Terry Fox Run
This year’s Terry Fox Run will take place on Wednesday, September 25th. Donations can be made online or handed in to your period one teachers. Pledge sheets will be provided tomorrow but can also be found along with the online link on the Edsby homepage under the Terry Fox Run Group. This year’s goal is to surpass our overall total of over $20000 from last year. Let’s all do our part to support a very worthy cause.

Cross-Country
If you like running (especially in cemeteries) then you should consider joining the TPS cross-country team. Tomorrow, sign-up sheets will be posted on Mr. Eason’s door (Room 23), Mr. Oest’s door (Room 14), and Mr. Battista’s door (Room 6). Weather permitting, the first practice will be this Friday at 8:00 AM. Please meet at the Davisville entrance to the school.

U20 Ultimate Frisbee
Calling all high school (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12) frisbee players. If you would like to try out for the U20 Ultimate Frisbee team, there will be sign up sheets posted outside of Mr. Eason’s (23) and Mr. Oest’s classrooms (14) tomorrow. Also, a tryout schedule will be posted shortly. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Eason or Mr. Oest.

U20 Boys Volleyball
All those boys who are interested in trying out for the U20 Boys Volleyball team are asked to sign the list posted outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Collins or Mr. Egli.

Grade 9 Flag Football
If you are in grade 9 and interested in trying out for the TPS Grade 9 Flag Football team, please sign the list on the fifth floor outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office and on the second floor outside Mr. Herman’s Room (Room 2). If you have any questions, please ask Mr. Herman or Mr. Collins.

Elementary Ultimate Frisbee Sign-ups
All those in elementary grades, boys and girls who are interested in trying out for the Ultimate Frisbee team are asked to sign the list posted outside Mr. Herman’s door (Room 2). We will be having a meeting this week to discuss tryout days and the tournament.

Elementary and U20 Golf Team
All those interested in trying out for the Elementary and U20 Golf teams must attend a very brief meeting at the beginning of lunch today in room 29 on the fifth floor to sign up.

Music Club
Would all those who are interested in attending Music Club this year please meet Thursday after school in the Wellness Room.

Picture Day
This Wednesday, September 11th, is school photo day. You will be called out of your classes and asked to go to the Wellness room on the 5th floor for a photo. If you have any questions see Ms. Wood on the 5th floor.

Picture Day
Picture Day is tomorrow (Wednesday, September 11th). You will be called out of your classes and asked to go to the Wellness room on the 5th floor for a photo. If you have any questions, please speak to Ms. Wood on the 5th floor.

Terry Fox Run
This year’s Terry Fox Run will take place on Wednesday, September 25th. Donations can be made online or handed in to your period one teachers. Pledge sheets were provided by all Period 1 teachers, but can also be found along with the online link on the Edsby homepage under the Terry Fox Run Group. This year’s goal is to surpass our overall total of over $20000 from last year. Let’s all do our part to support a very worthy cause.

Cross-Country
If you like running (especially in cemeteries) then you should consider joining the TPS cross-country team. Sign-up sheets are posted on Mr. Eason’s door (Room 23), Mr. Oest’s door (Room 14), Mr. Battista’s door (Room 6), and outside of Mr. Rosenbaum’s office on the 5th floor. Weather permitting, the first practice will be this Friday at 8AM. Please meet at the Davisville entrance to the school.

U20 Ultimate Frisbee
Calling all high school (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12) frisbee players. If you would like to try out for the U20 Ultimate Frisbee team, there are sign up sheets posted outside of Mr. Eason’s (23) and Mr. Oest’s (14) classrooms, as well as outside of Mr. Rosenbaum’s office on the 5th floor. The first tryout will be Thursday morning at 8AM at June Rowlands park. The second and final tryout will be next Tuesday at the same location. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Eason or Mr. Oest.

Elementary and U20 Golf Team
All those interested in trying out for the Elementary and U20 Golf teams must sign up on the sheets provided. The tryout will take place on Wednesday, September 18th at Bathurst Glen Golf Course located in Richmond Hill. A meeting will be held on Thursday of this week to go over the details and hand out waivers. The U20 sign up sheet can be found outside of Mr. Rosenbaum’s office on the fifth floor. The Elementary sign up sheet has been posted outside of Room 2 on the second floor. If you missed yesterday’s meeting and have any questions please see Mr. Yiasemakis in Room 29.

U20 Boys Volleyball
All those boys who are interested in trying out for the U20 Boys Volleyball team are asked to sign the list posted outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Collins or Mr. Egli.

Grade 9 Flag Football
If you are in grade 9 and interested in trying out for the TPS Grade 9 Flag Football team, please sign the list on the fifth floor outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office and on the second floor outside Mr. Herman’s Room (Room 2). If you have any questions, please ask Mr. Herman or Mr. Collins.

TPS Tennis
The sign up list for the TPS Tennis team is posted on the fifth floor outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office. Interested high school students are invited to sign the list. There will also be a meeting on Wednesday at the beginning of lunch in Room 29 (Mr. Y’s Room).

Elementary Ultimate Frisbee Sign-ups
All those in elementary grades, boys and girls who are interested in trying out for the Ultimate Frisbee team are asked to sign the list posted outside Mr. Herman’s door (Room 2). We will be having a meeting tomorrow at lunch to discuss tryout days and the tournament. If you have any questions ask Mr. Herman or Mr. Stamper.

U20 Girls Basketball
All girls who are interested in trying out for the U20 Basketball team are asked to sign the list posted outside Ms. O’Dwyer or Mr. Rosenbaum’s door. Listen to announcements for tryouts next week.

Cross-Country
Sign-up sheets are now posted. Weather permitting, the first practice/fun run will be this Friday at 8AM. Please meet at the Davisville entrance to the school.

U20 Ultimate Frisbee
Sign up sheets are now posted. The first tryout will be tomorrow morning at 8AM at June Rowlands park. The second and final tryout will be next Tuesday at the same location. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Eason or Mr. Oest.

TPS Tennis
There will be a brief meeting today at the beginning of lunch in Room 29 (Mr. Y’s Room), for those interested in trying out for the TPS Tennis team. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Rosenbaum or Mr. Collins

Grade 9 Flag Football
If you are in grade 9 and interested in trying out for the TPS Grade 9 Flag Football team, please sign the list on the fifth floor outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office and on the second floor outside Mr. Herman’s Room (Room 2). If you have any questions, please ask Mr. Herman or Mr. Collins. There will be a meeting tomorrow at lunch.

Elementary Ultimate Frisbee
All those students who signed up or are interested in playing on the elementary ultimate frisbee team there is a meeting in Mr. Herman’s room (room 2) at the start of lunch.

U20 Boys Volleyball
All those boys who are interested in trying out for the U20 Boys Volleyball team are asked to sign the list posted outside Mr. Rosenbaum’s office. There will be a meeting on Friday at the beginning of lunch in Mr. Y’s room. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Collins or Mr. Egli.

U20 Girls Basketball
All girls who are interested in trying out for the U20 Basketball team are asked to sign the list posted outside Ms. O’Dwyer or Mr. Rosenbaum’s door. Listen to announcements for tryouts next week.

U20 Ultimate Frisbee
Thank-you to everyone who came out to the 2nd (and final) U20 Ultimate Frisbee tryout yesterday morning. The team will be posted by tomorrow morning. Look for the list on the wall of Mr. Rosenbaum’s office on the 5th floor. If you are on the list, please listen to the announcements regarding waivers and the upcoming tournament.

Cross-Country
The next practice will be Friday morning at 8 AM. Prior to the run, we need to discuss participation in some upcoming meets. Tell your friends.

Investors Club
Have you ever wondered what the words Dow Jones or TSX mean? If you are curious, come to the very first meeting of Investors Club in Room 12 today at lunch. Join the most profitable club in the school. Bring your lunch and be prepared to grab the “Bill with Hill.”

March of the Living
A reminder to all grade 11 students interested in attending the info session today for March of the Living 2020. Please come to the Wellness Room on the 5th floor at the start of lunch.

U20 Tennis
The first tryout will take place this Friday at 8:00 AM at June Rowlands Park Tennis Courts. You must attend in order to be eligible. If you have any questions, please see Mr. Collins or Mr. Rosenbaum.

Elementary Ultimate Frisbee
The team list has been posted on Mr. Herman’s door and all team members have been added to the group on Edsby. The first practice will be on Thursday morning at 8:00 AM at June Rowlands Park.

Chess Club
The Chess Club is back! Those interested in learning or playing the ‘Game of Kings’ are invited to come by Mr. Johnson’s class (room 19) at lunch. Let’s see if anyone can defeat Dan Paise, last year’s Chess Tournament Champion.

Art Club
Art Club is back up and running on Thursdays after school in the 5th floor art room. There is a signup sheet on room 18. Please write your name if you are interested in attending Thursday’s art club. This is a great time for art students to come and work on their art projects and sketchbook assignments.

Music Club
Music Club will be meeting tomorrow after school in the Wellness Room.

Photography Club
Photography Club is starting back up Friday’s at lunch in room 17. We are looking for student photographers to help document school events and school spirit, such as next week’s Terry Fox Run. Come by Friday at lunch to find out more information.

HackerGal: Programming Competition for Girls
Toronto Prep School will participate in a girls-only hacking competition. If this interests you, come to Room 26 at lunch today (Mr. Oldridge’s Room) to find out more. Bring your friends, it is a group competition and teamwork is encouraged!

At the TDCAA City Championships, Ryan Loganadhan played some of his best tennis. He won his semi-final in an awesome tie break before advancing to the final. Ryan then lost his final 6-4 in a tight affair. Due to the tournament being a double elimination event, Ryan was forced to play the same player again to determine the champion. In some of the best tennis seen at a TDCAA tennis event, the final went to a gripping tie break. Ryan had 3 match point opportunities but could not convert. His opponent then had a match point opportunity and Ryan held on before winning the title. This is first senior TDCAA tennis victory in TPS history. Ryan now advances to OFSAA. Congratulations, Ryan, on an outstanding achievement! Your hard work has paid off.

On December 12th, Sam Wilson from Movember Canada came to TPS to thank us for our fundraising efforts. In the end, we finished 18th among all Canadian high schools and raised $3,612. Thank-you to everyone who participated in helping to raise money and awareness for men's health. 

Congratulations to the 2019 SSAF U20 Girls Basketball CHAMPIONS! The U20 Girls Basketball team won in the Finals last night against UOG with an incredible effort. As a result of some nerves and a rowdy crowd, the girls started out slowly, trailing by 9 points for most of the first half. In an incredible 3rd quarter the girls pulled back into a tight defence, and put up 13 points to take the lead. The final score was 40-33. Ms. McCormick and Ms. O’Dwyer are so proud of the effort and commitment put forth by all of the girls this season - it certainly paid off! Congratulations!

TPS' Student Council set up Hot Chocolate and Candy Canes for $1 and raised $65 for our Holiday Food Drive. A great warm start to a cold day!

Thanks to Abby, Lara, Jaymie, Gabi, Carly and the whole team! 

We collected over 1000 items of food, diapers, and books and $835 in gift cards! WOO - HOO! But seriously - thank you for your generosity. Thank you to the Student Council and The House Captains for their organization and hard work and a major thank you to Mr. Rosenbaum and Mr. Y who are dropping all of our donations off today. We’ve made the season a little brighter for some families in need. 

Congratulations to Mr. Pizzuto’s first period class for winning the pizza lunch.

The Spartans took to the slopes at Mount St. Louis yesterday for the TDCAA Ski and Snowboard Championships. All athletes competed at a high level and with great energy. In the Open Boys Ski Division, Carter Shipton clocked some incredible times to finish in 2nd place. In the High School Girls Ski Division, Maja Haga put together two great runs to finish in 2nd place. In the Girls Snowboarding, new team member Celia Whyte-Lewis finished in an amazing 2nd place. While in the Boys Snowboarding, the Spartans dominated the event with Cole Marotta winning, Dylan Adud in a close 2nd place, and Blake Pepper taking out 4th place. Due to these excellent results, Maja, Celia, Cole, Dylan, Blake, Mark Pelz and Jaden Goodman have all qualified for OFSAA. Congratulations to all team members on a great day.

Maja Haga and Carter Shipton travelled to Osler Bluff Ski Club at Blue Mountain to compete in the OFSAA Alpine Ski Championships. In perfect conditions, both Maja and Carter had a terrific event. In the High School Girls Division, Maja recorded great times in the giant slalom to place 39th. In her first time ever competing in a slalom event, Maja completed her first run in 11th place but unfortunately lost control on a difficult corner and did not complete her second run. In the Open Boys, Carter clocked two great times in the giant slalom event and placed 26th. While in the slalom, he finished an outstanding 20th. This is a great effort considering he is only in grade 9 and competing against grade 12 students. Well done to both Maja and Carter. We are proud of your accomplishments.

TPS competed in the SSAF U20 Indoor Soccer Championships yesterday at the Hangar. Having entered two teams in the competition, the deck was stacked in our favour, however, the level of competition proved worthy of a challenge. Team Red led by Spencer Coke, Alex Galbraith and Diadie Traore rounded out their game in the round robin and finished with a 3-0 record. Team Grey faced a little stiffer competition in their division but showed excellent hustle and determination throughout the tournament. During their lone playoff game, Allan Politsky converted a volley off of a long pass from Wil Nenadovic, which was clearly one of the prettiest goals of the tournament. Team Red faced a few more challenges in their semi-final match against LFT but prevailed to advance to the final. In this match, Hudson College opened the scoring and held onto the lead for the majority of the game. A huge relief was lifted when Xavier Baldwin struck a well placed shot from distance in the corner of the net. Shortly after, Alex Galbraith made a nice move into the middle and scored to make it 2-1. TPS held onto to the lead and eventually won the Championship by a score of 4-2. Congratulations to team Red for preserving their dominance in the SSAF by defending their title of Champions. Mr. Yiasemakis, Mr. Collins and Mr. Pete Tsimikalis are very proud of everyone’s excellent play and sportsmanship throughout the tournament.

To all students, parents and staff. The Ontario government has ordered all publicly funded schools to be shut down for two weeks after March Break due to concerns about the coronavirus.

“Based on advice from Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the experts at the COVID-19 Command Table, the Minister of Education has issued a ministerial order to close all publicly funded schools in Ontario for two weeks following March Break in response to the emergence in Ontario of COVID-19.”

In light of these new developments concerning COVID-19, and the direction of our provincial government, Toronto Prep School will follow suit and close our school until April 5th, or until the Chief Medical Officer of Ontario directs us otherwise. We defer to the medical experts in order to keep our students, staff and our school community safe.

We have created a plan to cover course content online while our students are kept home. We will publish details of our plan to ensure the continuation of meaningful instruction early next week. This plan will be fully implemented commencing Monday, March 23rd, 2020.

Stay safe.

Steve and Fouli

As you may all know, all publicly-funded and private schools in Ontario will be closed March 23, 2020 until further notice as mandated by the provincial government.

As such, the Toronto Prep School campus will be closed during this period with the hope that we can reopen Monday, April 6, 2020 or whenever the Chief Medical Officer of Ontario informs us that it is safe for our students to return to school.

To provide meaningful instruction for our students for the next two weeks and quite possibly beyond this time frame we have set up a daily regiment that we will all follow for the duration of the school closure.

We will be utilising both synchronous and asynchronous delivery methods tailored to online learning.

Asynchronous delivery means that the teacher and the students are accessing content and contributing to online discussions at different times.

Synchronous delivery means that the students are required to participate online during the specific time when class would now meet with the teacher.

We have created a truncated schedule for live instruction (synchronous), lessons and class notes that can be accessed at the student’s convenience (asynchronous), and virtual office hours for extra help on an individual or group basis. Classes are 30 minutes with a 10 minute break between classes.

All live instruction (synchronous) is done between 10:00AM and 12:30PM.

Period 1 10:00 - 10:30

Period 2 10:40 - 11:10

Period 3 11:20 - 11:50

Period 4 12:00 - 12:30

Extra-help from 9:00 - 9:50 (synchronous and asynchronous) and from 2:00 - 4:00 (synchronous and asynchronous)

Additional extra-help will be conducted in an asynchronous manner with students posting queries on Edsby or Google Classroom and then teachers responding to them in a timely fashion.

The above schedule is for the next two weeks, if the school closure is extended we will be reevaluating this schedule and making any necessary adjustments to ensure that meaningful instruction is continued in the best possible manner to meet all course expectations and requirements.

As such, each student will need to have access to the internet, their computer and charger, and their textbooks and school supplies between 9:00AM and 4:00PM Monday through Friday.

Attendance will be take each period with the expectation that each student is on the zoom app and present for the duration of each one of their classes.

After 12:30PM each weekday, students will have the opportunity to complete their assigned homework and seek out extra-help at their discretion.

Students will be asked to submit completed homework and assigned tasks in a timely fashion. It is expected that they utilize Edsby and/or Turnitin to submit requested completed work.

For courses such as Mathematics or Art, the use of a screen capture or scanning apps may be required to make copies of student work before submission. Adobe Scan, Adobe Capture or any other scanning app or photo of the work may be utilized to send it via Edsby.

Your child must download the Zoom application (http://zoom.us/). It is a free application that will work on all laptops and desktops and on most smart devices. Your child must register under his/her/their proper legal name and with their Toronto Prep School email for identification and attendance purposes.

Our teachers have set up channels for each of their classes and will send out an invitation to each and every one of their students shortly.

We will broadcast a separate message with direct instructions to our students outlining the requirements for interactive and online learning.

You may support your child by providing a quiet area within your home (not the child’s bedroom) where he/she/they can attend our zoom classes without interruption. Please note that all students are bound by our school’s Code of Conduct and Dress Code while participating in all synchronous interactions.

We will continue to use Edsby as our main communication platform with daily postings, directions, and course and school updates.

As noted, we plan for classes to resume at Toronto Prep School on Monday, April 6, 2020, but will keep you apprised if that changes. In the meantime, continued meaningful learning and student and family health and the well-being of our community must be our top priorities.   

Thank you for your understanding and support in the coming days. The Toronto Prep School community is dedicated, passionate, and resourceful, and together we will navigate through this challenge.

Be well.

Fouli and Steve

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This is an Earth Day unlike any other, but there are still ways that all of us can take action. Visit the Earth Day site and see how Earth Day is going digital. Have you considered doing a little plogging this afternoon? It seems like it would be a great way to do your part for the Earth and get some exercise too.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Tropical Vacation Day!

Wear your favourite school appropriate clothing to feel like you're relaxing on vacation. Change your Zoom background to really make it look like you're enjoying the tropical weather!

Our grade 12 grads would have had their commencement ceremony last night and the grade 8s would have had theirs this morning.  Unfortunately, due to the COVID19 pandemic we have had to postpone these events until the fall.  Rest assured, we will celebrate at some point in person. In the meantime, our faculty and staff have a special graduation message for you. 

Dear Students and Parents,

On behalf of the entire staff, we would like to thank and congratulate our student body for the superior effort the vast majority made during this ongoing crisis to further their studies. Each and everyone of you will be better off for it in both the short term and in the years moving forward.

The Academic Continuity Plan we implemented enabled us to continue to provide meaningful instruction from the first day upon returning from March Break. Obviously, we cannot replace what we do in the classroom, but we were able to continue both learning and interaction in real time to occur on a daily basis.

The ability for our students to see their teachers and peers and to follow a daily routine was first and foremost important for their mental well-being during this immensely stressful time. It provided, within the constraints of the school closure, a viable alternative for continued learning and the mastery of the core expectations and requisite skills of each one of their respective courses.

As a school community we were quite fortunate to have access to all the necessary tools such as our laptops, relatively stable internet connectivity, and a quiet space to continue the learning process. As such, we were able to better prepare our students for the rigours that they will be faced in subsequent grades.

The hope is that we will be able to safely return to the classroom setting with obvious protocols in place to mitigate any subsequent surge in the pandemic this fall. This would be the ideal, but in reality, we cannot predict with any certainty what September will look like. We are preparing for three likely scenarios. Scenario 1, we will be in the classroom, Scenario 2, we will be, at least for the first semester in a virtual setting, and Scenario 3, we will either start virtually and then transition into the classroom mid semester or we will start in the classroom and have to transition back to a virtual setting given a second wave surge.

As always, we will defer and be bound by any edicts of the Chief Medical Officer of Ontario and the Ministry of Education in determining which of the three scenarios we will be utilising.

If we are back in classes (Scenario 1), some of the safety protocols may include but not be limited to, daily non- contact temperature checks before being admitted to school, the wearing of face masks, one-way hallways, separate up and downstair wells, and lunch being contained to individual classrooms rather than common areas. We are fortunate to be privy to what our Globeducate sister schools will have implemented in France, Spain, Italy, and the UK and incorporate best practices from their experiences.

For students that may be immune-compromised or have family members that are in high-risk categories and as such do not feel comfortable returning to the physical classroom in September if allowed, we will be setting up alternative means to continue with their learning from their home-setting.

If Scenario 2 is mandated (the continuation of school closures) we will continue with virtual learning (synchronous) but will extend class hours. Classes will be 50 minutes in length with 10 minute breaks in between and a 40 minute lunch break between morning and afternoon sessions.

Preliminary Daily Schedule:

Morning Extra-Help 9:00 - 9:55AM

Period 1 10:00 - 10:50AM
Period 2 11:00 - 11:50AM

Lunch 11:50 - 12:30PM

Period 3 12:30 - 1:20PM
Period 4 1:30 - 2:20PM

Extra-Help 2:30 - 4:00PM
Resource Extra-Help 4:00 - 5:30PM

Scenario 3 is based on our ability to transition effectively for a fluid situation. Whether we start in school and have to transition to virtual classes or whether we start in virtual classes and transition back into the physical classroom, we will as we proved this past school year, effectively do so in a relatively seamless fashion without compromising the learning environment.

Although we are faced with uncertainty as to what school will look like in September, we are diligently preparing to provide a learning environment for meaningful instruction which will cater to both our students’ mental well-being and to their scholastic advancement.

We will keep you updated as the situation evolves.

We wish you a great summer, be well and stay safe.

Fouli and Steve