Hello,

I wanted to take this opportunity to once again thank the entire school community for their support over the past 10 days with respect to the flag incident. It is also important to send kind words to those outside our immediate school community for their willingness and openness in coming forward offering assistance in any way they can. This support has allowed things to progress as expected and it is not time to devote our attention to the healing process for everyone involved. We are in the process of communicating with Board staff as well as community organizations in arranging an educational forum for reflection and discussion.

Hot Mikado is gearing up for its performances next week and the excitement is certainly mounting. Thanks go out to our Director, Mr. Perry Van Allen and Producer, Mr. Thomas Sparks for their commitment and dedication to this production. Their efforts have been supported by a cast of many to whom I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for all that has been done.Â

As a means of supporting the production itself I wanted to inform everyone that the flags that were suspended in the cafetorium have been taken down and will remain so for the duration of production week. The flags will again go up the week of December 8th, 2008. Please know that this response is in no way reactionary to the events of the past 10 days, rather it has been done out of sincere respect to the production itself and the copious number of hours devoted toward it by staff and student performers. As always we want to put our ‘best foot forward’ next week and do not want anything taking away from its success. Please visit the school website at www.bellhs.net for more information re: ticket sales.

Assessment & evaluation of students is a key component for students and teachers and is also a topic for which conversation persists in a positive way. School council meets the last Monday of every month and this conversation has taken place this past week. In an attempt to inform, Barry Bickerton, Principal of Curriculum Services at the OCDSB will be joining us at our next meeting on January 26, 2008 for an engaging presentation on this topic. Please feel free to join us for this interactive question. Time will be provided for questions.

attachment: bell-this-week-dec-1.doc

Have an awesome weekend.

Bruce Whitehead – Principal

Hello,

As you are aware a very unfortunate incident occurred within our school community this week involving damage of the Israeli flag, one of many, hanging in the school cafetorium. I wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update as to where we are as a school.

This isolated incident has caught the entire school by surprise, I believe because it simply does not represent the culture of our school and what we have grown accustomed to. Bell HS has and continues to embrace persons from all cultures and backgrounds in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect. Celebrations such as the Iftar dinner, multicultural lunches and shows, Baliwood dancers, Peace Club, and our most recent addtion GloBell, are all as testament to this fact. While this incident has manifested itself perhaps as a challenge to this successful culture and has caused a sense of unease among us, the school community continues to rally around one another, supporting one another in exactly the same fashion as within families. We are a family. To those who have offered their help and suggestions as we navigate through these times I cannot express my personal gratitude enough and what a sense of comfort this has provided all of us as we move forward together.

Any school incident regardless of nature involves an investigation. The damaging of the Israeli flag this week is no different and our investigation is moving forward. With any investigation it is imperative that the rights of all individuals involved be respected and it is no different with this particular situation. The investigation will conclude shortly and at that time decisions with respect to future direction for everyone involved will be made.

On the lighter side, our Landscape & Design teacher Mr. Ardis, with the help of students from our Earthcare club, planted approximately 200 trees last year as one ongoing part of our support and excitement as a school around environmental concerns. These trees representing a variety of species were planted at the beginning of June on our school grounds. The trees were funded through the Evergreen project with funding coming from the City of Ottawa. Yesterday, city Counsellor Chairelli presented Bell HS with a cheque from the City of Ottawa covering the cost of the trees. Â

Hot Mikado, Bell HS’s musical production being directed by Mr. Perry Van Allen and produced by Mr. Tom Sparks, is gearing up for opening night on December 3, 2008 in our school cafetorium. Tickets will be going on sale very soon so please watch the school website for more information. This Gilbert & Sullivan production is a “cannot miss” performance  that I know you will certainly enjoy. Please join us between Dec 3 and 6th. You won’t be disappointed!

Attachment: bell-this-week-nov-24.doc

Have a great weekend and upcoming week.

Sincerely,

Bruce Whitehead – Principal

Hello,

An incident occurred today at Bell HS just prior to the lunch hour that I felt important to communicate with you about.Â

As a means of celebrating diversity and acceptance of the entire school population and in an attempt to carry on the tremendous multicultural richness of our school, flags of the world representative of all students have been prominently displayed in the school cafetorium. Â

Unfortunately, one of these flags was compromised today in a manner that runs contrary to this richness causing an unease and upset among staff and students. At Bell HS, we have a belief system that promises a safe environment for ALL persons. Every student and staff member must understand that the values of diversity, inclusiveness and safety are a part of what makes Bell HS a community, rather than a collection of individuals. Each of us has a responsibility to protect these values. As Principal, I take this responsibility very seriously and I am deeply troubled when these values are compromised by the thoughtless actions of a few individuals as they were today.

As members of the Bell HS community, we believe that students and staff deserve to be treated with respect and kindness, while recongizing others’ right to be treated in the same way. When these rights are taken away from individuals by a select few, we suffer together as a community.

As a school, we will continue to discourage intolerance, encourage acceptance and insure the safety and understanding for everyone.

Sincerely,

Bruce Whitehead – Principal

Hello,

My role as a principal is a blessing in many ways. In addition to being part of Bell HS interacting daily with staff, students, and our school community I am also afforded with opportunities at the Board level. This past week I was in Los Angeles visiting the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Beverly Hills at a workshop called ‘Tools for Tolerance’. What an unbelievable experience this was.

If you are not familiar, Simon Wiesenthal is a holocaust survivor who lost 89 members of his family during this tragic time in our history. For his entire post-holocaust life, Simon has been promoting the concept of tolerance around the world. His museum in LA is a true testament to life both past and present as it eloquently and interactively reminds, informs, and teaches us about significant world events and atrocities and their continued impact on our lives. I have been on a number of educational trips and conferences as a professional but this one was by far the most moving. If you would like to read more about Simon and his organzization you can visit the museum’s website at www.wiesenthal.com.

I would like to remind you of our Award ceremony this Wednesday evening beginning at 7 p.m. in the cafetorium where we will celebrate academic excellence for many of our students from grades 9, 10, and 11 over the course of the 2007-2008 academic year. I would strongly encourage parents of all award winners to join us as we celebrate the academic accomplishments of the students at Bell HS.

Report cards were issued to students Thursday November 13, 2008. If you have not already done so, please be sure to inquire with your children about seeing this memoire, a snapshot of their academic progress to date in their courses. Â

Finally, Monday November 24, 2008 is our next school council meeting. I would encourage you to join us in the staff lounge along with the rest of council as we discuss the happenings at Bell HS beginning at 7 p.m.

 attachment: bell-this-week-nov-17.doc

Sincerley,

Bruce Whitehead

Hello,

The OCDSB has undergone an intensive FSL review over the past 12 months. Below are the results of that review as a reminder to parents:

On 18 December 2007, Board approved the continuation of Early French Immersion (Senior Kindergarten entry) and Middle French Immersion (Grade 4 entry) and the phase-out of Late French Immersion (Grade 7 entry) beginning in September 2008. This decision was based on an intensive review of the literature, a summary of practices in other Ontario school boards, data from central OCDSB departments, and responses from stakeholder surveys conducted in the spring of 2007 with elementary principals, vice-principals, teachers, and randomly selected parents of both elementary and secondary students.

In June 2008, Board subsequently approved the initiation of the secondary phase of the FSL review in order to ensure the provision of high quality FSL programs throughout the school district. As a result, further information is being gathered from central departments and from secondary school principals, vice-principals, teachers and randomly selected secondary school students as it pertains to the FSL programs offered in OCDSB secondary schools. An information report is scheduled to be presented to the 9 December 2008 Education Committee.

Should you wish to provide feedback on the FSL programs in the secondary panel and have not had an opportunity to do so during one of the consultation periods, we encourage you to send your comments to FSLReview@ocdsb.ca. More information about this review, along with electronic copies of the reports that have been produced thus far, is available on the OCDSB web site, www.ocdsb.ca. 2. On Wednesday November 5, 2008 Mr. Melville took 8 students to the University of Ottawa to participate in a “No Limits” conference hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Congratulations go out to Mr. Melville who led a team of 2 OCCSB students and 4 from the OCDSB to victory in the Team Trivia contest. Way to go Bell HS! 3. First term ended today (half way through the semester) and teachers will be busy over the next few days calculating and entering marks for students in time for a November 13th distribution of mid-term report cards. Please remember to ask your children to see their academic standing to date in their classes and discuss their progress.

4. A reminder that Friday November 14, 2008 is the OCDSB’s next scheduled professional development day for staff and there are no classes that day.

5. Community service (CS) hours – As you are aware 40 hours of CS are a mandatory graduation requirement for all students. At this point in the year and as we prepare for convocation in June we begin looking at potential graduates still missing any number of these hours. To date, in excess of 30% of our potential graduates are short anywhere from 1 to 40 hours. In any situation it is really, really important that they complete these hours prior to June 15, 2009 at the very latest. Students unsuccessful in meeting this mandatory graduation requirement will not graduate and will therefore not be permitted to participate in convocation ceremonies.

6. Remembrance Day ceremonies are planned for Tuesday November 11, 2008 with two ceremonies beginning at 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. respectively. Please feel free to join us to commemorate this important day in memory of fallen soldiers past and present.

attachment: bell-this-week-nov-10.doc

Have an awesome weekend!Â

Sincerely,

Bruce Whitehead