Principal: Joe Foti

Vice-Principal: Janet Atkinson

Vice-Principal: Kim Tavares

E-BULLETIN November 28, 2014

Thornlea SS

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE MESSAGE F RO M T H E V ICE -PR IN C I PA L 3 MESSAGE F RO M TRU S TEE SU SA N GE LLE R 4 EXAM SCHE DU L E & ME MO TO STU DE N TS/FA M I L I E S JAN . 2015 5 -7 FREE T H E CH I LD RE N 8 ECO HE ALTHY SCHOO LS 9 FRE NC H IM M E R S IO N 10-11 GU I D A N C E NE W S 12-23 LE A R N I N G CA L E N D A R 24 CALE N DAR OF EV E N TS 25

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MESSAGE FROM THE VICE-PRINCIPAL  Dear Families and Community Members,  I am excited to be working as the new Vice‐Principal here at Thornlea Secondary school. Com‐ing from the YRDSB’s Inclusive Schools and Community Services Unit, you can guess that my passion lies in equity, diversity and inclusivity. Therefore, finding out that the core principle of Thornlea Secondary School is to know all of the students so that their individual learning and emotional needs can be met, was exciting and a perfect fit with my philosophy of teaching. I firmly believe that students cannot learn if they do not feel engaged, see themselves and the global world they live in reflected in their school and classroom, and know that those in front of them see and develop their potential. As we move forward, I am excited to work with par‐ents, students, teachers and community members to help ensure that students at Thornlea learn, feel respected and know that they are valued. I look forward to meeting you as my time here lengthens!   We would like to remind all parents that Midterm report cards were handed out in home‐rooms on Wednesday November 19th to our students. If you have any questions or your child’s report card has not found its way please feel free to contact us.  There is a lot happening at the school as we switch over from our fall sports schedule to our winter sports schedule. All Thornlea students are encouraged to join a team or an activity at school as social development and physical wellness are just as important as academic growth. A special congratulations to our Senior Boys Basketball team who were Finalists in the prestig‐ious 'Early Bird Classic' hosted by Father Henry Carr. After picking up some huge victories in tournament and league play, the boys are currently ranked #3 Provincially! While vying for the #1 spot, the team will continue to play in major tournaments that include trips to Windsor and Hamilton. Thunder Up!  In the world of Arts the school’s drama club show takes place from December 9th to the 12th in Theatre 219. The school’s art show will place in the cafeteria on December 11th at 6:30 p.m. all are welcome. Finally our annual winter music concert takes place on December 3th in the cafeteria at 7:00 p.m. all are welcome.  Finally, In a sure sign that graduation is around the corner for our grade twelve students Grad photos are taking place at the school form November 24th to December 5th.   Warmest Regards, Kim Tavares    

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Message From Trustee Susan Geller As we near the end of 2014, I hope everyone has had a great school year so far. Thanks to everyone who, as part of our school team, helped out in any manner, and found opportunities to get involved with the life of the school. Thanks to your support and the hard work and commitment of our staff, students, families and community partners, we con-tinue to move forward in achieving what is best for the students. Please make sure you do not forget those who may not have family and friends to enjoy the holidays with. So, spread the holi-day cheer. Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful start to the new year. DO NOT ASSUME A DRIVER CAN SEE YOU WHEN WALKING ENJOY!!!!!!!

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MEMO and EXAM schedule went home with students December 3, 2014

MEMO to Students and Families:

Thornlea students will write their semester examinations at the end of January. Our exam schedule is on the back of this page. All exams are written at 10:00 a.m. from Friday, January 23 to Thursday, January 29, 2015. Please review the examination rules below, and determine the days on which your examinations are scheduled.

York Region District School Board Examination Rules Examination Schedule: All students must write their examinations at the scheduled time. Vacation, employment and/or appointments must not be scheduled during the examination period. Students must be available throughout the exam schedule in the unforeseen event that any exams need to be rescheduled.

It is the responsibility of each student to confirm the scheduled examination time, date, and location with their course teachers.

If a student has a valid medical certificate detailing why he/she was unable to write the final examination on the assigned day, the school’s administration will deal with the situation on a case by case basis.

Should any exam day be cancelled, all evaluations of that day will be re-scheduled during the exam period. In such an event, check the website to learn when postponed exams will be writ-ten.

On the day of the examination: 1. Bring any remaining course textbooks to your examination to return to your teacher. 2. Arrive at the assigned examination room by 9:50 a.m.

Leave all books, pencil cases, geometry set cases, carrying cases or covers for calcula-tors, i-pods, MP3 Players, cell phones, jackets or bags in your locker or at home as they are not allowed in the evaluation room. The exception is textbooks to be returned to the teacher which should be placed on the floor beside your desk and specific de-vices that a teacher has instructed you to bring beyond the pen, pencil and eraser nor-mally required.

During the examination: 1. You must not talk or communicate with any student in the evaluation room once the

evaluation has begun. 2. You must remain in the evaluation room for one full hour and you may not leave

during the last fifteen minutes of the evaluation time. 3. No items may be borrowed/shared during an exam. 4. Any student cheating on an evaluation or trying to pass information to another student

will have their test paper immediately confiscated by the teacher and will be referred to administration who will determine the grade received on a case by case basis.

After the examination: Vacate the building as soon as your examination is completed. There is no cafeteria ser-vice during this time and teachers are occupied marking. Exam consultation Day is on January 30th from 1-2:55 pm. Please see below for the schedule.

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End of Semester Calendar for January 2015

January 30, 2015

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

January 19 20 21 22 23

Period 1 Exams

26 27 28 29 30 Period 4 Exams Period 3 Exams Period 2 Exams Exam Conflict

Day Exam

Return Day

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PD Day First Day of Sem 2

SCHEDULE FOR EXAM CONSULTATION DAY Friday, January 30, 2015

Teacher Meetings All Morning

Period 1 1:00 – 1:25

Period 2 1:30 – 1:55

Period 3 2:00 – 2:25

Period 4 2:30 – 2:55

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Free the children started at Thornlea on Octo-ber. The group came together with the leader-ship of Andrew Herold and decided they wanted to collect non-perishable food items for our lo-cal food bank. The students of the club spent countless hours create and designing lovely “We Scare Hunger” boxes that were placed in various locations and classrooms throughout the school. Altogether, the school was able to raise over 1000 non-perishable food items. The food will be dropped off at our local Fire Hall where they will donate to our local food bank in Markham. The group would especially like to give a shout out to Mr. McCutcheon who with his students, was able to collect 850 items on their own.

Due to their great efforts they will be receiving a Pizza Party as a Thank You from the members of Free the Children, Ms. Morris, and Ms. Melo.

Ms. Melo, Andrew Herold, Ms. Morris

Group Members from Free the Children

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Guidance News Salutations from the Guidance Department! Our team has been busy with providing our students with Post-Secondary/Scholarship Information and also conferencing with our potential graduates to ensure they are on track. We have a fantastic presentation on Wednesday December 10th at 2:00; Liza Henriques will speak to our Grade 12 students about funding their post-secondary education. Topics included Scholarships, Bursaries, and OSAP. We also will review the on-line University Application Process. Once again the Guidance Team this year consists of Mr. Paul Stephenson (Counselor A to G/Student Success), Mrs. Georgia Vatousis (Counselor H to L), Mr. Nizam Alkins, Head of Guidance (Counselor M to Z) and Ms. Gail Burdett (Guidance Secretary). The Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC) Pin Codes have arrived!! 180 graduating students have al-ready picked up their envelope with their Pin Code and are on their way to applying to University. If a student has not picked up their code, they should come to the Guidance office immediately. Guidance will also be offering a University and College Application workshop on December 16, 17&18th at 11:40 in the Upper Computer Lab. There is a signup sheet in the guidance office. No PinCodes are distributed for College Applications; students will create their own with their Social Insurance Number and Ontario Education Number (OEN) at www.ontariocolleges.ca The Deadline for your University Application is January 14, 2015 (please pay on-line) The next OUAC University grades transmission is scheduled for February 12th, 2015. The “Equal Consideration” Deadline for your College Application is February1 2015 (please pay on-line) The next OCAS College grades transmission is scheduled for February 10th, 2015. As for Scholarship information, please make an appointment to see Ms. Stephenson in the Guidance office. Two great websites to find out more information on scholarships are: http://www.studentawards.com/ http://www.electronicinfo.ca/en/page.php?id=21 We also would like to remind students of our process for making guidance appointments. If any student would like to make an appointment with their “Alpha” identified counselor, they should come to the Guidance Office before school starts (8:25 to 8:45), during their lunch (11:30 to 12:30), or after school (3:05 to 3:30). We would also like to remind students that there is a new process in place for Community Service Hours (CSH). All students must complete 40 community hours to obtain their Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The Guid-ance department must approve your community service opportunity before you start your hours. Please see your counselor for a CSH sheet and pre-approval. A reminder to all grade 12 students; that they should hand in their community service hours by Friday December 19th, 2014. If students are planning on making a request for a timetable change for 2nd semester, they should make an appoint-ment with their counselor ASAP. NEW!!!! Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thornlea_ss

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

December 9-12 Drama Club Shows December 11 Art Show December 20-January 4 Christmas Break January 5 First day back January 8 Last day for Field Trips/term tests/assignments January 14 GRAD Photo Retakes January 14-16 Math EQAO January 19 School Council 7:15pm January 23-29 EXAMS EXAM Schedule/Memo Pages 4-6 January 30 EXAM Review Day February 2 PA Day February 3 First Day Sem 2