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Ontario High School Courses Online, or In Person at Our Vaughan Campus
Ontario private secondary school, Vaughan · OSSD courses, Grades 9 to 12Redefining High School Education in Canada
How Your Course Is Delivered
Every course is delivered entirely online and entirely asynchronously through the school's learning portal.
You choose one of two attendance formats. The course, the hours, the teacher, the assessments and the credit are the same in both. What changes is where you sit while you do the work.
On this page
What "asynchronous" means here
It is the most important word on this page, so here it is in plain terms.
- There are no scheduled live class times. Nothing happens at a fixed hour that you have to attend.
- There is no minimum synchronous requirement. You are never obliged to be at a screen at the same moment as anyone else.
- Materials are released weekly and each week has its own deadlines. You work through that week's material at the hours that suit you.
- Time zones do not matter. The scheduled day runs 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Eastern, but a student in another time zone may complete the same scheduled hours at another time of day within the week, so long as that week's milestone deadline is met.
The two attendance formats
100% online, remote and asynchronous
You study wherever you are, in any city, province or country.
- All course delivery and learning happens through the portal: course materials, assignments, grading assessment, progress reports, interactive discussions, contact with your teacher and your final examination.
- You arrange your own device and internet connection.
- Studying online from your own city, province or country requires no travel of any kind.
- All 26 courses run in this format, in every session.
In class, supervised on-site study at the Vaughan campus
You attend the classes at the campus and work through the same asynchronous online course in a classroom.
- School OCT or staff are present to supervise and assist.
- School computers are available, so you do not need to provide your own equipment.
- This format means being physically at the school campus.
- In class study is offered for a selected list of courses, currently all English, Mathematics and Computer Studies courses. The list available for each session is shown when you register.
What is identical in both formats
| Learning portal | The same portal, the same sign-in, the same course shell |
| Course materials | The same unit materials, released on the same weekly schedule |
| Scheduled hours | 110 scheduled instructional hours, over six study weeks |
| Milestones | The same four published weekly milestones and the same deadlines |
| Assessment | The same assignments, assessments and rubrics |
| Teacher | The same assigned Ontario Certified Teacher |
| Classmates | One shared cohort discussion forum for the session |
| Final mark | The same mark composition, and the same credit on the Ontario Student Transcript |
Attendance, and how it is measured
Attendance is defined as completion of four published weekly milestones, which is 24 milestones across a session, against the 110 scheduled hours. It counts toward your final mark: 15 per cent in Grades 9 and 10, 10 per cent in Grades 11 and 12.
Physical presence is never marked. A student in the in class format who studies from home on a given day is not recorded absent and loses no mark, because attendance is measured by milestone completion and not by being in the room.
Campus attendance is a facility the school provides. It is not a requirement of any course.
Your teacher
Every course has an assigned Ontario Certified Teacher who:
- sets and moderates a weekly discussion question in the cohort forum,
- returns descriptive feedback on your work, and
- contacts you individually at least once a week.
Course questions go to your teacher, not to the school office. If you study online, your teacher reaches you through the learning portal. If you study in class, your teacher can also see you at the campus. The commitment is the same either way: individual contact at least once a week.
The hours, and the shape of a week
| Part of the course | Hours |
|---|---|
| Study weeks 1 to 5 | 20.0 hours a week |
| Study week 6, the final evaluation week | 10.0 hours |
| Total | 110.0 hours, being 90 online and 20 offline |
A week is built from course materials, readings and unit study; assignments and unit evaluations; teacher-mediated discussion and collaboration; and independent offline work. The final week adds the culminating task and the final evaluation.
Your final examination
The final examination is written in study week 6, on a date inside that week scheduled and confirmed with you. There are two routes:
- Online, under proctoring with identity verification, from wherever you are.
- On site at the Vaughan campus, under staff invigilation.
In practice, students in the in class format normally write on campus and students studying 100% online normally write online. Either route is arranged in advance and there is no additional charge, and you may ask for the other route if it suits you better.
Why both formats earn an online learning credit
Ontario's Policy/Program Memorandum 167 governs online learning credits. It requires that the credit be delivered entirely using the internet and that students not be required to be physically present, except for examinations and other final evaluations, and for access to connectivity, devices or school supports.
PPM 167 also excludes two things that do not describe this school: remote learning with minimum synchronous requirements, and blended learning.
Because the in class format is supervised study of the same asynchronous online course, and because presence is neither required nor marked, delivery remains online in both formats. Every course therefore remains an online learning credit under PPM 167, whichever format you choose.
That also means both formats count toward Ontario's requirement that at least two of your 30 diploma credits be earned online.
Choosing, and changing your mind
- You choose your format on the registration form when you enrol.
- Every course is available in the 100% online format. In class study is available for a selected list of courses, currently all English, Mathematics and Computer Studies courses, and that list is shown to you during registration. It is reviewed each session.
- You may ask to change format between sessions.
How to enrol Domestic enrolment International enrolment OSSD credit value