Dear CIS Ontario Community,
Welcome to the Spring 2021 edition of the quarterly CIS Ontario Newsletter. This week, the Ontario government declared a third provincial emergency which includes a province-wide Stay-at-Home order requiring everyone to stay at home except for essential purposes due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 transmission. Schools and child care will remain open for in-person care and learning in public health regions where it is permitted, with strict safety measures in place.
As always, your leadership and resilience set a strong and positive example for our students and school communities. In my role, I value connecting with our member community and appreciate when you share your challenges and solutions with me - your stories demonstrate how you lead with creativity and thoughtfulness... and humour.
Access to COVID-19 vaccines for all education workers, teachers and staff, in our member schools is finally on the horizon. As schools in most regions remain open for in-person learning during the four-week stay-at-home order, education workers in hotspot regions will become eligible for vaccines. Read more about the Ontario government's plan as shared in a news release this morning. In addition, please review the COVID-19 Vaccination Resources on our COVID-19 Resource Hub of our Member Portal. The resources include links and infographics to support understanding and answer questions that might help to prevent vaccine hesitancy.
On behalf of the CIS Ontario Board and our Chair, Alan Whyte, please join me in welcoming a new Director, Dr. Rulan Parekh. Also a current Governor at the Bishop Strachan School, Dr. Parekh is Associate Chief, Clinical Research at SickKids Research Institute and also the Division Director of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Parekh's knowledge and expertise in paediatric health and research will be a tremendous asset to the association. Learn more about Dr. Parekh on the Meet the Board section of our website.
Last, but most definitely not least, I extend a sincere thank you to all members of the CIS Ontario community for the support you have given to students and each other, all while navigating your own personal challenges. A big thank you, as well, to our sponsors for their business leadership and their support of our programs. We continue to be in this together.
Wishing you all a safe, healthy and relaxing April Break.
Sarah Craig Executive Director
CIS ONTARIO: TEACHER RECRUITMENT FAIRS It's a Wrap! Teacher Recruitment Career Fairs 2020-21
CIS Ontario remains committed to promoting our member schools to graduating students in Bachelor and Master of Education programs and highlighting the rewarding careers and benefits of working in our independent schools. This year’s Teacher Recruitment Career Fairs, traditionally offered at universities throughout Ontario, including McGill in Quebec, pivoted and went online with a virtual format. Commencing in December and ending in April, CIS Ontario participated in 11 Virtual Fairs.
MACLACHLAN COLLEGE Informing the future with the lessons of history at MacLachlan
A defining feature of our school is the dedication and passion of our teachers. At no time has this been more evident than in the past several months. The necessity to adapt and pivot is well known in our community and this includes finding new ways to engage our students’ curiosity. There are many wonderful examples of initiatives at MAC. One stands out as we reflect on a globally historic year. Before the holidays our grade 10 history teacher Samantha Campbell, launched a new history project for her students in 2021 where she is challenging them to discover how the lessons of history should inform our future readiness.
BRANKSOME HALL Teaching through a Pandemic with Empathy and Creative Confidence
"How can I be a better teacher?” It’s not just Branksome Hall students who pursue the “growth mindset” values at the pedagogical core of an International Baccalaureate school. For the fifth year, Geography and Design teacher Allison Campbell-Rogers has been part of CIS Ontario’s Cohort 21, now on the coaching team—in a year of weighty themes that include Pandemic Pedagogies, Leading through Crisis, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Clearly, the opportunity for educators to hone their craft together has never been of greater value.
UPPER CANADA COLLEGE
THE BISHOP STRACHAN SCHOOL From Inclusion to Belonging
How can schools foster an environment where ALL their students flourish and thrive? It is through ensuring that every child, regardless of gender, sexuality, faith background, race, ability or circumstance is valued and appreciated. It is through ensuring that every unique individual belongs. In the winter of 2021, the Bishop Strachan School hosted the student led, YouBelong Student Diversity Leadership Summit, where 42 schools across Canada, Bermuda and Australia came together to discuss issues of diversity, equity and belonging. For many students, this was the first time they felt seen and understood, through connecting courageously with peers of similar identity. This half-day event sparked significant change, and continues to make waves as students carry forward the ideas and inspiration from this day.
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: OUR KIDS MEDIA It’s personal
We’ve been working with schools a long time—next year will mark a quarter century—and something we’ve learned is that it's always about a relationship.
KEMPENFELT BAY SCHOOL Kempenfelt Bay School celebrates Unity!
Over the course of a school year, the KBS community reflects on a monthly value that is introduced and taught by a grade of students. For the month of March, Grade 1 students taught the KBS community about Unity.
BAYVIEW GLEN Challenging Ourselves to Stay Active
Bayview Glen’s Recreation and Healthy Active Living Leadership class wanted to get students up and moving. Their solution? BVG’s Greatest Athlete: a series of simple challenges to test athletic prowess and get students active. Competing for a gold, silver, or bronze award in each challenge, the idea is to participate as much as possible, whether at school or at home, and score the best results in as many of the activities as you can. Senior students lead their peers in the Lower and Prep Schools in scooter board relay, football hoop throws, volley tosses, and badminton hulas.
So who will be BVG’s Greatest Athlete? Follow us @BayviewGlen_Toronto to find out.
BANNOCKBURN SCHOOL Bannockburn Students Love Sending Sunshine
This year, as part of learning about global issues, our students participated in the Sending Sunshine Program. This program collects letters and cards from students and distributes them to seniors living in various care facilities across Canada. Our students’ joy and diligence in creating beautiful messages and drawings to go with each card was truly heart warming. These cards from children provide uplifting rays of sunshine for seniors, especially in this time when many are feeling very isolated. We are so thrilled our Bannockburn students could participate in this amazing program, which aims to “spread love; one card at a time.”
GREENWOOD COLLEGE SCHOOL Raising Spirits at Greenwood
Spirits were at an all-time high as the Greenwood community celebrated our annual Spirit Week, both in school and at home!
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: VS AMERICA On-Demand Webinar: How Physical Spaces Impact Student Well-Being
It’s possible to create physical spaces that help build opportunities and break down barriers for deep connection, healing, and exploration. Watch this conversation with diverse practitioners – including a school administrator, clinical officer, social justice specialist, learning designer, as well as students – to discover how schools can create the spaces students need.
TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL TCS clubs work together on pronoun button initiative
Two of Trinity College School’s clubs – Trinity Students for Social Justice (TSSJ) and the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) – collectively organized the making of personal pronoun buttons for students and staff recently. This student-led initiative was conceived as a means of standing up for others and helping our school community become more inclusive. For many people, pronouns (such as he/him, she/her or they/them) are an important part of their gender identity. For others, the buttons are a visible sign of their support for a culture of respect for all gender identities. Thank you to TSSJ and GSA for their efforts!
CRESCENT SCHOOL New Crescent School Podcast Explores How Boys Learn Best
WELLRead, a podcast launched by the Crescent Centre for Boys’ Education (CCBE), shares perspectives from students, alumni and educators on how boys learn best. Each episode in the four-part series explores a particular area of the CCBE’s research, says Dr. Sandra Boyes, Executive Director of the CCBE. The first episode, on Diversity, was released in February to align with Black History Month. The newest episode, released on March 24, focuses on how boys benefit from experiential learning through community service and outreach opportunities. Future episodes will focus on Active Learning and Relational Learning.
VILLANOVA COLLEGE Hands-on Virtual Learning an Immersive Experience
Grade 4 students at Villanova College turned remote learning into an immersive experience through an application project in their light and sound unit. Students were tasked to create a shadow puppet show to explore the properties of light. As they were learning remotely, students were challenged to use materials they could find around the house. Some guidance was provided regarding how to create shadow puppets and a theatre, but students were given free reign as to the story they told – some chose songs, some retold well-known stories while others wrote their own skits.
CRESTWOOD PREPARATORY COLLEGE Crestwood Prep Students Sending Care During Pandemic
CPC students have spent this year actively finding ways to support those who have been affected by the pandemic. Students delivered lunches to thank frontline healthcare workers, sent handcrafted cards to elderly individuals living in long-term care facilities and assembled and donated hygiene kits for the homeless. These opportunities have allowed our students to develop empathy while strengthening and supporting their local communities.
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: GOLD MEDIA Video is the Key to Clear Communication & Connection
Covid-19 drastically impacted schools - especially how they connect with students, parents, faculty, and their communities. In 2021, greater focus is necessary to create impactful content and authentic interaction through dynamic video production.
TMS TMS Races [Virtually] Coast-to-Coast
This term, TMS embarked on a virtual race across Canada! Tracking all student and staff steps through ‘myvirtualmission.com’, the 4 TMS Upper School Houses have been walking, running, and moving toward the 5,061.2 kilometer goal (the distance between St. John’s, N.L. and Victoria, B.C.). TMS Grade 6s also created a team and have been tracking their progress with pedometers. Since the Race’s launch in February, teams have collectively logged over 13,000 kilometers in movement. This has been an amazingly fun wellness initiative that has captured the Titan Community and inspired all of us to get moving this Spring!
PICKERING COLLEGE Pickering College student participates in youth roundtable with Deputy Prime Minister
Youth voice, income inequality, and global leadership were just some of the topics brought up when Grade 10 student Shyam Subramanyam had the opportunity to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland last month. Shyam was one of 12 students from across Ontario selected to participate in the Student Budget Consultation, an event hosted by CIVIX, a non-partisan, organization dedicated to building active and engaged citizenship among young Canadians.
HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL HTS Students Titled Youth Wetland Experts
HTS became a Ducks Unlimited Wetland Centre of Excellence in 2012 and ever since, our students have become more and more familiar with the wetland on our campus forming part of the headwaters of the Rouge River. Students in the Grade 11 environmental science class researched, entered and presented at the Wetland Centres of Excellence Case Study Competition resulting in a great achievement.
HAVERGAL COLLEGE Havergal College’s Rowing Team: Strong Alone, Unstoppable Together
There’s nothing like a good workout to release endorphins. With student wellbeing in mind during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 39 members of Havergal’s Rowing Team met virtually three times each week for early home morning erg (rowing) workouts. Anyone who did not have access to an erg had one loaned to them from Havergal. They also had weekly strength and conditioning workouts, which required minimal equipment, challenged all levels of athletes and were tailored for rowing performance and injury prevention. This training schedule not only helped them stay fit, but also allowed them to grow stronger as a team.
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: NELSON Supporting the Education of Black Students through Content and Community
The call for a need to further understand the Canadian Black Experience has been made clear, and Nelson is committed to providing tools and resources for educators that support students in the classroom and beyond. To ensure the conversation of Black History Month continues all year long, Nelson is dedicated to putting together Professional Learning opportunities for everyone in education, such as the See Us Learn Us nine-part webinar series. Nelson’s Edwin team is also working hard to reflect all this information into the digital ecosystem for educators to access, with a range of topics on the Black Canadian Experience.
ST. JOHN'S-KILMARNOCK SCHOOL No Limits to Learning at SJK
Natural, serene and expansive, the 36-acre campus at St. John’s-Kilmarnock School has always been an integral part of ‘The SJK Experience.’ As the pandemic shifted many previously indoor activities to the outdoors, the SJK community embraced this opportunity to further utilize our outdoor spaces, explore new activities and challenge themselves through exciting learning opportunities.
UTS Changing the culture of consent at UTS
University of Toronto Schools embarked on a transformative journey for the 2020-21 school year to strengthen the culture of consent at our school, and students are the driving force. After a small group of students and young alumni bravely raised several concerns last summer, the school responded by setting a strategic goal to create a school culture free of sexual harassment and assault, and established a joint student-staff committee to lead the change. Students worked with school lawyers to revise the policy so it is more empathic and easier to understand, as well as creating a video on consent for parents, and much more.
APPLEBY COLLEGE Appleby College’s Annual United Way Week
From February 22 to 26, Appleby College councils and student groups coordinated events for United Way Week. There were some old favourites like Dress in Red Day and Paint the Prefects, as well as new additions including Firewood Bundles, Gratitude Grams, and an auction was held for two sets of one face cord (4’ x 8’ stack) of dry, mixed wood from trees felled around campus. Funds raised were donated to the United Way of Halton and Hamilton and Appleby's Financial Assistance Programme. Approximately $5,000 was raised in addition to the $16,000 contributed through Appleby’s employee campaign which took place in January.
HAWTHORN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS The Hawthorn Exhibition: Where "Wisdom Begins in Wonder"
On the evening of March 18, 2021, we were thrilled to launch The Hawthorn Exhibition Google Site, inviting our families to view a snapshot of their child(ren)’s pathway towards wisdom. We were proud to showcase our students’ learning through videos of day-to-day activities. Hawthorn’s classical liberal arts education, in truth, goodness, and beauty, was on full display.
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: ESSENTIAL ERM - TRACKER NETWORKS Management Best Practices for School ERM
The last 12 months have clearly shown the value of being prepared. An enterprise risk management (ERM) program is a best practice management discipline that can help schools lower future risk and improve goal attainment.
HOLY NAME OF MARY COLLEGE SCHOOL 43 HNMCS Students on a Transformational Journey
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a self-development programme aimed at encouraging young people, aged 14 to 24, to set their own goals and challenges, work towards achieving them, and then be recognized after completion for sustaining the commitment they have made. The fundamental principle is self-motivation.
ST. MICHAEL'S COLLEGE SCHOOL Service Initiatives Take on New Meaning during the Pandemic
Restrictions, lockdowns and other disruptions necessitated by the pandemic has only fuelled the imagination of many students at St. Michael's College School when it comes to fulfilling community and Christian service requirements.
THE YORK SCHOOL A-Day-In-The-Life. The York School Taps School Spirit to Tell Its Story.
Under the blanket of the pandemic, many of us have been asking: How do we showcase all our school has to offer to prospective students when we can't even invite them in to fully ‘see’ our space? How do we show them what school culture is like? What exciting and challenging academic, sports and extracurricular activities might they enjoy? How do we do this safely? Our students supplied the answer!
CIS ONTARIO SPONSOR: APPLY TO EDUCATION Diversity In The Classroom
ApplyToEducation is working with CIS Ontario schools who value diversity and inclusion in the classroom to attract and hire teachers from diverse backgrounds. CIS Ontario and the CISAA are pleased to present an 8-part speaker series to take place during April and May of 2021.
The Spring 2021 Speaker Series will offer ALL CISAA Athletic Directors and Coaches the chance to participate in unique, after school and evening presentations by eight individuals with varying backgrounds in sport. The intent is to provide an opportunity for coaches and athletic directors to look ahead to the return of inter-school sport and be energized and equipped with new ideas or new ways of looking at existing issues in the sports environment.
We are able to offer this PD at no charge to CIS Ontario member school employees this year due to the cancellation of CISAA games, playoffs and championships and through the generosity of our sponsors.
Please review the 2021 Spring CISAA Speaker Series package here and register in advance for as many sessions as you feel will fit into your schedule.
Thank you for your continued dedication in offering flexible physical activity and sport-specific training to students during a very challenging time. We hope this Speaker Series will provide a chance for reflection, inspiration and continued learning.
Tim White, CISAA Director
CIS ONTARIO: CITE CONFERENCE 2021 Registration is Open!
Calling all English and ESOL teachers! Register today for the CITE Conference happening Saturday, April 24, 2021 hosted virtually by The Bishop Strachan School.
The theme for this year is 20/20 Vision: Focus on Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Belonging. Join us and hear from keynote speaker Britta B, attend 8 great workshops and enjoy socializing with friends.
COVID-19 COHORT STUDY FOR TEACHERS AND EDUCATION WORKERS Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto are looking for volunteers.
Would you like to participate in a COVID-19 Cohort Study? CIS Ontario is not affiliated with the study, however in the interest of supporting medical research, we agreed to distribute the information to our member school community on behalf of the research team at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Join a COVID-19 research study for teachers and other school personnel in Ontario elementary and secondary schools - both public and independent. Researchers at Sinai Health are looking for teachers, ECEs, TAs, principals, administrative assistants, bus drivers, lunch room and maintenance staff and others - whether they have direct student contact or not. No vaccines or drugs involved; just surveys and blood samples. Join whether or not you have been or plan to be vaccinated or not. If you are interested or know someone who might be, check out http://www.tibdn.ca/covid-19/education
Please note: The consent form states that one has to work in an Ontario "public" school. Those who work at a private institution can select YES for that question. Please disregard any "public" wording, including on the consent form and the website - all educators/school personnel in Ontario are welcome regardless if it is in the public or private sphere.
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