February 15, 2024

Written By UTS

PA Day changed from April 9, 2024 to April 8, 2024

In line with the publicly funded boards of education and the recommendation to CIS schools from legal council, UTS has decided to change the date of the April PA day from Tuesday, April 9 to Monday, April 8 to ensure students do not have to be outside or traveling school during the eclipse that is expected to occur in this region during the afternoon of April 8.

Grad Photos: February 12 - February 23, 2024

Lifetouch will be on site from February 12 to 23 for grad photos.   Links were sent out to graduating students on January 26. 

The sitting is $35 (debit/credit) and can be booked here.

Please contact d.merkley@utschools.ca if you have any questions.

Panorama Survey: February 20, 2024

On Tuesday, February 20 during period 3, we will be inviting students to complete the 2024 Panorama Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Survey. Students who do not have class period 3 have the opportunity to complete the survey in the library.

As done over the last few years, this voluntary, equity and inclusion climate survey is designed to give us a sense of and pulse on how UTS students are feeling, relative to equity and inclusion in the school community. Results of this survey will help inform decisions, and future learning for staff and students related to making UTS an even more inclusive space.

This online survey is developed by Panorama Education. Panorama Education has partnered with the Harvard Graduate School of Education to develop validated survey tools and works with schools and school districts across North America, as well as globally.  

Please let Dr. Kimberley Tavares know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for your support as we continue to work to make UTS an even more inclusive space.

Senior Drama Night: February 22, 2024

Join our M3, M4, S5 and S6 Drama students for a production of Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information, plus an original student-written one-act play and an interlude by the Musical Theatre Club.

The show is happening at 6 p.m. in the Withrow Auditorium on February 22.

Parent Coffee Mornings at UTS

You are invited to join Dr. Leanne Foster, UTS Principal - and other UTS representatives - for coffee mornings at the school from 8 - 9 a.m.

Click on the links below for the event specific to your grade. We look forward to seeing you!

Wellness Session for Parents: March 4, 2024

As teenagers enter a new phase of life, parents enter a new phase of parenting. Adolescence is a time filled with excitement, exploration, and identity development. Brains are changing rapidly, and won’t be fully developed for a few more years, meaning that although they may be more independent they are not just mini adults.

The UTS Social Work Team and UTSPA Wellness Committee would like to invite interested parents to join us for a virtual session on March 4, 6:30-7:30 p.m. to discuss parenting in the teenage years.

We will be looking through the registration form responses for themes to address, and we hope parents bring some of what they have found helpful and enjoyed about parenting in the teenage years to share as well.

To get everyone’s thoughts flowing, here is an article from well known clinical psychologist Lisa Damour.

Nocturne: March 6, 2024

Nocturne is a recital style concert that features soloists, small ensembles, and chamber orchestra concertos. It is a showcase of some of the students who not only play in our school program, but also pursue their music outside of the classroom.

This concert features some of the best young musicians in the city, playing music from a variety of composers and styles. This year the concert will be on March 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are on sale on school cash online for $10.

UTS students can attend for free. Come enjoy an incredible evening of talented young musicians in Withrow Auditorium.

March Break Camps

Registration for March Break Camps continues to be available here. 

Take centre stage with Act II Drama; refute, rebut and argue with Parliamentary Debate; creatively clear up conundrums with Integrative Thinking; or plan out your neighbourhood with Maximum City. 

Please email camps@utschools.ca for more information.

Social Work Update

Please join us in giving School Social Worker Steph Stavro-Pearce MSW RSW a warm welcome back from maternity leave.

At this time we will say goodbye to Rachel MacEwan MSW RSW, who has done an incredible job supporting student mental health and wellbeing this past year while Steff was away.

Marleen and Joelle remain available to support students. This information was shared with students and staff this week, along with a reminder about how to book an appointment: students (and parents/guardians too!) can email social.work.staff@utschools.ca, email any Social Worker directly, and/or visit their appointment calendars and choose a time that works. 

We remind students that like physical health, we all have our mental health to care for and consider. If you have any questions about the changes, please do not hesitate to connect with us. 

UTS Social Work Team

Counsellors’ Corner

M4 students began the Career Studies course on January 29.

As part of their learning journey, students will attend two lunch time Branching Out sessions with UTS alumni.

This will be an opportunity to have their questions answered about postsecondary pathways, as well as learn more about unique career opportunities.

The second session will be on February 27, and interested M4 students are required to RSVP.

The final two sessions will be held in April.

Classroom Invitation to Artists and Designers

Are you working as a designer, artist, architect or in other creative roles? Are you interested in sharing some of your creative process and insights with UTS students? The Visual Arts department is interested in hosting UTS community members in our art classrooms and would appreciate your involvement. Are you able to:

  • Explore how you navigate the creative process in your work, sharing visual examples? 

  • Discuss some of the challenges and rewards you’ve encountered in your work? 

  • Examine your path (experience, school, career), and advise how students might reach a similar place one day? 

If so, please take a few minutes to complete this form . There’s no commitment - just the start of a conversation.

F1 Study Skills Slides

Yesterday our Student Success teachers, Julie Klein and Kelly Marcella, delivered a workshop to F1s on study skills and strategies.

Please feel free to peruse the slides so that you can discuss some of these strategies with your child. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Julie (julie.klein@utschools.ca) or Kelly (kelly.marcella@utschools.ca).

Flame Fresh Lunch Menu

Here are the February menus from Flame Fresh including the list of ingredients.

For February in addition to the regular menu they are offering a vegetarian menu in hopes of ensuring there are options for everyone.

Please check out their tasty new vegetarian options. 

Mindful Munch Lunch Menu

UTS is also offering a hot lunch menu through Mindful Munch, which is brought to you by Basil Box!

Please see the February menu with a QR code to scan and place orders as well as the list of list of ingredients.

Support the UTS Bursary Fund

You can help students pursue their UTS education!

It is projected that $2.3M will be needed in bursary support for the 2024-2025 school year.

While the annual bursary endowment proceeds will provide approximately $1.8M in financial assistance, an additional $500,000 is needed to meet the needs of our students.

Your generosity and kindness can help provide students what they need to achieve their dreams and goals by removing financial barriers.

Your gift to UTS is critical to the success of UTS students.
https://www.utschools.ca/support-uts/funding-priorities/expendable-bursary-top-up

UTS Shop - New Items

The UTS Shop is the place to go for UTSers to show their school pride! 

By student request, new ¼ zip sweatshirts and ½ zip sweatshirts are now available in adult and youth sizes!

UTS socks are also available in a new style!

Calendars

Recent Stories

Congratulations to our Foundation graduates! As the school year comes to a close, we are thrilled to celebrate the incredible journey of these students over the past two years! We heard fantastic music, delightful speeches and the cheers from family
What a magical week of collaborative thinking (and fun times) for our F1 (grade 7) students. While our older students were writing exams, our youngest students immersed themselves in design thinking and teamwork. Guest instructor Moses Velasco, autho
The UTS Trivia Team reached for the top, and found trivial supremacy, winning two national competitions for the second year in a row. At Consensus National Championship in Toronto they were neck and neck with Calgary’s Renert School, narrowly
At the age of 85, Peter Pearson O.C. ’57 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for his groundbreaking contributions as a filmmaker and for his tireless advocacy of Canadian film and television. The winner of 19 Canadian Film Awards an
Thank you to our amazing Student Council! Did you know that UTS has multiple Student Council Reps for every grade, plus a Secretary and a Treasurer and our two Co-Captains, who work all year with Vice Principal Chalmers as a key presence advocating o
Every word counts! The journey to nationals is paved with dedication and focus, many, many hours of practice and success in several competitions. During another very busy year, students on our Junior and Senior Speech and Debate teams qualified for t
Dr. John Carruthers ’53 is a true pioneer of our times. His extraordinary life and work was included in Chris Millar’s 2022 book, Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. John’s quest at Intel to develop
How old is the Universe? How do stars form? Writer Rick Spence ’73 takes a look at life, the Universe and everything through the adventures of our own Deep Space Five: Christine Wilson ’80, Geoff Clayton ’73, Stephanie Tonnesen &rsq
Sometimes showing up and giving it your all is what matters most. The Debate team was in practice when they got the news and a cheer filled the room! Two of our team members, M3 (grade 9) Hannah and S5 (grade 11) Kelvin were selected to try out for T

UTS Updates Archive

UTS https://www.utschools.ca
Previous

February 22, 2024

Next

February 8, 2024