The College successfully completed three external reviews of its program and operations in 2024–25, resulting in its re-accreditation by the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS), the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the Ontario Ministry of Education (MoE). 

Accreditation demonstrates that the College continues to meet the highest national and international standards of excellence in education. The accreditation process also offers invaluable support for our planning for the College’s future growth and development through helpful, timely feedback.

The process was resoundingly positive with the College receiving approximately twice as many commendations as recommendations — a remarkable outcome. Our accrediting bodies recognized: an outstanding learning program that is strongly aligned with the standards and practices of CAIS, IB and MoE; exceptional student support; a robust co-curricular offering; a focus on wellbeing and belonging; exceptional facilities; strong governance, leadership and financial management; a rich history and community; and a strategic approach to planning and admission. Recommendations were shared to refine already strong practice in areas such as classroom instruction and professional learning to support the College’s continued success. This feedback is guiding our work in 2025-26.

The accreditation process, including the preparation of self-study materials and participation in meetings with the visiting teams, meaningfully engaged our whole community — employees, students, and many College families and volunteers. We are grateful for the collective commitment and ongoing support that helped strengthen this important work.

Sam McKinney

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We’re pleased to let you know that Upper Canada College will have the opportunity to participate in an anonymous survey as part of a research study administered by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University (HFH). This will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 6 for students in Years 8–12 and on Wednesday, Jan. 7 for students in Years 6–7. 

This survey will provide us with baseline metrics on our new UCC wellbeing framework to guide the College’s wellbeing programming. This allows us to periodically measure the impact of our programs over time, ensuring our significant investment in student wellbeing is producing the desired, positive outcomes for your son.

We’re excited to be partnering with Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program to gather data from our students that will inform program planning and implementation, including professional learning for faculty. This will help us continue to leverage our strengths and address specific needs and challenges in our community that align with the priorities of the wellbeing framework. 

The survey is part of a global study led by researchers at HFH, including Dr. Tyler VanderWeele, Dr. Brendan Case and Dr. Christina Hinton, to better understand which students and schools around the world are flourishing, and how we can leverage strategies from our global network of schools. 

Outlined below is key information about the survey and a supplementary document from Harvard with further details for those who are interested.

Key information:

The Flourishing Schools Survey will cover many aspects of student and community wellbeing, including individual student flourishing (self-rated health, happiness, meaning, character, relationships, and material security), community wellbeing (good relationships, common mission, effective leadership, and healthy practices and rules), self-rated student character (including kindness, bravery, fairness, creativity, forgiveness, and others), and students’ sense of how much their time at school has contributed to their personal and ethical growth.

• The survey will be administered in advising/class time, and will take about 20 minutes to complete. 

• Students’ responses will be completely anonymous, and will be collected directly by HFH using the survey software Qualtrics and stored according to Harvard’s information security policy.

• Researchers at HFH will use these aggregate data to publish academic (peer-reviewed) papers on the flourishing of students and schools. Anonymized data will be retained for future research at the research team’s discretion, but none of the data collected will be tied to your child in any way. No individual responses will be shared with UCC, although administrators will receive a high-level summary of the school’s results to inform wellbeing program planning and delivery.

• Participation in this survey is completely voluntary, and students will be free to stop taking the survey at any time and for any reason.

More information about the survey can be found here. 

If you would prefer that your child not participate, please fill out this form by Dec. 18, and we’ll ensure that they do not receive the survey link. If you have additional questions, please contact tjagdeo@ucc.on.ca.

Tina Jagdeo

Director of Wellbeing and Pluralism

Dr. Julia Kinnear

Vice-Principal, Learning and Academic Innovation

The UCC community is invited to participate in the Family Skate at the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex on Sundays from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Please note there is an out-date on Dec. 14 and will resume regularly after that, including during the winter break. 

A friendly reminder that all skaters, regardless of age or skill level, must wear a helmet while on the ice. Questions can be directed to Katarina Bojic. 

Your cooperation ensures a safer space for all students and staff. Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping our community healthy.

UCC Health Centre

UCC’s annual Norval Winter Open House is on Sunday, Jan. 25 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Come and enjoy winter activities for the whole family, including: 

• Cross-country skiing: Bring your own or use a pair of ours. Instructors will teach beginners and lead a tour through the trails. More advanced skiers are welcome to follow one of our marked trails (please be advised that the trails aren’t track-set).

• Tobogganing: Zoom down our popular toboggan hill in the arboretum. Bring your own sled or use one of ours. Please remember to bring a helmet.

• Outdoor campfire: Warm up and enjoy hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Register here.

Stephen House will be open and serving food and refreshments. Please ensure you bring socks, as shoes are not permitted to be worn inside Stephen House. 
Please note: Dogs on a leash are welcome, but not inside. 

This event is rain or shine. Please dress appropriately for the weather. 

Questions? Contact Katarina Bojic at kbojic@ucc.on.ca or 416-488-1125 ext. 2232.

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.