September 18, 2025
Student Support
Course Changes: Current class lists should be considered final. Thank you for your patience and flexibility.
Concerns related to learning skills, executive function, etc.: In advance of reaching out to families with concerns in these areas, please connect with a student’s guidance counsellor and the Student Success Team (Kelly Marcella and Julie Klein) first. Especially with our new students, the development of an educational support plan (ESP) could be underway. Updated information regarding ESPs is being rolled out as of this week.
Names and pronouns: Please connect with Nancy Dawe, Dean of Students, if you learn information about a student’s name and/or pronouns that is not reflected on the master spreadsheet. Thank you for all of your sensitivity, support and care in this area. Please consider bookmarking the Student Support Guide for quick access to “the spreadsheet” and other important information about who to contact with student support concerns.
Local Walking Excursion Form
If you are planning a local walking excursion, please ensure you are using the 2025-26 Local Walking Excursion Form. If you try to access last year’s form on Google Drive, you will find that the form is no longer accepting responses. Please advise the Main Office if you cannot find the 2025-26 link on the Staff Portal.
Outdoor Education ‒ Winter 2026
Autumn Outdoor Education programs at UTS were a huge success, thank you to all the staff who volunteered their time to make them happen. The Student Life Department is already planning for the upcoming F1, F2, M4 and S6 Winter programs. Please click here to fill out the Google Form if you are interested in attending one or more of those camps in January or February 2026.
UTS Finance Staff Reimbursements
Effective September 18 staff reimbursements will be paid by EFT, using the banking information used for payroll. Nothing is required on your end to initiate this change. Payment runs are still on a bi-weekly basis. Everything else related to payment requests and order requests will still follow the same instructions found in the Staff Portal.
UTSPA Funding Requests
The UTS Parents’ Association (UTSPA) request form is open to school activities that would like support for funding. The form can be found here and the deadline for this submission period is Thursday, October 9. Good luck to all the applicants!
Late start September 24 - Department Collaborative Inquiry
Teachers are asked to meet in the MPR to begin Year 2 of the Collaborative Inquiry! In addition, here are the Late Start events for the rest of the year.
Second Fire Drill is Friday, September 26
Thanks for quickly exiting the building in an orderly fashion today. It may seem too soon, but in order to minimize the impact later in the term and get all of the required fire drills on record for the fall, the second fire drill for the 2025-26 school year will be on Friday, September 26 at 2:30 p.m. All Block H teachers are kindly requested to go through the Fire Drill and Evacuation Protocols with students on September 26 before the drill. On the 26th, feel free to share with the class that there will be a drill at 2:30 p.m. and that there may be some artificial barriers to egress to practice what might happen in a real situation.
As a reminder from last week for your planning purposes ‒ Please do not share this with students at this time.
The first lockdown drill will be Tuesday, October 14 at 2:30 p.m. (block I)
The third fire drill will be the week of October 20
Social Work at UTS - Schedules, Updates and Contacts
Earlier this week, students received an email about how to access Social Work at UTS (Social Work info for students). Parents received the info found here (Social Work info for parents).
Avi Magidsohn, Steph Stavro-Pearce and Joelle Therriault remain available to support students as needed in rooms #340 and #237. Avi is at UTS everyday, Steph is Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, and Joelle is Mondays/Thursdays.
To book an appointment, students can drop by either office, email social.work.staff@utschools.ca, email a Social Worker directly, and/or visit their appointment calendar to choose a time that works.
Please also join us in welcoming MSW intern Annie McEvoy (they/them). Annie started with us last week and will be in the social work department until April 2026. Please introduce yourself and say hello to them when you have the opportunity!
UTS Social Committee
The Social Committee will hold its first meeting of the year on Monday, September 22, in the new staff room at lunch. We’d love to have new members join us! Bring your ideas for building collegiality and making this year fun for everyone.
