Waterloo Region’s Catholic Schools: Laying a solid foundation for student success
It is no surprise that the length of involvement in schooling significantly impacts participation in criminal activity and the probability of incarceration, as found in Snapshot in Time: Root Causes of Crime in Waterloo Region. In fact, this has been well-known in the education sector for many years – which explains the great lengths to which school boards go in mitigating against this problem.
As part of the Student Success Learning to 18 Strategy — through the Re-engagement (12 & 12+) Initiative – school boards contact students who have either left school or have not been attending to re-engage them in their studies to complete their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Funding is provided to the boards to support programs for these students once they return and in Waterloo Region’s Catholic Schools we dedicate a significant amount of staff time to, first, actually locating the whereabouts of these students and then helping them complete their required volunteer hours and/or registered them at our St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education Centres or their home secondary school to accumulate credits toward the OSSD.
The tracking of all of our in-risk students (Grade 9 to those that have left our system without an OSSD) is reported to the Ministry of Education along with other student success tracking data through “Taking Stock” reports. These reports outline the following:
- how many students our schools are tracking that are in-risk;
- are these students attached to a caring adult;
- was their timetable individualized;
- are they getting advice on pathways planning;
- has a strengths profile been created for the student.
Our own internal tracking for students who have left our system without an OSSD looks at:
- number of students contacted;
- did they register for courses, how many;
- how many credits did they accumulate.
In addition to the above some key initiatives are in place to meet the needs of all of our students on their way to successful completion of the OSSD.
- Specialist High Skills Majors allow students to focus on a future career through a bundle of classroom courses, workplace experiences and sector certifications
- Expansion of Cooperative Education allows students to count this hands-on learning towards two compulsory high school credits
- E-Learning provides students with online courses and allows teachers to share resources across the province
- Dual Credits count toward a student’s high school diploma as well as a college certificate, diploma or apprenticeship certification
- Credit rescue programs intervene prior to a student experiencing failure in a course
- Credit recovery programs allow students who have failed a course to only repeat expectations where they have been unsuccessful rather than redoing the whole course
- Supervised Alternative Learning programs allow students to work full-time, get mental health supports, volunteer hours and accumulate credits
So…when it comes to playing our role in reducing the number of local residents without a high school diploma you can rest assured Waterloo Region’s Catholic Schools are front and centre in closing the gap.
Author: David DeSantis is the Superintendent of Learning for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and responsible for Student Success, Secondary Schools, St. Mary’s FOS, Leadership Development and Succession and 21st Century Teaching and Learning.