Dunnville Secondary School
School Profile 2024-25
Opportunities
Welcoming our New Panthers!
Dunnville Secondary School’s staff is committed to providing the best transition possible for our future Panthers. Key staff involved in transitioning students include the Student Success Teacher, Guidance Counsellor and Learning Resource Teacher.
Additionally, student leaders from senior grades work with new students to help them feel comfortable with life in secondary school. New Panthers have opportunities to ask questions, have school tours, participate in group activities, and get advice about new components of secondary school such as exams, rotary schedules, and using the cafeteria. Transition events are hosted throughout the year.
Special Academic Programming - Wilderness Trail Blazers (WTB)
This unique half-day program for senior students enhances academic learning by moving beyond the traditional classroom. With a focus on environmental education and outdoor activities, this unique program inspires a love of the outdoors and deeper understanding of the natural world. WTB is a two-credit experiential program including CGR4M, Environmental Resource Management, and PAD4O, Outdoor Activities. Students have the opportunity to experience multi-day outdoor trips such as winter camping, hiking, and canoeing. Additionally, students participate in specialized workshops, environmental-centred guest speakers, volunteer opportunities with local organizations, and hands-on restoration and naturalization projects in the community.
Dual Credit Courses
Did you know that students can earn college credits and high school credits at the same time while attending Dunnville Secondary School? Students from all academic streams can work towards college credits at no cost to them. We collaborate with local colleges; students register as students at the associated college and gain experience using their school portals. These credits may be transferable to Ontario colleges and are an excellent reach ahead opportunity.
Welding
The welding Dual Credit Program gives students experience in various types of welding. After the completion of the course, a provincial inspector evaluates their techniques. Successful students can earn their Flat Position Welding Certification, a provincially recognized qualification.
Technological Design
The Technological Design Dual Credit Program gives students specialized skills in professional design practices such as house design and 3D printing. Students research, design, build, and assess solutions to specific human needs. AutoCAD techniques allow students to create professional quality designs to communicate their design ideas.
Withdrawing from a Course
If a student (including a student with a completed Individual Education Plan) withdraws from a Grade 11 or 12 course within five instructional days following the issue of the first provincial report card in a semestered or non-semestered school, the withdrawal is not recorded on the Ontario Student Transcript (OST).
If a student withdraws from a course after five instructional days following the issue of the first provincial report card in a semestered or non-semestered school, the withdrawal is recorded on the OST by entering a ‘W’ in the ‘Credit’ column. The student’s percentage grade at the time of the withdrawal is recorded in the ‘Percentage Grade’ column.
Credit Recovery
Our provincially-recognized Credit Recovery program is an in-school program for students who have not successfully completed some of their courses. In a credit recovery classroom, students work on recovering previously failed courses and have the opportunity to get their credit accumulation back on track.
Credit Recovery offers students a supportive environment that focuses on the key expectations of a course and also assists students with pathway planning and developing improved learning skills that will help them in earning their Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
myBlueprint
At Grand Erie, we have a vision that all students leaving our secondary schools have a clear postsecondary plan. We support students with the tools they require to become the architects of their future.
As part of our commitment to Career Education and supporting the ministry mandate for Creating Pathways to Success, we have moved forward with a board license of the myBlueprint Education Planner. Our license provides access to all students 7-12, their families, and all 7-12 staff in Grand Erie.
myBlueprint has been supporting Ontario school boards for 13+ years. The service supports teachers, empowers students, and engages parents with their child’s education, career, and life planning. Accessible via the website on any browser, myBlueprint captures current progress in the classroom and offers a complete representation of a child’s unique pathway.
myBlueprint’s Education Planner is mobile-friendly, and ever-evolving to support the needs of Grand Erie students. The program allows students to view their graduation requirements and over 12,000 post-secondary programs across the country based on their Ontario specific courses.
Grand Erie and myBlueprint work together to create an Individual Pathway Plan (IPP) for all students. This plan becomes a valuable archive of student learning and a catalogue of resources they will need as they continue to plan. Visit myblueprint.ca for more information.
Ontario Student Record (OSR)
The OSR is the official, on-going educational record for each student and is stored in the school most recently attended by the student. Teaching staff, each student, and the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a student are entitled to have access to the student’s OSR. Supervised access can be arranged by appointment during normal business hours. Transcripts of marks are issued on written or personal request.
Once a student reaches the age of 18, by law, they control access to the OSR by anyone not mentioned above. Parents of adult students will only have access to a student’s academic records upon written authorization from the student. All senior level courses remaining on a student’s timetable five days after the first provincial report will be recorded on the transcript.
Transcripts requested after a student has graduated and is no longer attending secondary school are subject to a charge of $5.00 per copy.
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
PLAR is the formal evaluation and credit-granting process whereby students may obtain credits for prior learning. Prior learning includes the knowledge and skills that students have acquired, in both formal and informal ways, outside secondary school. Students may have their knowledge and skills evaluated against the expectations outlined in provincial curriculum policy documents in order to earn credits toward the secondary school diploma. The PLAR process involves two components: “equivalency” and “challenge”.
Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)
SEAC is an advisory committee mandated through the Education Act as a standing committee of each school Board. The committee reports to the school Board and makes recommendations to the board on special education programs and services. The committee is comprised of Trustees, Board personnel, community members, and associations representing a wide variety of interests related to students with exceptional needs.
Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM)
Grand Erie District School Board, in conjunction with the Ontario Ministry of Education, offers SHSM programs to secondary school students.
Students enrolled in a SHSM program are required to complete a bundle of classroom courses, workplace experiences and sector certifications to receive a special designation on their Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).
Participation in an SHSM program can help students prepare for apprenticeships, college, university or transition to work.
Grand Erie District School Board has programs in the following sectors:
Special Education (Specialized Services)
Grand Erie District School Board special education programs and services are delivered in safe and enabling environments in order to promote success for students with special education needs. An enabling environment is positive, inclusive and fosters student independence and well-being.
Each one of Grand Erie’s Secondary schools has a Special Education department with Learning Resource teachers that can support the development and implementation of Individual Education Plans. Some of our schools have Self-Contained programs to support the learning needs of individual students for which the most enabling environment for them to meet their program goals is in a smaller class setting with higher staff to student ratio. In addition, system Student Support Services are available to support students and programming in the areas of Speech and Language Services, Psychological Services, Social Services and Behavioural Services.