January Community Newsletter

Westdale Community Newsletter – January 2025

Greetings:

On behalf of our school staff, we are excited to welcome our students back after the winter break! We hope that our students and families were able to find some rest, and engage in activities that bring joy, over the past couple of weeks. As we head into January, we have just over two weeks of classes remaining before semester 1 final evaluations. In the next few weeks, students will be engaged in end of semester tasks, including culminating activities, and we look forward to seeing students demonstrate their learning and growth from this past semester.

Sincerely,

Brian Goodram, Principal

Important Calendar Dates:

Date:	Event(s):	Audience:
Thursday Jan. 9th	Co-Op Career Fair (Periods 2 and 3; Library/Learning Commons)	Students enrolled in Semester 1 Co-Op
Wednesday Jan. 15th	Last Day for OUAC (University) Applications	Students applying to University programs for 2025-2026
Thursday Jan. 16th	Quiet Days begin (through Final Evaluations)	All students
Wednesday Jan. 22nd	Last Instructional Day of Semester 1	All Students
Thursday Jan. 23rd	Period 1 Final Evaluations (9am start)	All Students
Friday Jan. 24th	Period 2 Final Evaluations (9am start)	All Students
Monday Jan. 27th	Period 3/4 Final Evaluations (9am start)	All Students
Tuesday Jan. 28th	Period 5 Final Evaluations (9am start)	All Students
Wednesday Jan. 29th	Make-up Evaluation Day	Students who missed their original evaluation date
Friday Jan. 31st	First Day of Semester 2	All Students

Shout Outs / Good News:

Westdale Theatre Mamma Mia:

Thank you to Mr. Iachelli and the Westdale Theatre Group for the countless hours spent in and out of the classroom to make this year’s production of Mamma Mia another successful one! Thanks to our community for their overwhelming support of the show. We are looking forward to the announcement of the show title for the 2025-26 musical!

Holiday Hamper / Gift Card Drive:

Thank you to our Westdale community for their overwhelming generosity and support of our Holiday Hamper / Gift Card Drive and to Ms. Venizelos for her ongoing advocacy and work in providing access to food for many of our students/families in need. This year, the Westdale community was able to support over 60 families with Holiday Hampers! A couple of weeks before the break, a gentleman from the community, who wishes to remain anonymous, came into the school and donated $4000 worth of $100 grocery gift cards (see photo right). The response of this initiative is testament to the true care and selflessness of our Westdale community!

Students for Students:

Westdale’s “Students for Students” club were very busy during the month of December, giving back to those in need within our greater Hamilton Community. Student leaders Erika K. and Alex D. led the initiative to fill the Locke Street fridge and pantry as well as the Strathcona pantry. Below are before and after photos of the Locke Street fridge and Strathcona pantry, highlighting the impact of the club. Amazing work! Thank you to Ms. Baboudjian for her time and support of the students.

Varsity Waterpolo Champions:

Congratulations to the Varsity Boys Waterpolo team on winning the City Championship this past month. The Warriors won the Championship game by a score of 7-3 over Dundas Valley. Thank you to Ms. Adachi for her time and work with the student-athletes this season. Way to go Warriors!

Powerlifting:

In December, Westdale hosted a Powerlifting competition. This competition brought together students from across the province to showcase their strength in a variety of lifts. As always, the competition was very well organized and provided many students with the opportunity to participate in a professional style event. Thank you to Mr. Walters for his leadership with this event and for the many hours he spends with students after school to train and develop an appreciation for physical fitness, goal setting, and growth.

Other News:

Semester 1 Final Evaluations:

The Ministry of Education document, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), informs assessment and evaluation practices across the province. Growing Success provides that 30% of the final grade of secondary courses is based on a final evaluation administered at or towards the end of a course. Final evaluations are based on evidence from one or a combination of the following: an examination, a performance, culminating activity or task, an interview, essay, and/or another method of evaluation suitable to course content.

As shared in the “Important Calendar Dates” section, Quiet Days begin on January 16th. For the five instructional days before final evaluations and through to the end of the semester, there are no extra-curricular (e.g., athletics) or co-curricular (e.g., clubs) activities during this time so students can focus on their course work, including preparation for, and completion of, final evaluations.

During the Final Evaluation period (Jan. 23,24,27,28), all students will participate in evaluation activities for at least 75 minutes per course, with attendance taken each day. Students are expected to complete a portion of the final evaluation during these days. Educators will determine and communicate in advance, the activities occurring during these final evaluation days. At Westdale, all final evaluations will begin at 9am, unless alternative times are communicated by the classroom teacher to their students. January 29th is reserved as a final evaluation make up day, in the event of inclement weather (e.g., Board wide snow day), or previous individual absences of preceding evaluation days. As well, this day may be used to support student success opportunities (e.g., completion tasks, assessment re-takes, credit rescue) and will be pre-arranged by the classroom teacher and student/family, as appropriate.

As always, we encourage ongoing home-school communication to support student achievement and well-being. Staff contact information (email and telephone extensions) can be found on our school website: hwdsb.on.ca/westdale, in the “About” drop down menu (pictured right).

myBlueprint: Course and Pathway Planning:

HWDSB has moved to a new platform for students to select courses, called myBlueprint. Beginning in early February, students will begin the course selection process and enter their preferred course selections for the 2025-2026 school year into myBlueprint. The myBlueprint program has many functions to support students in mapping out their secondary and post-secondary plans as well as documenting their skills and growth, for future use. Some functions include:

• Who Am I Assessments: Discover your learning and personality style, interests, desired knowledge, and motivations
• Compatibility Surveys: Find your perfect occupation fit based on real-world job tasks
• Explore Your Options: Research and compare thousands of post-secondary options, in your chosen pathway (e.g., workplace, college, university, apprenticeship)
• Record Experiences: Keep an ongoing record of your experiences to build a resume, when you need it
• Map out course options through secondary school to ensure post-secondary requirements are metCreate a Portfolio: Document your learning by uploading documents, files, achievements, certifications, etc.

myBlueprint is available on the landing page on each student’s device (see icon right). We encourage parents/guardians to explore myBlueprint with their student(s) over the next few weeks to engage in short and long-term planning and goal-setting.

School Immunization Reminder:

Beginning on January 7th, initial screening letters will be mailed to students’ homes who do not have updated immunization records listed with Hamilton Public Health. This letter will indicate which vaccines are not up-to-date and how to report vaccinations to Hamilton Public Health. A vaccine clinic has been scheduled for Tuesday February 18th at Westdale. Further details will be communicated once clinic plans are finalized. The suspension date for non-compliant students is set for March 7th. This is in accordance with the Immunization of School Pupils Act (IPSA).