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Dear Prep families,

It is a joyful task to greet our students at morning drop-off as they arrive full of anticipation and excitement for the day ahead. This week is especially exciting for our Year 5 students, who have been working hard to get ready for their PYP Exhibition! They've been diligently putting the final touches on their Exhibition projects, taking action on their learning and designing games to teach others at our community event tomorrow.

YYesterday we held a Community Time to acknowledge Jewish Heritage Month and Asian Heritage Month. Boys from the Upper School Asian Heritage Club and Jewish Culture Club and the Prep School Allyship council facilitated a read aloud and discussion that showed connections between the Jewish New Year and the Lunar New Year.  We also had delicious ice cream given out by parents at recess in honour of Shavuot, a Jewish holiday that falls at the time of year when cream and milk are traditionally at their richest.

This week’s PPO/PO spring luncheon was a wonderful event that offered parents and school staff an opportunity to be together to celebrate the year and acknowledge the many contributions our parent volunteers have made to strengthen our community and support transformational experiences for students. We're blessed to have so many dedicated and talented parent volunteers and would like to extend special gratitude to our Prep Parents’ Organization for their ongoing partnership and support. 

We had an incredible turnout at the Year 7 transition evening in Laidlaw Hall! The student tours of the Upper School are always a highlight. This was just the first step in preparing for the transition to the Upper School — today and tomorrow, the boys are heading to Norval with their student mentors and the boys will also have an in-person orientation to the Upper School later this month.  

Your partners in learning,

Sarah Fleming, David Girard and Gareth Evans

The Prep Leadership Team

Update | Year 2

Dear 2C Community,

Thank you for the wonderful conversations and thoughtful questions during our Student-Led Conferences. The boys were proud and excited to share their learning journeys with you—seeing how confident and reflective they’ve become was wonderful!

As we head into our final weeks of school, please feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat about your child’s progress or brainstorm fun and meaningful ways to keep learning going over the summer.

🧠 Inquiry:
We’ve wrapped up our giggle-filled unit, “Giggles Are Contagious”! Exploring humour in language and discovering how laughter helps us connect with others was a joy. We also dove into different genres of poetry and even created some original, imaginative pieces—very impressive!

Now, we’re leaping into our “Animal Adaptations” unit! We’ll investigate how animals survive and thrive by adapting to their environments over time. We’ll learn how to classify animals (vertebrates and invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish) and explore why certain features — like sharp beaks, webbed feet, or camouflage—help animals live their best lives in the wild. We’ll also talk about what we can do to help protect animals and their habitats.

➗ Math:
We’ve just completed our multiplication and division unit, and the boys tackled it with great focus and curiosity. We’ll continue to explore times tables (2, 5 and 10 are especially helpful for now!) during math centres and in homework, but there’s no pressure for complete fluency in Grade 2. It’s all about building confidence and comfort with patterns and number relationships. If your child finds this tricky, that’s totally okay— just let me know, and we can focus on the easier times tables.

📚 Language:
In our language program, we’ve been playing with r-controlled vowels (like ar, er, and ir) and learning to spot and use them in our reading and writing. We’ve also worked on past, present and future tense verbs. The weekly homework is just a little sneak peek of what we’ve been doing in class—it’s been great to see the boys apply what they’re learning!

Thank you for all of your ongoing support. It truly makes a difference, and I feel lucky to be on this learning adventure with your children.

Warm wishes,
Ms. Crippin 🌱

Update | Year 5 and 6 Spring Term Leagues

The Athletics programme has been seeking to develop the co-curricular offerings for students not playing on school teams in the last few years.

Two ways in which we are doing this currently are through our Year 5 Spring League and our Year 6 Ultimate League. Both programmes are based on the Sport Education model (similar to our Year 6 Soccer League), which has students divided into balanced teams competing in regular league play against one another. 

For the Year 5s, this combines seeded (ability-matched) games of pickleball with friendly competition in a variety of non-traditional PE games. The students are responsible for setting up the courts each day and organising a short practice session before competitive pickleball games begin. These games are followed by whole-team games, also contested for league points. It's proven to be a tremendously engaging experience for all, regardless of prior pickleball experience.

The Year 6 Ultimate League format has allowed all students with an interest in playing Ultimate Frisbee to engage in competitive play (rather than the traditional model of having only selected school team players engaged in practice during Games periods). We are currently midway through the season, and the sight of 50 or so boys fully engaged in practice activities and league play—in a sport that is new to them—has been great to watch. The quality of play, thanks to input from our in-house Ultimate expert, Adam Turcotte, has been improving week-by-week. 

Both sets of students seem to enjoy checking the regularly updated league tables on the bulletin boards and are channeling their energies towards peaking during the season-ending playoffs in June. We believe that this format is providing meaningful active time for our students and we are looking forward to the culminating finals days at the end of term.

Dr. Baxter

PYP Exhibition Update | May 9

We are excited to host our 22nd Year 5 PYP Exhibition tomorrow — Friday, May 9, between 1–3 p.m. We hope you can join us for an interactive and lively afternoon of learning.

The format will be:

1–1:15 p.m. | Opening Ceremonies in Weston Hall

• Welcome speeches and Year 5 musical performance

1:15–2:45 p.m. | Exhibition Hall 

• Student displays and informal sharing of learning in Weston Hall and Bitove Lounge

• In addition, group presentations will be scheduled in classrooms for in-person viewing and virtual access. Schedule of presentations linked

2:45– 3 p.m. | Closing Ceremonies in Weston Hall

• Thank you, tear down and a treat in classrooms for students

Here's an example of action taken by one Exhibition group. 

Should you have any questions about the PYP Exhibition, please contact your child’s Form Adviser or Dianne Jojic, the PYP Coordinator.

Save the date | Prep Prize Day 

This year's Prep Prize Day will be held on Monday, June 2 at the Prep School in Weston Hall at 8:30 a.m. Parents of prize recipients will be notified by email during this week.  We hope that parents of prize winners will be able to join the celebration.

Join us | Spring performances

Primary concert

All primary students will perform

Wednesday, May 28, 2–3 p.m. in Weston Hall

Spring concert

All Years 6–7 bands and choir

Thursday, May 29, 7–8:30 p.m. in Weston Hall 

Generations Day on Friday, May 30 

All Years 6–7 bands — Middle Generations Day 9-11 a.m.

All primary students performance—Primary Generations Day 1-3 p.m.

We hope to see you at a future performance!

Warmest Regards,

Paul McGarr          

Middle Years Director of Bands

Caroline Heo
Musical Director / Choir Director

Donate | Staff Appreciation Lunch

We need your support to make this year’s Staff Appreciation Lunch a success!

A time-honoured tradition at UCC, the Staff Appreciation Lunch is our school community’s way of thanking all the different staff who help make our students’ experience at the College so remarkable. This includes teachers, administration, arena staff, housekeeping, food services and support staff. Approximately 350 staff will attend the lunch on Wednesday, May 28 in the Foster Hewitt Foundation Lounge.

The Staff Appreciation Lunch is fully funded by parent donations, so please contribute to this wonderful event for all of our UCC staff by donating here. 

Thank you so much for your support! 

Register | Generations Day

Grandparents and special guests are invited to visit the Prep School on Friday, May 30, for an opportunity to attend a special assembly, explore classrooms, check out fantastic student artwork and enjoy light refreshments in the Bitove Lounge.

9–11 a.m. Year 6 and 7 families

1–3 p.m. SK–Year 5 families

Please register here.

Reminder | Used uniform sale on May 21 and 22

Support shopping sustainably

The Used Uniform Sale presents the perfect opportunity to stock up on gently used uniform items for SK to Year 7 students. It will be held on Wednesday, May 21 from 2:30–4 p.m. and Thursday, May 22 from 8–9:15 a.m. at the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex. We have a great selection of pants, polo shirts, dress shirts, ties, sweaters, physical education uniforms and blazers. While we will have bags at the sale, we ask that families bring their own reusable bags if possible.

Donations

Please drop off gently used uniform items in the used uniform blue box which you will find under the main staircase of the lower level of the Prep. Donations are always welcome, but please do not drop off stained, ripped or non-UCC clothing.

Last chance for PPO merch!

We’re making room for next year’s gear, which means it’s time to clear out our current PPO merch—and once it’s gone, it’s gone! Don’t miss your chance to grab favourites like the Husky stuffed animals and UCC picnic blankets, perfect for summer fun or as end-of-year gifts. Check out our inventory here for your final chance to scoop up these popular items before they disappear. Get yours while supplies last!