin Dobie. Please click here to access the recording. 

RECORDING | Year 7 transition night at the Upper School

Parents and guardians of Year 7 students coming to the Upper School in September attended an information session at the Upper School on Wednesday, May 8 dedicated to answering questions about programming and supporting Year 7 students and families transitioning to Year 8. They enjoyed some social time, heard from a variety of key figures at the Upper School in a presentation in Laidlaw Hall and took tours led by student leaders of the houses their students will join next year. 

Thank you so much to those who were able to join us! If you have further questions, please complete the form here. If you missed the session, please see the slide deck here, as well as a recording of the Laidlaw Hall presentation.

All the best,

Ms. Levene, Ms. Martin, Mr. MacDougall and Mr. Jugoon

UCC Marketplace to close last day of May

If you’ve been putting off sizing up your son’s Spirit Wear, don’t wait much longer.  The website to purchase Blue Army trucker hats, sweatshirts and t-shirts for the 2023-24 school year is Friday, May 31st. You can also find UCC Yetis, pjs, tote bags and game day chairs. Please click here to make purchases before then. Pick-up will be arranged before summer break. 

Year 8–12 | Used book intake

The UCC Parents’ Organization (PO) will be hosting used textbook intake on Friday, May 17 from 8–10 a.m. and June 14 from 8 a.m.– 1 p.m.

This year we are working with a new supplier, UofT Bookstore, for our used textbook intake. Upper School families will have the opportunity to resell their used textbooks to UofT, provided the textbooks will be used in the UCC curriculum in the upcoming academic year.

The funds for used books purchased by U of T will be deposited on the seller's debit card

The following options are available to Upper School families with day students in Years 8–12:

1. Drop off used textbooks at the Upper School on May 17 or June 14 as a donation, with proceeds from the sale of their books donated to the UCC PO. 

2. Deliver used textbooks to the UofT bookstore representative, who will be on campus and receive an immediate e-transfer to the seller’s debit card from UofT in the amount of the resale proceeds. 

3. Parents may return used textbooks directly to one of the three UofT bookstores in Toronto and receive proceeds in the form of an e-transfer from UofT.

4. The books will be accepted for buyback and must be on a predetermined buyback list, so must have the same ISBN, title, and edition. The books must also be in reasonable condition, with no watermarks, stains or missing pages, and the spine intact.

The collection will take place on campus on May 17 and June 14 at the following locations:

1. In front of the Clock Tower. This location will be a full-service drop-off location where a UofT bookstore representative will be available in person and families can choose to either receive payment for their textbooks immediately via e-transfer or donate the proceeds to the PO. 

2. The top of the roundabout at Kilbarry entrance. This location will be a self-serve drop-off location only, where a table will be set up for Upper School families to drop off textbooks and donate the proceeds to the PO. 

Please remember to also drop off any used uniform and spirit wear items too! The Used Blues Shop (TUBS) is accepting blazers, grey flannels, blue polo shirts, khakis, white or blue dress shirts, ties and any house, UCC or Blue Army spirit wear.

UCC Aviation Club | Miles4Migrants fundraiser at  The Tavel Summit

On April 27 and 28, the UCC Aviation Club collaborated with the charity Miles4Migrants during the Toronto Travel Summit. With the club’s passion for aviation and commitment to positively impacting the world, they were able to raise over $15,000 towards their goal of $25,000 during the travel summit.

Miles4Migrants is an outstanding organization that uses donated frequent flyer miles, points, and cash to help people impacted by war, persecution, or disaster reunite with their loved ones and escape to safety. While the travel summit has concluded, we still wish to help achieve their goal, a goal you can still donate towards the campaign target of $25,000 by visiting this link.  Your generosity helps provide free flights to individuals and families seeking a safer and brighter tomorrow.

Thank you for your generosity and support. Let us continue to bring hope to those who need it most.

UCC Aviation Club

Student trips for March Break 2025 | Parent meeting on May 22

Camps International: Discover Costa Rica March 2025

Please plan to join us on May 22 at 7 p.m. for an in-person parent information session with a representative from Explorica (Upper School room 140). Google Meet joining link.

Plan for it now! This upcoming March break we will once again be offering international Experiential Learning Trips to all upper school students. UCC is partnering with Explorica & Camps International to offer a service-focused experience in Costa Rica this coming March 16–25, 2025. Spaces are available for 14 students.

This trip meets the requirements of a DUKE of EDINBURGH'S INTERNATIONAL SILVER AWARD, Qualifying Journey. Also of note: UCC will be partnering with BSS for pre-departure and post-trip seminars specifically for this trip next school year.

Please plan to join us Wednesday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. for a virtual parent information session with a representative from Opwall at the link.

Plan for it now! UCC is partnering with Operation Wallacea International to offer a science-focused experience in Peru from March 16–25, 2025. Spaces are available for 14 students.

We hope to see you there this coming Wednesday evening!