Upcoming course information evenings for families will be held virtually as follows:

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 7 to 8:30 p.m | Class of 2028 (Year 10 students entering Year 11)

Thursday, Jan. 15, 7 to 8:30 p.m. | Class of 2029 and 2030 (Year 9 students entering Year 10 and Year 8 students entering Year 9)

The course selection process for the 2026-27 academic year is underway with virtual course information evenings for families, group counselling sessions facilitated by the MYP Coordinator (students currently in Year 8) and the University Counselling Office (students currently in Years 9 and Year 10). All Year 10s have met or are in the process of meeting their university counsellor for their initial course selection meeting. 

Upcoming course information evenings for families will be held virtually as follows:

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 7 to 8:30 p.m | Class of 2028 (Year 10 students entering Year 11)

Thursday, Jan. 15, 7 to 8:30 p.m. | Class of 2029 and 2030 (Year 9 students entering Year 10 and Year 8 students entering Year 9)

For your information, please see the UCC Course Offerings Guide 2026-27. Course selections are made by students online in Bluenet and opens on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Parents/guardians should review student’s course selections in their student’s Bluenet account and then approve those selections by logging into their parent/guardian account in Bluenet and completing the school form by the deadline noted below (detailed instructions will be included in a future Heads Up).

Course selection deadlines:

Year 8 students entering Year 9 | Class of 2030:  Friday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.

Year 9 students entering Year 10 | Class of 2029: Friday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.

Year 10 students entering Year 11 | Class of 2028: Friday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m.

MYP Coordinator: 

• Emilia Martin

University Counselling Office:

• Alison Champ, 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 

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.

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. 22, 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

Dear UCC Community,

On behalf of this year’s Churches-on-the-Hill Food Drive Team, we want to extend a big thank you to everyone who donated over the past couple weeks.

This week we delivered approximately 196 crates of food and baby items totalling around 2500+ pounds of food and supplies, more than doubling our 1200 lb goal and setting an all-time record for UCC!

"Dear UCC Community,

On behalf of Churches on-the-Hill Food bank, I would like to send our appreciation for the incredible amount of food raised on our behalf during the food drive. My tally showed approximately 196 crates of food — a record for UCC! The sorting of the items was such an incredible assistance in getting the food items ready for clients in record time. It was also beneficial to have identified and received the items most needed in order to support our clients. In particular, the diapers, toilet paper, and baby formula are such a bonus to us as these are higher value items that we have to purchase on a regular basis.

Thank you also to the students who stayed behind to assist in sorting and storing the items for immediate use.

Thank you students, teachers and parents for your incredible support.

UCC should be very proud of having a student population with such commitment and dedication to assisting those in need.

Thank you from both the Clients and Volunteers at the Churches on-the-Hill Foodbank.

With Best Regards,

Kenneth W. Burns

Churches on-the- Hill Foodbank"

What a team! We are very proud to be part of a community with such commitment and dedication to assisting those in need. Your incredible support will go a long way towards helping Toronto families this holiday season.

With sincere appreciation from the Community Service Council

Dear Families,

I'm excited to announce that Upper Canada College is partnering once again with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy and Schoolyard Ventures, an organization that develops university-level, real-world learning opportunities for ambitious high school students, to offer The Social Innovators Program for grade 10 and 11 students. The 12-week virtual program allows students to learn about social entrepreneurship and experience it first-hand, while earning a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania. UCC is one of only forty schools worldwide invited to participate in this unique initiative.

During the program, students learn how to launch ventures of their own that create value and a positive impact on society. Students learn in small online classes and through engaging interviews and case studies with young entrepreneurs, with personalized one-on-one guidance and support along the way. Because students choose their own projects, each student's experience in the program is unique. Learn more about the program here.

The application deadline is Thursday, Jan. 22, and the program runs from the week of Feb. 16 through the week of May 11, with classes meeting virtually one evening per week, in addition to regular one-on-one advisor check-ins. At the end of the program, students will have the opportunity to present their work and learnings. 

A virtual information session for interested parents and students will be held on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. ET. The registration link for the information session can be found here.

Please consider this exciting opportunity. If you have any questions please contact me.

Sincerely,
Paul Miskew
Faculty Chair, Design Department

Dear UCC Community,

My name is Andrew Adair, and I am excited to share a meaningful opportunity to support youth across Toronto through the Open Ice Initiative, a student-led project developed through my IB Personal Project. This initiative provides Horizons students from high-priority schools with their first opportunity to participate in a full hockey camp experience, at no cost to their families.

Many of these students have never attended a camp or played organized hockey before. With community support, they will take part in the Christmas hockey program at Ted Reeve Arena, receive proper equipment to keep for future use, and continue developing their skills through weekly Horizons hockey sessions at UCC. This experience helps build confidence, teamwork, and long-term access to a sport they would not otherwise be able to explore.

Our goal is to fully sponsor all participating Horizons students and remove every barrier to their involvement.

To make this possible, I am inviting the UCC community to support the initiative through donations. Every contribution, no matter the size, directly helps a student take part in the program and continue their development beyond the camp experience.

Donate here.

Your support helps provide:

• A full week of hockey development for each student

• Access to equipment when needed

• Skill-building, mentorship, and ongoing weekend programming

• A supportive environment where every participant feels included

This initiative strongly reflects UCC’s values of service, leadership, and community engagement. Together, we can help ensure that students who want the opportunity to step onto the ice are able to do so.

Thank you for your continued support.
Andrew Adair
Class of 2028

UCC graduation frames are available to order until Feb. 1.

There are four styles of frames available:

• Class composite

• Diploma frames

• Standard Portrait frames

• House Portrait frames

Frames are available for viewing in the basement next to TUBS and the Lower Dining Hall. To order your frames, please visit the UCC Marketplace. Questions can be directed to Karinne Chan. 

The Parents’ Organization and Prep Parents’ Organization would like to send a warm and appreciative THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the Festive Auction and Festive Marketplace!

It was heartwarming to see everyone celebrating the season and supporting this annual initiative that directly benefits our students. Whether you enjoyed watching student musical performances, participating in the ever-popular Snowball Grab or the gingerbread house draw, sampling the delicious treats at the bake sale, or simply connecting and catching up over a coffee and some holiday shopping, we were thrilled to see both students and parents enjoying all that Festive has to offer!

It takes a tremendous amount of support from generous individuals and businesses to make our annual Festive Marketplace and Auction a huge success. Thank you to all the people and companies for helping us raise $50,000 this year in the Festive Auction. 

We look forward to seeing everyone at 2026’s Festive Marketplace!