School Information

School Information
What’s CCIS?

CCIS, or Clarington Centre for Individual Studies, is an alternative high school within the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Our goal is to help students graduate high school and achieve a successful transition to college or work.

Who is eligible?

Anyone 16 years of age or older and living in the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board boundaries is eligible to attend CCIS. Its broad and flexible programming is ideal for anyone who

·         is ready to finish high school;

·         has work or family commitments that would make attending regular school difficult;

·         needs a quick upgrade for college, apprenticeship or work;

·         is a young mom;

·         has been previously unsuccessful in a traditional school setting;

·         prefers to work at an individualized pace; and

·         is over sixteen years of age.

May 10 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Over the coming weeks, as part of our ongoing efforts to create and maintain safe, inclusive, and accepting schools, all students from Grades 4 to 12 in the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board will be asked to participate in an anonymous School Climate Survey.

The School Climate Survey is required every two years by the Ministry of Education as part of the Safe Schools initiative and asks students for their opinion on key areas that research has shown to have an impact on student learning outcomes – with a focus on sense of belonging, relationships, safety, and well-being.

The survey measures include but are not limited to:

• Engagement (e.g., sense of belonging and social connectedness, positive relationships with adults, intellectual engagement, school involvement, and support outside of school),
• Environment (e.g., school environment, learning environment, school discipline, and diversity and representation),
• Safety (e.g., bullying, harassment, discrimination, and help-seeking), and
• Well-being (e.g., general well-being, and social and emotional skills).

Some important notes about the survey:

• The survey is voluntary; students can decide whether they want to complete the survey and can skip any questions they do not want to answer.
• The survey is anonymous and confidential.
• The survey takes approximately 25 to 35 minutes to complete and is completed during class time.
• Accommodations will be provided for students with diverse learning needs.
• Results of this survey will be reported at the school-level and individual respondents will not be identified.
• Information will be used by schools to build safer spaces in which everyone is respected and feels that they belong.
• Students will complete the survey online at school between May 17 and June 10, 2022.
• Parents who do not want their child (or children) to complete the survey must advise the homeroom teacher by May 17, 2022.

Please contact me with any questions you may have about the survey.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Knox

Principal

10 Guidelines for KPR Families

The transition to remote learning can be complex for families. Families will need to think differently about a) how to support their children; b) how to create structures and routines that allow their children to be successful; c) how to monitor and support their children’s learning. Some students will thrive with remote learning, while others may need time to adapt. The ten guidelines provided below are intended to help families think about what they can do to help their children find success in a remote learning
environment.

1—Establish routines and expectations
KPR encourages families to set regular hours for their children’s school work. Educators will follow the regular school day schedule to create consistency for family planning. Keep normal bedtime routines for younger children and expect the same from your older aged students, too. (Don’t let them stay up late and sleep in!) Encourage your child to move regularly and take periodic breaks as they study. It is important that families set these expectations for how their children will spend their days.

2—Define the physical space for your child’s study
Your child may have a regular place for doing homework under normal circumstances, but this space may or may not be suitable for an extended period of time, such as through remote learning. We encourage families to establish a space/location where their children will learn most of the time. This should be a public/family space where adults are present and able to monitor their children’s learning.

3—Monitor communications from your children’s educators
Educators will communicate with families through established platforms (e.g,Edsby, Google Classroom, D2L). If families do not have access to the internet then communication will take place by phone. KPR encourages families to contact their children’s educators to be partner’s in their child’s education.

4—Begin and end each day with a check-in
Adults are encouraged to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. In the morning, ask what is your child learning today? How will they spend their time? What resources do they require? What support do they need? This brief grounding conversation matters. It allows children to process the instructions they’ve received from their educators. It helps students organize themselves, set priorities and continue to engage in the learning.

5—Take an active role in helping your children process and own their learning
In the course of a regular school day at KPR, your child engages with other students or adults frequently. While some of these social interactions will be re-created on virtual platforms, others will not. Human beings learn best when they have opportunities to process their learning with others. Beyond the check-ins recommended at the start and end of each day, adults are encouraged to regularly circle back and engage with their children about what they’re learning. It’s important that you let your child own their work. Educators will be explicit and distinguish for students and parents/guardians learning “in progress” tasks (when parents/guardians can support) from assessment independent tasks (when it is important that students show what they know on their own).

6—Establish a schedule and structure for learning
As families with multiple children adapt to the routines of learning remotely, they will need to work to balance all of their children’s needs, especially when those children are different ages and have different schedules for learning. There may be times when siblings need to work in different rooms to avoid distraction.

7—Encourage physical activity and/or exercise
Make sure your children remember to move and exercise. This is vitally important to their health, wellbeing, and to their learning. Building in for opportunities for movement or a change of scenery will support students to sustain focus during learning.

8—Remain mindful of your child’s stress or worry
It is imperative for adults to help their children manage the range of emotions they may experience due to school closure. Support your child to see a positive perspective through modelling an optimistic outlook on situations and maintaining a normal routine as much as possible.

9—Monitor how much time your child is spending online
Finding a balance between online and “offline” learning experiences is important for supporting student well-being. Encourage your child to reflect on whether after interacting online throughout the day, they would benefit from offline down time, instead of engaging in virtual activities after school hours.

10—Keep your children social, but set rules around their social media interactions
Help your children maintain contact with their peers. Please monitor your children’s social media use during this extended school closure. If your child uses social media to connect with peers, encourage respectful and appropriate use of technology as a part of being a responsible digital citizen.