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Administration Team:

Principal Vice-Principal (Last Names A-M)

Vice-Principal (Last Names N-Z)

A. Daniel D. Heron A. Gheewala

May 29, 2020

Dear Families, As we are approaching June and the final month of the school year, we wanted to share some fantastic news regarding some of our very own Silverhawks and their academic achievement. Business students in Ms. Pownall’s Introduction to Business and Mr. Rosenberg’s Economics classes participated in the Junior Achievement TITAN Challenge. The TITAN Challenge is an interactive online challenge where students become CEOs of their own companies. This year, 17 schools participated in the challenge and MCI had four teams place in the top ten. Amongst our four teams in the top ten, Cheryl Chen in Ms. Pownall’s class finished 2nd overall in the competition. A heartfelt congratulations goes out to Cheryl, Ms. Pownall, Mr. Rosenberg and all MCI Business students who participated in the Junior Achievement Titan Challenge! Even during these trying times, our resilient, hard working and ambitious Silverhawks continue to fly high and achieve even higher. Well done, everyone!

A. Daniel, D. Heron & A. Gheewala

Character Matters Trait of the Month: Perseverance

“It always seems impossible, until it’s done.” - Nelson Mandela

Middlefield C.I.

A Message From Our Trustee

Dear families, I hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well and are healthy. The past few months have been full of change and uncertainty as we respond to the global pandemic and try to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a Board of Trustees, we know that our families have experienced this pandemic and the school closures in different ways, and we want you to know that our thoughts have been with you all. Our school board moved quickly to introduce our Learning and Caring Plan through an intentionally phased approach. Our plan focused on both supporting student well-being and providing continuation of learning for more than 127,000 students. A plan was developed that respected each family’s unique situations and focused on maintaining a caring, safe and inclusive learning environment. To support this, over 20,000 pieces of technology were distributed to ensure that all of our students could access the learning opportunities available to them, and resources and plans were put in place to support all of our learners, including students with special education needs and English language learners. More information about the Learning and Caring plan as well as tips, resources and supports for students and families to support well-being and online learning can be found at www.yrdsb.ca/covid19. We are all part of a larger community and I am inspired to see the many different ways schools, families and students maintained their connections with one another. It was also moving to see the many inspiring ways our school board, students, staff and families acknowledged our frontline workers and made contributions to the fight against COVID-19. As a school board, for example, we donated over 145,000 pieces of personal protective equipment, including gloves, masks and more. Each and every one of us has made a difference - in staying home as much as possible and following public health guidelines. I know that this has meant making sacrifices. To our graduating class of 2020, I know this is not the graduating year you had hoped for. I appreciate that the school closures will not affect your ability to graduate, however this unique situation and the need to postpone graduations has been disappointing. I remain tremendously proud of all of our graduates and look forward to celebrating this important milestone with you as soon as we are able to reschedule the graduation ceremonies. In addition, I know that you have missed out on field trips, awards events, athletic banquets, spirit days, assemblies, our annual Celebrating Student Success awards and the many other ways we extend learning, connect as a community and celebrate the achievements of our students.

We have also been unable to gather together as we normally would in our schools and communities to celebrate or recognize important dates, including Sikh Heritage Month, Pesach, Good Friday, Easter (Western), Vaisakhi, Holy Friday, Orthodox Easter (Eastern), Ridvan, Jewish Heritage Month, Asian/South Asian Heritage Month, Ramadan, Pride, National Indigenous History Month, Italian Heritage Month and Portuguese Heritage Month. As a Board, these dates of significance are important for us to acknowledge and we will continue to celebrate and value the wealth of diversity in our community. As the school year comes to a close, I want to wish you and your families a safe, healthy and happy summer. I look forward to a time when we can welcome your children back into our schools again. We know that families have questions about what the return to school will look like. We will continue to share information with you as it becomes available. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue following public health guidelines and to stay connected. A message from the Chair of the Board of Trustees is also available on the Board website at www.yrdsb.ca. Juanita Nathan Trustee, Markham, Wards 7 and 8

MCI HIGHLIGHTS

Attention Families!!

As part of our caring and wellness protocols, and because we care so much about our students, families and community, please be aware that MCI staff will continue calling and emailing home as we make efforts to re-engage our students for the final month of the school year. We would like everyone to know that if we are unable to reach families by phone or by email, we will be sending a letter home. With this in mind, if you have a change in home address or would like a different email address listed than what we have at the school, please send an email to middlefield.ci@yrdsb.ca with your updated information. Please be sure to include child/children’s name(s), their student number, any information that needs to be updated, as well as the best phone number to reach you in case we need to clarify any information. This is especially important in case we need to mail home vital information or documents such as Report Cards at the end of the school year. Thank you in advance for helping to keep MCI up to date!

Summer School Update

For all families who are wondering about summer school, the following was part of the memo that was shared with schools today: “The ministry recognizes that the delivery of summer school and summer learning may look different this year and could include a combination of remote learning, online learning, independent study and face-to-face delivery should emergency measures be lifted or eased.” This is in addition to the following, which was also shared with schools recently: “Summer learning programs will take place in July and August and will include a diverse and robust range of new and existing credit and non-credit supports for students. With these enhancements to Ontario’s Summer Learning Program, this will allow for more than double the number of students to participate in summer programming compared to previous years. In order to mitigate the impacts of the school closure period and learning loss that may typically occur during the summer, we have focused summer learning opportunities on traditional and non-traditional programming, including summer school, course upgrading, and targeted programs for vulnerable students, students with special education or mental health needs, and Indigenous students. We encourage students to consider participating in one or more of these summer learning opportunities, if they feel comfortable doing so.” What this means is that summer school will be happening this summer; however, what that looks like exactly is still a work in progress. Stay tuned for more updates – we will send out information as it becomes available to us.

MCI’s Online Learning Update

From Our Visual Arts Department:

Ms. Liau's Grade 12 Photography students shared some of their work as they were tasked to explore the themes of Light, Shadow and Reflection at home. Students were asked to explore the properties of light using the everyday objects around them. Here are just a few of the highlights from their full collections. Enjoy!

Supporting Online Learning from the YRDSB

While schools will remain closed for the rest of the school year, we will continue to support your child’s learning and well-being. We know that learning at home looks different for each family. We have developed a number of resources and tips to help students and families, including:

How to log in and use online learning platforms, including Google, Edsby and D2L. Short videos are also available.

Tips for families to support online learning. Student Tech Help form for support with student technology provided by the Board and

accessing online learning platforms. Mental health and community resources for students and families. Resources for students with special education needs.

To learn more about our Learning and Caring Plan, access these resources and more, please visit www.yrdsb.ca/covid19. Google translate is available on our website.

Distance Learning Adult Programs

We are still offering adult programs through distance learning. Improve your skills at home. Courses available include:

Adult Literacy and Basic Skills English as a Second Language Citizenship Classes Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada

You can access learning by phone or online. You can register and start learning at any time.

If you have a question or would like to register for a class, please: Email uplands@yrdsb.ca. Call 905-731-9557 or 905-305-4122 and leave us a message.

From our Special Education Department

Around this time of year, you would usually have received a Confirmation of Continued Placement letter as part of YRDSB review IPRC process, which is conducted annually. As we navigate the changes that the Covid-19 pandemic has created, we recognize that this review process will not look the same as it has in previous years. At this moment, we are recommending to have your child to continue with their current identification and level of placement at MCI. For that reason, we are sending a digital Confirmation of Continued Placement letter to you in the next couple of weeks, which indicate our recommendation, and we wish to have your consent on agreeing for nothing to change for September 2020 in your child’s identification and placement.

MCI’s Special Education Department would like to remind all of our families that we are committed to providing relevant and appropriate educational opportunities and supports during these unprecedented times to our students. Google Classrooms are up and running for all Learning Strategies courses and Community Classes. We hope that you continue to access your classroom daily for your learning. For more information and support, please contact your Special Education Resource Teacher via YRDSB board email (for example susanna.baldassini@yrdsb.ca.) You can find a list of all of our teachers at the bottom of the E-Bulletin!

EquatIO for Math and Science Students

EquatIO is an easy-to-use Chrome extension that allows students to insert mathematical equations, formulas, and symbols for math and science. This digital tool is great for students to input their equations on their Google form, Google Docs, and Google Slides. The EquatIO extension has been automatically deployed to all student YRDSB GAPPS accounts. Students can install EquatIO extension for free onto their G Suite and they can locate the blue diamond icon in the extension area of the browser to start EquatIO.

Once EquatIO is installed, students can type complicated math expressions into clear and editable formulas. The handwriting recognition feature allows students to turn their handwriting into accurate formulas if they write directly on their touchscreen. It also has the speech recognition that turn dictated equations to written expressions. Students can revisit and edit their digital math equations at any time. It is a great digital tool to foster deeper understanding of math and science concepts.

In need of a food bank?

From the folks at Information Technology Services

The YRDSB has created an E-Mail address for student technology support inquires. This is a starting point for all tech related inquiries that are not curriculum related. If you have any non-curriculum tech related questions, please send them to the following email address: student.techhelp@yrdsb.ca

Translated Letters from the Director of Education

Regional YRDSB Family Engagement

CICS Centre for Learning

Support from York Mills

COVID-19 Support from MCI

UPDATES FROM THE GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT

MIDDLEFIELD C.I. E-MAIL LIST

When emailing teachers, please remember that e-mails are first name.lastname@yrdsb.ca (example: deanna.heron@yrdsb.ca for Vice-Principal Ms. Heron)

MIDDLEFIELD C.I. SCHOOL LINKS

Middlefield C.I. Webpage: http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/middlefield.ci

York Region District School Board: http://www.yrdsb.ca/

Y.R.D.S.B. Guide to the 2019-2020 School Year: Guide to the School Year

SHSM: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/morestudentsuccess/SHSM.html

Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

Teacher's Name (Last Name, First Name)

Afsharnejad, Fatemah Harvey, Walter Ng'Ong'Ola, Neps

Arsenault, Michelle Heron, Deanna Nguyen, Vincent

Atcha, Saeed Hobbs, Andrew Okongwu, Ngozi

Bakshi, Shirleen Hoult, Sarah O'Neill, Jeremy

Balakumar, Vithyani Hunte, Camille Owen, Melinda

Baldassini, Susanna Huryn, Karolina Patras, Sofia

Bell, Catherine Hytman, Barry Pawlicki, Barb

Blanchard, Daniel Istanbul, Martha Pownall, Alyson

Boy, Martina Kapustina, Elena Prinsloo, Heather

Brijmongal, Ganesh Khandaker, Shopan Puri, Tanu

Brown, Tonya King-Sewell, Rockell Reid, Rebecca

Cha, Jessica Korres, Vasiliki Rosenberg, Eric

Chan, Laura Kumar, Rita Rueckert, Jennifer

Chang, Mary Ladas, Niki Rutherford, Claudette

Chiejina, Pat Lane, Janine Sadacharan, Skanda

Curatola, Kristina Lawrence, Grace Sakaris, Chrysoula

Dabas, Jogender Li Kam Cheung, Priscilla Sanchez, Rodolfo

Dadar, Mehdi Liau, Sandra Stephenson, Paul

Daniel, Aline Lloyd, Jonathan Suganthan, Piraveena

Del Rosario, Melissa MacPherson, Alison Sukhera, Sabrina

Derlick, Rochelle Markandaier, Shiva Tang, Iris

Derry, Joyce Mavridis, Peter Terranova, Tamara

Dornai, Angie Mcloughlin, Dawn Thakrar, Sandeep

Escoffery, Nigel McMullen, Dan Thompson, Reginald

Falzarano, Janet Mein, Andrew Tsui, Ada

Firasat, Heera Mobilos, Cathy Tyler, Pamela

Fridman, Lauren Moore, Lara Van Den Kroonenberg, Anna

Gauthier, Melanie Morin, Mike Wong, Jack

Geronikolos, Lazaros Murray, Stephen Woo, Rajvinder

Gheewala, Amol Nasreen, Tahira Zissopoulos, Dimitra

Glass, Jamie