Dear JS Parents,

It has been another wonderful week at the Junior School, as we participated in Mental Health Awareness Week. This has been an opportunity to further shed a spotlight on the importance of understanding our Mental Health, and how it affects all parts of our lives. The overarching theme was:

BE healthy, BE optimistic, BE grateful. 

As part of this week’s programming, we were pleased to virtually welcome Sacha Bryce to the Junior School, from the Youth Wellness Network. She ran three separate assemblies for the students, that were age and stage appropriate. These were the areas of focus:

• JK – 1: Understanding The Range of Our Emotions and Knowing They are “O.K.”
• 2 – 4:  Developing our Sense of Self-Esteem and Self-Worth
• 5 & 6: Bringing Awareness To Our Choices Both “On and Off line”

Some of the affirmations and other activities throughout the week can be found by visiting Havergal’s Social Media pages. Be sure to ask your child(ren) about some of their learnings from the week!  Finally, I encourage you to read our next edition of “The Torch,” to learn more about Havergal’s ongoing commitment to the development of our students’ Wellbeing from JK to Grade 12.

Sincerely,

Kate White

Latest News

Christmas Break

Christmas Break

Havergal College will close on Tuesday, December 15 at 4 pm for the Christmas holidays and reopen on Monday, January 4 at 8 am for in-person learning. Havergal will continue to follow directions from the Ministry of Education and will make adjustments to our plans if required. Students who are required to quarantine are able to learn remotely on a temporary basis. Families should notify the DSO of the student’s absence and the student should let their teachers know to expect them on Zoom.

Havergal continues to support the public health requirements as directed by the Ontario Government to limit indoor public social gatherings to members of your household and outdoor gatherings to 10 people while maintaining physical distancing. Students who have not followed the requirements are asked to learn from home for 14 days.

3 Ply Masks

A three-layered mask is now recommended by the Public Health Agency of Canada to improve protection from COVID-19. 

With increased time indoors as the weather gets colder, we are updating the Havergal mask policy to align with the latest Public Health Agency of Canada recommendations. Please see specific directions for mask use here.
The Return to Campus Handbook has been updated to align with changes to health recommendations. The Daily Screening letter is provided here as well for your reference.

New Circles Holiday “Angels Initiative” Holiday Giving (JK to 12)

This November, Havergal College has the opportunity to deepen our Community Partnership with New Circles by participating in the Holiday Angels Program. New Circles is a not-for-profit agency that builds strong and caring communities by providing basic necessities, employment training, and settlement support to government-assisted refugees and to those living with lower-incomes. All services provided by New Circles operate to promote equity and dignity through their programming. 

This year, to prioritize safety, we are asking our community to purchase gift cards for our New Circles families.  There is no set limit for the gift card amounts, however, a tax receipt is available for all donations above $20 and with an original purchase receipt.

Suggested retailers:

• Walmart
• Best Buy/Source
• Shoppers Drug Mart
• President’s Choice
• Toys R’ US

There will be a box in each class for students to drop off cards until from Monday, November 23 to Thursday, December 3rd.

Latest News

Pick-up Safety

A reminder that your support is appreciated in keeping our campus safe. Your cooperation sets a good example for our students and further curbs the possibility of the spread of COVID-19 or other viruses. Please be reminded of the following:

Masks:

• As stated in the Return to Campus Handbook, when parents/caregivers/siblings are on school property, everyone must wear a masks.

Physical Distancing:

• When waiting for your child be sure that you do not block the walkway onto Rosewell. In addition it causing people to gather too closely, it impedes the pedestrian traffic flow and slows down the pick-up process.
• If you are bringing dogs and puppies to the school yard, we ask that you move quickly off property as to not create a crowd of children gathering. 

Please know that these requests and restrictions are all in the interest of keeping our children and our families safe.