Join a group of parents of students with special education needs at Northern. This is an opportunity to share resources and support one another.
Please let us know that you are coming by emailing nss.school.council@gmail.com with “Thursday Coffee” in the subject line.
Together We Thrive: Parents, Schools, Communities
All TDSB Parents are Invited!
Registration for all attendees officially closes on Saturday, October 31 2026.
This conference is specifically designed for School Leadership Teams (Principals, Chairs, Secretaries, and Treasurers).
Cost: Completely FREE Admission and includes Refreshments.
Support: Free Childcare (ages 4-12) and Free Transportation hubs (Scarborough Town Centre, Fairview Mall, and Yorkdale).
Join us for a relaxing one-hour walk with fresh air and good conversation in a beautiful setting. Dogs welcome. Meet at the Funeral Centre parking lot at Mt Pleasant Cemetery. Please let us know that you are coming by emailing nss.school.council@gmail.com with “Walking buddies” in the subject line.
School Council meetings are a time to hear updates on school matters, Ask Adam (Q and A with the principal), and share concerns or ideas for improving our school. All parents and caregivers are welcome.
School Council meets in the Northern Secondary Heritage Room (Room 114). Our meetings are hybrid – you can attend in person or online. If you would like to attend virtually, please email us at nss.school.council@gmail.com with the subject line “School Council Meeting Link.” The link will be sent by 5 pm the day of the meeting.
Join us for a relaxing one-hour walk with fresh air and good conversation in a beautiful setting. Dogs welcome. Meet at the Funeral Centre parking lot at Mt Pleasant Cemetery. Please let us know that you are coming by emailing nss.school.council@gmail.com with “Walking buddies” in the subject line.
Presented jointly by the Gifted Advisory Committee and the Academic Resource Committee
Join us to hear from Dr. Deena, a Northern Alum and graduate of the gifted program. She runs Awakened Learning which serves students and parents
See a recent blog post here: https://www.
Dr. Deena Kara Shaffer sat in these classrooms as an alum of Northern Secondary’s gifted program, long before she became a learning strategist, and she returns with a question she hears constantly from students: what do you do when you just don’t feel like it? Her answer runs against how most of us were raised to think. Motivation tends to arrive after the work has begun, as something the work itself produces, and that changes how we might read a learner who is bored, stalled, or checked out. Drawing on learning science and years of working alongside learners, Deena will look at time, priorities, and effort from this angle, and at what boredom may be pointing to in the work, the pace, or a missing sense of why any of it matters.
Deena Kara Shaffer, PhD, is the founder of Awakened Learning, dedicated to transforming education through holistic learning strategies. As a best-selling author of Feel Good Learning and Raising Well Learners, TEDx speaker, and award-winning adjunct faculty at Toronto Metropolitan University, she shares her expertise through global keynotes, international trainings, and regular media appearances (CBC, CTV, Global, Breakfast Television). Deena co-created the international “Thriving in Action” intervention, named a higher education Best Practice, and served twice as President of the Learning Specialists of Canada. Recently, she launched Groundwork, Canada’s first learning strategist training, the anti-procrastination app paced, and podcast, “How I Learned That,” continuing her mission to ease academic overwhelm and create truly feel-good, all welcome learning experiences.
School Council meetings are a time to hear updates on school matters, Ask Adam (Q and A with the principal), and share concerns or ideas for improving our school. All parents and caregivers are welcome.
School Council meets in the Northern Secondary Heritage Room (Room 114). Our meetings are hybrid – you can attend in person or online. If you would like to attend virtually, please email us at nss.school.council@gmail.com with the subject line “School Council Meeting Link.” The link will be sent by 5 pm the day of the meeting.
School Council meetings are a time to hear updates on school matters, Ask Adam (Q and A with the principal), and share concerns or ideas for improving our school. All parents and caregivers are welcome.
School Council meets in the Northern Secondary Heritage Room (Room 114). Our meetings are hybrid – you can attend in person or online. If you would like to attend virtually, please email us at nss.school.council@gmail.com with the subject line “School Council Meeting Link.” The link will be sent by 5 pm the day of the meeting.