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MVDHS Newsletter
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Principal’s Message
Dear Parents / Guardians of MVDHS
students,
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As usual our sports teams and clubs have
had an active year. Jonathan Stoppa qualified for OFSSAA in cross country running
and finished 5th in the province. Thomas
Yandernoll headed to EOSSAA for golf.
We have athletes heading to EOSSAA in
tennis, and Jake Yantha is headed to the
regional races in Alpine Skiing.
We hope everyone is surviving another
cold winter. With the days getting longer
we hope that the warmer temperatures
aren’t very far away. The first semester has Mrs. Sweeney has been busy preparing for
flown by though as we have been busy with course selections for next year. The grade
9 students have made their choices, and
academics, sports, clubs and more.
the other students will be making their
selections over the month of February.
Our grade 10 students are busy with preparations for the Ontario Secondary School
This is an exciting time for graduating
Literacy Test. This year we have an oppor- students as they complete their applicatunity to participate in a Field Test of the
tions for their post-secondary choices. Just
new electronic version of the OSSLT. It
remember to get your community hours in
takes place on February 26, and it will give as soon as possible, and if there is any
our students some practice with test condi- doubt about eligibility please see adminitions and test materials.
stration.
The real OSSLT takes place on March 26
and our literacy co-ordinator, Mrs Fretz, is
available for supporting students in preparation for the test. We will be offering afterschool sessions for extra support for the
literacy test. Please see the handout in this
package for more information.
Children’s Fitness Tax
Receipt
For eligible extracurricular programs, parents/
guardians can request a
Child Fitness Tax Receipt from the school.
Please contact the
school office (613)7563048 or
mvdhs_office@rcdsb.on.
ca for more details on
getting a receipt.
.
The planning for the amalgamation of
MVDHS and Sherwood public school has
been moving forward. The board is still
waiting on financial approval from the
ministry, but our staff has been busy reviewing the architectural drawings and
recommending changes to best suit the
F E B R U A RY
2015
needs of the students.
We are hoping that the community will finally get access to the school fitness room
for after school use sometime this semester.
An agreement has been signed, and the
township is waiting on a response to a Trillium grant request. The school would get
free access to the ball diamonds and tennis
courts and would get a reduced rate for renting the arena.
I would like to acknowledge and thank Ms.
Hollie Afelskie for her time as the Pastoral
Counsellor and religion teacher at MV. She
has moved on to another school for this
semester, but we may see her again in the
fall. I would also like to thank Ms. Samantha Buttler for joining our staff to teach
math part way through last semester. We
would also like to welcome Mr. Jesse Silver
here for this semester as an English teacher.
I want to thank the community for the continued support of our programs and activities. We have had great help from a number
of sources this year, and it is appreciated.
Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns.
Dave Bishop
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test will be written on
March 26, 2015
It is essential that all Grade 10 students and anyone else eligible to write be in school on
that day. We expect that after school Literacy Instruction sessions will begin in the near
future. Stay tuned for more information!
For more information on the OSSLT please visit the Resources for Parents section of
the EQAO Website (http://www.eqao.com/Parents/parents.aspx?Lang=E). There you
will find Planning and Preparation Guides, Sample Tests and information about the purpose and administration of the test.
If you have any concerns about your child and the OSSLT, please get in touch with
Jenny Smith, Vice-Principal.
School News 2014-2015
Math–Scientific Calculators
Scientific Calculators Needed for Math Class
Yearbook News
Just a reminder that you can prepre-order your 20142014-15 yearbook
for $35. If you prepre-order your yearbook, you are guaranteed a
copy when they arrive next fall.
There are still a few copies of the 20132013-14 yearbook left for those
who may not have ordered one. Please see Mrs. Olsheski in
B210 or contact her at 613613-756756-3048 ext 210 to purchase your
yearbook.
Drama Club News:
Student members have filmed interviews with participants in the Terry
Fox Run, Thomas Yandernoll (about his golfing successes), and several
members of the community who are helping us increase the visibility of
literacy needs in the workplace.
Members also performed a Christmas Carol skit at the final Christmas
Assembly. Madonna House has kindly donated a MAC computer with
special film editing software, and members are quite excited about learning to use this once more filming takes place.
New members are always welcome!!
WEBSITE ATTENDANCE
We are now offering another convenient option for
notifying the school of your
child/ren’s absence(s). Parents/Guardians can now
email the school at the attendance secretary email
address on our school website. Please go to the Staff
Contact Tab to access the
link.
All students taking a math course must
have a scientific calculator. Those
models that have a fraction button [
tend to have all the other requirements. There are some available
from the math department for $10; just
ask your teacher. These calculators, if
still in good condition at the end of the
semester, can be returned to the math
department and your money refunded.
Please note: calculators on your
phone, iPad or other electronic devices
typically do not have all the necessary
function.
E-Learning Students
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If a student is taking an
eLearning course taught
by a teacher from a school
other than MVDHS they
would be receiving a separate report card from that
school at a slightly later
date.
Are You Interested in Humanitarian Work ?
MVDHS and Family Life Christian Centre are organizing a humanitarian trip to Mexico
in March Break 2016, to build a house for a Mexican family in need. This would be
through the same organization; Live Different, who hosted our trips in 2012 and 2014.
This organization has been hosting ‘Live Different Builds’ for many years and have a
number of areas where they work. Check out their web site at www.livedifferent.com .
We will be going to Baja, Mexico to a small community called Vincente Guerrero. This is
where we visited before and were able to build four houses for families in nearby communities. The cost of the trip is approximately $2100 per person, all inclusive (cost varies according to flight costs). This figure will reduce as the
group does fundraising activities. Money paid by you personally can be claimed as donations on your (or your parent’s)
tax return. Both students and adults are welcome on this trip.
If you are interested or have questions, please email Pam
McCallum at mccallump@rcdsb.on.ca
This does not mean you have committed to the trip, just that
you are interested and would like more information. There
will be an information meeting after March break.
Guidance and Career Education - Winter 2015
COURSE REQUEST PROCEDURE for going into 2015-2016:
Students log in to their Course Planner using www.careercruising.com/login/REN (from anywhere) or via the
Career Cruising icon on the Novell screen of our school computers.
The initial username and password use student number and birth date.
The MVDHS Student Course Guide is accessible from that screen or at: www.careercruising.com/Individual/
CP_CourseCalendar.aspx?SID=13203
The 2015-2016 RCDSB Secondary Course Calendar is at: http://www.rcdsb.on.ca/en/programs/resources/
Secondary_Course_Calendar-2015-2016.pdf
Please return a paper copy of the course requests with parent signature after you have entered your final choices
into the Course Planner of Career Cruising. Students have a copy of this form or may print another one from
Career Cruising. DUE: by end of February
Grade 9 students completed the
process for 2015-2016 course
requests before Christmas; parents of Grade 9 students are
asked to sign your son/
daughters’ course request sheet
and return to Student Services if
you have not already done so.
Grade 10, 11, and any returning
Grade 12 students have received at least preliminary information and instructions and will
finish the process with Ms.
Sweeney in February (dates/
times TBD). Students in the
Grade 10 Careers course are
also getting help with this process in that class.
You may log in at any time on
your own to modify your entries
up until the “lock-in” date in late
February (date TBA). After that
date, any further changes would
need to be made through Student Services (and should be
minimal by that point).
The OSSLT (Ontario Secondary
School Literacy Test) will be
written on March 26 by Grade
10 students and students who
have previously not been successful in their writing of the test.
Students are encouraged to take
advantage of all the supports we
offer in preparation for this, both
during and after school hours.
Completion of the Literacy requirement is necessary to earn
the OSSD (Ontario Secondary
School Diploma).
Also necessary for the OSSD is
proof of completion of 40 hours of
Community Involvement. A list of
suggested places to earn these
hours is available in Student Services and new opportunities are
announced periodically.
Don’t wait until the last minute to get
these.
Students in any grade who might be
interested in taking part in enrichment opportunities should contact
Student Services or Special Education for information.
A reminder that full disclosure applies to all Grade 11 and 12
courses. This means that if a student withdraws from, repeats, or
fails a senior course it must be recorded on the OST (Ontario Student
Transcript). If a student withdraws
from a course before the deadline of
5 instructional days following the
first report card, it will not appear on
the OST.
Scholarships and bursaries for all
destinations have year-round due
dates. Check out
www.studentawards.com and/or
www.scholarshipscanada.com.
Local award information is e-mailed
out to those who have provided
their address to Ms. Sweeney for
this purpose as it becomes available. There really is something for
everyone.
Students applying for scholarships/
bursaries/awards sometimes require official transcripts and/or
letters of reference from staff. To
avoid disappointment, these should
be requested 10 business days before you require them.
Each graduating student should
have received an important four
page package in January. Please
read the covering memo and three
forms carefully, complete the forms
accurately and completely, and return them to the main office as soon
as possible.
Please note that due to increasingly
stringent, “applicant-centric” privacy
legislation, once college and university applications have been processed, secondary school staff is
permitted only very limited access to
applicant information. At this point,
the institutions must communicate
only with the applicant and anyone
who the applicant has designated as
authorized for second consent.
Once students know which college
or university they will be attending,
they can/should apply for OSAP
(Ontario Student Assistance Program) to assist with the costs of their
education. Check out
www.osap.gov.on.ca. You will also
be able to attend a presentation
here on that in the spring (date
TBD).
Students are encouraged to sign
up for an appointment in Student
Services if Ms. Sweeney can be of
assistance. You may also reach
her at sweeneyc@rcdsb.on.ca or
at phone extension 506.
Reminder of GR. 10 STUDENT/
PARENT INFO SESSION ON
PATHWAYS-FEB 11
PATHWAYS--FEB
Special Olympics Bocce Ball Tournament
The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) Program
The Life Skills class participated in a Special Olympics Bocce ball
tournament in Ottawa. We were
part of a 30 team competition at
the Louis Riel Dome in Ottawa in
early December. Bocce might be
a game you've only played outside
in warm weather, but the indoor
version is fun! The team showed
sportsmanship cheering on our
opponents in every game. We
won two of the three games we
played and had a great time. In
Semester 2 we'll be training for
the basketball tournament.
Triangulation of Evidence: How your child’s learning is assessed and evaluated
In 2010, the Ministry of Education released a document called “Growing Success” which
gave guidelines about how the learning of our students should be assessed and
evaluated. One of the main ideas from this document is that the evidence a teacher
collects about the learning should be “triangulated”. This means that it should include
evidence from products, observations and conversations.
Products are tasks that a student creates or completes. This might include assignments, projects, tests, quizzes,
etc. Observations are what the teacher is able to see and hear as the students are in the class and participating in
activities. Conversations that a teacher might use to assess or evaluate learning are conversations with the teacher and
student or even when students are talking to each other about their thoughts and ideas.
Efforts are made to use a variety of strategies to collect this evidence of student learning over time from all three sources:
Products, Observation and Conversation. This makes being in class regularly and participating as fully as possible very
important. If you have any questions about how evidence of student learning is being triangulated in your child’s classes,
please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the teacher.
For more information on Assessment and Evaluation, visit http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growsuccess.pdf
THANK YOU KILLALOE OPP! Thanks to our local detachment for the donation of several bicycles to
our school. Plans are underway for using the bicycles to support the
learning in our Technological Education Program.