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UCC’s upcoming IB and CAIS accreditations 

Dear UCC Community,

Over the last year, colleagues at the Prep and Upper School have been preparing for parallel Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) and International Baccalaureate (IB) reaccreditation visits in January. Accreditation is an essential element of continuous improvement and both a CAIS and IB requirement. 

The process begins with rigorous internal self-evaluation, resulting in self-studies that are intended to demonstrate how the College is achieving national and international standards and indicators of effective practice. The CAIS focus will be on our school operations, educational and co-curricular programming, strategic planning and governance. The IB will review in more detail our delivery of the IB Continuum to ensure alignment with their global best practices in teaching and learning. 

The CAIS and IB self-studies are reviewed by teams of school leaders and educators from similar CAIS and IB schools. From January 26 to 29, colleagues from CAIS and the IB will be on campus and at Norval to meet with members of our community including our Board of Governors, senior leaders, faculty and staff, as well as visit classes and engage with senior volunteers. Their primary role is to validate our self-studies and assist the College as we prioritize opportunities for growth.

We’re looking forward to learning from our visiting experts next week. Their findings will be communicated in the months following their visit and will include recommendations that will guide us as we strive to improve in all aspects of learning and operations. 

Thank you for your continued support and participation in this valuable undertaking. 

Warm regards,

Sam McKinney

Principal

Major Dates for 2025–26 now available

The College's calendar of school holidays and key dates is available at the following link: UCC Major Dates 2025–26.

Register | Founder's Dinner 2025

Please join us on Monday, Feb. 24 as we honour the founding of our school and the contributions of our outstanding community of students, families and alumni. 

The event will feature a keynote by Martin Kon ’89, President and COO at Cohere, the leading independent, data security-focused enterprise AI company. Our awards program will celebrate 2025’s Old Boy of Distinction Stu Lang ’70 and John D. Stevenson Award recipient Ken Tanenbaum.

Evening program:

5 p.m.  Welcome, Bernick Family Foyer

6 p.m.  Reception, Student Centre

7 p.m.  Dinner, awards presentations and keynote, Hewitt Athletic Centre

Event adjourns at 9:30 p.m.

Click here to register.

Instructions | Re-registration for 2025–26

As we settle into the winter term, we’re already looking ahead to our next academic year and sharing re-registration details below. The College’s Board of Governors, in support of delivering transformational learning experiences and best-in-class programming and facilities, has approved the operating budget for 2025–26, including tuition fees which may be found here for day students and here for boarding students. 

To register your student(s) for the 2025–26 school year at Upper Canada College, the following must be completed and submitted by no later than Friday, Feb. 7:

• Re-Registration Contract(s) for your student(s)

• 2025–26 Athletic Consent and Media Waiver for your student(s)

The contract(s) and form(s) are available on Bluenet.

Please note the following: 

• Only one parent or guardian is required to complete these forms. The parent or guardian who completes and submits the re-registration contract(s) accepts full financial responsibility for all fees associated with the contract(s). 

• If shared financial responsibility has already been established with the College, then both parents or guardians are required to sign and complete the re-registration contract(s). Parents and guardians with shared financial responsibility will receive a contract that requires two signatures.

• If there is an outstanding balance owing to the College, you will not have access to your re-registration contract(s). Please contact Colleen Papulkas to complete payment and access your contract(s) for the 2025–26 school year.

• Financial assistance information has been shared with individual families who made a complete application to Apple Financial and have a current account with the College.

To sign your contract(s) and submit the form(s) please log in to Bluenet. Instructions for accessing the contract(s) in Bluenet are available here. 

If you have any technical issues with the re-registration process, please contact helpdesk@ucc.on.ca.

Register | Parenting in the Digital Age

Join us for an evening information session with Clinical Director of Straight Up Health and Registered Social Worker and Psychotherapist, Jake Ernst. 

Today's parents are faced with an unprecedented challenge: to parent and raise their children in the age of the internet. Many of today’s kids are constantly online and many families are growing concerned about the impact this is having on children and their wellbeing. In this session, we’ll talk about the number one factor that impacts whether or not children get hooked by their device, what apps and websites families should know about, how to avoid common digital mistakes, and how to strike a balance between digital safety and digital freedom. Participants will come away with tips and tools for raising resilient and responsible children in the age of the internet.

Date: Monday, Feb. 3

Time: 7 to 8 p.m. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Location: Weston Hall at the Prep School

The event will be open to all who want to attend, though the information shared will be directed at Years 3–10. 

Click here to register.

Annual Mother’s Day Drive 

Once again UCC will be collecting donations for the women at Ernestine's Women's Shelter to help them have a happy Mother's Day. Last year's donations meant that over 250 women received much-loved gift bags of toiletries from their children on Mother’s Day.

With it being the season for travelling, we're hoping that any travel-sized toiletries collected from hotels, or any of the items listed below that you received over the holidays and would otherwise regift could be given as donations in the new year.

The boys will be collecting full and travel/hotel sized:

• soap and body wash

• shampoo and conditioner 

• body lotion and skin care 

• cosmetics and nail polish

• hair care products

• toothbrushes and toothpaste

• antiperspirant and sanitary products

• beauty samples/perfumes

• small gift sets 

Your donations will be beautifully wrapped for children at shelters to give to their moms on Mother’s Day, so that together they can celebrate this special day.    

Donations can be dropped off at the reception desk in the Upper School or main office of the Prep. Please contact Linda Carvalho at lcarvalho@ucc.on.ca if you have any questions about drop off or Samantha Dugas at indianasam@hotmail.com if you have questions about donations.

Free weekend admission | ROM exhibit Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. 

The Royal Ontario Museum has announced free weekend admission to the exhibit in advance of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on Monday, Jan. 27. Learn more here.