SUCCESS

PROFILE

Graduate credits Specialist High Skills Major program for university path, passion for medicine

What do the words "outgoing," "mature" and "leader" have in common? They can all be used to describe University of Toronto at Mississauga's (UTM) Rucha Rabadia. The 20-year-old student is a graduate from Mississauga Secondary School's Health and Wellness Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program and is determined to become a physician.

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Peel board graduation rate shows staff commitment, strength of programs

The Peel District School Board’s five-year graduation rate for the 2013-14 school year is 90 per cent, up one per cent from 2012-13.

Strategic plan turns goals into action

Everything we do as a system is driven by our strategic plan—our Report Card for Student Success. This proven, research-based method helps us turn our goals into action and focuses our resources where they will have the greatest impact to improve student achievement.

Peel District School Board EQAO scores increase up to 39% over five years

EQAO test scores for grades 3 and 6 students at the Peel District School Board have risen as much as 16 per cent over last year in some areas. Five-year trends show significant increases of up to 39 per cent.

Full EQAO results

84% of first-time test-takers in Peel board pass literacy test, grade 9 math EQAO scores remain stable at academic level

Of grade 10 students in the Peel District School Board who took the provincial literacy test for the first time, 84 per cent passed, compared to 83 per cent provincially. Fifty-four per cent of previously eligible students who rewrote the test were successful. EQAO math scores (levels 3, 4) for grade 9 students remain stable, with two per cent decrease for applied math and no change in academic math.

Full EQAO results

Making My Way - Pathway

Peel District School Board pathway programs provide a range of diverse and engaging learning opportunities, courses and programs, both inside and outside the classroom. These programs meet the interests, strengths, needs and aspirations of students, and honour all post-secondary opportunities--apprenticeship, college, community living, university and the workplace.

View the Pathways brochure.

New regional programs and SHSM programs open in Sept. 2014

New regional programs in Sept. 2014

Actively in Motion (AIM) - Royal Orchard Middle School
Arts and Technology - Morningstar Middle School
International Baccalaureate - Harold M. Brathwaite Secondary School

New regional programs in Sept. 2015

International Baccalaureate - Bristol Road Middle School
SciTech - Macville Public School
Advanced Placement - John Fraser Secondary School

SHSM Programs - Sept. 2014

Sports - Castlebrooke Secondary School
Sports - Lorne Park Secondary School
Sports - David Suzuki Secondary School
Manufacturing - Chinguacousy Secondary School
Non-profit - Stephen Lewis Secondary School
Business - Meadowvale Secondary School

Seal of approval: Specialist High Skills Major success on the rise at Peel board

At the Peel District School Board, the growth of Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) programs has significantly increased since its inception in 2007. During the 2013-14 school year, 1,162 students were enrolled in an Peel board SHSM program compared to 954 students in 2012-13, an 18 per cent increase. Across the province, the SHSM enrolment rate increased 4.8 per cent from 2012-13 to 2013-14.

Successful completion of an SHSM program is rewarded with a red seal on a graduate’s high school diploma. In 2013-14, the Peel board red seal diploma completion rate was 62 per cent compared to a provincial average of 44 per cent.

Students can discover their careers through SHSM programs. In the SHSM programs, grade 11 and 12 students focus their learning on a career area of interest. These sector-specific programs, unique to each high school, enable students to earn sector-recognized certifications towards the SHSM seal diploma while taking specific courses with curriculum links to the sector. The program also assists in their transition after graduation to apprenticeship training, college, university and the workplace. Currently, Peel board schools offer 42 SHSM programs in the following areas:

Arts and Culture
Business
Construction
Environment
Health and Wellness
Hospitality and Tourism
Information and Communications Technology
Justice, Community Safety and Emergency Services
Manufacturing
Non-Profit
Sports
Transportation

Visit www.makingmyway.ca/SHSM to learn more about the 42 SHSM programs in 12 different sectors at 27 secondary schools.

There are benefits of an SHSM

Pursuing an SHSM enables students to:

customize their secondary school education to suit their interests and needs
develop specialized knowledge and skills
earn credits that postsecondary educational institutions and the sector recognize
gain sector-recognized certification and career-relevant training
develop essential skills and work habits documented through the Ontario Skills Passport
identify, explore and refine career goals and make informed decisions about their future
remain flexible, with the option to shift between pathways, should their goals and plans change

How is an SHSM recognized?

Students who successfully complete an SHSM receive:

an Ontario Secondary School Diploma with an embossed red seal
an SHSM Record Card documenting his/her achievement
formal recognition on his/her Ontario Student Transcript

The Peel board SHSM programs help students to graduate with a diploma and a resume, which supports their pathway to success.

Office 365 provides staff, students with tools to support 21st Century teaching and learning

In 2013-14, the Peel District School Board launched Office 365, productivity and collaboration tools, to support 21st Century teaching and learning. Each Peel teacher and student has access to a broad range of technology tools that can be leveraged to communicate and collaborate with other educators and students throughout the district. These tools are all available anywhere, anytime, from any Internet-connected device.

Each Peel student and teacher was provided with a unique @pdsb.org email address that they can use to communicate and collaborate with others. Peel teachers can also use these student email accounts to sign classes up for other 21st Century learning tools. Office 365 also includes Microsoft Lync, a powerful instant messaging and video conferencing platform. This allows students and teachers to continue to collaborate outside the four walls of the classroom.

Using Office 365, as directed by teachers, students can take part in private social networking via the board's internal Newsfeed. Students can post comments, follow fellow students, and like and reply to posts. These tools are similar in functionality to Twitter and Facebook, but are contained within the Peel board network. Students are provided with unlimited cloud storage in their personal OneDrive, which also incorporates Office Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) at no cost to students when they log in using any Internet-connected device.

Using Office 365 tools, teachers can create and share class sites with students. Class sites include an announcements area, newsfeed, wiki, blog, shared documents area, private documents area, links sections and a hand-in folder. They can easily control who can access the site by inviting students to participate using pre-created class-based distribution lists, and parents can access a subset of class information using the parent portal.

For more information, watch our video.