Principal's Message

Hello Everyone:

What a fantastic week at Garth Webb! The atmosphere has been incredibly warm and enthusiastic as everyone gears up for another outstanding school year!

We started the week with the Professional Development Day where our staff went through a series of training sessions on the different protocols of the school such as health and safety, harmful and discriminatory language protocol, bullying prevention and intervention protocol, and the mobile device guidelines. I shared with staff that we will continue the outstanding work here at our school, that is: to continue to work towards building a school where all students and ourselves feel included and experience the true sense of belonging and academic success, and to support all students learning today so they can lead tomorrow. I also shared that together we can: 

🔅Embrace this school year with love and kindness

🔅Care for every student no matter of their identity

🔅Change lives and change trajectories 

🔅 Face the challenges knowing we are not alone

🔅 Educate about peace and justice

The following day was truly exceptional as our students returned for the first time after the summer break. Our Link Crew leaders excelled in welcoming the new students and fostering a sense of community, helping everyone feel at home and confident in being themselves. It was also wonderful to see so many families attend our first Tuesdays @Ten session of the year, where they gained valuable insights into GWSS and secondary school life.

I am very grateful and thankful for:

• Link Crew Leaders for taking time of their day to be the mentors of today and tomorrow;

• Link Crew teachers Ian Duncan, Josh Sanderson, Amy Westenberg,  Allison Hoy, and Melissa Senn for organizing all the different activities and most importantly motivate and inspire our students to lead with kindness and care;

• Main office staff to answering the many questions; providing staff, families and students with the information they need; and for organizing the Photo Days and so much more - our main office is certainly a very busy place; 

• The Guidance department for supporting students with timetable changes and new registrations and so much more;

• All the staff who helped out with our welcome BBQ and making the act of sharing a meal possible for all of us;

• All our teachers who spent many hours in preparing their lessons to be inclusive and welcoming to all students;

• All our caretaking staff for making sure our building was ready to receive all of us.

I would like to conclude my blog today with a story of Mark Haggarty - where his colleagues describe him on his retirement as One-of-a-kind. Legendary. A bright light. His colleagues wanted to mark the impact and legacy he’s had on the program — and on their lives and so they made this video. Mark Haggarty's advice is to “Be yourself, be unstoppable, and smile” to which I thought it is great advice for all of us as we start this school year. 

Luisa Botelho

Student Engagement Fees

Each year in September, we ask families to purchase the Student Engagement Fee option through their School Cash Online account. Garth Webb is an active and inclusive place to learn. The Student Engagement Fees generate start up and operating funds for student run clubs including but not limited to environment issues, global issues, student newspaper, philanthropy, wellness council, etc. The fees also supplement the cost of school wide spirit events, LINK Crew transition, leadership training, motivational speakers, and student recognition awards and events. In addition, student engagement fees fund Student Council events such as assemblies and anti-bullying initiatives. 

In September alone, the fees will go towards supporting our Grade 9 Welcome BBQ, our Link Crew activities, our Terry Fox Colour Run, and our whole school assemblies. We will have many more activities and events throughout the year that the money collected through these fees will support. 

Our school fee is $30 per student and although it is optional to purchase, we greatly appreciate and depend on the support from our families. We remain aware of the social economic constraints in our present day lives and are working hard to keep these fees low. Please visit School Cash Online today to pay the Student Engagement Fees. Thank you so much for your support in advance!

This Week is Week B

This year we are continuing our “Week A” and “Week B” schedules. This means that every other week, our afternoon classes will flip (i.e. switch places). You will find the Week A and Week B schedules a on our website here and in the school calendar for your reference.

From Monday, September 9 - Friday, September 13, students will follow this schedule:

Period 1 8:30 - 9:50 AM

Period 2 9:55 - 11:10 AM

Period 3 (Lunch) 11:10 AM - 12:10 PM

Period 5 12:10 - 1:25 PM

Period 4 1:30 - 2:45 PM

Start Up Form Update

All students were sent home with the Secondary Intramural Acknowledgement of Elements of Risk, Consent to Participate, and Medical Information Form this past week. Those forms need to be returned to homeroom teachers ASAP. ALL students must have a completed form (whether or not they will be participating in intramurals). For students who have a spare or online class in period 1, they will need to collect a blank form from the main office and hand in their completed forms to the main office ASAP. 

We were expecting to be able to send the final piece of our start up package to families tomorrow but the Board has instructed us to hold off until Monday, September 16. We will send the verification forms out to our families then with instructions on how to inform us of any necessary updates.

In the meantime, please be sure that your student has returned the paper form that was sent home last week and that you have completed the online forms linked here.

We need completed forms for ALL STUDENTS. Thank you.

GWSS 2024-2025 Grade Assemblies 

This week, on Thursday September 12 we will be hosting our Grade Assemblies: Period 1 - Grades 9-10, Period 2- Grades 11 & 12. During these assemblies, we will cover important topics including school culture, code of conduct, school guidelines, and protocol such as the Discriminatory and Harmful Language Protocol and Bullying Response Protocol, and how important it is to get involved in all school activities. We will also ask students to be kind to themselves and to others and to remember that gratitude is the only attitude! These discussions are designed to ensure that all students are informed and engaged in creating a positive and respectful school environment. We encourage you to talk with your students about these topics and to support their participation in all events and activities at Garth Webb! 

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to reach out to the Admin team.

Thank you for your continued support.

GWSS Spirit Wear & 

Class of 2025 Grad Wear

We have our spirit wear and Class of 2025 grad wear ready to be purchased. Please place orders directly through this website. The online store will close September 23 and orders will arrive at the school approximately 6 weeks after that. 

If you need financial support to order spirit wear or grad wear for your student, please reach out to our Principal (Luisa Botelho) directly to work together.

Locker Distribution

Starting tomorrow on Monday, September 9, Grade 9 and 10 students will have the option of selecting a locker within the school. Grade 9 students are assigned to only the second floor and Grade 10 students can choose a locker on the third floor. Students will then let their Period 1 (homeroom) teacher know their locker number and the combination (for safety reasons). 

Grade 11 students will have the option of selecting a locker on the first floor starting Wednesday, September 11, followed by Grade 12 students on Friday, September 13. 

Students should remember to bring a lock to secure the locker. There is a limited supply of lockers due to the large number of students at Garth Webb, therefore we ask that you please only select a locker if needed. We also remind students to never put items into a locker without a lock to secure those items. Students must have a working lock in order to claim a locker.

GWS School Council 2024-2025

We would like to thank our current School Council for their support over the past year. For the families who are new to Garth Webb, our school council meets 4-5 times per year and any parent/guardian can attend school council at any time - you do not have to be a voting member on school council to attend and share ideas.

Every year, we do reach out to the community to see if others would like roles on the council. To be on council as a voting member, it is required for you to attend all meetings and if you are the PIC representative you are required to organize parent involvement events for our school.

If you are interested in being a voting member of council, please complete this google form. If there is more than one nominee for the executive roles, then it will be determined if a school wide election is needed. Self nominations are open until 3 pm on Thursday, September 12, 2024.

Garth Webb Music

Attention musicians and musicians-to-be! Did you know that Garth Webb has a boat-load of music ensembles that you can join? There are junior and senior concert bands, jazz band, and two choirs. Stay tuned to the morning announcements for more details or check out our ensemble information posted on the music room door, room ten fifty-one. 

Student Senate Opportunity

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY? 

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

DO YOU HAVE LOTS OF IDEAS TO PROMOTE SOCIAL CHANGE?

Then apply to be considered for the position of Student Senator for Garth Webb Secondary School.

The position of Student Senator is one that requires hard work, dedication to your community, and commitment to attend a couple of meetings per month.

For more details, please access the Google Form or check out our social media! 

The application is due Monday, September 23, 2024. 

You can also check out the HDSB Student Senate Website for more information.

Also, our HDSB Student Trustees have created a support document following their presentation at the Leadership Conference taking a more in depth look at their goals for the 2024-2025 school year: Student Trustees Presentation at the Leadership Conference. 

From Your Student Services Department

Tuesdays @Ten

Guidance Counsellors hosted our first Tuesdays @Ten session of the year on Wednesday, September 4.  This session was geared specifically towards parents/guardians who are new to Garth Webb.

If you weren’t able to attend, you can access the slidedeck here.

Click here to visit the Tuesdays @Ten webpage for more information and to view previous sessions.

Google Classroom

Please join the appropriate classroom for your Grade to stay up to date with information from Student Services:

Grade 9 Code: oerdcjf

Grade 10 Code: euk4ho6

Grade 11 Code: bix3yen

Grade 12 Code: krgiixa

Courses Changes

The last day to make a change to a semester one course will be Friday, Sept 13.  Appointments can be made directly through the online calendar of your guidance counsellor. Calendars can be found on our website here.

Volunteer Annual Offence Declaration Reminder

For any parents/guardians who have a volunteer package on file at GW, please remember to complete and submit to the main office the annual offence declaration to keep your paperwork current.

If you have not completed a volunteer package and would like to volunteer in some capacity, please visit this page on our website for information.

Student Parking Passes

Students who will be driving to school on a regular basis must register their vehicle with the main office and must have a school parking pass displayed in their vehicle at all times while it is parked on school property. 

Please use this form to request a parking pass. You will need to have your vehicle make/license plate information to register for a parking pass. The office will contact you via email when your pass is ready.

Students are permitted to park in the lot closest to the front entrance to the school ONLY. Please note that having a parking pass does not guarantee you a parking spot. You must arrive early (before 8:15 am is recommended) to be sure to get a spot as it’s first come, first served.

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:

Are you a high school student who studies or lives in Oakville North - Burlington? Become an advisor to the MPP Effie Triantafilopoulos. Join the MPP’s Youth Council and share your voice on behalf of youth in Oakville North - Burlington. 

We're looking for young people who want to shape the future, identify the challenges facing youth, and work with the MPP to overcome them.

Applications will open from June 1 to September 30, 2024. Please use this google form to sign up.

One Stop Talk 

Consider sharing in home connections. OneStopTalk One Stop Talk offers children and youth (aged 0-17) anywhere in Ontario immediate access to free mental health support. The program provides single session counseling support and ensures direct referral to additional local services when needed. Services are provided through an integrated network of infant, child and youth mental health agencies across Ontario. 

OneStopTalk has videos that can be viewed for your awareness which are available in English and French. 

Cybertip.ca has received over 800 reports of severe harm involving 13-17-year-olds on Discord in the past year. Reports of violence on Discord have increased by 284% over the past two years compared to the previous period. The severity of the online violence reported is particularly alarming.  Please click here for the Cybertip Alert issued last June.

For more information and resources you can share with students and families, visit:

• Canadian Centre for Child Protection

• HDSB AST Website 

• HDSB Technology and You Website

• HDSB Cyber Security Website

• OPC Cyber Safety Parent Tip Sheet

HDSB Mental Health Resources

On the HDSB Parent/Guardian Support for Mental Health we have added these resources on:

Bullying, Cyberbullying:

• Strategies for Parents when your child is being bullied (Prevnet)

• Parenting in a Digital Age: Understanding Kids and Technology (Prevnet)

• What parents can do about Cyberbullying (Prevnet)

• Bullying – We can all help stop it

• Canadian Centre for Child Protection - Parenting Tweens and Teens in the Digital World

• Halton Regional Police Services: Cyber Safety

• Cyber Safety Parent Tip Sheet (Ontario Principals Council) available in 20 languages.

• Family Online Safety Agreement

• Healthy Relationships: Navigating Cyber Violence and Cyber Bullying

 These resources on Learning and Thinking Differences; Neurodivergence

• Understood.org resources for people with learning and thinking differences (ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Language Disorders, Writing Expressing Disorders)

•  Enhancing and Practicing Executive Functioning Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence (Harvard University) 

And these resources on Technology, Social Media 

• Unplug-from-Technology-and-Connect-Keeping-Families-Strong-in-a-Wired-World

• Helping Your Child Manage Digital Technology (School Mental Health Ontario) 

• Screen time and digital media: Advice for parents of school-aged children and teens

• Social media: What parents should know

• The Parent Network: Social Media and Your Kids Workshop

• A digital well-being resources from Teens to Parents 

• How to help your child set healthy screen time limits

• Tips for Healthy Screen Use

• Social Media and Mental Health

• Addictions and Problematic Internet Use 

• Social Media and Mental Health

• Social Media Use and Mental Health Among Students in Ontario

• Youth, family and interactive technology

• Social Media Impact On Teens: Substance Abuse & Mental Health

Upcoming Key Dates

Sep 18 CP Day (late start @9:30 am)

Sep 19 Grade 9 Program Evening

Oct-1 Tuesdays@Ten

Oct-10 5th Week Progress Reports Emailed

Oct-11 Professional Activity Day – No Classes

Oct-14 Thanksgiving Day – No Classes

Oct-15 Photo Retake Day

Oct 16 CP Day (late start @9:30 am)