Summer Programs & Safer Schools

Summer Programs

School may be out for the summer for most students and teachers, but no so for staff and students involved in July programs with the Ottawa Catholic School Board.

Some 2,500 students are enrolled in Reach Ahead and Make-Up courses at four high schools across the city - Holy Trinity, Immaculata, St. Patrick's, and St. Pius X.  An interesting pilot occurring this summer is blended earning in some English and Career/Civics courses.  I very much enjoyed visiting all for summer school sites and even had the opportunity to teach a lesson on Hamlet to an enthusiastic grade 12 Reach Ahead class at Holy Trinity!  

There are also 1,300 or so elementary-age students this summer taking international languages classes at five sites: Notre Dame, St. Clare, St. Elizabeth, St. Gabriel, and St. Luke (Nepean).  The most popular language this summer is Chinese Mandarin.  During my visits to the sites in July, I also met students studying other languages such as Korean, Russian, Cantonese, Spanish, and Italian.

With Site Administrator Vitus Soo visiting International Languages
summer classes at Notre Dame High School

Thanks to a generous grant from the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ottawa Catholic School Board's Focus on Youth program is able again this summer to employ 65 or so students between the ages of 16 and 18 as counselors at a variety of summer camps in the Ottawa area.  As well, this grant has made it possible for 20 students to work as custodial assistants in our schools.  I was very pleased to visit the summer camp programs run by the Britannia Woods Community House and the City of Ottawa in conjunction with the Michele Heights Community Centre and speak with the Focus on Youth students working there.  St. Paul student Katarzyna Maciaszek beautifully summarized the benefits of Focus on Youth when she said to me, "It's amazing how much I have learned from working with the children.  It's my way of paying it forward to the children - being a role model for them." 

Michele Heights Focus on Youth counselors

Focus on Youth Staff 2013



Book Review: Step By Step to a Safer School 
(2^nd edition)

Author Michael J. Hill begins Step By Step to a Safer School with a summary of Safe Schools legislation in Ontario – from Bill 81, the Safe Schools Act (2000) to Bill 13, the Accepting Schools Act (2012).

There are some valuable insights in the chapter on suspensions.  For instance, Hill suggests that a teacher submit an office referral form prior to sending a student to the office for misconduct, and that the teacher indicate on the form the progressive discipline interventions, strategies, supports, and consequences that the he/she has previously used to address and improve the student’s conduct.  He also suggests that caution be used on suspension notices such that language that has Criminal Code connotations – ie. assault and weapon – be avoided.  Likewise, a principal should ensure the legal status of a student is clarified before using an in-school suspension or voluntary withdrawal of students from school as a progressive disciplinary measure.

A good point made in the chapter on expulsions is that, when conducting an investigation, a principal should keep a written record of his/her attempts to speak with the student involved in the misconduct as well as the student’s parents – in order to prove that the principal has observed procedural fairness.

Important advice is offered on conducting investigations.  To begin with, Michael Hill recommends that, for legal reasons, the principal should personally investigate any serious student incident that may lead to a long-term suspension or expulsion recommendation.  As well, to ensure fairness and impartiality, he suggests that an administrator who has been directly affected by a student’s misbehaviour not conduct the investigation or determine the consequence.  Hill cautions that a principal provide specific and “compelling” evidence that a student incident that occurred off school property has negatively impacted the school climate before imposing discipline on the offending student. 

Other advice offered for conducting investigations includes the following:

-       Interview victims and witnesses before interviewing students suspected of misconduct;

-       Be factual and non-judgmental in all written and electronic documentation pertaining to students;

-       School officials should take pictures of any seized item or object prior to the police removing them.

In the chapter Search & Seizure, school officials are reminded that they have greater powers of search than police since they need neither a search warrant nor parental approval.  However, they are cautioned against conducting random locker or personal searches and advised to ensure they have reasonable grounds before conducting any search.

Shelter-in-place, hold and secure, and lockdowns are discussed in the chapter on emergency response procedures.  One interesting suggestion the author makes for these responses is to place pre-made signs on exit doors to signify the type of emergency response in place at a school and how parents can obtain additional information.  When it comes specifically to lockdowns, Hill points out that conducting just two lockdown drills per school year (as required by regulation) may be insufficient for students and staff to fully grasp what is required of them.  As well, he emphasizes that lockdown procedures should provide enough flexibility to allow adults to have some autonomy in decision-making.  Hill recommends principals send a trespass advisory letter prior to sending a formal trespass notice.  

In a brief chapter on Youth Gangs, the author introduces some new gang terminology, such as stacking (hand signs used to signal gang activities such as imminent assaults) and netbanging (gang social media sites).

The book also contains several case studies, lengthy appendices of safe schools legislation and policy statements, and a brief glossary of terms.

Unfortunately, Step By Step to a Safer School contains a number of typos and usage errors that detract from its presentation.  Some examples include:

-       Nor is incorrectly used instead of or (and vice versa) in the last two points on page 16;

-       Section 206(1) is incorrectly identified on page 19 as the part of the Education Act that lists the behaviours for which a suspension must be considered;

-       An agreement error appears the bottom of page 41 (they is used to refer to The student;

-       The word disinterest is misused on page 124.

These minor editing errors aside, the second edition of Step By Step to a Safer School is an easy read and a good primer on school safety for educational administrators.