What do OCDSB Secondary Schools have to offer? Pathways, Supports, and Opportunities

What do OCDSB
Secondary Schools have to
         offer?
 Pathways, Supports, and
      Opportunities
      colin.anderson@ocdsb.ca

High School Considerations
• Many parents and students focus
  primarily on location, but what else
  should we consider?
• What are some reasons that could
  make staying in the public system for
  high school better for your children
  and why?

OCDSB advantages
• More elective opportunities
• DELF
• No compulsory fees
• International Certificate Program
• Special Education and Student Success
  models
• Emphasis on transition support

50% more electives:
• To graduate with OSSD students need
  18 compulsory credits + 12 electives
• In Catholic system, Religion Class = 4
  credits, reducing the true number of
  elective choices from 12 to 8
• This means more opportunities for
  breadth of study in OCDSB

D.E.L.F.
• The D.E.L.F. is the Diplôme d’étude en
  langue française
• Globally recognized program to assess
  French language, only offered in OCDSB
• Significant advantage for students looking
  for part-time, summer, or permanent work
  that requires French language proficiency

No compulsory fees
• OCDSB has made commitment to follow the
  Ministry of Education directive on ensuring
  there is no cost to access the curriculum.
• No course fees, no lab fees, no shop fees, no
  cost Outdoor Education, and so on.
• Some costs for voluntary activities such as
  field trips and extra-curricular programs
  (athletics, clubs, AP, etc)

International Certificate Program

• The International Certificate Program (I.C.P.) creates
  more globally awareness student citizens and links
  students with potential travel opportunities
• I.C.P. is another opportunity for students to demonstrate
  self-selected enrichment to post-secondary and
  employers
• Participants earn the certificate by: Studying an
  international language; taking internationally-focused
  classes; understanding global issues; participating in an
  internationally focused project of their choice, and more.
• Again, this is only available in OCDSB

Special Education Model
• Special Education programs are in place in all
  school boards, but each board does things
  slightly differently
• OCDSB offers special education support within
  every community school along with the
  opportunity to access even greater levels of
  support and specialized programming in our two
  adaptive sites (Sir Guy Carleton and Ottawa
  Technical Secondary School)

Student Success Model
• The Student Success program is an initiative
  from the Ministry of Education that is in place in
  all school boards
• Credit Recovery/Rescue
• OCDSB offers extensive ongoing credit
  intervention or rescue during a course, along
  with credit recovery after an unsuccessful course
• Also support for ILCs (independent learning
  courses) and on-line courses for all students

Transition Supports
• Focused on creating positive transitions for our
  students moving from grade 8 to grade 9
• LINK crew program, which matches trained
  senior student leaders with the incoming grade 9
  students
• Grade 8 preparation/visits includes tours for
  students, open house for parents, secondary
  guidance teachers to feeder school for option
  selection support, and more….

SCHS Advantages
•   Facilities
•   Transportation
•   Focus on well-being and nutrition
•   SHSM programs
•   Wide selection of elective programs
•   Cooperative education, Dual-Credit
    programs, and other links to post-
    secondary

Facilities

• New buildings look nice on the outside, but
  aren’t always an advantage…
• Traditional buildings (older like us!) have
  spaces such as auto shop, theatres, wood
  shop, art rooms, etc. that are typically built
  on a much bigger scale in the older
  buildings than in new facilities

Transportation
• While some parents and students may
  look at the need to take a yellow school
  bus as a negative, the fact is that school
  buses are the safest mode of
  transportation for getting children back and
  forth to school (source: NHSTA).

Well-being and nutrition
• SCHS has made a significant investment
  in new fitness facilities and a new foods
  laboratory (aka kitchen!)
• Our very popular Foods and Nutrition
  program provides an opportunity to learn
  valuable and practical facts and skills
• Our new “cross-fit” style facility and full
  spinning studio supports student interest in
  personal fitness

SHSM programs
• SHSM programs (manufacturing, house
  building, digital information technology,
  health and wellness) offer Red Seal
  diploma and additional certifications for
  students recognized within industry
• We are also planning on introducing a fifth
  SHSM program in Transportation
  technology (Auto) next year.

SCHS elective programs
• We have a very strong Music program,
  with for-credit band as well as guitar and
  instrumental music courses at all levels
• Our very popular and successful Dance
  program is the largest in the West end
• Our other arts programs include Drama,
  Performance Drama, Visual Arts, and
  Painting and Drawing courses

SCHS elective programs
• In addition to Auto, Wood, and
  Communication Technology courses, we
  also offer Manufacturing Technology and
  Computer Engineering courses.
• Outdoor Education and Personal Fitness
  courses complement the traditional
  Physical Education opportunities
• We also run a SPARK program that pairs
  fitness with English

Coop Education
• Our extensive Cooperative Education
  program connects our students with one of
  our many very supportive community
  partners to provide half or full day
  opportunities to learn on the job
• Dual-credit programs offer some of our
  students the opportunity to obtain college
  credits while in high school