Ontario Prospects 2007

Six Ways to Student Success

Student Success Teams

Each team works with school staff, students, parents, and the wider community to ensure that, together, we help more of you earn the credits necessary to graduate.

Specialist High Skills Major

For those of you who have a career path in mind, this initiative offers an opportunity to customize your learning. You take "bundles" of 6 to 12 courses that help you prepare for specific employment sectors, such as hospitality and tourism, arts and culture, construction, manufacturing, and primary industries.

Lighthouse Projects

Lighthouse pilot projects help you stay in school, accumulate needed credits, and take programs linked to colleges. These programs also encourage youth who have left school to return.

Expanded Co-op Credit

Co-op is a great way to learn skills and gain experience from the workplace, and get a head start with building a résumé. You can now include 2 co-op credits in the 18 compulsory credits you need to graduate.

Dual Credit Program

With the new Dual Credit Program, you can earn a number of credits by participating in apprenticeship training and postsecondary courses that count toward both your high school diploma and your postsecondary diploma, degree, or apprenticeship certification.

Grade 8–9 Transition

If you have difficulty making the move from elementary school to high school, you will get the support you need through increased individual attention and programming tailored to fit your individual situation.

Check out the More Students Success website at www.ontario.ca/morestudentsuccess or contact the Student Success Team at your school.

Delaware Pride

Ridgeview Moravian Elementary School is the first school in Canada to offer a Delaware Native language program. Because of the school's proximity to Delaware First Nation, most of the school's students attend Ridgeview Moravian from Grade 1 to Grade 8. The school staff, community partners, and some key advocates saw the importance of providing culturally appropriate learning opportunities and, amid all their other duties, found a way to secure a teacher for the program.

Lance Balkwill, principal at Ridgeview Moravian, which is in the Lambton Kent District School Board, is very pleased with the "fantastic support from administration, school staff, students, and parents, as [the program has] opened so many doors and opportunities." The students are happy and proud that they are learning their native language. They look forward to the opportunity to learn about their culture, and consequently attendance in the course has increased.

"When I get a chance to learn more, I will give my knowledge to others and teach them the language," one student says. The course is open to all students and a number of non-Native students attend.

The students say that their education at Ridgeview Moravian Elementary School may help them in their future careers, because being multilingual is an important thing that employers look for on a résumé. In the case of these students, it might mean a better chance to get a job in their home community, Delaware First Nation. As another student says, "That is my language and culture and I want to keep my family growing in our culture"