Ottawa Carleton School Board

Ottawa Carleton School Board

Ottawa Carleton School Board is a school board situated in the province of Ontario. The board encompasses twenty five secondary and 113 elementary schools where the Director of Education is Camille Williams-Taylor. Seeking success and wellbeing for her students, she fosters a safe and compassionate atmosphere in all the schools of Ottawa Carleton School Board. 

Programs

In the Ottawa Carleton School Board various programs for school students, toddlers and infants, and also for adults on the continuing education programs are available. 

The school board provides an extended day program which starts at 7 in the morning and lasts until 6 p.m. which means that parents may register a child for a morning, afternoon or both of the shifts. Children learn through the play, interact with other children and read during the time allocated specifically for reading. 

As Ottawa Carleton School Board  is a discrimination free schools boards, students with different level of abilities and a variety of interests may participate in the program. Education of all stages in Ottawa Carleton School Board is shot through with inclusiveness and openness, as the main aim of the school board is nurturing diverse, creative citizens who are prepared to succeed in future. The school board is also dedicated to provide the representatives of the indigenous population with the top-quality education, offering them financial support and integrating Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities representatives into the society. 

Elementary and Secondary students are offered a program during which they’ll learn international or indigenous languages. By listening, reading and more importantly developing speaking skills, students acquire a new language. The long list of languages offered includes the following: Albanian, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Somali etc. An elementary student can attend any language they registered for with the caveat that they attend only one class of a certain language a week, attending the same language class twice a week is prohibited, but it’s allowed to study two different languages simultaneously. 

Secondary students also can attend international language classes in Ottawa Carleton School Board. What’s worth mentioning is that they’re free for high schoolers. The list of languages available to study for older students is narrower, but still impressive. It includes, among others, American Sign Language, Persian, Norwegian and modern Greek. 

There are also summer camps which are conducted both online and offline. French, Spanish, American Sign Language, Japanese, Arabic - there are summer camps for students who want to enhance and refine their competence in any language. 

Ottawa Carleton School Board has two outdoor education centers at its disposal. Outdoor classrooms are perfect for students to learn more about nature and environment by themselves in the real world. 

Programs for adults 

First of all, Ottawa Carleton School Board offers courses of English as a Second Language for adults. The program prepares a student to incrementally acquire the language from Beginner to Advanced level. 

There is a program called Language Instruction to Newcomers to Canada which can also be attended in Ottawa Carleton School Board both online and offline. Offline programs are supplemented by free of charge childcare. To be eligible to attend both of the programs you need to provide immigration documents and proof of Ontario address. 

So-called Adaptive programs for disabled students will teach a student all the essential skills for their future employment. Students with developmental or physical disabilities whose age is 21 or older are engaged in the working environment such as coffee shops, stores, libraries and so on to gain hands-on experience and become independent, confident workers who have an intimate understanding of their rights and duties. 

There are three programs which help adults to get credits to obtain their Secondary School Diploma or make a thorough preparation for higher education establishments. The first one is the Independent Study Program and it’s essentially a program during which you study on your own but with the help of a facilitator. 

Online Night School which can be attended by any student from any school board and also by adults. 

And finally a co-operative education program for the students who already work full or part-time. The special feature of the program is that the co-operative program can be taken together with the first two programs mentioned above. Ottawa Carleton School Board makes everything to provide education for everyone in the most effective way possible. 

There is also a program on Basic Skills and Literacy. It’s developed for adults who lack the skills essential in the workplace or obtain a high school diploma, or simply for the ones who need brushing up on reading and writing. One may attend an Academic Upgrading program to achieve the latter goals. There is an employment preparation course for future childcare assistants during which students study first aid and child development and a number of other subjects necessary to become a child assistant. In Ottawa Carleton School Board one may also earn certificates for employment, for example, safe food handler or soft skills solutions certificates.

International students

Ottawa Carleton School Board is always glad to take international students aboard. To be fully engaged in the process of learning English and understanding Canadian culture, it’s more beneficial for an international student to participate in the Homestay program. It means that a student, who comes from abroad, will live with a Canadian family which was carefully inspected beforehand and instructed on how to behave and treat a foreign student. Moreover, a student may call the support team at any time of day or night and they’ll be ready to help them with any question regarding adaptation in a new environment. In case a problem arises or a student finds himself being unable to get along with the family members, Ottawa Carleton School Board will immediately move them to another family with no extra-fare. 

Talking about the competency in English, elementary students don’t need to provide a certificate of English knowledge, but it still would be more convenient for a student themselves to know the basics of the language in order to be integrated into the school community. To be eligible for studying at grades 11-12, an international student needs to either pass grade twelve English or provide an IELTS or TOEFL certificate. Generally, for the 11 the most appropriate level is Upper-Intermediate and Advanced for studying the grade 12. 

An international student may commence their studies at any level. They may go for a whole year, for just a semester or even study till the graduation in Ottawa Carleton School Board, in accordance with their plans and goals. An international student can take up an Advanced Placement course or the program of International Baccalaureate, which will facilitate the process of obtaining higher education. Just as well as residents, students who came from abroad are free to participate in clubs such as drama and do sports, play hockey or go skiing.

There are special requirements for an international student to graduate from the high school of Ottawa Carleton School Board successfully. One of them is that a student must complete forty hours of community service which can be volunteering in a range of events from walking dogs from a shelter to having a clean-up in a park. Getting through a special secondary school test of reading and writing skills  is another requirement for an international student to get a high school diploma in Ontario.

If an international student finishes the high school in Ottawa Carleton School Board, they’re awarded with Ontario Secondary School Diploma which, in turn, allows them to enroll in colleges, university or attend vocational courses. 

For example, one may choose Ontario College to further their education and be employed on-campus during the studies or work for up to 2 years after graduation from the college but in the field connected to the studies. The range of programs in the college is huge: from finance to agriculture. As for the first one, a student may earn a diploma after a 2-3 year program or even a degree after a four year degree program, studying Business Administration, accounting or a number of other courses. 

Students may come from abroad to participate in summer and winter English Explorer programs, which are organized and worked out particularly for international students by Ottawa Carleton School Board. During the programs students learn about Canada, explore nature and Ottawa and, of course, learn the English language by actively communicating with residents, other students and homestay family in English. 

Fees 

International students are to pay $14800 for a year in secondary school and correspondingly $7400 for a semester. The amount is the same for elementary school students. Pay attention to the fact that the $400 application fee is non-refundable. And what is refundable that’s the tuition fee, if for some reason a student is refused a study permit. 

International students, as well as students from other provinces and adults pay $500 for a language course in Ottawa Carleton School Board.

The cost of international summer camp is free for the residents of the province, but for non-residents it’s $100 for a registration. The registration fee for online language camps is the same.

There is no cost for ESL courses, if you’re a permanent resident, a citizen of Canada or a refugee applicant. Other students have to pay $400 per month and $300 for workshops that are conducted three times a week.