White Ribbon Day Announcement, 5 mins Friday Morning

On Friday, December 5, the Gender Equity Committee will make a 1-2 minute announcement starting at 8:45 a.m. Teachers are kindly requested to ensure students are listening. All Period 1 (Block I) classes will then receive white ribbons which can be distributed to the class.

Announcements Monday and Thursday before classes and Feedback on the P.A. system.

The Announcement Committee will continue announcements Mondays and Thursdays and they are planning to play holiday music on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays prior to classes. The P.A. system is still a work in progress and may be too loud in some areas of the school and too quiet in others. A survey will be shared in next week’s staff updates to collect information about the P.A. coverage in different parts of the building.

Staff Meeting Wednesday Dec 10, 2025

All staff are kindly asked to bring their laptops to the upcoming staff meeting. We will be doing relationship-mapping work facilitated by the UTS Social Work team.

The meeting agenda is available in the UTS Staff Calendar event. This meeting will involve all staff for the duration of the meeting. The meeting will take place in the MPR.

A sign-in sheet will be available beside Hijab at the meeting for staff to initial. If you are unable to attend, please send a quick email to jpittlainsbury@utschools.ca.

Mattering and Belonging Matter at UTS

We’ll see you all at the December staff meeting for Relationship Mapping. If you have any questions, please drop by room 237 during lunch on December 8 to connect with the social work team. Here are some recent resources you may like to check out.

Mattering Movement (video 1.53m)

The Mattering Model: What if Belonging is only 50% of the Answer? Mohamad. Abdalla

Enemy of the Good The Pain of Perfectionism L.Jamison (Flipster @ Rosemary Evans Library)

Course Selection sessions on Dec 11 for F2, M3 and M4

Please take note for planning purposes if you teach F2, M3, and/or M4 on Day 1.

On December 11, there will be full-period course selection sessions held in the auditorium for the following classes:

F2: Period 2 (Block E)
M3: Period 3 (Block A)
M4: Period 4 (Block B)

F2, M3, and M4 classes will attend these sessions with their respective teachers. If you are teaching one of these sections, please take attendance and promptly bring your class to the auditorium. The Guidance Team will reach out with additional details for specific teachers.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Varsity Hockey @ Varsity Arena on December 10 and 11

The UTS Varsity Hockey team is hosting two home games at 2:00 p.m. at Varsity Arena on December 10 and 11. We would love to see some classes out there if possible! Entrance to the Arena is off Devonshire south of the Stadium. Game time will be 2:15 p.m. through 3:30 p.m.! Go Blues!

Postsecondary Academic Letters of Support: December 10

Thank you to everyone who submitted an academic letter for our U.S., U.K. and scholarship applicants. It is truly appreciated! Next steps: once counsellors have reviewed the letter, teachers will be prompted to complete their U.S. uploads and documentation in Naviance prior to December 10. If you have any questions, please reach out to the student’s counsellor and/or refer to the email sent on November 27.

Familiar Face Around the Building

Some of you may have seen Shuruthi Sivadas (’21) in the hallways. Shuruthi has had many adventures since graduating. She completed her Bachelors of Health Science at McMaster, and a 1-year international fellowship in Spanish and Latin American Studies which included a semester studying in Chile. Shuruthi is back at UTS tutoring, proctoring and you will also occasionally see her supporting the team in the Main Office!

A Sneak Peak at January’s PD

On January 5th, we’ll spend time thinking about the future of UTS. We’ll explore how our UTS program might respond to an evolving landscape in education that includes changes in student readiness, the impact of rising tuition on school culture and the pressures of marks inflation. We’ll talk about assessment and how grading and reporting at UTS can meet the needs of teachers across different departments and divisions.

On January 6th, we look at AI from multiple perspectives. Dr. Lydia Cao from OISE will help bring our teacher voices to a discussion of the opportunities and the challenges of teaching in the era of AI. Adnan will bring us back to a discussion of our UTS AI guidelines in order to seek feedback for improvement. We’ll end the day with Njeri Soujourner-Campbell, who will present on AI and Human Rights.

Plans are underway for Business and Operations PD with more information to follow.

Women in Leadership Conference

The third annual Women in Leadership (WIL) Conference is being hosted at Lauremont School on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. The evening provides an opportunity for female-identifying teachers and staff from CIS Ontario schools to connect, network, inspire and learn. If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please reach out to Kim or Leanne.

UTSPA Funding Requests

The 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 Friday, January 9, 2026. Good luck to all the applicants!

First UTS Book Club Meeting

The UTS Staff Book Club had its first meeting this past Monday afternoon, in the West Side (first floor) Staff Room. We had a great time discussing the book (The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store), eating snacks provided by the Staff Social Committee, and enjoying one another’s company.

Contact Kelly Marcella if you want to join us for future meetings.

Cheers to Maureen!

Here's a taste of the mocktail magic from her sendoff!

December 4, 2025