New Progress Report for Grades 7/8
As many of you already know, throughout Ontario this year our Grade 7/8 students will be bringing home Progress Reports in November instead of the traditional report cards. These Progress Reports will not contain assessment marks but will give a description of the student's progress to date. This will lead to the first formal report card which wil
l be issued at the end of January. By using the Progress Report, the Ministry of Education is hoping that students will be able to set goals to achieve between November and the firs
t report card in J
anuary.
Due to some technical issues with the vendor, there was a delay in the availability of the Progress Reports. They will be issued to students on Thursday November 18, 2010. Grade 7&8 Parent-teacher interviews will follow on Wednesday November 24, 2010. Along with the Progress Reports, students will bring home a sheet where parents can request interview times with their child's teachers, if they wish to do so.
The following link wil
l allow you to access the ch
anges to the Grade 7&8 Report Card that are in alignment with the Ministry of Education's Assessment and Evaluation policies. Please click on the link to
view the Ministry's explanation for changes to the first reporting period for our intermediate students.
This link, http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/reportCard.html, has the brochure translated in 22 languages.
Pastoral Perspectives
By Martha
Dougherty, Chaplain
Advent b
egins in 23 days. Yikes! Are you prepared? I'm not. While our community has been stepping up to the challenges of hunger, bullying and inclusion, we haven't begun to think about the real chances of Jesus showing up at the front door. Our Advent celebration will be on Thursday, December 3 and you are all invited to join us in preparing for the celebration of the birth of Christ. This year we are taking to heart Mother Teresa's prayer of the poor. The nativity story will be seen through a more modern lens, one that allows us to imagine what would happen if Joseph and Mary were in exile today.
ACTS is ready to run. A Ch
ance To Serve (ACTS) is the youth justice program at the intermediate level. Remind your sons and daughters that it is not too late to get involved. Our first three projects inclu
de:
- Life before Profit - Access to safe drinking water for everyone
- Child Soldiers - What the heck is going on?
- Human Rights Day - Write for rights!
December will bring Advent Celebrations and our Christmas Collection.
Youth Ministry has been launched and we are changing our name. Stay tuned for that update. This group of students will begin with the Life before Profit project as well and will tackle it at a different level. This grou
p is meeting next week to confirm the programs and action we want to address throughout the year.
This is a special school because of the authentic care and compassion demonstrated every day by staff and stud
ents. I ask that you continue to hold us in your prayers, especially our caretakers who truly are proud of this school and want everyone to feel good about being here. These are good people who care about the quality of life we share in the community.
This past week has been busy and productive. The annual Youth Ministry Institute took place at St. Paul University on Wednesday. Students from across the Board gathered to learn
about being prophets in the 21st century. We explored media, faith and culture and reflected on the voices of influence in our lives. On the bus returning to school at the end of the day, students told me that they felt inspired.
Also this week, some Intermediate students began the ACTS (A Chance To Serve) group. We will be meeting every Tuesday at
lunchtime in the chapel. Our first major campaign is Child Soldiers. Students will learn that prayer and action are powerful forces for change.
The Youth Ministry te
am is launching a justice campaign on Water: Life before Profit. Our Eco Club has been doing a great job in promoting water as a natural resource to be protected and we will look at the issue from a faith perspective.
I am happy to extend an invitation to you for an evening of reflection on Thursday, December 2 at 7 pm. Reverend Cherwick, an Eastern Rite priest and a parent in our community, will lead this reflection. The reflection will last for one hour and will be followed by refreshments. A free-will donation to our Christmas collection would be appreciated. I do hope that you will plan to join us.
Mother Teresa HS Cha
pel
Spirituality of Icons:
An Advent Reflection
Thursday December 2, 2010 from 7 pm to 8 pm
Peace Martha
We will be exploring each
of these topics and then in January this team will assist in the Grade 7/8 retreats.
Bus Passes for Yellow School Buses
Over the past two weeks, bus passes have been issued to all students who have a spot on our yellow school b
uses. It is important that all
students who ride on a s
chool bus carry their pass with them and have it available to show the driver upon request. We have instituted this as a school as it will prevent students from riding our yellow school buses if they are not assigned a seat on the bus fro
m the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority. As many of you know, I have played a role in assigning extra seats on our buses through Seat Availability applications and this helps to ensure fairness in assigning seats that are actually available on our buses.
Titan Wear will once again be on sale and scheduled to arrive before Christmas. Order forms went home with your children and were due back last Friday, October 29. If you have missed this deadline, you can still send in the form or contact Mr. Len Baldin as he has ordered extra items. You can view the clothing in colour and access an order form from the Mother Teresa website under "our school" and "tuck shop". All the ordering instructions are on the order form. Sample clothing is available to try on in Room 216 before school, during lunch, and after school. Call Mr. Baldin if you want it to be a surprise for Christmas for your Titan!!
Walter Baker Sports Centre 30th Anniversary Celebration
City councillor Jan Harder extends an invitation to all Barrhaven families to celebrate Barrhaven's important community space and the legacy of its namesake, on Sunday, November 7th, 2010, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at 100 Malvern Drive, Nepean.
Don't miss the official ceremonies at noon:
- Speeches from dignitaries, full colour piper, time capsule, cake cutting, free hotdogs and more!
Attractions include...
- Magic Midway's Inflatable Obstacle Course!
- Roaming clown performers and mascots!
- Pottery painting, crafts, storytime and magic show!
- Free fitness classes: Yin Yoga, Kettle Bells, Drums Alive, Drum Fit for Kids, Zumba and Personal Training Services!
- FREE swimming and public skating from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Media Literacy Week
By Michele Pierce, Guidance Counselor
Parents - The Internet - e-Parenting Tutorial:
In e-Parenting Tutorial: Keeping Up with Your Kids' Online Activities, Alice, a witty and cyber-savvy mom, takes parents on a tour of the many different Web environments and activities that are popular with children and youth. Along the way she poses questions for parents to answer and gets perspectives from an Internet expert and her children on the pluses and challenges of digital life. The tutorial includes five modules: "Online Research and Homework", "Online Relationships", "Inappropriate Content", "Online Marketing", and "Too Much Time Online". After completing the modules, parents are given an opportunity to work with their kids to develop a list of family rules for Internet use at home.
Summary of the Content:
- Online Research & Homework:
It talks about on line research, Wikipedia and plagiarism. - Online Relationships:
Cell phone features (sexting, bullying, building empathy), social networking (privacy settings, student control info shared), online games (avatars, chats), instant messaging (keeping history, cyber bullying, registering for IM, choosing passwords, knowing all your contacts), webcams (potential for recording) - Inappropriate Content:
Pornography, violence, gambling - Online Marketing:
Privacy policy & protection, immersive advertising, advergames, junk food & the internet - Too Much Time Online:
Online games (dopamine, confidence, duration), multitasking, Internet obsession
It is about a 30-minute interactive presentation. There are printable tips for parents as well and a parent-child agreement.
Bullying Awareness Week: Nov 15-19 & 25
By Tammy Coyle, Guidance Counselor
Mother Teresa High School is very fortunate to have a very active Stand Up to Bullying Squad led by our senior students who take on the challenge of stopping bullying at our school. We have organized a Bullying Awareness Week that will include the following activities that feature an exciting line-up of guest speakers and presentations.
Monday, Nov 8th: Grades 7-12
Deadline for Short story contest: This contest is a one-page short story about being bullied, bullying someone or witnessing bullying. Students are to submit their entries to Student Services.
Monday, Nov 15th: Grade 7s
A presentation for all our Grade 7 students with our School Resource Officer, Constable Sherry Jordan, in the multi-purpose room during 7&8 Period 1.
Tuesday, Nov 16th: Grades 7-12
All Homerooms will receive a Stop Sign and directions for the activity. Have students write what they want to see stopped. Stop Signs will be posted in homeroom classes.
Thursday, Nov 18th: Grade 9s
A presentation by Ottawa 67s coach, Chris Bryne, focusing on goal-setting and overcoming obstacles.
Mon-Thurs, Nov 15-18th: Grade 8s
All grade 8 classes will be visited by the Stand Up to Bullying Squad. Information about types of bullying, what to do as a victim, bystander, and bully will be presented with discussion and questions.
Thursday, Nov 25th: Grades 7-12
An interactive, multi-media presentation by Teen Truth Live on the topics of School Violence and Bullying, Grades 7-12, Periods One, Two and Four.
School Council QSP Campaign
The Mother Teresa Catholic School Council would like to remind you that the QSP magazine sale campaign is still in full gear! Please check out the hundreds of selections to choose from at www.qsp.ca and don't forget our group ID# is 10887. Remember, Christmas is fast approaching and you can send these magazines as gifts anywhere in Canada - it's fast and easy. Thank you for your support.
National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims - National Event- November 17th
We have been honoured by being chosen as the site for the National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims for 2010. In memory of our Grade 12 student, Christian Williams, lost to a road crash on June 22nd, 2010, we are hosting this 2010 Day of Remembrance in conjunction with the Federal Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Chuck Strahl.
A formal ceremony including, speeches from Minister Strahl; Steve Martin, President of the Canadian Council Motor Transportation Administrators; Denise Dubyk, President of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD); and Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving (OSAID), represented by our own students, Emily MacDonald and Sarah Lalonde (OSAID representatives for the Ottawa region), will take place at 12:30 pm that day.
Exhibitors will be present in our school throughout the day with kiosks set up in our atrium. Students will have an opportunity to see displays from MADD, OSAID, Canadian Automobile Association, Distractions Undermining Motorist Behaviour Car (DUMB Car), Canadian Council Motor Transportation Administrators, SMARTRISK, Ottawa Police, and the Ontario Provincial Police. Outside on our front lawn that day we will have the "Choose Your Ride" campaign that has been arranged by MADD.
You can view this information at:
Our students will be provided with an opportunity to receive information on road safety throughout the day and it will be a major event with media coverage.
Grade 12 Graduation Photos
This past week our graduating students have been having their grad photos taken during school time. This has been featured in our oral and written announcements instructing them to drop by Student Services to pick up the information pamphlet from Edge Imaging on the grad photo sessions. On that pamphlet it has instructions to visit their website at www.bookmygrad.ca. It also highlights our school code and information on the three choices of packages.
Whether or not you want to order a photo package, graduating students need to have their photo taken for the graduation composite for the school. We have added three additional dates as there are still students who need to have their photos taken. If your graduating son or daughter has not taken part in these photo sessions, please visit the website to book an appointment time for the following dates and times:
December 13th, December 14th and December 15th from
2:45 pm to 8 pm
High School Report Cards
High School Semester 1 Interim Report Cards will be going home November 18, 2010. Please note that they will be withheld if students have outstanding books, course fees, and student fees.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Norma McDonald
Principal
Mother Teresa High School
Sincerely,
Mrs. Norma McDonald
Principal
Mother Teresa High School