every day to make each other

feel wanted, valued and ac-

cepted. I credit our dedicated

teaching and support staff,

and student leaders (Student

Council, Athletic Council,

Music Council, Leadership

Class, Marguerite Mentors,

Student Clubs, Sports Teams)

for their focused and deter-

mined capability in guiding

others towards all that is great

and extraordinary at Notre

Dame.

Carpe Diem!

O. Kawun

We are at a time in education

when data informs our deci-

sion making. We analyze

information, interpret its

meaning, and implement

teaching/learning strategies

which will get us, as a school,

to the next level of compe-

tence, to a higher level of

achievement, to a safer place

as a school community. My

School, My Voice is a student

engagement and school cul-

ture survey. Grade 10 and

Grade 12 students fill out this

survey. Of particular interest

to us were student responses

to questions on school climate.

The following is a sampling of

questions and the rate of stu-

dent agreement:

My teachers have high expec-

tations of me (86%). My

teachers are willing to help me

when I am having difficulties

with my work (93%). I feel

supported and respected by my

teachers (89%). There are

leadership opportunities avail-

able to all students (86%).

The relationships among stu-

dents in our school are positive

and caring (79%).

It takes our collective effort

Notre Dame is pleased to pro-

vide a new education plan-

ning resource and a career

research tool available at

school or from home. My

BluePrint Education Planner

provides students the opportu-

nity to engage in an interac-

tive education plan. Students

can build customized high

school course plans, instantly

identify the postsecondary

options that are available to

them and explore valuable

information about apprentice-

ships, college programs, uni-

versity programs and work-

place opportunities across

Canada. With direct access

from home, parents can be

more informed and involved,

by logging in and learning

about courses, graduation

requirements and the post-

secondary options that are

available. The “My Pro-

file” feature allows stu-

dents to set goals, save

plans, short-list programs

and occupations of interest,

and record extra-curricular

activities. During second

semester, all of our grade 9

and 10 students will be intro-

duced to this new program

and parents can access this

valuable resource at :

www.myBlueprint.ca/tcdsb.

A Message from the Principal

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Health Action Team 2

Gr. 9 Getaway! 2

SSAT 2

Mentoring Program 3

Student Council 3

Registration 3

Sports at ND! 4

My Blueprint by Ms. R.Evans

Spirit N O T R E D A M E H I G H S C H O O L

U B I H O N O R I B I S U M 1

12 Malvern Avenue Toronto, ON M4E 3E1 Phone 416-393-5501 Fax 416-393-5501 Guidance 416-397-6177

www.tcdsb.org/notredame

Sem

ester Tw

o 2

011

—Im

po

rtan

t Da

tes

February

8-CSAC meeting 6:30pm 16-Grad registration 21-Family Day-no classes 23-Winter Activity Day

March 1-Registration 2011/12 - Grades 9 & 10 2-Registration for 2011/12 - Grade 11 -Grade 8 registration 6:30 4-Progress reports go home 8-CSAC meeting 6:30pm 31-Gr. 10 EQAO Literacy

April 12-CSAC meeting 6:30pm 14-Reports go home 15-P.D. Day-no classes 19-Parent/teacher interviews 5:30-8:30pm 22-Good Friday-no classes 25-Easter Mon-no classes 28-Music trip to Cleveland

May 10-CSAC meeting 6:30pm 23-Victoria Day-no classes

June 14-CSAC meeting 6:30pm

Marguerite Daisy

Did you know???

A French word for

daisy is marguerite?

specific criteria that must be

provided in order to be eligi-

ble. Every year there are thou-

sands of dollars in scholar-

ships that go unclaimed due to

Scholarships are available

through specific institutions

and community organiza-

tions. We encourage students

to research and review the

insufficient

applications.

R. Evans

Scholarships for College/University Applicants

P A G E 2

Our girls get healthy

with Fitastic, Yoga

and other HAT

events!

Girls Go to Grade 9 Getaway! by Ms. S. Tellis

Hats Off to HAT! by Ms. K Guzzo The Healthy Action Team

at Notre Dame High School

has been organizing and

participating in some excit-

ing events this semes-

ter! HAT recently organ-

ized a presentation by an

organization called Sogo

who challenged the phys-ed

classes and students at ND

to come up with some real-

istic and fun goals that con-

tribute to healthy living.

HAT also teamed up with

the safe schools team and

participated in the anti-

bullying week campaign

and pink t-shirt day. On

December 15th the HAT

team organized a yoga ses-

sion after school. This

Yoga event was free for all

students and staff and was a

huge success! HAT also hosts a weekly

exercise club called Fitas-

tic! Fitastic runs every

Wednesday after school in

the weight room. Students

and staff participate in a

weekly 2km fun run and

then come back to the

weight room for some

weight exercises and an

abdominal workout! Some

members in the club have

set a personal goal

to complete a 5km race in

the springtime.

and a new peer group, stu-

dent leaders offered support

and a safe, fun and welcom-

ing environment. Students

enjoyed great weather and

many new found friend-

ships.

Students who were unable

to go away to camp stayed

on site at the school and

were hosted by the Grade

11 leadership class and stu-

dent Chaplaincy team.

They participated in many

of the same activities and

built ties with a number of

student leaders.

In November, grade 9 stu-

dents were reunited with the

senior leaders and had a

This past September the

Grade 9 students travelled

to Camp Jackson’s Point to

participate in the Grade 9

Getaway. The camp was

supervised by ND staff and

activities were led by an

amazing group of passion-

ate and energetic student

leaders. All girls partici-

pated in workshops and

group sessions which ex-

plored how to transition

successfully to high school.

Faith development activities

were an integral part of the

orientation to Notre Dame.

As Grade 9 students were

getting accustomed to a

new school, new classes

chance to

reminisce

about their experiences

and reignite the G9G spark.

Grade 9s were encouraged

to participate fully in the

life of Notre Dame outside

the classroom and to enjoy

being a student at ND.

Kudos to all our Grade 9

students. You are a terrific

group of girls !

Barbara

Coloroso

S P I R I T

SSAT Safe School Action Team by Ms. A. Enenajor cies, procedures, and pro-

grams.

As part of creating a safe,

caring and welcoming envi-

ronment for all, in Novem-

ber the SSAT presented a

theatre group whose anti-

gambling message sup-

ported our self-respect

agenda.

In addition, in November

the SSAT initiated an anti-

bulling week-long cam-

paign and organized Notre

Safe School Action Team

kick-started 2010/2011

school year with a survey of

grade 10-12 students. The

results of the survey indi-

cated that respect and self-

respect will be the focus for

this school year.

In October, SSAT members

attended a conference

where the renowned anti-

bulling speaker Barbra

Coloroso gave an inspiring

speech on anti-bulling poli-

Dame’s first ever Pink Day

to take an active part in

supporting and promoting

Catholic values of inclu-

siveness and social justice.

The campaign involved

SSAT students visiting

home rooms and educating

the student body on topics

of bullying (including cyber

-bullying) as well as on

resources available to stu-

dents. The campaign was a

great success.

Above & bottom right:

Our girls enjoy Gr. 9 Get-

away Activites.

Top right: Shenali Lowe,

Marisa Vastani & Mishal

Naqvi at Gr. 9 Getaway

Success & Marguerite Mentors by Ms. R. Evans

P A G E 3 1 2 M A L V E R N A V E N U E

Our Marguerite Mentors are

enthusiastic, committed and

willing to help. They have been

tutoring/mentoring students

from grades nine to eleven, who

are struggling in their subjects

or just need a little extra help

understanding course content.

Individual growth is evident by

those students who return on a

weekly basis and improved

marks are certainly a bonus. The

interest shown to date has kept

the mentors very motivated.

The program will continue

throughout second semester to

allow Notre Dame Students to

achieve academic success. We

would like to encourage stu-

dents who are

struggling in their subjects or

simply have a question to come

to the Success Centre and our

mentors will be there to help.

Mentors offer note taking and

study tips to students who are

interested.

Marguerite Mentors welcome all

Notre Dame students to the Suc-

cess Center and they look for-

ward to being a part of your aca-

demic success. Hope to see you

in the SUCCESS CENTRE!

we will visit all grade 9, 10 and

11 classes to review the registra-

tion process, credit accumula-

tion and courses offered the next

school year. Please refer to

your daughter’s agenda for her

registration day. Just a gentle

reminder that the timeline for

registration is very important

In November post secondary

application information sessions

were held for our Grade 12 stu-

dents. The University applica-

tion deadline was January 12,

2011. College applications be-

gan February 1, 2011.

Option Talks will begin the

week of February 6, 2011 and

and we ask that students adhere to

the dates published, so that we

can start the scheduling proc-

ess as soon as possible.

As always, if you have

any questions or concerns

please feel free to contact

the guidance office at

416-397-6177.

Day continues to be used to

fund both charitable donations

and activities held by Student

Council. In December, we had

our annual 12 Days Of Christ-

mas celebration which included

festive events such as free hot

chocolate and eggnog, red and

green day, a fundraiser for

Covenant House, pictures with

Santa Claus, donations to the

Christmas baskets, free candy

canes and finally our Christmas

Assembly and free Dress Down

Day. All of these events pro-

vided plentiful fun for students,

teachers and Student Council

members too! Currently, we are

in the midst of planning our

semi-formal dance, a major an-

nual event for which we are

truly excited! We are looking

forward to sharing our plans

with you in the near future but

until then, Student Council

wishes the students of Notre

Dame great academic success

for the remainder of the year.

We are already halfway through

the year and have provided

many fun activities and events

for the school. In September, we

kicked off the year with a free

Student Council BBQ and free

Dress Down Day as our way of

welcoming everyone to and

back to Notre Dame. In early

October, we held our Opening

Assembly with a successful

display of all the talent ND has

to offer. October ended with our

Halloween Assembly and Dress

Down Day complete with a cos-

tume competition to showcase

the best students’ creative and

goulish costumes. This year to

improve the efficiency of Dress

Down Days Student Council

successfully replaced the use of

paper passes with wristbands.

The money from Dress Down

Leadership in Action by Beth Solomon, Student Council President

Applications & Registration by Rosemary Evans & Sally Tellis

Student Council

dresses down,

keeps spirits up,

and looks

forward!

Student council members (left to right):

Kathleen Anne Madriaga,

Vanessa Ennin, Martina Mimica,

Melissa Veerasammy, & Beth Solomon

Pamela Whitaker &

Andrea Fernandez

shine wearing their

Marguerite Mentors

shirts.

Sports at Notre Dame by Ms. J. Tomlin

offs with a winning attitude and

won the silver medal at the

TDCAA “B” Division Champion-

ships. Ms. J. Tomlin coached the

senior team, which also had a

strong season this year.

We have moved into our winter

sports season and our hockey

team, coached by Mr. J. Wilson

and parent-coach, Mr. A. Biglieri,

has a solid 2-0 record. Ms. J.

Tomlin and Ms. K. Guzzo are

coaching our junior and senior

volleyball teams. Both teams

look very strong this year. Ms. S.

Weir is coaching our swim team

and Mr. D. Lui and Mr. A.

Baraam are coaching our table

tennis team. Notre Dame hasn’t

Notre Dame’s sports teams had a

very successful fall season. The

junior cross-country team won the

TDCAA Championships held at

Etobicoke Centennial Park in Oc-

tober. Grace Hill and Richelle

Ramirez won the gold and silver

medals respectively. Katherine

White was our top senior runner

placing 10th. The team, coached

by Ms. K. Guzzo and Ms. D.

Pearson, went on to compete at

the provincial championships also

held in Etobicoke.

Our junior basketball team,

coached by Mr. A. Cuquejo and

assisted my Mr. S. Prince, had a

tough start to their season. As the

underdogs, they entered the play-

competed in table tennis in many

years, so this is an exciting new

addition to our sports program.

Wards

1. Joseph Martino

2. Ann Andrachuk-Vice Chair

3. Sal Piccininni

4. Mary Cicogna

5. Maria Rizzo

6. Rob Davis

7. John Del Grande

8. Mary Ann Robillard

9. Catherine LeBlanc

10. Barbara Poplawski

TCDSB TRUSTEES 2010-2011

We’re on the Web!

www.tcdsb.org

Athletic Council Walks for ND! In October, the Notre Dame Athletic

Council organized the annual ND

Walkathon. This event was a huge suc-

cess. In total, students and staff raised

$16,000 for our school community!

We also broke a record for having the

highest percentage of walking partici-

pants. Way to go ND! The council

would like to extend thanks to the fol-

lowing community sponsors for their

support – My Bump, Artisans, Metro,

Titika, Body Shop, Beach Cinema,

Melanie’s Bistro, Staples and Beaches

Cinema.

In November, the Athletic Council had

the whole school buzzing with Spirit

Week! Each day of the week had a fun

theme in which students and staff were

encouraged to dress up accordingly.

Theme days included, pyjama day,

western day, jersey day, tag it day and

colour day! Spirit week finished off

with the electrifying Walkathon assem-

bly. This year, it was the grade 12 class

that took away the coveted Spirit

Award for their excellent participation

and school spirit. Congratulations

grade 12’s!

On February 23rd, the AC will run its

annual Activity Day, a day to celebrate

our patron Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys.

There are plenty of exciting activities to

participate in that include, go-karting,

beach volleyball, ice skating, paint ball,

laser tag, skiing, snow boarding, tubing,

bowling and movies! Prices will range

from $0-50. During the week of January

10-14 students were able to sign up for

activities.

Above: Grade 12s dress in yellow to pro-

mote Colour Day during Spirit Week!

Far Left: 2010/2011 Athletic Council

The Jr. Cross-Country

Team proudly hold their

TDCAA Champion banner.