January 15, 2026
The AI Beat
by Adnan Zuberi, Director of AI Integration
Staffing Update
We are delighted to introduce Zack Lehman who will join the Office of Advancement on Monday, January 19 as Research Officer. Zack comes to UTS with a wealth of experience as a researcher and grant writer in the charitable sector. As we prepare for an upcoming fundraising campaign to grow the UTS bursary program and enhance supports for innovation and excellence, Zack’s contributions will be essential to the process. Please give Zack a warm welcome!
Summer Camps
UTS Summer Camps are one-week programs featuring an academic-adjacent theme. Campers range in grade from 3 to 9 and run with the support of UTS student counsellors and MT candidates. This year, summer camps will run during the month of July. We aim to run several camps across a range of fields including science/engineering, math/coding, creative expression, debate/public speaking and special interest. Programs should build towards a showcase for the families at the end of the week or include take-home components.
Additional compensation is provided to camp leads. This opportunity is open to both returning and new teachers. Interested in running a camp? Please email Sean Hayto at sean.hayto@utschools.ca and Charline Wan at charline.wan@utschools.ca by Monday, February 9 with:
your proposed camp theme
intended grade range (camps should span three or four grade levels)
a descriptive paragraph on the camp (i.e. what campers will learn and do, as though you are marketing this program to families)
what specialty materials, equipment, spaces or tools your camp program may require (eg. laptop, use of lab equipment, etc.)
Which weeks in July you are available to run the camp
Week 1: July 6-10 (5 days)
Week 2: July 13-17 (5 days)
Week 3: July 20-24 (5 days)
Week 4: July 27-30 (4 days)
a description of what students would show and share on Friday OR a description of take-home tangibles
Are you curious to know more but are not yet ready to commit? Visit Sean or Charline for a no-commitment conversation!
REMINDER: Call for proposals for the inaugural Eureka! Institute @ UTS Practitioner Research Symposium: Deadline January 26
The Eureka! Institute @UTS is inviting all staff and teachers to submit proposals to our inaugural Practitioner Research Symposium, to be held at UTS on May 9. We welcome proposals for paper presentations, curated panels, workshops and collaborative conversations. Responding to the theme, Navigating a rapidly shifting landscape in education: Schools as integral spaces for innovation and knowledge-building, this symposium will bring together teachers, teacher-candidates, teacher-researchers, school leaders and university faculty members in a lively and vital dialogue about teaching and learning in an era of unprecedented social, political, environmental and technological change. Please read the full Call for Proposals here, where you will also be able to access the link to the submission form. The deadline for submissions is January 26.
Standby Coverage, Instructions to Students during the M4 Wanakita Trip January 21 to 23
M4 Teachers who are not away on the M4 Wanakita Trip will be on Standby Coverage during their M4 periods.
If you teach a class with M4 students that also has student in another grade with whom you will be working, please let the Main Office know and please provide your attendance to the Main Office during your class. Situations change and so we kindly request this again even through you may have done this during the M4 Montreal trip in the fall.
If you teach a class with M4 students that has students in another grade but will not be working with the non-M4 students and you would like them to work quietly in the library, please let them know that they should check in at the Main Office (for attendance) and then proceed immediately to the Evans Library to check in with Ms. Courtney.
Instructions given to students in mixed-grade classes and M4s not going to Wanakita during the M4 Wanakita Trip
Students who are in M4 classes but not in M4 will be advised to sign in at the Main Office and proceed to the Evans Library for a study period. M4 students will be advised not to be at school while their grade is away.
UTSPA Funding Requests
The UTSAPA request form for school activities deadline has been extended! The form can be found here with the submission period going to Friday, January 30,. Good luck to all the applicants!
Results of the initial 2026-27 Calendar Consultation
Staff indicated a preference for a holiday Monday, October 19, 2026 rather than after the Easter long weekend. Here is the list of the draft holidays and PD days for 2026-2027. Further calendar consultations with staff will occur in April and May.
New IT Team Member
We’re excited to welcome Zuhair Khan as our new IT co-op student. Zuhair is in the fourth year of the computer science program at U of T. He will be joining us for a four-month term ending in April. As well, Shaaf Yousaf, who started his co-op placement with us in September has extended his co-op term and will be with the team until the end of April.
Special Schedule (Assembly Schedule) for Equity and Inclusion Survey on January 28
This year an assembly schedule has been implemented to administer the Equity and Inclusion Survey. This will minimize the impact on classes (as previously it ran in lieu of a class). Block D teachers will begin the survey after their class. All classes will begin the survey at 10:55 a.m. starting with a school-wide announcement.
Fifteen minutes into the survey, assigned teachers/administration will relieve Block D teachers. Additional information will be provided at the staff meeting on January 21 on the logistics of the day and an update on changes to the survey itself.
Instructions for Block D and Assigned Teachers here.
Classroom assignments on first page of the document here.
Questions or concerns? Please connect with Nas Khan at nasreen.khan@utschools.ca.
