Principal's Message

Good Morning Garth Webb:

Let me start this morning's blog by welcoming Ms. Robin Toffolo as our new VP (Alpha A - F). She is coming to us from White Oaks Secondary School where she was the VP there for 5.5 years. She is an experienced VP with over 8 years in the role. Robin works hard on behalf of students, staff, and parents/guardians to create a positive school experience with a caring and equitable approach. We are excited to have her join our Garth Webb family!

Exam week ran smoothly and we are in the process now of looking at each and every student's achievement. Report cards will come out electronically through email later this week once all students have been vetted through promotion meetings. 

I noticed a much improved traffic flow on the mornings of exams. You all used a more staggered approach to dropping off your students to ensure that they were on time for their exams. We only saw a handful of lates on exam days versus 300 lates on any given regular day of classes. You see the importance of punctuality on exam days and it is our wish that you approach daily attendance and punctuality with the same approach. We can do it ....you just proved it!!! And I know what you might be thinking, but it is not because we started exams at 9:00 am that there were less lates..... because when we start Collaborative Mornings at 9:30 am..... we still have hundreds of students late. We could start at noon and there would still be late students. Time management is a skill for life. Thank you for helping us to improve this with students.

I hope that students were able to enjoy some much needed down time last week and are now gearing up for the fresh start of a new semester.  Teachers worked hard on Friday's PD Day to plan activities to welcome students that will build positive relationships, as well as mapping out their courses for the semester of learning.  

Enjoy the sunshine!!!!

Take care,

Jacquie Pece

From Your Student Services Department

Night School Registration

Night School classes are now open for registration on myBlueprint (closing Wednesday, February 14). The course list includes Math, English, and Science classes for semester two and Korean, Spanish, and Japanese classes.

Detailed information can be found here on their website.

2024-2025 Course Selection - Less than one week to go!!

(multilingual assist document)

The course selection period is now open and will close on Thursday, February 8, 2024. Please use the resources below to help you with the process.  Students will be using myBlueprint in order to submit their courses (www.myblueprint.ca/halton).

Please read through the document below as it outlines considerations and key messages for each grade in order to ensure students are making an informed decision.

GWSS 2024/25 Course Selection Information

Tuesdays @Ten

Please join us virtually on Tuesday, February 6 @ 10 am for our monthly community engagement session.  This month our School Social Worker, Nidhi Bedi will be joining us to discuss supporting your teen with their mental health and well-being as well as accessing support at school and in the community. A link will be sent to families on Monday.

Grade 11 & 12 Semi Formal

The Student Activities Council (SAC) is excited to share that we will be hosting a senior (Grade 11 and 12) semi formal this year.

When: Thursday, February 29, 2024

Where: Burlington Convention Center (1120 Burloak Dr, Burlington, ON)

Time: 6-10 pm (doors open at 5:45 pm and dinner is at 7 pm)

Cost: $75/ticket

What’s included: Buffet dinner and DJ dance (halal option available) - Click here to view menu

Please note, this event is for Garth Webb students only. Students must be in Grade 11 or 12 in order to purchase a ticket. An event for Grade 9 and 10 students will occur in the spring. There will only be 355 tickets available to be purchased due to the hall capacity.

All students and parents/guardians must complete and sign the Event Contract after purchasing a ticket. Signed contracts must be submitted to the main office prior to Thursday, February 15, 2024. Hard copies of the contract will be available for pick up in the main office.

Considerations:

The tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. As this is a school sanctioned event, all GW rules and expectations apply. Students will need to bring their student card with them to the event in order to enter.

Tickets will be available for purchase on School Cash Online starting today. Please purchase as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as tickets will likely sell out. The last possible day to purchase tickets will be Thursday, February 15, 2024 or when tickets are sold out.

Extended Absences Reminder

 Students are expected to be in attendance on school days, unless unable to attend by reason of illness, medical appointment, bereavement, or other circumstances beyond their control. Parents who withdraw students during school time are advised that, depending on the timing and length of the absence, academic performance of your student may be affected. It is the student’s responsibility to catch up on missed work.

In secondary school, any absence that is longer than 3 consecutive days is referred to as an extended absence. If you know ahead of time that your student will be away for more than 3 consecutive school days, please print this form and fill it in with the information requested (hard copies are available in the office). Students should ask their parent/guardian and teachers to fill in the form and once it is complete, the form should be handed in at the main office 2 weeks prior to the planned absence. The Vice Principal will then review the form and it will be given to the attendance Administrative Assistant for attendance to be entered (absences longer than 3 days are not able to be entered into School Messenger by parents). 

If you have any questions about this process, please reach out to the main office at 905-847-6875.

Co-op Thank You

We had some amazing Co-op experiences this semester! Students explored placements in areas such as health care, auto service, law, architecture, politics, engineering, and education just to name a few. Our semester one Community Partners were very supportive in providing enriched learning opportunities. A great big THANK YOU to all of them listed below:

00 Marketing

Abbey Park High School

Acadian Shutters

Accu Tech Automotive

Anne J. MacArthur Public School

Atlas Electrical Supply

Be In Motion Physio

Captain R Wilson Elementary School

Effie Triantafilopoulos, MPP Oakville North-Burlington

film.ca Cinemas

Fourth Line Animal Hospital

GWSS Tech Design

Khachi Construction LTD

Krushland Landscape Maintenance

Local-news.ca

Town of Oakville - Mayor Burton's Office

McMaster LiveLab

NGB Electric

Oakville Toyota

Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital

Palermo Plus Physio & Wellness Centre

Perri's Cabinetry

Pretium Engineering Inc

R. van der Steen Law

Shoppers Drug Mart

Technoid Inc.

Way Cool Tattoos

YourTV

YT Electric

Our students were fantastic representatives of Garth Webb SS as evidenced by the placement supervisor comments they received. Some examples are below:

[Student]’s uplifting personality is contagious with both patients and staff.  He reminds us (health care workers) why we initially went into healthcare and how in the beginning we too were excited about our work and how rewarding it can be.  

[Student] has been a dream co-op student. She arrives each day with a positive attitude and a willingness to help out in any way she can. [Student] has developed connections with each of the students as well as some of the other teachers in the school. In my professional opinion, [Student] is already showing traits and readiness for Teacher’s College - she will make a wonderful teacher in the future.

[Student] is an outstanding co-op intern and is liked by everyone. She works hard, tries to learn as much as she can and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. We have seen an amazing improvement from the moment she started until now. She has been a pleasure to work with.

What an incredible experience with [Student] this past 5 months! She is amazing at making connections with the learners in our community. Students light up when she joins their table group.

Way to go Chargers!

Volunteer Club

Volunteer club dedicates to provide more volunteering opportunities to our students. Our goal is to make the information more accessible for everyone. We post opportunities weekly with all of the information included in our google classroom! If you want to learn more about our club and wish to find more opportunities, please join our google classroom through code: dtpah5l.

 You can also find us on instagram (@gwss.volunteer), LinkedIn (GWSS Volunteer Club), and Twitter (@gwss_volunteer)! If you have any question, feel free to email us at gwssvolunteerclub@gmail.com.

Opportunity for This Week:

Stay tuned for a new opportunity next week...

Black History Month

February is Black History Month and we as a school are honoured to celebrate it together. While we embed our learning in our courses throughout the year, we also celebrate in the month of February as a school.  We will be using this space throughout the month of February to highlight our learning and celebrations.

To start our learning for the month, we wanted to share this article as it has a local connection: Ontarians Should Know More About the Black History of Oakville.  As a connection to this article, the school will be hosting a traveling exhibition displaying pictures and cultural information on Oakville’s Early Black History.  Classes will be touring the exhibit throughout the month.

Lunar New Year

Next weekend many families in our community will be saying "Kung Hei Fat Choi" in Cantonese, or "Gong Xi Fa Cai" in Mandarin, to wish each other happiness and prosperity for the Lunar New Year which begins on Saturday, February 10, 2024. 

Numerous East Asian cultures observe this celebration including: Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Mongolian, Japanese, Taiwanese, and many more. The date of the Lunar New Year differs each year and is based on the moon cycles of the lunar calendar. 

This year, the 15-day celebration begins on Saturday, February 10 when many East Asian cultures will be ushering in the Year of the Dragon with a celebratory dinner with family and friends. They will be enjoying symbolic ‘lucky foods’ such as dumplings, fish, noodles, rice, and spring rolls. These lucky foods will bring prosperity, luck, wealth, longevity, and happiness for families. Traditions include cleaning the home before New Year’s Day to sweep out the ‘bad luck’, and welcome in the good luck. Little red envelopes, called “lai see” in Cantonese, or “hongbao” in Mandarin, containing an even numbered amount of money are given out to younger generations by their parents, grandparents, and elder relatives for well wishes. If you are in and around downtown Toronto during Lunar New Year celebrations, you might catch a glimpse of a ‘lion dance’ which is performed to scare away evil spirits and bring good fortune. 

In Chinese culture, the Dragon holds a significant place as an auspicious and extraordinary creature, unparalleled in talent and excellence. It symbolizes power, nobility, honor, luck, and success. 2024 is forecasted to bring about opportunities, changes, and challenges. If you're seeking a shift in your current lives, this year might offer a favorable chance. 

The Chinese Zodiac includes the following 12 animals which represent certain years: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. It is believed that a person’s personality traits are tied to their zodiac animal. You can find out what’s in store for you in 2024 by reading the predictions for your zodiac animal. To find out which of 12 animals you are in the Chinese zodiac, you can check the year you were born with the animal assigned to that year. Click here to learn which animal you are! 

We wish our Garth Webb students and families celebrating the Lunar New Year: "Sun Nien Fai Lok" (Cantonese) or "Xin Nian Kuai Le" (Mandarin)!

2SLGBTQIA+ Parent/Guardian Advocacy and Support Group

This past week, we had our first meeting of the new 2SLGBTQIA+ Parent/Guardian Advocacy and Support Group at Garth Webb. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend. The group meets monthly online and our next meeting is on Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 7 pm.

Our group is for parents and guardians of children who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ and/or parents/guardians who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ themselves. The goal of the group is to provide a safe space to share resources, expand our education, learn how to better advocate for and support our children, and to share our challenges and victories. We will work together to advocate for all students who experience social and systemic discrimination based on their 2SLGBTQIA+ identity. We have a zero tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination within our group.

We are always happy to welcome new members! If you are new to the group and would like to attend our next meeting on Thursday, March 7 or would like more information about the group, please email Kerri Lee at leeke@hdsb.ca.

Ensure Immunization Records are Up to Date with Halton Region Health

Students in Grades 9 to 12 must have up-to-date immunization records with Halton Region Public Health.

Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) requires that all children and adolescents attending school be fully immunized against several designated diseases. All immunization requirements for school attendance align with Ontario’s publicly funded immunization schedule. Vaccines required for school attendance are free, safe and effective.

Parents/guardians of all students born in 2006 to 2009 (Grades 9 to 12) must complete the following steps:

1. Review your student's online record at halton.ca/immunize.

2. If your student has missed any vaccines, make an immunization appointment with a health care provider.

3. Report vaccines online at halton.ca/immunize. Every time a health care provider immunizes a student, parents/guardians must report the vaccines to Public Health. Healthcare providers do not report the vaccines they give to their patients.

Students born in 2006 to 2009 must have up to date immunization records (or a valid medical or non-medical exemption) against the following ISPA designated diseases:

• Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio;

• Measles, Mumps, Rubella; and

• Meningococcal Disease.

Halton Region Public Health is reviewing the immunization records of Halton students born in 2006 to 2009. Parents/guardians will be notified by mail if their student's record is not up-to-date, starting in October 2023. This school year, students in Grades 9 to 12 may be suspended from school in March 2024 if their immunization records are not updated.

Please note, at this time COVID-19 vaccines are not required to attend school. You cannot report COVID-19 vaccines using the online reporting tool.

If your student is unable to be immunized for medical reasons or if you choose not to immunize your student, you must submit a vaccine exemption to Halton Region Public Health. For more details about this process, please visit halton.ca/immunize.

To learn more about immunizations, including translated resources, visit ontario.ca/vaccines, immunize.ca/resources or download A Parent's Guide to Vaccination at canada.ca/vaccines.

Upcoming Key Dates

Feb 5 First Day of Semester 2

Feb 6 Tuesdays @Ten

Feb 9 Semester 1 Final Report Card Distribution

Feb 13 OUAC / OCAS Semester 1 Final Mark Upload

Feb 16 PA Day - no school for students

Feb 19 Family Day (School Closed)

Feb 20 Semester 2 Photo Day (new students)

Feb 21 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

Mar 5 Tuesdays @Ten

Mar 7 5th Week Report Distribution (grade 9 students)

Mar 11 - 15 Spring Break (School Closed)

Mar 27 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

Mar 29 Good Friday (School Closed)

Apr 1 Easter Monday (School Closed)

Apr 2 Tuesdays @Ten

Apr 8 PA Day - no school for students

Apr 17 Last Day of Term 1

Apr 18 First Day of Term 2

Apr 24 OUAC / OCAS Semester 2 Midterm Mark Upload

Apr 24 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

Apr 26 Semester 2 Midterm Report Card Distribution

May 3 Full Disclosure

May 7 Tuesdays @Ten

May 20 Victoria Day Holiday (School Closed)

May 22 CP Day - Classes start at 9:30 am

May 23 15th Week Report Distribution

May 23 Grade 12 Prom

May 27 - Jun 19 Protected Time

Jun 4 Tuesdays @Ten

Jun 10 Class of 2024 Commencement

Jun 20 - 26 Exam Block

Jun 27 Exam Review Day/Last Day of School (early dismissal)

Jun 28 PA Day - no school for students

Jul 3 OUAC / OCAS Semester 2 Final Mark Upload

Jul 8 Semester 2 Final Report Card Distribution and Diploma Pick up