Apply Now

We welcome all students and families back to school this new year! May 2021 bring hope, promise, and good health to our community. Although returning to learning in the new year has looked different with moving our learning to the full online format, the transition was smooth due to the preparation and having the infrastructure in place; we were ready for this change! We are proud of the way in which we, as a school have been able to adapt and swiftly offer the continuity of educational programming as we adhere to the health and safety regulations from the Ontario Government and of the Ministry of Education. We will ensure families are up-dated on Public Health regulations as they are shared with us. We thank families for your continued caring support and partnership.

Our teachers have adapted with the delivery of their curriculum and are working to refine and evaluate their individual practices to meet the needs of their students. The one benefit of teaching online is the learning curve for technology use and trouble-shooting has increased ten-fold! Our grade and subject lead teachers have informed us that we are keeping pace with the curriculum outlines and students are both progressing and exploring facets of the material well. The administrative team continues to monitor lessons and ensure that best practices are followed.

During the months of January and February, classes will continue exploring their studies using methods to develop students’ skills to the highest level through: Critical Thinking & Problem Solving, Creativity & Innovation, Collaboration & Leadership, Cross- Curricular Understanding, Communication, Digital Literacy, Cultural, Global & Environmental Aware-ness, Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, and Personal Management of one’s learning. Supporting the development of technological skills and fostering social connectedness while learning virtually, will continue to be our goal.

We have had a successful first term of school and Term One Reports for our Grade One to Five students were issued through Edsby on Wednesday, January 27th. Parent-teacher interviews will take place on Thursday, January 28th be-tween 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. for Homeroom Teachers and between 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. for Rotary Teachers. We will offer additional interview times on Friday, January 29th between 12:30 – 3:00 p.m. Please monitor your email/Edsby for further details on registering for these online parent-teacher interview sessions

Progressing into the second term, our areas of emphasis will continue to be: student achievement, academic excellence, innovative learning, accountability, and parent/community involvement. As always, our teachers and our administrative team is more than happy to meet and discuss your child’s overall academic, social and emotional progress and goals. The next ‘Blocks’ of learning dates for our Grade Six to Eight students are as follows: December 7th to January 15th, January 18th to February 16th, February 17th to March 26th (March Break commences March 12th to March 22nd, inclusive, with the first day back of classes as March 23rd.)

Our annual Parent Survey will be shared with our parent community this February. Your voice matters and we would like to hear your feedback on our: programming, delivery method, innovative and technological practices, curriculum content, and communication methods. We use the data obtained from this survey to reflect upon our programming to ensure best practices are upheld to the highest level to promote Excellence in Education! Please watch for an email within the next few weeks with a link to complete this important survey.

As we start a new year, UMS continue to invest in hiring dedicated academic specialists and faculty members; researching, purchasing, and implementing ground breaking technology; as well as piloting and introducing new individualized programming platforms. There will be plenty more to look forward to in 2021!