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. 

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.

It’s about the connections between a student and a mentor, a coach and a developing athlete, a family and a principal. Ultimately families want to connect with people who share their visions, recognize their aspirations, and understand their challenges.

Schools and Our Kids share similar bonds.

Click on the link below to learn how this special bond keeps Our Kids on a mission—to connect the right families with the right schools.

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.

To kick off the month, the Grade 1 students coordinated a community-building activity for the school. They ensured everyone had an individually packaged box of Smarties and created posters that assigned each color of the smarties to a conversation starter.

After spending the start of the year apart, it was wonderful to see staff and students alike sharing, munching, and laughing.

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 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.”

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!

Throughout the week, students and staff competed against each other in a number of initiatives in order to win the championship title for Spirit Week 2021. Activities included trivia on the morning announcements, a March Madness Badminton Bracket, a QR code scavenger hunt, a lip sync battle and more!

After an incredible week filled with strong participation and a lot of Greenwood Spirit, our Grade 12s took the win as Spirit Week champions!

Trafalgar Castle School, Whitby, ON

Kenora Catholic District SB, Kenora, ON

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.

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.

Video is the best solution to keep everyone informed, promote your school to prospective students and parents, and is the driving force to ultimate engagement. Gold Media is here to help you with your school’s journey to optimize your digital marketing and communications.

Find out more at www.goldmedia.ca or contact me at john@goldmedia.ca or (416) 526-8237.

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.

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’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.

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.

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.

Schools face unique risks, based on student populations and unique activities. The Essential ERM system from Toronto-based Tracker Networks is an easy and economical ERM solution, proven in 44 countries. The web-based software can be preloaded with school-related risks and implemented in a matter of hours. CIS Ontario members receive a special discount and free training & onboarding assistance. Contact us for a free consultation today.

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.

Holy Name of Mary College School currently has 43 students working towards various levels of this prestigious award that encompasses service, skills, physical recreation and an adventurous journey. This year, despite many barriers, our girls have been working diligently to volunteer in the community and plan experiences that help them fulfill the criteria of each of these sections in a meaningful way.

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.

Traditional service initiatives like volunteering at a soup kitchen or preparing and delivering sandwiches for the homeless have not been available this year in their conventional form. So, students have challenged themselves to think outside-the-box to develop ideas that are safe, permissible and impactful.

The result has been a wide range of creative initiatives spanning tutoring, wellness, music, and even support for the pandemic-related needs of community organizations.

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 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

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. 

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.