Administration Team:

Principal Vice-Principal Vice-Principal Vice-Principal A. Daniel A. Gheewala D. Heron S. Maharaj

October 18, 2019

To the parents/guardians of «First_Name» «Last_Name»,

On Monday, October 21, 2019, both the Elementary and Secondary School panels will have Professional Activity Days (also known as Professional Development, or P.D. Days). These days take place approximately 7 times per school year. During these days, students stay home but schools remain open as school staff have time to focus on professional development. Why do teachers need this time? This is a question that teachers are asked all of the time. The biggest reason that teachers have P.A. Days is to improve on their practice in order to be better educators for their students. Here are some more reasons that teachers have P.A. Days.

Collaboration is key! Even though most teachers work on their own in classrooms with a specific number of students, they also work with their department heads, the Special Education Department, social workers, teacher liaisons, psychologists, other teachers, and administrators. They need time to meet with each other to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all of our students.

Each and every student is unique. In most classroom settings, teachers have students from different cultures, different levels of mental health, different social skills, different emotional and physical needs and are at different stages of achievement. Teachers require training in order to support each and every one of their students to the best of their ability.

Safety is priority number 1. As a school, our most important priority is keeping our students, staff and the building safe. To that end, our staff partakes in health and safety training to keep up to date on board policy. This will help our staff ensure that we are doing our utmost to keep the school and school community safe.

Middlefield C.I.

Teachers’ work carries on after classes end for the day. Much like when students have homework to complete, teachers use their time after classes to meet with parents and guardians regarding plans for individual students. They coach and plan for extra-curricular activities. They review student work and enter data into tools such as TeachAssist to communicate progress to parents, guardians and students. They respond to emails from peers, administrators and parents/guardians in order to keep open lines of communication with all of their students’ stakeholders.

Teachers also have their own families and friends. They are spouses, parents, siblings and children, too. Their family and friends time provides them the balance they need to remain mentally, emotionally and sociably capable of fulfilling their role as educators.

The nature of teachers’ work therefore means that to grow as professionals they need focused time.

The purpose of professional development is to improve student success. Our Board is focused on making a positive impact on our students. We rely on research to tell us what types of “PD” is most likely to do this. The research tells us that teachers (and most adults for that matter) learn best by talking and doing. We do our very best to make sure that our P.A. Days are designed to be interactive (when possible) and we strive to create lots of opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively. P.A. days are really important for staff training and when it’s done well, we truly feel that our students (and our staff!) are the ones who reap the biggest benefits.

Sincerely, A. Daniel, A. Gheewala, D. Heron, S. Maharaj

*Please note: Our next School Council Meeting will take place on Monday, November 4th, 2019*

Our meeting will take place in the MCI School Library, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents and guardians to learn about the college and university application process with special guest Paul Stephenson, Head of the Guidance and Career Studies Department. We hope that you will be able to join us on November 4th. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks! Character Matters Trait of the Month: Responsibility

“In dreams begin responsibility.” – WB Yeats Next week @ MCI…

October 21 PA Day

October 27 Diwali

October 29 Awards Breakfast

October 31 Halloween

Looking Ahead:

November 4 School Council Meeting

November 6 Take Our Kids to Work Day/Bring our Grade 8’s to MCI Day

November 7 Student Progress Interview Night/MCI Post Secondary Fair, Canadian Open Math Challenge

MCI HIGHLIGHTS

Non-Sanctioned Events

Dear MCI Parents/Guardians, It has come to our attention that there are semi-formal dances being organized in the community, which are not an MCI events. Examples include Soca on Lock Down in October and Venaam Machan Venam in November The administration and staff of Middlefield CI have not organized a semi-formal event this school year. If we do organize a dance, information will be communicated in our weekly e-bulletin. For events organized in the community, school staff have not been involved in the planning and will not be supervising or participating. Staff supervision will not take place at these events. It is strongly recommended by the school and Board that parents and guardians review with their child all aspects of these events when making a determination on attendance. This review should include pre- and post-activities, possession or use of alcohol and or illegal drugs, transportation to and from the event and appropriate behavior. Thank you, MCI Administration Team

Interim Reports & Student Progress Interview Night

Just a reminder that Interim Reports were handed out to students during homeroom on Wednesday, October 18th. Student Progress Interview Night (SPIN) will take place Thursday, November 7th, 2019 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. This is an excellent opportunity to meet with your child’s Semester 1 teachers. We will also be having our Post-Secondary Fair taking place in the Rotunda and Cafeteria. This is a fantastic opportunity to have a look at some Post-Secondary options as well as to have your questions answered by representatives from a number of Universities and Colleges. Do not miss out on this incredible event! Your child will bring home an Interview

** Parent refers to parents/guardians/caregivers. If you are unable to make it on Thursday,

Request Form very soon – on Tuesday, October 29th. Please ask your child to schedule interview times with their teachers. We look forward to seeing you Thursday, November 7th, 2019!

November 7th, please contact your child’s teacher by email or by phone in order to arrange an alternate time to discuss your child’s progress.

YRDSB Student Suicide Intervention Protocol

OYAP Open House Information

Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (Accelerated OYAP) Information Session Hello parents/guardians and students, We invite you to the Accelerated OYAP information sessions outlined below to find out more information about the exciting apprenticeship opportunities available through YRDSB our college and training center partners. The skilled trades offer excellent employment opportunities, training in state of the art facilities and higher than average career satisfaction. We hope to see you there.

Varsity Girls Basketball Team

On Tuesday, Oct 15 the Varsity Girls Basketball team took on a very challenging (and tall!) opponent. Our Ladyhawks went on a 9-1 run to start the game against the Keswick Cougars and finished the first half with an 18-10 lead. In the second half, the team kept the momentum going and went on to win the game, with a final score of 35-25. A big shout out to Gurnoor who lead the team in scoring with 16 points. Way to go Ladyhawks!

2019-2020 School Year Math Contest Dates

More Math!

Beyond Islamic Heritage Month!

Attention Parents!

INFORMATION ITEMS – ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

In the English Department’s effort to engage our students with current, relevant texts, this school year we have introduced Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give. This novel debuted at number one on The New York Times young adult best-seller list, where it remained for 50 weeks. It also won several awards and received critical praise for Thomas's writing style and timely subject matter. The novel is about a teenage girl who grapples with racism, police brutality, and activism after witnessing her a brutal crime. Students will develop their reading and critical thinking skills as well as explore social issues and matters of justice, equality, equity and our justice system while reading this new text.

Grade 10 Academic English – Slam Poetry Looking ahead, our grade 10 English teachers will be engaging students in a unit on spoken word poetry. Students will both analyze and create their own spoken word poems in order to express and understand different marginalized voices. One of the central goals of the unit of study is to define, identify and discuss the notion of central social discourse (whose voice is made dominant) and the idea of marginalized voices (voices that are somehow excluded, oppressed, or ignored by the mainstream). We aim to engage students in including and voicing marginalized voices under the broad banner of social justice. One of the ways we introduce the importance of poetry as a tool for educating about marginalized voices, is we show a video called “Canada…A Creation Story” by Rebecca Thomas (seen below). This is told through the voice of a Mi'kmaq woman whose father is a residential school survivor, poetry has served as a powerful tool for educating about the racism and inequality that still haunts many Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Grade 12 University English – Independent Novel Inquiry Research Project Our grade 12 students will begin their independent novel study project in the coming weeks. Using their critical thinking skills, students will explore their relationship with literature and develop a thought provoking question that they will then explore using their chosen novel. Through student-led brainstorming sessions and one-on-one conferencing with the teacher, the students will develop a detailed and well supported inquiry paper written in first person. The focus of this project is to engage our students in topics such as: social justice, anti-oppression, indigenous identities, gender roles, breaking social barriers, marginalized voices, and many more. Students are encouraged to choose a novel topic that interests them and that they would like to explore further. Furthermore, the inquiry-based approach allows our grade 12s to engage more personally with their chosen topic. This approach will foster critical thinking as students make relevant connections to the material, ask questions, explore a variety of sources, and reflect on their overall learning and understanding of the topic.

UPDATES FROM THE GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT

There is a positive relationship between regular attendance and success in school. Students at MCI are required to attend regularly, to be punctual, and to participate in all scheduled classes.

VALID ABSENCES include illness, bereavement or family emergency.

AUTHORIZED ABSENCES include dentist/doctor appointments, driver’s test, and court appearances.

EXCUSED ABSENCES refer to field trips and school sanctioned events. Students are still considered to be at school.

EXTENDED ABSENCES of four days or more require the completion of a “Special Leave” form at least one week in advance of the leave. This form may be obtained from the Main Office. A parent/guardian signature is required. It is the student’s responsibility to catch up on all work missed.

DO NOT plan absences or family vacations during culminating and exam periods as the evaluations CANNOT be rescheduled.

Type of Absence Parent/Guardian Responsibility Absent for a Full Day Phone the school with a valid reason the same day or send a note

upon return

Absent for One or More Classes Phone with valid reason indicating the time of absence or send a note with the student

Leaving Before the End of the Day Student signs out in attendance office with a note from the parent/guardian

In the Event of an Emergency Contact the office as soon as possible.

For safety reasons, students who have signed out must leave the building as they will not be directly supervised.

Dear parent/Guardian of «First_Name» «Last_Name»,

Please review the following attendance report. The report includes semester lates and absences from September 3rd, 2019 – October 17th, 2019, as well as Community Service Hours submitted to date.

Course Period Teacher Total Absences

Semester 1 Total Lates Semester 1

«Course_A» «Period_A» «Teacher_Last_A» «Absence_A» «Lates_A»

«Course_B» «Period_B» «Teacher_Last_B» «Absence_B» «Lates_B»

«Course_C» «Period_C» «Teacher_Last_C» «Absence_C» «Lates_C»

«Course_D» «Period_D» «Teacher_Last_D» «Absence_D» «Lates_D»

«Course_E» «Period_E» «Teacher_Last_E» «Absence_E» «Lates_E»

«Course_F» «Period_F» «Teacher_Last_F» «Absence_F» «Lates_F»

«Course_G» «Period_G» «Teacher_Last_G» «Absence_G» «Lates_G»

Totals «Total_Abs» «Total_Lates»

Community Service Hours Submitted to date for «First_Name» «Last_Name» «Community_Servi» This report lists the dates of each absence and the coding (ill, medical, truant).

Want more information about student attendance? Students under 18 and/or their parents can pick up a detailed attendance report from the main office.

ATTENDANCE REPORT

MIDDLEFIELD C.I. PHONE EXTENSION LIST

MIDDLEFIELD C.I. SCHOOL LINKS

Middlefield C.I. Webpage: http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/middlefield.ci

York Region District School Board: http://www.yrdsb.ca/

Y.R.D.S.B. Guide to the 2019-2020 School Year: Guide to the School Year

SHSM: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/morestudentsuccess/SHSM.html

Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

VM # Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

VM # Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

VM #

Afsharnejad, Fatemah 4600 Harvey, Walter 4683 Murray, Stephen 4657

Arsenault, Michelle 4613 Heron, Deanna 159 Nasreen, Tahira 4666

Atcha, Saeed 4654 Ho, Sonia 4624 Ng'Ong'Ola, Neps 4667

Bakshi, Shirleen 4605 Hobbs, Andrew 4627 Nguyen, Vincent 4641

Balakumar, Vithyani 4607 Hoult, Sarah 4675 Okongwu, Ngozi 4669

Baldassini, Susanna 360 Hunte, Camille 4611 O'Neill, Jeremy 4703

Bell, Catherine 4656 Huryn, Karolina 4629 Patras, Sofia 4302

Blanchard, Dan 4608 Hytman, Barry 4640 Pawlicki, Barb 4628

Boy, Martina 4609 Istanbul, Martha 4631 Pownall, Alyson 4625

Boyd, Morgan 4653 Kapustina, Elena 4622 Prinsloo, Heather 4658

Brijmongal, Ganesh 4610 Khandaker, Shopan 4661 Puri, Tanu 4697

Brown, Tonya 4606 King-Sewell, Rockell 4701 Reid, Rebecca 4676

Chan, Laura 4614 Korres, Vasiliki 4612 Rosenberg, Eric 4634

Chang, Mary 4649 Kumar, Rita 4615 Rueckert, Jennifer 4645

Chiejina, Pat 4619 Ladas, Niki 4665 Rutherford, Claudette 4673

Dabas, Jogender 4616 Lane, Janine 4699 Sadacharan, Skanda 4677

Dadar, Mehdi 4693 Lawrence, Grace 4700 Sanchez, Rodolfo 4621

Daniel, Aline 158 Li Kam Cheung, Priscilla 4651 Stephenson, Paul 161

Del Rosario, Melissa 4648 Liau, Sandra 4662 Suganthan, Piraveena 4636

Derry, Joyce 4637 Lloyd, Jonathan 4650 Sukhera, Sabrina 4682

Dornai, Angie 4678 MacPherson, Alison 4685 Tamber, Kamal 4617

Duffy, Michael 4601 Maharaj, Susan 157 Tang, Iris 4626

Escoffery, Nigel 4624 Markandaier, Shiva 4644 Thakrar, Sandeep 4688

Falzarano, Janet 4633 Mavridis, Peter 4659 Thompson, Reginald 4689

Ferguson, Alexandra 4679 McLoughlin, Dawn 4639 Tsui, Ada 4643

Firsat, Heera 4680 McMullen, Dan 4642 Tyler, Pamela 4668

Gauthier, Melanie 4663 Mein, Andrew 4660 Van Den Kroonenberg, Anna 217

Geronikolos, Lazaros 4603 Mobilos, Cathy 4630 Wong, Jack 4694

Gheewala, Amol 156 Mogilevskaya, Vera 4638 Woo, Rajvinder 4684

Glass, Jamie 4632 Moore, Lara 4620 Zissopoulos, Dimitra 4686

Gordon, Jacqueline 4695 Morin, Mike 4664