Welcome to the 2022/2023 School Year!

Dear Sherwood students and parents/guardians,

Hello! I am the Principal of Sherwood Secondary School, and my name is Wendall Gillis. I would like to welcome you all to the new school year, starting this September at the temporary Sherwood Secondary School site at 75 Palmer Rd.

We have been very busy packing all our belongings and materials for this temporary move.

I am very pleased to announce that we have many exciting ideas and events planned for the 2022-23 school year that will help welcome staff, students, and families to our temporary location. The following information is provided to help you transition into next school year.

We plan to email families again during the last week of August. We look forward to seeing everyone on our first day of school: Tuesday, September 6, starting at 8 a.m.

You can find this and other family communications on the Sherwood website, and shared to the email on file for your family.

If you have any questions we can answer, please email [email protected]. We will strive to include responses in our future communications.

Sincerely,

Wendall Gillis
Principal

Please review the information below from some of our key departments:

Sherwood Office:

School Messenger can be used to record student absences. Once the school day has begun, please contact the school directly at (905) 383-3377 ext. 4342 for same day absences and/or early dismissals.

Student timetables for the 2022-2023 school year will be available at the end of August in Parent Portal Please contact the Main Office if you are unable to access your Parent Portal account.

Lockers are available and will be assigned in your period one home room class if required. Student must provide their own locks.

School Bell Times: Start 8:00 a.m. End 2:30 p.m.

Period	Time
1	8:00 – 9:15 a.m.
2	9:20 – 10:35 a.m.
3 (Senior Lunch and Spec Ed lunch)	10:40 – 11:55 a.m.
4 (Junior Lunch)	11:55 a.m. – 1:10 p.m.
5	1:15 – 2:30 p.m.

Secondary students will be eligible for transportation to their in-catchment school when the walking distance exceeds 3.2 kilometres from the 75 Palmer Road location. School hours bus pass letters will be distributed to eligible students in September. Students must bring this letter along with a form of ID to the HSR Ticket Office at the Hamilton GO Centre, 36 Hunter Street East to obtain their bus pass. Learn more about bus transportation on the HWSTS website.

Student Services:

Sherwood will welcome Ms. Vander Vliet as the new Head of Student Services. Ms. Lea would like to wish all students and families well as she pursues a happy retirement. We also wish Ms. Chamoun well as she moves to a new job at the Education Centre. The new Guidance Office Administrator will be Ms. Podedworny.

Student appointments can continue to be booked through the Booking App, or by calling or visiting the Guidance office (next to the main office at our 75 Palmer Road site). Students need to use their HWDSB email when booking appointments. Guidance counsellors should be back at work at the new site the week of August 29. Unfortunately, the timetable leaves very little room for movement between courses, so we won’t be able to accommodate optional course changes. Students can book appointments for August/September for the following reasons:

• New registrations
• Summer School follow up resulting in required course change
• Incomplete schedule with a SEEGUI code
• Pathway changes (e.g., U to C or P to D pathways)
• Missing prerequisites for course(s) they are registered in

New counsellor assignments by student last name:

• A-Fe Grilli
• Fi-M Vander Vliet
• N-Z Sloan

eLearning Courses

Students taking eLearning courses in the 2022-23 school year should be able to access Semester 1 courses through the Hub starting September 6. Students can work independently on their eLearning courses in the Library Learning Commons or the Cafeteria.

As per the new Ministry mandated Online Learning Graduation Requirement, students who entered Grade 9 in September 2020 (currently completing Grade 10), must earn two eLearning courses. All students who earned a credit during Semester 2 of the 2020-21 school year (while remote learning was in place), will be granted one credit towards this graduation requirement.

If a parent wishes their child to opt out of this graduation requirement, expect more information about that process in mid-September. We will communicate these details to parents as soon as possible.

Student Success:

For all our Grade 9s: We are looking forward to welcoming you at our Orientation Day on August 31 from 9 to 11 a.m. This will be a fun-filled morning with Ice Breaker games, iPad pick up and a school tour! More details to follow – but mark this day in your calendars!

For our returning Saints: On August 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Sherwood @ Palmer Road will be open for you to come and tour the building and find your way around. Just drop on by during these designated times, no RSVP required.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Mr. Sillett and Ms. Oliver

Learning Resource:

Welcome to Sherwood!

Our Learning Resource teachers, Ms. Martin, Ms. McKague, Ms. Puffer and Mr. Thomaidis will be in the Library/Learning Commons area at our new site in Room 1014E. We will be happy to assist you with any information or communication required about your IEP (Individual Education Plan) or if you need help asking your teacher for support. We offer homework help and in-class support as well. Looking forward to meeting you and helping you succeed in high school. Visit the school on August 31 for a quick tour and to meet other students and staff.

Special Education:

For all our friends in the self-contained classes, we encourage you and your family to visit our new site during our Orientation Day, August 31. These classes will be in rooms, 1010, 1008 and 1015. Your classroom teachers will be Ms. Bartolacci (Graduated Support Sr. class), Mr. Burnip (Graduated Support Jr. class) and Ms. Persichini (DD class). See you soon!

Library Learning Commons:

Our Library Team (Mrs. Pacey, Mrs. George, and Mrs. Duane) are super excited to welcome everyone to the temporary location at Palmer Road! We are looking forward to meeting many of you at the Orientation in August where you can check out the space and pick up your iPad. If you would like to get your iPad right away, please make sure you have filled out the permission on Parent Portal. (iPads will also be distributed in September during classes).

The Library Learning Commons (LLC) has something to offer every student so don’t be shy about coming in. It is a great space to work during your lunch, spare, or e-learning period. We are here to help you find books, to offer you tech support, and to provide a safe space. There are many events in the LLC throughout the year, so make sure to follow us on Instagram (@sherwood_library) and our Hub page in September for all the details.

– Mrs. Pacey

Student Council:

Hello Sherwood families! We are Brighton Petch and Jenae Morrison, and we are thrilled to be your Student Council co-presidents for the 2022-23 school year. As Sherwood prepares to move to the temporary site on Palmer Road, we are aware there are many worries and hesitations from our student body. With that front of mind, we commit to ensuring a smooth, confident, and comfortable transition for our students by consistently engaging with all grades through varying events such as spirit days, pep rallies and other school-wide activities.

We will also work towards advocating for equity and student voice alongside our many clubs and teams. We hope to set the tone this year through participating in community building team workshops, grade specific days, consistent interactions through social media, and more! Thank you for trusting us to lead our Saints. We can promise you that our 2022-23 school year will be full of pure smiles and enthusiasm! See you in September!

Athletic Update:

Well, after almost 2 years of the suspension of Athletics, we were able to finally get back to playing and had an incredible year. During the 2021-22 season, we ran 43 teams at Sherwood, sent athletes to OFSAA in badminton as well as track and field; the girls softball team won the city championship; and we had an amazing celebration at the end of the year with a sold-out Athletic Banquet. Now, after a temporary move to Palmer Road, we look forward to bringing Sherwood’s amazing spirit to our temporary facility.

All our fall Athletic Teams should be up running for the 2022-23 season, with our fabulous coaches once again dedicating their time and expertise to our athletes. We encourage everyone to try out for something, as athletics can be an important and exciting part of the high school experience. Not only do participants compete and challenge themselves; they also meet new friends and make memories that will last a lifetime. Check the Sherwood Twitter account (@Sherwood_HWDSB) for updates on when team tryouts are happening. First up is the Senior Boys Varsity Football team, who usually start try-outs the last week of August before the Labour Day weekend. Once you return to school the first week of September, you should also listen to morning announcements for try-out information for the following fall sports teams:

• Senior Boys Varsity Football (grade 10-12)
• Varsity Girls Field Hockey
• Senior Boys Volleyball
• Junior Boys Volleyball
• Varsity Girls Basketball
• Girls Touch Football
• Boys Baseball
• Golf
• Cross Country

Grade 9 Sports also include:

• Girls Soccer
• Boys Soccer
• Boys Touch Football

If you have any questions, feel free to email Mr. R. Teufel at [email protected] or Ms. J. French at [email protected]

Hope summer is treating everyone well. We are looking forward to seeing all our athletes in September!

Question and Answer

We have developed this Question-and-Answer document to help everyone understand Sherwood’s temporary move to 75 Palmer Road. We will update this document as more questions arise and will share responses with our community. To ask more questions, please email [email protected]

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What is the status of construction?

As we shared on June 17, 2022, the move from Sherwood to the temporary school site at 75 Palmer Road occurred in late June and early July.

Asbestos abatement and extensive renovations are now underway, and this means that no access will be permitted to the High Street location. Abatement is expected to continue until October.

We have retained an architect for the Sherwood renovations and site investigations are done. Design work is underway. Design and permitting work will occur this summer simultaneously.

We plan to issue general contractor procurement documents in September 2022 (pending receipt of the building permit), with construction starting in October 2022. We anticipate that there will be some overlap between the abatement and general contractor activities.

What can we expect the first day of school?

The first day of school will start Tuesday, September 6. Please come ready to learn as this will be a regular school day. School starts at 8 a.m. We will follow our regular bell time schedule and will end the day at 2:30 p.m.

What are the transportation impacts of the move (i.e., bus pass qualification)?

Secondary students will be eligible for transportation to their in-catchment school when the walking distance exceeds 3.2 kilometres from the 75 Palmer Road location. School hours bus pass letters will be distributed to eligible students in September. Students must bring this letter along with a form of ID to the HSR Ticket Office at the Hamilton GO Centre, 36 Hunter Street East to obtain their bus pass.

Are maps available?

Yes, please see below. We will be providing more detailed inside the school maps during our later August communication update as well.

Neighbourhood Map

75 Palmer Road Navigation Map