Last week, students from Grade 1 and Grade 5 took part in an enchanting VEX Robotics activity that combined technology, teamwork, and a little bit of magic. The event was inspired by the wizarding world of Harry Potter, and our young wizards and witches couldn’t have been more excited to step into the roles of their favourite Hogwarts Houses!

• Sienna Dell'Elce '26, Ava Longo '26 & Mariella Tsiolis '26 – Top 10 Provincial Champions & Qualified for Internationals in Orlando
• Alyssa Gesualdo '25 & Olivia Budweth '25 – Top 10 Provincial Champions & Qualified for Internationals in Orlando
• Aneesa Khan '27 – Top 20 Case Study, Top 20 Overall
• Jessica Nigul '25 – Top 20 Case Study, Top 20 Overall

As well, Lily Chen '25 will be travelling to Internationals in Orlando and attending as a representative of DECA Ontario, quite an honour! We are so proud of everyone’s efforts—on to even greater success! 

It’s 1926 and Radium is thought to be a miracle cure. Teenager Grace Fryer has joined the United States Radium Corporation as a dial painter in Orange, New Jersey. With two brothers fighting overseas, she wants to do her part to support the war effort. 

We are so excited to announce that tickets for the Boots & Bids Dinner & Auction 2025 will go on sale in two short weeks on Wednesday, February 26th. If you have not secured your tickets through sponsorship, we encourage you not to miss out on buying your tickets, as only a limited number are still available and will be sold on a first come basis beginning at 10:00 am. A few Sponsorship tables are available if you are still interested.

In 1926, radium was a miracle cure, Madame Curie an international celebrity, and luminous watches the latest rage—until the girls who painted them began to fall ill with a mysterious disease. Inspired by a true story, Radium Girls traces the efforts of Grace Fryer, a dial painter, as she fights for her day in court. Her chief adversary is her former employer, Arthur Roeder, an idealistic man who cannot bring himself to believe that the same element that shrinks tumours could have anything to do with the terrifying rash of illnesses among his employees. As the case goes on, however, Grace finds herself battling not just with the U.S. Radium Corporation, but with her own family and friends, who fear that her campaign for justice will backfire.

Last week, our two Senior Kindergarten classes had an epic adventure in space. The day began with our astronauts preparing for blast off by ensuring their helmets and jet packs were secure and ready. Then, they headed off to their rocket ship in the gym, where Astronomy in Action was waiting with their portable planetarium. 

Classes ended at 2:30 pm yesterday so that Senior School students could cheer on their friends and classmates at one of three sports games taking place on campus and support the Social Justice Bake Sale.

Cyclone spirit was evident throughout both Middle and Senior School gyms, where our U16 Girls’ Volleyball team defeated SJK in three straight sets, 3-0; our Sr. Girls’ Volleyball team hosted Lakefield College and battled it out for a 3-2 win; and our Sr. Boys’ Basketball team came from behind at the end of the third and proceeded to win a nail-biter against Crescent School, 45-42. The fans were jubilant!

We had excellent results from our students, and two of our teams, Jack Brown '25 and Audrey Jiang '26 & Sophie Yuan '28 and Yolanda Sun '28, qualified to compete in the Provincial Debate Championships on February 21-23 at Upper Canada College.

Congratulations to all the debaters who participated!

The Country Day School is embracing the transformative potential of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to enhance education while maintaining a steadfast commitment to responsible use and technology with balance. As GenAI continues to reshape the educational landscape, CDS is taking proactive steps to ensure its integration benefits for both students and educators in meaningful and ethical ways.

Over the past two weekends, members of the Middle School robotics team had the chance to represent CDS at two different VEX IQ Robotics competitions. These competitions are full-day events that are chaotic, noisy, and lots of fun to take part in. 

At the Junior School Assembly this week, CDS Operations Manager Chef Julie Axford highlighted some new offerings being served in the Niczowski, Temovsky, Arrigo Dining Hall, including a beef burrito bowl, ramen bar, dumplings, and empanadas with beef wild rice and pico de gallo.

She then shared three key points about healthy eating with the students:

Thanks to an incredible gift, we planted 24 sugar maple trees on our back campus last fall to create a maple tree grove! This wonderful endeavour, with a "Sugar Shack" still to come, will be woven into our Outdoor Education program and provide yet another unique opportunity to inspire young learners at CDS!

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The Grand Opening Celebration for King Township's new Zancor Centre is Sunday, January 26th from 9am to 6pm. This free event will feature a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Mayor’s Pancake Breakfast, recreational swimming, skating and more.

Recently, a mailing was sent to all CDS families pertaining to the In-Person Parent-Teacher Interviews taking place on Wednesday, February 12th. As a reminder, should you choose to attend these optional meetings, our students are greatly encouraged to attend with you and be active participants in the conversations.  

I hope that you all had an amazing holiday!  If you’re like me you probably enjoyed a lot of eating and drinking, which is why it was fun to get out last Thursday night and work up a sweat at our first of three CDS Parent Association Pickleball Nights!

Senior School students interested in participating in a three-day hike in the Bruce Peninsula National Park this May, should complete the form emailed to them by January 27th.

In honour of Mental Health Week, today’s Middle/Senior School Advisor morning featured an inspiring presentation by two guest speakers from YouthSpeak, a mental health organization based in York Region. Their session focused on empowering students to recognize the signs of being in “survival brain” – the state of feeling mentally and emotionally overwhelmed – and equipping them with self-care and coping strategies to navigate challenging moments.

The Senior Girls' Hockey team secured their first win of the season with a decisive 7-3 victory over Nichols School on a day trip to Buffalo, NY yesterday.

Last week, King Township’s new Zancor Centre opened just north of CDS and we are thrilled to share that The Country Day School has naming rights to Ice Pad 2 in this new multi-use recreation facility at the northwest corner of Dufferin and 15th Sideroad.

This week, our Grade 9 Communications Technology students had the exciting opportunity to connect with two exceptional Grade 12 students: Aidan Scholten ’25 and Mac Walmsley ’25. Both Aidan and Mac are currently enrolled in the Grade 12 Communications Technology course and have used their experiences gained from our ComTech program to help launch their own personal brands and real-world businesses.

Makeup and drama - what do they have in common? They are both huge parts of theatre; drama is the foundation of theatre while makeup adds another level of detail to any production, whether it’s to amplify an effect or to add to a character.

Congratulations to Tiffany Wu '25 for placing first (out of 23 branches from 527 entries) in the Royal Legion's National Youth Remembrance Contest (Literary category—poetry)! Over the holidays, she was recognized at a ceremony at the Royal Legion's headquarters in Everett, Ont., and will be recognized once again on Feb. 4th at her local Barrie Legion.

In November, students in Grades 5 and 6 participated in the Beaver Computing Challenge hosted by the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing through the University of Waterloo. More than 12,000 contestants from across the globe participated in this year’s challenge.