Middle School - November 23, 2023

The Learning Lounge - Starting November 27

  • Ms. Robertson and Ms. Rhemtulla are starting "The Learning Lounge" (aka Homework Club) on Mondays and Thursdays after school from 3:30pm to 4:15pm.

  • Anyone is welcome to come and get questions answered, get help with any subject or work in a quiet space to complete homework with teacher support. Students can stay for as much or as little time as they want.

Grade 8 Lunch Out - November 29

  • Grade 8’s will have an additional optional lunch out on Wednesday, November 29 

  • Grade 8’s will continue to have an optional lunch every Friday

Grade 6s visit the Holocaust Museum - November 27 and 30

  • 6B and 6C will visit on November 27 as part of the revised Social Studies curriculum, 6A will visit on November 30.

Middle and Senior School Play - November 30 - December 2

TPH School Immunization Program Clinic - December 1

  • Toronto Public Health (TPH) will be hosting a School Immunization Program clinic at The York School on Friday, December 1, 2023. The clinic will offer hepatitis b, human papillomavirus (HPV), and meningococcal vaccines to grade 7 and 8 students

  • Parents have to complete the consent form for your child to participate

  •  If you wish to have your child vaccinated outside of school, TPH holds regular routine vaccination clinics around the city. For more information please visit this site.

  • Students who are participating can wear their short sleeve PHE t-shirt with the regular uniform bottom.

Forest of reading

Next week, we are excited to introduce the 2023-24 Forest of Reading program to our middle school students. The Forest of Reading is a Canada-wide program designed to inspire a love of reading and promote books by Canadian authors.

The "forest" is made up of several different "trees" (book lists), with each tree featuring 10 books nominated as "the best" of Canadian literature. The trees for our middle school students are Red Maple (fiction) and Yellow Cedar (nonfiction).

Students will be invited to choose which books they’d like to read from the Red Maple or Yellow Cedar nominated booklists. If they read at least 5 of the books listed on the tree, they’ll be eligible to vote for their favourite at our school Voting Day on Tuesday April 23.

The Canada-wide winners of each “tree” will be announced at the Festival of Trees, to be held on May 15 at the Harbourfront Centre. Students who have read at least 5 books are welcome to join our field trip to the Festival!

Visit our library Forest of Reading page for more details about the program, including book talks from our Forest of Reading teacher ambassadors.

Interested students are invited to sign up for the program by filling out the Forest of Reading signup form.

Happy reading!

For more information or questions, please contact:

Nicholas Regner (nregner@yorkschool.com), Jesse Grosman (jgrosman@yorkschool.com), Beth Wolfe (bwolfe@yorkschool.com) or Jennifer Robertson (jrobertson@yorkschool.com).

STUDENT LIFE & BELONGING

UNIQUE holiday TRADITIONS

During the month of December, we are eager to celebrate the rich tapestry of cultures that make our community vibrant and diverse. This year, we invite you to join us in showcasing the beauty of our collective traditions by sharing your unique holiday celebrations. Whether it's a festival, a special ceremony, or a cherished family tradition, we want to highlight the diversity that makes our community so special. By coming together to showcase our various customs and celebrations, we can foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the multitude of cultures that coexist within our community. Let's embrace this opportunity to learn from one another, and strengthen the bonds that make our community a truly remarkable place. If you are interested in sharing your holiday celebrations with us please create a short (under 3 minute) video to be showcased one morning in December through our York Reflects.
Please share your videos with Shelley Gopal at sgopal@yorkschool.com by November 24, 2023.

Save a Child’s Heart

Thank you to the students and staff who supported the Save a Child’s Heart fundraiser. 

As a community we have raised $834. This money will be used to support medical staff training and transportation of and care for children around the world who require lifesaving heart surgeries. 

Rainbow Railroad - Mark your calendars!

For our Human Rights Day focus this year we are partnering with Rainbow Railroad and supporting their “60 in 60” campaign. The Rainbow Railroad is a non-profit organization that helps LGBTQI+ individuals leave unsafe situations - whether from forced displacement or persecution. This year, Rainbow Railroad is hoping to fundraise in the final 60 days of 2023 to assist “60 people get to safety through emergency evacuation, 60 people receive life-saving financial assistance, and 60 people receive information services, psychosocial and community supports.”

York is thankful for our student leaders - Grace and Christian P-H, ‘24 - who brought this partnership to life and we are proud to have the opportunity to support this campaign through the following initiatives:

Candy Gram Fundraiser DecEMBER 4 - 5

On Monday and Tuesday, December 4 and 5, students can purchase candy grams in the cafeteria from 8:00am - 8:45am, as well as at lunch, to send a message of kindness to other members of our community. Grams will cost 1/$1 and 3/$2 and be delivered through homeroom teachers and advisors at the end of the week.

Assembly DecEMBER 6

On Wednesday, December 6, we will welcome the CEO of Rainbow Railroad, Kimahli Powell, to speak to our community about the human rights violations that exist globally toward members of the LGBTQI+ community and the work that Rainbow Railroad is doing to provide access to safety for individuals experiencing violence, oppression and discrimination.

Community Breakfast Fundraiser DecEMBER 7

Finally, we encourage all members of our community to join us for a community breakfast fundraiser on Thursday, December 7 from 8:00am - 8:45am in the cafeteria. 

A hot breakfast, as well as donuts and iced coffee, will be served and for every $10 spent, student and staff names will be entered into a raffle to win Leafs or Raptors tickets!
All proceeds from our fundraisers will go to Rainbow Railroad. 

Questions? Please contact Erin Porter, Director, Student Life at eporter@yorkschool.com

Student Life Tile on YorkNet

Students and parents/guardians are encouraged to check out our new Student Life Tile on YorkNet. Here you will find the most up-to-date co curricular schedules, student leadership opportunities, student newspaper link and much more! 

If you have questions or cannot find something on the tile, please contact Erin Porter, Director, Student Life and Belonging at eporter@yorkschool.com.

The York SHOP

Weather is getting colder - time to buy some cozy TYS gear...

Cozy TYS Flannel Pants (LIMITED QUANTITIES AVAILABLE!)

Dates: Tuesday, November 28 & Wednesday, November 29
Time: 8:00am - 9:00am & 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Limited Quantities Available!!

Toddler (available at Junior School) - $31.50 plus 5% GST
Youth (available at both campuses) - $45 plus 5% GST
Adults (available at Middle/Senior School) - $45 plus 13% HST

For all up to date York Shop information, please visit The York Shop tile on YorkNet.
If you have any questions please reach out to Astrid Fischer at Afischer@yorkschool.com.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to our Middle School Homeroom students and teachers for their spirited involvement in our Halloween festivities! The prize winners for the door decorations and pumpkin carving are as follows:

8A- Wednesday, December 6- Bonus Lunch Out

6B/8B- Thursday, December 7- Pizza Lunch

8C- Friday, December 8 - Hot Chocolate Morning

Questions? Please contact Diana Rowell, Middle School Leadership Coordinator at drowell@yorkschool.com.