Upcoming Events

Come meet other Grade 9 parents and School Council parents to chat about wins, jitters, and parent-to-parent support as you start the new year in a big school!

Dr. Toula Kourgiantakis is offering a free virtual masterclass that will support caregivers in navigating how to speak with their teen about cannabis use.

Dr. Kourgiantakis will help parents and caregivers understand how to have conversations about cannabis with young people, whether they have never used it, are experimenting with it, or are experiencing cannabis-related difficulties. Participants will learn how to support a young person who is using cannabis while maintaining connection, reducing conflict, and seeking additional support when needed.

Dr. Kourgiantakis is a social worker and family therapist with more than 30 years of experience working with children, youth, couples, and families across a range of settings, including child welfare, schools, hospitals, community agencies, and private practice.

Artificial intelligence is changing how we work, communicate and access information. What does that mean for how we teach and learn—today and throughout our lives?

Join experts from U of T’s globally renowned Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) for a timely conversation about how AI and emerging technologies are reshaping education.

They’ll explore how technology is changing the skills people require, how learners’ needs are evolving and what educational institutions can do to prepare students of all ages for an increasingly dynamic—and uncertain—future.

Joining us in person? Guests will also have the opportunity to tour the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

This is an informal space to chat with other parents to compare notes, ask questions, and hear about their experiences going through this process.

Presented by the Gifted Advisory Committee

Join us to hear from Jeff Mitz, a former Northern teacher and head of the gifted program. He will share how the program got started, the original vision for the program and how it has evolved. He will be joined by Northern gifted alumna Joanna Grossman. Understanding our history is key to identifying opportunities to continue to serve gifted students well.

There will also be an opportunity to meet Sherry Smithers, new gifted ACL and to meet other gifted parents.

About Jeff Mitz: Jeff has been an educator and counsellor for over 50 years, most recently as Head of Guidance and University Counselling at Crescent School and as a consultant to Crestwood. Prior to that, he helped develop and lead the Gifted Program at Northern Secondary School. In his private practice, he works with high school students to help prepare them for life after high school by reviewing both academic and personal profiles and then meeting the students to help generate a roadmap for college/university or GAP year life. 

About Joanna Grossman: Find out more about Joanna on her LinkedIn profile.

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.

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.awakenedlearning.ca/blog/a-motivation-problem

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.

Presented by the Gifted Advisory Committee

Join the Association for Bright Children as they share information about twice-exceptional learners. Did you know that more than half of gifted learners will be identified with a second exceptionality in their lifetime? Giftedness can often make it harder to spot qualities of other exceptionalities. Difficulties may only become apparent as the demands on the individual increase beyond their ability to cope. Families are encouraged to learn about the various profiles so that they can access appropriate supports if their loved one struggles, even while giftedness is being accommodated.