I know many of you would agree with me that this year is just passing at lightning speed! By the time you receive the mid-term report card and this newsletter, there’ll be just over a month before we’re at Christmas/Winter Break. That said, there’s still an abundant amount of teaching and learning before we head into exams in January. Of note is a congratulations to Ms. Nizam for receiving an honourable mention in the Toronto Star Teacher Award for her creative and engaging teaching of Grade 12 Calculus.

The semester one mid-term report card is included with this newsletter. The marks, learning skills and comments will give you a broad perspective of your son’s or daughter’s progress to date. As consistent communication and collaboration between parents and school staff are instrumental in your child’s success, we encourage you to continue to speak with our teachers if you have any questions or concerns. For parents/guardians who were able to come out to our Parents Night, and visit the Post-Secondary Information Fair on October 30

th, thank you and we hope you

found it useful. As you may be aware, one of the Board’s goals over the last several years has been to support literacy development, and most recently this year, numeracy development within a growth mindset. A free program available to Grade 9 and 10 students who would benefit from extra support in Math and English is Counting on You. Classes are held after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and are taught by Chinguacousy staff members. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Burgess in the Global Studies department for further information, as space is still available.

I am delighted to share that we have enjoyed a smooth and successful start to the school year. Our Link Crew did a fabulous job running orientation activities for our Grade 9s on the very first day of school with staff preparing a BBQ lunch for all. The energy was positive, and the smiles contagious.

As an extension to our curricular program, students have been engaged in field trips to Cedar Glen, the ROM, York U., the Ontario Education Leadership Centre, Niagara Falls and the Distillery District. Of course, school spirit has been just as electric whether they be for Terry Fox or Halloween, the Dance Crew and SAC has certainly stepped up their game.

Chinguacousy Secondary School

1370 Williams Parkway, Brampton, Ontario L6S1V3 Tel: (905) 791-2400 Fax: (905)791-1290

www.chinguacousyss.com Follow us on Twitter @ chinguacousyss

November 2014

New this year are the Science and Math Societies that will offer challenges, contests and lunch tutorials to our stu-dents.

Our Fall sports was off to a running start with teams in Boys Volleyball, Girls Flag Football and Cross Country. There’s also been continued success in our intramural sports at lunch and leadership development such as refer-ee certification. And just around the corner, the Winter season is about to begin. For a complete list of clubs and sports activities please go to our school website and check the extra-curriculars tab.

As of this past September, we now have two Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) Programs – Health and Well-ness, and Manufacturing with a focus on Robotics Engineering. Grade 11 students choosing these path-ways will continue with specialized courses in Grade 12 including co-operative education. Upon graduation, stu-dents will receive a Ministry seal recognized by both in-dustry and post-secondary institutions. With “state of the art” facilities at Chinguacousy, the programs will immerse students in acquiring sector specific skills. Finally, I invite all parents and guardians to come out to our School Council meetings. They are a great way to learn about and become involved in life at Ching. The next meeting facilitated by School Council Co-Chairs Su-zette Rasmussen and Rachael Chadwick will be held on Tuesday, November 25

th at 7 p.m. in our library with a fo-

cus on EngageMath. We look forward to working with you

and hope to see you there!

Mrs. Mork-Gerra

During the winter months, inclement weather may cause the

disruption of bus transportation and regular school operations.

This decision is usually made by 6 a.m. You can visit

www.peelschools.org or tune in to any major radio or televi-

sion stations for information.

You will receive one of the following messages:

Buses are cancelled. This message means that schools re-

main open for students – but transportation services provided

by the Peel District School Board are cancelled for the area(s)

affected. Some fully bussed schools are closed to students

when buses are not running. Individual communities involved

are aware of these schools.

The schools are closed. This message means that, due to

bad weather conditions, schools are closed to students.

All schools and Peel board facilities are closed. This mes-

sage means that, due to the severity of the weather conditions,

schools and board offices are closed to students and staff.

CHINGUACOUSY SECONDARY SCHOOL

2014-2015 CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Updated November, 2014

November

5 Take our Kids to Work Day Grade 9’s

5 Semester 1 Term 1 Ends

6 Semester 1 Term 2 Begins

11 Remembrance Day

12 Early Release Day - dismissal @10:49 am 26 Co-op Job Fair

13 Mid Term Report Card Distribution

17-21 Grad Photos

20 Last Day to Drop Course without Penalty

21 COMMENCEMENT 7:00 pm

25 School Council Meeting 7:00 pm

December

3 Early Release - Dismissal @ 10:49 am

11 Arts Night

22-2 Winter Break - No School

January

5 First Day Back to School

14 University On-Line Applications Deadline

14 Last Day of Co-op Placements

15 & 16 EQAO Grade 9 Math Testing

22-28 EXAMS

29 Turnaround Day Sem. 1 Ends

30 Semester 2 Begins

January

30 Semester 2 Begins

February

1 College On-Line Application deadline for

equal consideration

4 Early Release-dismissal @ 10:49 am

5 Semester 1 Final Report Cards Distributed

2:20 pm

16 Family Day - No School

19 Co-op Placement Day

24 School Council Meeting 7:00 pm

25 Honour Roll Celebration

March

12 Progress Reports Distributed 2:20 pm

16-20 March Break - No School

26 EQAO-Literacy Test

26 Parents Night 5:30-8:00 pm

April

3 Good Friday - No School

6 Easter Monday - No School

10 Semester 2 Term 1 Ends

13 Semester 2 Term 2 Begins

14 Co-op Job Fair

15 Early Release Day - Dismissal @10:49 am

17 Midterm Reports Distributed

24 Last Day to Drop Courses without Penalty

28 School Council Meeting - 7:00 pm

May

11 P.L. Day - No School

18 Victoria Day - No School

22 Grad Breakfast 8:00 am

26 School Council Meeting - 7:00 pm

29 PROM

June

4 Athletic Banquet

10&11 EQAO Grade 9 Math Testing

9 Last Day of Co-op Placement

17-23 EXAMS

26 Final Reports Distributed/Exam Review/

School Year Ends

SEMESTER 1 SEMESTER 2

CROSS COUNTRY

Congratulations to all members of this year's

cross country team who finished their regular

season on Oct. 23rd at ROPSSAA. Highlights of

the season include the senior boys 6th place

team finish at ROPSSAA. Midget Boys 15th

place finish at ROPSSAA and personal best

times by several athletes at the Regional Cham-

pionship.

Coaches: J. Boyd, C. Lebar and D. Fournier

School Teams and Coaches

Fall Teams

Cross Country D. Fournier, C. Lebar, & J. Boyd

Flag Football - Girls C. Hageman & N. Rustik

Flag Football - Intramural T. Avramidis, J. Helm & H. Habib

Volleyball - Sr. Boys R. Patel, & M. Patel

Winter Teams

Boys Basketball H. Habib,

Badminton R. Patel, & J. Cooper

2014-15 Yearbooks Purchases

Chinguacousy is happy to announce that year-

book purchases can be made online only. The cost

is $40. Simply input this link directly into your

browser to get to the online store.

https://ybStore.friesens.com/stores/306555.

The yearbook club will be hard at work this year

capturing all the great events and people that

make Chinguacousy the best place to be!

CHING ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Hey Ching! Look for all the exciting activities

and spirit wear that your ChingAthletic Associa-

tion is putting together. For the month of Novem-

ber you can access order forms online and show

your Ching Spirit by purchasing some new Chiefs

Clothing. Also, don’t forget to get involved in

our intramural program. Co-ed Volleyball is

about to start and Basketball is coming up in

December.

“Scientists in the kitchen club”

is for students who have a passion for cooking

and want to explore fun experiments while work-

ing in our Chinguacousy kitchens. This club run

by Ms.Barnes, meets twice a month on Thursdays

at lunch. Students are invited to come out to dis-

cover how cooking is chemistry!

SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The Senior boys volleyball team did extremely

well during their season finishing in 4th place. We

were a team of mainly new players from grade 9-

12. By the end of the season they all had improved

and were left with wanting more! All coaches are very

proud of our players: Muhammad Daud, Parbir Deol,

Harshal Patel, Raj Desai, Saad Ali, Rushi Gandhi,

Seeam Islam, Manraj Khurana, Jayant Nutulapati,

Harrisan Sivabalan, Rohit Pal, Lavy Raghav, Joel Sa-

Welcome to the 2014-2015 Season. This years’ VEX

Chingbots are busy designing, building and getting

ready for our upcoming competitions. We are inviting

all Chiefs to attend competition events to cheer on our

hard working Chingbots. VEX advanced teams will be

completing at the following events:

Nov. 29th: Woburn Collegiate (Toronto)

Dec. 6th: Castlebrooke Secondary (Brampton)

Dec. 13th: Sir William Mulock Secondary

(New Market)

Feb. 7th: St. Michaels College (Toronto)

Feb. 21st: Rick Hansen Secondary (Mississauga)

CHING BREAKFAST PROGRAM – CHING CARES

Thanks to our generous donors and student/staff volunteers, our school is able to provide a free and healthy breakfast to students every

morning between 7:30 & 7:55 AM in the Cafeteria. The Ching Breakfast Program is sponsored by our community partners: The Boys and Girls Club of Bramp-ton, The Show Kids You Care Foundation; and The Spirit Tree Cider www.spirttreecider.com If you would like to donate to this important community program, please contact Mr. Legarda at extension 421.

STUDENT WELLBEING

According to Children's Mental Health Ontario, 1 in 5 On-

tario children and youth are experiencing challenges with

mental wellbeing. Chinguacousy is committed to support-

ing the mental wellbeing of all students through increasing

student, staff and parent awareness, as well as, challenging

the stigmas that are associated with poor mental health.

For more information on youth mental health and supports

available within the Peel Region, visit www.inurhead.ca

Chinguacousy Secondary School Art Department presents…

ARTS NIGHT

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Chinguacousy Auditorium @ 7pm

Admission: We will be collecting contributions of mittens and canned goods for individuals and families in need within our community. We will be showcasing the work of students in Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music & Visual Arts.

The Dance Program at Ching has gotten off to a

great start! Our studio has given students various

opportunities to dance and rehearse in class, dur-

ing lunch, and with guest artists! Lunches in the

dance studio are filled with Hip Hop team rehearsals on Mon-

days, Bollywood dance on Tuesdays and Drop In Zumba classes

on Fridays. There are dance classes running for all grades. If you

have a passion for dance and love to move, then these are the

classes to sign up for: ATC 10, ATC 20, ATC 3M, and ATC

4M.

We just performed a successful Flashmob during Hallowe'en.

Upcoming events include: a Dance competition at North Park

SS, a step dance workshop with guest artist Troy Sexton of

Rhythm Works, Arts Night on Dec 11th, and something special

before the holidays. Keep an eye out for opportunities to dance

during lunch in Semester 2.

GO CHING DANCE GO!

Have you visited the library Learning Commons?

We can assist with:

Locating paper and eResources for assignments

Accessing databases and non-fiction eBooks

APA or MLA bibliography

Thesis statements

Technical troubleshooting

Coming Soon:

The LLC page on Office 365 for links to the library cat-

alogue, databases and eBooks. Passwords will be post-

ed.

The Library Learning Commons is a space for individu-

al and collaborative learning where you can access com-

puters, and new selections of eFiction, graphic novels,

magazines and nonfiction books. Pick up a bookmark

with the links and passwords for our eResources.