November 8 2024 OCVI Parent/Guardian Communication

Good afternoon O’Neill CVI Parents/Guardians,

A few messages and reminders to share:

October Character Trait Awards

Congratulations to Brogan F., Grace M., and Dominic M., for winning the October Character Trait Award. Your demonstration of OPTIMISM in your learning and OCVI school environment stood out amongst the rest! Well done!

November’s character trait is KINDNESS. Show your RedHawk spirit and care for others!

Monday, November 11 - Remembrance Day

On Monday, we will be holding our Remembrance Day assemblies in the morning. Poppies will be distributed at the entrances of the auditorium to those students who wish to wear one. Donations are always welcome and any donations that are collected will go to support services for our veterans. Lest we forget.

The Great Gatsby Fall Dance

It’s happening on Thursday, November 21, 2024 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm in our Auditorium! Tickets will be on sale from November 6 to 15 at lunch! Students must have a ticket and an ID to enter the doors. There will be snacks/drinks and glow sticks for sale!

Well-Being Kits for Students

Today we shared a letter and a well-being kit from our DDSB Mental Health & Wellbeing Department with all of our students.

There is an appreciation that for some the transition back to school in the fall can be filled with a lot of different emotions – maybe some excitement, or perhaps a nervous feeling. As each student is beginning to settle into this school year, we want to remind all students that your well-being matters.

The well-being kit has been created for each student, to offer reminders that it's okay to take care of yourself. On each item it reads “Well-being everyone, every day”. There is no one right way to care for yourself: everyone is unique and so are our self-care strategies, the strategies that will work for you may be different than for your peers/friends, and that’s ok.

We also understand that some days are hard and that not every hard day is yours to carry alone. We are here to help, and we care about what you may be going through. You may want to consider talking to a caring adult at our school, perhaps a teacher, an EA, a coach, a guidance counselor, a staff member in AR:Inclusive Student Services, an administrator, or someone else you feel connected to.

Remember that our school also has a Social Worker and a member of Psychological Services assigned and inside your kit you will find a sticker with a QR Code that you can scan to reach out to mental health services.

Included on the back of the letter is a “Save the Date” for our special event The Night to End Procrastination. On January 9 in our library from 2pm to 4:30pm, our Positive School Climate team understands the stresses that January brings with summatives and exams so they are planning an event to include:

• Group Study Sessions
• Study Skill Support
• Independent Study Spaces
• Therapy Dogs
• Wellness Activities
• How to create a study calendar for exams/summatives
• Pizza and snacks

Come and be a part of our night! We want to support your well-being and connection in our school!

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)

The upcoming OSSLT (Gr 10 Literacy Test) will be taking place on November 25^th (Booklet #1) & November 26^th (Booklet #2), beginning at 8:00AM for all eligible Gr 10 students and any re-writers in Gr 11 & 12.

Notices will be going home to eligible students beginning the week of November 11th, 2024. If you have any questions or inquiries regarding the upcoming OSSLT, please reach out to your students' homeroom teacher or Vice-Principal T. Biffin.

Reminder: Literacy Help

Literacy Help: under teacher direction, we will be hosting extra help sessions every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at lunch in Room 105. These sessions are to help provide students with extra support towards their literacy skills and get them test ready. If you require more information about these sessions please email kristen.taylor@ddsb.ca  or patricia.biffin@ddsb.ca.

Literacy Prep Session! In addition to our literacy support program we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting a Literacy Prep Session on Tuesday, Nov 19^th & Wednesday Nov 20th, in the library for all those eligible Gr 10 students who will be writing. Students will be called down in small groups by alphabet to participate in preparation seminars for the upcoming OSSLT.

Reminder: Yearbooks

2024 - 2025 Yearbooks are available for purchase for only $44.99. Please visitwww.ybpay.ca

and use the following school code: 14718625. Don't let your child miss out on this year's memories!

Upcoming Important Dates

Thank you and have a great weekend!

The Admin Team of O’Neill CVI