Bell HS student “building” Green Bin Program

Bridget Irwin is a grade 9 student at Bell HS. When the green bin program began her parents openly discussed the issue of non-stick bags to line the bins and their cost. They challenged Bridget to come up with a homemade prototype that would serve the families needs. Not only did she come up with something that worked, her prototype has been picked up and shared in the Ottawa Citizen (Jan 16) as well as CTV news. With the publicity has come an increased demand to the point that the entire Irwin family has become adept at Bridget’s bag building in order to meet demand.Her motivation? Other than serving the needs of her family and now community, Bridget is using the experience as a fundraiser to fund her kayak training. She trains up to five times a week with the Rideau Canoe Club and has Olympic aspirations in the long-term.  A racing kayak costs $5000.  

OSSLT test Preparation

Students in grade 10 will be experiencing their first crack at the OSSLT on April 8, 2010. This mandatory graduation requirement is an important piece in the lives of high school students. Recognizing a range of abilities among students, test specific tasks continue to be administered in classrooms across the curriculum in an attempt to provide as much exposure as we can. This past week, Mrs. Wendy Verreault took the lead in identifying and administering a pre-test for 140 Bell HS students; students currently taking ENG2P, ESLDO, ESLEO, previously eligible students who are those who have had at least one opportunity to write and have not yet been successful. These tasks are being assessed as we speak to help us determine the extent of further intervention required. In cases where additional practice and instruction is required, these students will be working diligently with support from teachers in the afternoons of March 10 and 24th. On the 31st of March all students will once again go through a second pre-test as a means of a second exposure. We are hoping that this level of intervention will assist these students as they progress toward earning their OSSD.

Bell This Week

For your planning, please find attached this weeks editions of Bell This Week.

attachment: bell-this-week-mar-8-12.doc 

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

Student Council hosted their second successful dance of the year this past Friday night. A sold out crowd enjoyed this their favourite dance with a semi-formal theme. Special congratulations go out to Fiona Macdonald and Cindy Wei for their organizational efforts in a night enjoyed by students and staff.

Free On-line Mathematics Tutoring 
In a program sponsored by the Ministry of Education, 200 qualified teachers have been hired to provide on-line mathematics help for students currently studying grade 9 and 10 math. To date, 100 000 students have taken advantage of this online opportunity and as with any other program the more students accessing such a program the more likely it will continue to be funded in the future. All students are encouraged to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity! Access to the appropriate website can be accessed from the main page at www.ocdsb.ca.

Course Contracts/Option Sheets Students in grades 9 - 11 as well as those returning grade 12’s should note that the date for submission of course contracts with course choices for next year has passed. Students yet to submit their option sheets must do so as soon as possible to insure most of their course choices for next year. Student requests drive which courses are offered as well as the staffing process. Where listed courses are not requested by enough students these courses cannot run.

Progress Reports for Semester 2
Each semester every student at Bell HS receives a progress report card in each of their classes approximately 6 weeks into the semester. This anecdotal report is designed to give parents a snapshot of their child’s progress in each of their classes. These reports are followed closely by parent-teacher interviews (March 31st) where parents have the opportunity to sit one-on-one with classroom teachers. This semester, progress reports will be mailed home in the first few days of March break (March 15 - 19) and parents can expect to receive these in mailboxes by the end of the week.

To facilitate your planning, please find attached this week’s edition of Bell This Week.

attachment: bell-this-week-mar-1-5-2010.doc

Have a super week.
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

Bell HS Students in “Synch” in Saskatoon Ms. Diana Hall spent last week with five students from Bell HS who completed research investigating the effect of nanoparticles on plant growth. The group of students began working shortly into the new year and worked tirelessly in preparing their plant samples for their work at the light source Synchrotron in Saskatoon this past week. While there, CBC did a piece on the group. The following link (http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/Saskatchewan/ID=1418283808 will allow you to view it as aired on CBC - Saskatoon last week. The students were wonderful ambassadors for Bell HS and Ms. Hall reports an outstanding week learning for everyone involved. Congratulations go out to the entire team as well as Ms. Hall for facilitating this research completely carried out by these five students.

The Cappies As musical productions are performed in high schools throughout the Fall, the Cappies is a program for aspiring students with a flair for writing. Selected students attend musical performances at other high schools and prepare reviews in the same way that many major publications such as the Ottawa Citizen would. In fact, the Ottawa Citizen features some of these student works.  For the second year running, Bell HS has entered a Cappies team. Bell wrote this year for Death of a Salesman performed at Notre Dame High School. Congratulations go out to Bell students Nicholas Harrison and Leo Koppel for having their entries chosen and will be featured in the Ottawa Citizen.

Your Feedback is Important

3. Partners for life pres’n March 8 - see website folder for attachment

4. feedback page

The Cross Boundary Transfer (CBT) window officially opens Tuesday February 16, 2010. If you are the parent of a child in grade 8 wanting them to attend Bell HS next year and you are not living in the Bell HS catchment area, you are required to submit a CBT form to the main office between February 16 and 26, 2010. Please note that there is no priority given to those who hand in their applications earlier. Each application will be considered based upon merit as long as it is submitted between Feb 16 and 26th.

Congratulations to Mr. Jim Risk and Students’ Council for once again hosting Bell’s perennial Leadership camp Feb 5 - 7 2010. A record 225 students many from grades 9 - 11 participated and grew over these three days. Special mention goes out to Nicole Moroz and Emily Hsiung for her painstaking efforts in putting together this amazing showcase of opportunity for out students.It is option sheet season again! While it may seem early we are quickly switching gears and planning for 2010 - 2011. To that end, students in grades 9 - 11 and those grade 12’s already planning to return will be filling out option sheets and filling out course contracts over the next few weeks. To facilitate the process, Guidance counselors will be visiting classes to assist students with their choices and answering questions. At the same time, we recognize that you as parents will have questions as well and are proud to present an opportunity for you to have your questions answered at Bell’s parent information evening on Wednesday February 24, 2010 beginning at 7 p.m. in the school cafetorium. Please mark the date on your calendar just prior to the February 26, 2010 deadline for course contract submission. You are encouraged to attend with your child(ren) to make this a family evening of informed choices.

Thank you to all parents who attended our first ever Semester 2 Meet the Teacher evening last Tuesday February 9, 2010. We were very pleased by the turnout and hope you found it an worthwhile evening.

Final marks for semester one were provided to students Thursday February 11, 2010 at the end of the day. If you have not done so already, please request to see your child’s report card so you are up to date on their progress and performance in first semester courses.

For your planning convenience, please see attached below this weeks edition of Bell this Week.

attachment: bell-this-week-feb-15-19.doc

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

Please find below an interesting meeting opportunity for parents on the topic of Safe Schools.

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

Parent Information Meeting

Safe Schools for Everyone!

What is a safe school?
What happens when unsafe behaviour occurs?
What are the rules around suspension and expulsion?
As a parent, what do you need to know?

Parents and community service staff who work with parents, families and students are invited to come to this meeting for information on recent changes and have these questions answered.Meetings are being held on the following evenings at the following locations:

Thursday February 11, 2010
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Western Ottawa Community Resource Ctr.
2 McNeil Court Kanata

Wednesday March 24, 2010
Sandy Hill Community Center

250 Somerset Street East

To register or to request childcare or other assistance

to attend contact:Hélène at [ mailto:office@spcottawa.on.ca ]
office@spcottawa.on.ca
or 613-236-9300 ext. 300.

Refreshments will be served.

This meeting is sponsored by
The Social Planning Council of Ottawa, in collaboration with Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre

Second semester has begun with a flurry of activity throughout the school. Students are busily adapting to new schedules and Student Services has been busy addressing timetable issues and changes with all students. While very busy, things have rolled out very nicely and most students are comfortably settled into their new surroundings.

Meet the Teacher Semester 2…Want to meet your child’s second semester teachers? For the first time, Bell HS is proud to offer you that opportunity on Tuesday February 9, 2010 beginning at 4:00 p.m. in the cafetorium. Following a few quick introductions classroom visits will begin at 4:15 p.m. and provide you with the opportunity to review course outlines and peruse curriculum materials in classes. Please note that many other activities are also going on for some teachers such as coaching. In such cases, some teachers will not be available but will be leaving a sign-up sheet outside their classroom for you to request a phonecall or email. Please join us on this evening as we begin our journey together toward June.

Community Service Hours Update for Potential Graduates…My most recent potential graduate list contains 232 students. Of these, 94 have yet to complete their mandatory 40 hours of community service. It is critical to note that students unsuccessful in meeting this graduation requirement will not cross the commencement stage nor receive their Ontario Secondary School Diploma in June if nothing changes.

How can you verify how many hours your child has completed? Attached to the end of semester report card coming home this Thursday February 11, 2010 at the end of the day is a credit counseling summary showing all credits earned to date as well as the number of hours currently on file in our database.

A reminder that this Friday February 12, 2010 is a board-wide Professional Development day. There will be no classes that day. In addition, Monday February 15, 2010 is Family Day and once again there are no classes. Classes will resume on Tuesday February 16, 2010.

For your planning purposes, please find attached this weeks edition of Bell This Week.

attachment: bell-this-week-feb-8-12-2010.doc

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

Just a quick note stating that revised Cross Boundary Transfer (CBT) forms are now available through school offices for application to the CBT window beginning February 16, 2010 and ending February 26, 2010.

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

With a very successful exam schedule behind us we look forward to beginning semester 2 classes Monday February 1, 2010. It will be a regular day one with students picking up their timetables from their first period classes. Don’t know how to do that? Well, as you enter the school come to the main office windows and find your name alphabetically on the lists on the wall. Beside your name will be the name of your first period teacher and room who will provide you with your timetable for the rest of the day.

With the culmination of exams, teachers are busy doing final mark calculations and entering them in the computer. Just a quick reminder to parents that report cards will be issued to students on Thursday February 11, 2010 in their period one classes. Please request them of your children as they arrive home. Another reminder that Friday February 12, 2010 is our next PD day (no classes) and Monday February 15, 2010 is Family Day (no classes).

Meet the Teacher - Semester 2
Want to meet your child’s semester 2 teachers? For the first time Bell HS and staff are proud to provide this opportunity on Tuesday February 9, 2010. Classroom visits will begin at 4:15 p.m. and wrap up by 5:15 p.m. (10 minutes per class with 5 minutes of travel time in between) providing you with the opportunity to meet semester 2 teachers, review course outlines, and ask any questions you might have. I strongly encourage you to join us for this session.As we turn the corner into semester two it is important to know that we have begun planning for next year. February is an important month for students in that it is that time of year where students in grades 9 - 11 and those currently in grade 12 and planning to return complete option sheets for submission by February 26, 2010. To assist you as parents through this process Bell HS will be hosting an Option Sheet Information Night on Wednesday February 24, 2010 to walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have concerning pathways for your children. Please mark your calendar and join us.

Important message re: Community Service Hours
Community service hours are a mandatory requirement for graduation. All students must earn 40 hours by the end of grade 12. It is at this point in the year that I begin reviewing the number of hours completed by all grade 12 students, our potential graduates. In September when I had my first look, 50% of this years graduates had not met this requirement. So, please, please, please have a peek at the number of hours your child has completed as stated on the credit summary accompanying your child’s report card coming home with them Thursday February 12, 2010. In cases where hours are still outstanding it is imperative that they are completed in very short order so that this mandatory graduation requirement is met. It is important to note that students unsuccessful in meeting this requirement cannot receive their diploma as they have not graduated due to this fact.

On that note, please note the following CS hour opportunity with the Ottawa 67’s: The Ottawa 67’s are looking to help local high school students earn their community service hours.The Ottawa 67’s have opportunities for students to earn 3-4 community service hours every Friday evening (approximately from 5:00pm- 9:00pm) and Sunday afternoons (from 11:30am- 4:30pm).

Students may have a variety of tasks such as assisting with community fundraising opportunities, game promotions and game set up/tear down as well as interacting with fans in a customer service role.

If any of the students at your school are interested in volunteering with the Ottawa 67’s please contact:
Johanna ElgieSales/Marketing Coordinator
613 232 6767 ext 239
Johanna@ottawa67s.

For your planning, please see attached below this weeks edition of BTW.

attachment: bell-this-week-feb-1-5-2010.doc

Have a super week.
Bruce Whitehead - Principal

January 13, 2010…Bell HS’s annual Open House for parents of Grade 8 students…what a huge success. Thanks to the efforts of many staff and students more than 600 guests participated in this particular evening that allows Bell HS to feature all of its many programs, activities, and clubs in a mall type format. Thank you as well to those who attended. We hope you found the evening welcoming, informative, and productive; that was certainly our goal! It was a pleasure to host you and we look forward to partnering with you next year as your children begin their high school journey’s.

Monday January 25, 2010 is Bell’s next School Council meeting. I would like to encourage your participation from 7 - 9 p.m. in the Staff Lounge where I will be speaking to Bell’s School Improvement Plan, Bill 157, the Food and Beverage legislation that was mentioned in Thursday’s Ottawa Citizen, our upcoming Meet the Teacher evening on February 9, 2010, and finally staffing for semester 2. We are a great group and we always have room for one more and would love to see you there. Please consider joining us.

Exams began this past Friday and went off without a hitch due to the efforts of Mrs. Wendy Verreault who capably put together the exam schedule for students as well as the teacher’s supervision schedule. Semester 2 begins February 1, 2010…where did first semester go again?

For your planning convenience, please find attached below this weeks edition of Bell This Week. Please also see attached Charwell’s menu for the school cafeteria.

attachment: bell-this-week-jan-18-22-2010.doc
attachment: menu-feb-and-march-2010-for-the-schools.doc 

Sincerely,
Bruce Whitehead - Principal