News and Announcements

The Ontario government has announced that parents of secondary school students will be able to apply for a one-time $200 payment per child to help offset education costs during the second wave of the pandemic. Premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that parents of secondary students can apply for the payment between Jan. 11 to Feb. 8. Secondary school parents who want to apply for the payment will be able to on the government’s Support for Learner’s website starting in January. The payment will be available to parents of students aged 13 through until Grade 12.The government said the money will be deposited directly into parents’ bank accounts approximately two weeks after their application is approved. Click on the following link for more information:

Secondary School Student Grant:

Your safety is our number one concern!  Toronto Public Health has released a set of guidelines to help keep our community safe during this holiday season.  Please click on the following link to learn more:

Holiday Guidance Parent Letter December 11, 2020

Registration for the Waterloo Computing Competition is now open. Students interested in registering are asked to e-mail Mr. Guglielmi at philip.guglielmi@tdsb.on.ca by January 6, 2021. This year’s competition will take place virtually on February 17, 2021.  We wish all our participants the best of luck!

All TDSB Virtual School and 2020 Graduates will have another opportunity to pickup your diplomas, certificates and yearbooks on Wednesday December 2 and Thursday December 3 between 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm. Please remember if students are sending a designate to retrieve items, written consent to release the items and health self-assessment to enter the school are required. Additional details will follow early next week.

Required on-line Heath Assessment:
WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE C.I. – COVID-19 SELF ASSESSMENT FOR SCHOOL ACCESS for 2020 Graduates and/or Virtual Students

Mackenzie hosted its annual Holocaust speakers event on November 16th.  We were very fortunate to have Sol Nayman join us as the speaker for this year’s event.  The event was virtual, which allowed us to share the experience with Earl Haig, North Toronto and Northern. Mr. Nayman discussed his remarkable life and eloquently reminded us of the important role history plays in the understanding of modern-day issues. A special thanks to SAC, Rotem Olsha, Leah Schlam and Jaime Eckler for co-ordinating and moderating the event, Also, a special thanks to our teachers Carla Mancini and Blair Dash for leading the initiative. Finally, thanks to Rabbi Shlomo Mandel for assisting with the coordination and introductions.

If you’re interested in seeing a recorded version of this event (minus the first 10 minutes) please log onto your Google account and click on the following link:

Holocaust Speaker Event Video:

Good Morning Mackenzie Families,

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our phone lines.
We have contacted Bell and our technical support team to assist in rectifying the problem.

If you need to reach the school for any emergency, please email us at williamlyonmackenzie@tdsb.on.ca. We will be monitoring this email throughout the morning until the problem is fixed.

Thank you for your patience.
Mr. K. Johnson

Yearbook-Diploma Distribution for 2020 Graduates and Virtual School Students Thursday, November 19

All graduate students and/or parents must complete the COVID-19 self-assessment form, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE C.I. – COVID-19 SELF ASSESSMENT FOR SCHOOL ACCESS within 12 hours of arriving to the school. (Form is currently locked)
• If a sibling of the graduate student will be picking up the yearbook and diploma items, they must complete the self-assessment as per usual when entering the school.
• If the 2020 graduates are personally coming, they should bring photo identification, preferably their 2019-2020 student card. If a sibling or designate will be collecting the items, the graduate student must give written consent for whomever is collecting the items.
• If students still owe textbooks from last year, the textbook must be brought to the school. Alternatively, if the graduate student has lost a book, please bring payment for the student’s yearbook to be released.

Anyone entering the building must wear a mask. Students are to enter through the main front door and exit out the cafeteria door. Call the main office for payment inquiries and scheduling conflicts prior to November 19th.

Please follow the schedule for pick up below:

Grade 12 Graduates and other Students who left Mackenzie but bought yearbooks or who should receive an Honour Roll Certificate

Time: Thursday, November 19 from 8:30 – 11:30 AM as follows:
A – I – 8:30 – 9:30 AM
J – R – 9:30 – 10:30 AM
S – Z – 10:30 – 11:30 AM

Current Virtual Students who bought yearbooks or who should receive an Honour Roll Certificate
Time: Thursday, November 19 from 12:00 – 3:00 PM

Grade 10 – 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Grade 11 – 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Grade 12 – 2:00 – 3:00 PM

Thank you for your patience and look forward to seeing our truly special class of 2020!

Mr. K. Johnson

For all those celebrating, we want to wish our community Happy Diwali!

A special thanks to Student Council, Mackenzie’s Jewish Club, Ms. Mancini and Ms. Dash for helping us commemorate Holocaust Education Week! SAC and Jewish Club developed a website and created a video to raise awareness on issues of anti-Semitism, genocide and racism.  Over the last week, these resources have been shared with students and now we want to make them available to you.  Please visit https://linktr.ee/macholocausteducationweek to learn more.  To close off Holocaust Education Week, Mackenzie will be hosting a virtual Holocaust Speaker Event for students and community. Once a link becomes available, we’ll share the link with our students. Mackenzie also shared a variety of resources developed by the TDSB Jewish Heritage Month Committee. These resources can be viewed at: https://sites.google.com/tdsb.on.ca/tdsb-holocaust-and-genocide/home.

We’re currently developing similar resources to commemorate Hindu Heritage Month and Indigenous Education Month. Once completed, these resources will also be shared with the community. Please contact Stephen Morris at stephen.morris@tdsb.on.ca if you’re interested in sharing any ideas or would like to make a contribution.