Registration opens April 2, and closes May 4, 2007
College Heights will be hosting the 5th Annual Ultimate Frisbee High School Tournament
When: Friday, May 18th, 2007
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: College Heights Secondary School
Teams: Co-ed 7 vs 7 (4/3 split))
Format: Two divisions - Division A experienced teams - Division B developing teams
Farthest Huck Competition at Lunch time
Cost: $60.00 per team
Food: College Heights will be hosting a BBQ
Registration: First 24 teams to pay their entry fee
Mail Payment:
College Heights Secondary School
371 College Ave. W
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 1T3
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Principal's Blog - February 2008
Minister of Education Visits College Heights February 21, 2008
Minister Kathleen Wynne visited College Heights on Thursday February 21 at 12:00 PM. She and two of her aids were treated to a lunch prepared by our students in the Hospitality Services
program assisted by Mrs. Lori Furfaro, Mr. Shawn Doucette and chef Peter Darrach. Along with the Minister, we welcomed the Director of Education, Dr. Rogers, six of the Boards Superintendents and four Trustees. We, with the help of Mr. Charles Benyair, told our guests about our Career Pathways and the two Specialist High Skills Major programs that we currently offer; Manufacturing and Hospitality & Tourism, and the two new programs we 
have applied for, for next year, Construction and Agriculture. Minister Kathleen Wynne and party left us at about 2:15 PM, after a brief tour of our Welding shop.
Literacy Initiatives
Many of our students have difficulty reading and writing, hence, we are implementing our efforts to improve their skills. Our main initiative is our literacy lab, which is housed in room A109. In that small room, we are able to handle a maximum of 8 students. A mixture of teaching approaches modeled on the “Language” program and the use computer software called Academy of Reading. The room has 6 computers with the program available to the students. Over the years we have observed most students advancing up to two reading levels after one semester in the lab. This semester a class for grade 11 students was created to extend the program to help reading challenged students for a third year.
This year we have implemented a free reading program in every class. In this program every teacher will provide appropriate material for students to read for at least 15 minutes twice every week. After reading, teachers will take steps to get students to talk about or write about what they have read.
In the area of preparation to write the Literacy test in the early spring, every teacher in our school was given time to prepare a test booklet that looked exactly like the literacy test but used material from their course. Our head of Literacy, Ms. Diane Leach, picked up the blank templates to make this possible from a contact at a school in Brampton. The plan is for every teacher to use the developed booklet in their classes before March break. Teachers were given direction on how to assist students to read text and how to improve comprehension of regular text and graphical text. Teachers were also given direction on how to help students to improve the writing of a short piece, an opinion piece and a news story.
Library Improvement
Some of our staff members under the leadership of Mrs. Lori Furfaro, have been looking at strategies to update our Library. Staff from our school have visited two other vocational schools to look at the use of libraries among other things. Staff visited Sir Guy Carlton in Ottawa and Thames Secondary School in London. This will be a long term task and I will share information on the progress of this project.
Professional Learning Community (PLC) Time for Teachers
This semester, staff will be spending time with their department colleagues to develop four smart goals and the action plans to implement the following with their students: how to improve the success and the literacy skills of the students taking courses offered by the department; how to improve the responsibility of our students; how to improve the self-esteem of our students taking courses in the department; and finally, how to improve the problem solving skills of students taking courses in each department. Later this semester, all these plans will be merged and our Heads and staff will develop the school improvement plan for College Heights for the next school year.
Computer Technology at College Heights
The Board is in the process of selecting a computer vendor to supply the computers to replace all the computers in all of our schools over the next few years. The goal of this plan is to ensure that all schools in the Board will have updated computer technology for student and staff use and these computers will be replaced every six years. A basic part of this plan is to also allow teachers to include modern technology in their teaching. Hence, most of the classrooms will be equipped with a digital projector and every room will have access to the Internet and student work on our file server. College Heights, under the leadership of Mr. Dix, will develop a plan to implement this Board initiative in our school and all this will be in place before the summer.
Healthy Active Living at College Heights
We at College Heights put a great emphasis on healthy active living for our students. At this school, every grade 9 and grade 10 student is required to take a physical education course. The intent of these courses is to prepare our students for a life of healthy active living. To help in this development, we have instituted a much larger exercise room in A-hall. We are in the process of adding the necessary pieces of equipment to make this a state of the art fitness room.
For students who are team sports oriented, we are continuing to add and develop our sports teams which compete in District Four. This year, we have boys and girls basketball and volleyball teams taking part and improving their skills. The other major team over the years has been our girls and boys wrestling teams. This year, as he has done for nine years in a row, coach Wilson will be taking team members to the Ontario wrestling finals at OFSSA. Great job coach Wilson and students!
Specialist High Skills Majors
College Heights is the only vocational school in Ontario that has implemented this latest Ministry of Education initiative. Last school year, we implemented a pilot Manufacturing program in partnership with Centennial. We had Centennial students come over to College Heights to take our welding and machine shop courses. We also ran different accreditation courses for our high skills major students here and last June five students graduated with a red seal on their diploma to indicate their success in the Manufacturing High Skills Major program.
This year Hospitality and Tourism was added to the Manufacturing pilot. Extra money from the Ministry was invested into College Heights to begin this new addition. Our students have clearly benefited from these programs.
Next year we hope to implement a Construction and Agriculture program and look forward to the benefits our students will experience.
At Risk Coop Programs
We at College Heights encourage as many of our senior students as possible to take a Coop course to help develop employability skills. We have observed that any student that successfully completes the Coop course, with the required working time within a company in the community, will no longer be at risk of graduating. So this year we implemented an at risk Coop program under the direction of Mr. Ron Aimola. The key part of the program was for our students to spend time working under the direction of Mr. Aimola at Ignatius College. Students also had the opportunity to work at the food bank, the YMCA and Habitat for Humanity. This course was funded by the Ministry’s Learn to 18 project and is running this semester also.
Minister Kathleen Wynne visited College Heights on Thursday February 21 at 12:00 PM. She and two of her aids were treated to a lunch prepared by our students in the Hospitality Services
program assisted by Mrs. Lori Furfaro, Mr. Shawn Doucette and chef Peter Darrach. Along with the Minister, we welcomed the Director of Education, Dr. Rogers, six of the Boards Superintendents and four Trustees. We, with the help of Mr. Charles Benyair, told our guests about our Career Pathways and the two Specialist High Skills Major programs that we currently offer; Manufacturing and Hospitality & Tourism, and the two new programs we 
have applied for, for next year, Construction and Agriculture. Minister Kathleen Wynne and party left us at about 2:15 PM, after a brief tour of our Welding shop.Literacy Initiatives
Many of our students have difficulty reading and writing, hence, we are implementing our efforts to improve their skills. Our main initiative is our literacy lab, which is housed in room A109. In that small room, we are able to handle a maximum of 8 students. A mixture of teaching approaches modeled on the “Language” program and the use computer software called Academy of Reading. The room has 6 computers with the program available to the students. Over the years we have observed most students advancing up to two reading levels after one semester in the lab. This semester a class for grade 11 students was created to extend the program to help reading challenged students for a third year.
This year we have implemented a free reading program in every class. In this program every teacher will provide appropriate material for students to read for at least 15 minutes twice every week. After reading, teachers will take steps to get students to talk about or write about what they have read.
In the area of preparation to write the Literacy test in the early spring, every teacher in our school was given time to prepare a test booklet that looked exactly like the literacy test but used material from their course. Our head of Literacy, Ms. Diane Leach, picked up the blank templates to make this possible from a contact at a school in Brampton. The plan is for every teacher to use the developed booklet in their classes before March break. Teachers were given direction on how to assist students to read text and how to improve comprehension of regular text and graphical text. Teachers were also given direction on how to help students to improve the writing of a short piece, an opinion piece and a news story.
Library Improvement
Some of our staff members under the leadership of Mrs. Lori Furfaro, have been looking at strategies to update our Library. Staff from our school have visited two other vocational schools to look at the use of libraries among other things. Staff visited Sir Guy Carlton in Ottawa and Thames Secondary School in London. This will be a long term task and I will share information on the progress of this project.
Professional Learning Community (PLC) Time for Teachers
This semester, staff will be spending time with their department colleagues to develop four smart goals and the action plans to implement the following with their students: how to improve the success and the literacy skills of the students taking courses offered by the department; how to improve the responsibility of our students; how to improve the self-esteem of our students taking courses in the department; and finally, how to improve the problem solving skills of students taking courses in each department. Later this semester, all these plans will be merged and our Heads and staff will develop the school improvement plan for College Heights for the next school year.
Computer Technology at College Heights
The Board is in the process of selecting a computer vendor to supply the computers to replace all the computers in all of our schools over the next few years. The goal of this plan is to ensure that all schools in the Board will have updated computer technology for student and staff use and these computers will be replaced every six years. A basic part of this plan is to also allow teachers to include modern technology in their teaching. Hence, most of the classrooms will be equipped with a digital projector and every room will have access to the Internet and student work on our file server. College Heights, under the leadership of Mr. Dix, will develop a plan to implement this Board initiative in our school and all this will be in place before the summer.
Healthy Active Living at College Heights
We at College Heights put a great emphasis on healthy active living for our students. At this school, every grade 9 and grade 10 student is required to take a physical education course. The intent of these courses is to prepare our students for a life of healthy active living. To help in this development, we have instituted a much larger exercise room in A-hall. We are in the process of adding the necessary pieces of equipment to make this a state of the art fitness room.
For students who are team sports oriented, we are continuing to add and develop our sports teams which compete in District Four. This year, we have boys and girls basketball and volleyball teams taking part and improving their skills. The other major team over the years has been our girls and boys wrestling teams. This year, as he has done for nine years in a row, coach Wilson will be taking team members to the Ontario wrestling finals at OFSSA. Great job coach Wilson and students!
Specialist High Skills Majors
College Heights is the only vocational school in Ontario that has implemented this latest Ministry of Education initiative. Last school year, we implemented a pilot Manufacturing program in partnership with Centennial. We had Centennial students come over to College Heights to take our welding and machine shop courses. We also ran different accreditation courses for our high skills major students here and last June five students graduated with a red seal on their diploma to indicate their success in the Manufacturing High Skills Major program.
This year Hospitality and Tourism was added to the Manufacturing pilot. Extra money from the Ministry was invested into College Heights to begin this new addition. Our students have clearly benefited from these programs.
Next year we hope to implement a Construction and Agriculture program and look forward to the benefits our students will experience.
At Risk Coop Programs
We at College Heights encourage as many of our senior students as possible to take a Coop course to help develop employability skills. We have observed that any student that successfully completes the Coop course, with the required working time within a company in the community, will no longer be at risk of graduating. So this year we implemented an at risk Coop program under the direction of Mr. Ron Aimola. The key part of the program was for our students to spend time working under the direction of Mr. Aimola at Ignatius College. Students also had the opportunity to work at the food bank, the YMCA and Habitat for Humanity. This course was funded by the Ministry’s Learn to 18 project and is running this semester also.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Principal's Blog - October 2007
On Monday October 1, our students were introduced to the ideas behind the junior achievement program.
On Thursday October 4, 2007, Premier Dalton McGuinty visited College Heights and briefly addressed our senior students in an assembly. This event was a huge success for us with both video and sound bites shown on many TV stations and pictures and stories in many newspapers on Friday.
On Friday October 5, 2007, our students had a chance to spend 2 hours with Mitch Dorge, the drummer of the rock group, Crash Test Dummies. Our students were fully involved for the event for the entire presentation which was organized by Beth Charles of our staff.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Principal's Blog - September 2007
From Wednesday September 5 until Monday September 10, 2007, our grade 9 students were bussed up to Ignatius College in Guelph to spend a morning taking part in an orientation experience. This event was organized by Vice-Principal Dorothe Fair amiably assisted by many staff members. The event was a big success!
On Monday September 17, the Half Pints Basketball group presented an assembly showing the basketball skills of these very short people as a backdrop to a message on anti bullying. The event was very well received by staff and students.
On September 25, Tuesday, in the afternoon our students took part in a positive thinking and conflict resolution assembly presented by Duane Morganson.
On Wednesday September 26, just before lunch our students had a chance to take part in the Terry Fox run/walk.
On Monday September 17, the Half Pints Basketball group presented an assembly showing the basketball skills of these very short people as a backdrop to a message on anti bullying. The event was very well received by staff and students.
On September 25, Tuesday, in the afternoon our students took part in a positive thinking and conflict resolution assembly presented by Duane Morganson.
On Wednesday September 26, just before lunch our students had a chance to take part in the Terry Fox run/walk.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Principal's Blog - August 2007
On August 27, 2007, Sandy Atanasoff, a teacher at College Heights, presented a workshop at the Learning Fair at the Notwassaga Inn in Alliston. Sandy described her new grade 12 interdisciplinary course, IDC4O1, called Life Planning.
On Wednesday August 29, 2007, our school hosted a preregistration event for our new grade 9 students and our returning grades 10 to 12 students. Our new students got a pep talk on many of the features of a College Heights education, a BBQ lunch, a tour of the school, and a chance to pay for their student card and yearbook as a combined special deal, both for $30.
On Wednesday August 29, 2007, our school hosted a preregistration event for our new grade 9 students and our returning grades 10 to 12 students. Our new students got a pep talk on many of the features of a College Heights education, a BBQ lunch, a tour of the school, and a chance to pay for their student card and yearbook as a combined special deal, both for $30.
Friday, March 30, 2007
5th Annual Ultimate Frisbee High School Tournament
Attention: Phys.Ed Head / Athletic Director
Registration opens April 2 and closes May 4, 2007
College Heights will be hosting the
5th Annual Ultimate Frisbee High School Tournament.
When: Friday, May 18th, 2007
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: College Heights Secondary School
Teams: Co-ed 7 vs 7 (4/3 split))
Format: Two Divisions - Division A experienced teams and Division B developing teams
Cost: $60.00 per team
Food: College Heights will be hosting a BBQ
Farthest Huck Competition at Lunch time
Registration: First 24 teams to pay their entry fee - contact Stan Karabela @ (519) 821-4510 x 324
email: Stanley.Karabela@ugdsb.on.ca
Mail Payment:
Stan Karabela
Head of Physical Education/Student Activities
c/o College Heights S.S.
371 College Ave. W.,
Guelph, On N1G 1T3
(519) 821-4510 x324
fax (519) 821-5531
Registration opens April 2 and closes May 4, 2007
College Heights will be hosting the
5th Annual Ultimate Frisbee High School Tournament.
When: Friday, May 18th, 2007
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: College Heights Secondary School
Teams: Co-ed 7 vs 7 (4/3 split))
Format: Two Divisions - Division A experienced teams and Division B developing teams
Cost: $60.00 per team
Food: College Heights will be hosting a BBQ
Farthest Huck Competition at Lunch time
Registration: First 24 teams to pay their entry fee - contact Stan Karabela @ (519) 821-4510 x 324
email: Stanley.Karabela@ugdsb.on.ca
Mail Payment:
Stan Karabela
Head of Physical Education/Student Activities
c/o College Heights S.S.
371 College Ave. W.,
Guelph, On N1G 1T3
(519) 821-4510 x324
fax (519) 821-5531
Monday, May 08, 2006
College Heights Annual Spring Sale
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Honduras 2006 - Our Team and Sponsors
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On behalf of the team from College Heights and the people we helped in Honduras, we would like to thank our sponsors for continuing their generous support of such an important project.Our Team: Left to Right - Front Row - Meaghan .jpg)
Malott, Kevin Wise, Heather Duncan and Barb Cook ( Staff Leader)
- Middle Row - Laura Urqhart, Taryn LeGrow, Lee Brooks (Staff Leader) , Natalie Harrison, Billy Wagner
- Back Row - Kortnee Cary, Bob Nickling ( Missionary Ventures Rep), Kayla Raso, Brent Newbigging, Mike Chaisson, Mursal Rahmaty, Albert Boutin ( Staff Lea.jpg)
der)
Our Sponsors include the Rotary Club of Guelph, ARMTEC ( Guelph ) , Russel Metals Inc.( Mississauga), Motion Plus Physiotherapy, Bird Packaging ( Guelph ) , Towne Winer ( Guelph), Blount ( Guelph) , Marks Supply Inc., Upper Grand District School Board, Stone Road Mall Customer Services, RCL Branch 635 ( Brigden), Stephen Pomoli Fund, Members of the Congregation at Kitchener East Presbyterian Church, the staff and students at College Heights Secondary School especially the Hospitality Department and of course the many family and friends of the Team members.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Honduras 2006 - Community Outreach
Part of the importance of a trip like this to La Ceiba, Honduras is the community outreach. Students are exposed to the people and get a chance to interact with the Hondurans. We were able to visit a couple of churches this year and a very large feeding centre. The churches are a great opportunity for our students to interact with the children of the community. It is without fail that several Honduran children will be sitting with our students playing and laughing and communicating using two very different languages but one common level of excitement.Feeding centres are where children of Honduras will get up to 3 meals per week. This may be the only food these children will receive in the week. It is really an eye opener for the students of College Heights to see kids that have so little.
The last part of the outreach this year took us to the very people we came to help. All of the students went out in small groups to visit some of the poorest families in the area. One family we visited was a grandmother taking care of about 12 of her grandchildren whose parents had been killed. The children in this family had little clothing, food and lived in very poor conditions. We were able to give them some basic food ( rice, beans and flour) plus some cloths and bedding.
This experience of true giving is one of the things the students at College Heights will remember for a long time.
We do get to spend a bit of fun in the sun and this year we had the opportunity to go zip lining in the rainforest. All the students and staff had a great time in such a beautiful location.
Honduras Trip - Our Projects
College Heights students and staff have worked very hard over the last few months to fundraise the money needed to get them to Honduras. This is the eighth year for this project at College Heights. Over the past 7 years students have been going to La Ceiba, Honduras and working on many projects for the community. Students have built houses, helped churches, orphanages, built a mission camp ( which we now stay in ) , helped to fix playgrounds and many other worthwhile projects.
This year's focus was on building a bathroom for a local family, repairing playgrounds and building the foundations for a wall that will eventually be a school. The bathroom was built for a family that has lived for 9 years in house made of boards and scrap wood. These people were so excited to have one of the basic needs in life provided for them. All the students really enjoyed the work in the hot sun and the joy of giving to a community.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Upper Grand Ultimate Frisbee Tournament
UpperGrand Ultimate Frisbee Tournament
College Heights will be Hosting the 4th Annual Ultimate Frisbee
High School Tournament
When: Friday, May 19th, 2006
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: College Heights Secondary School
Teams: Co-ed 7 vs 7 (4/3 split))
Farthest Huck Competition at Lunch time
Cost: $60.00 per team
Food: College Heights will be hosting a BBQ
Registration: Contact Stan Karabela @ (519) 821-4510 x 324
email: Stanley.Karabela@ugdsb.on.ca
Head of Physical Education/Student Activities
c/o College Heights S.S.
371 College Ave. W.,
Guelph, On N1G 1T3
(519) 821-4510 x324
fax (519) 821-5531
College Heights will be Hosting the 4th Annual Ultimate Frisbee
High School Tournament
When: Friday, May 19th, 2006
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: College Heights Secondary School
Teams: Co-ed 7 vs 7 (4/3 split))
Farthest Huck Competition at Lunch time
Cost: $60.00 per team
Food: College Heights will be hosting a BBQ
Registration: Contact Stan Karabela @ (519) 821-4510 x 324
email: Stanley.Karabela@ugdsb.on.ca
Head of Physical Education/Student Activities
c/o College Heights S.S.
371 College Ave. W.,
Guelph, On N1G 1T3
(519) 821-4510 x324
fax (519) 821-5531
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Yearbook - Note from the Chief Editor
The yearbook class is now in full swing, creating your yearbook for 2005-2006.
Now's the time to buy your yearbook!
This week, before the March Break, the yearbook is selling for $15.00 with a student card and $20.00 without. Don't miss out, get your money to your homeroom teacher so that you too will have a record of another great year at Heights!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
PRINCIPAL'S REPORT - February 2006
College Heights Secondary School We have come to the end of another successful semester at College Heights. Semester two started on Monday February 6. We are welcoming many new students to our school for semester two and saying good-bye to some who have completed their program. We are saying good-bye to the following members of our teaching staff, Mrs. FitzGibbon of the physical education department, Ms. Kraven of our math department, and Ms. Wyche of our student services department. We welcome back Mr. Boutin, Mrs. Cook, and Mrs. Poechman, who are returning to work after leaves of absence. We welcome four new staff members Mr. Aimola, Mr. Kirley, Ms. Angus, and Ms. Box. Ms. Patti Collins, Mr. Bell, and Ms. Wight are off on sick leave."
Note: To see the entire Principal's Report, written by Mr. Dave Miller, please click the link at the bottom of this post and go to the News section (on the left panel).
Friday, February 10, 2006
Co-operative Education at Heights
We have the largest Co-operative Education Program in the Upper Grand District School Board. Our students are given the opportunity to join the work force in various placements which range from half day to full day sessions, 4 days a week for most of the semester.
The variety of employers has grown rapidly as the numbers in our courses increases yearly. These employers are found throughout the Guelph and surrounding area, as many of our students are bused in from as far away as the town of Erin. We offer placements to accomodate each and every student. Therefore, if students find it difficult to find transportation into Guelph for a full time placement, the placement may be located near that student's home area.
Come on out and see our program in action and see what we can do for you."
Our Mission: The Mission of The Phoenix Project
OUR MISSION
The Mission of The Phoenix Project, as a broadbased community partnership, is to improve the employability skills of students through co-operative involvement of school, business, industry, and community. College Heights and its partners are determined to ensure the best possible futures for the students who participate in the projects provided.
VISION AND IMPLEMENTATION
To develop curriculum, programs, and partnerships that will provide students with opportunities in technological fields. The vision and mission will be implemented into College Heights through the Five Guiding Principles.
Our Five Guiding Principles:
To foster a healthy start in adolescent/adult life.
To provide ongoing, positive relationships with caring adults.
To enable positive and meaningful experiences within a safe environment.
To develop marketable skills to foster employability.
To offer a chance to give back through community service."
The Mission of The Phoenix Project, as a broadbased community partnership, is to improve the employability skills of students through co-operative involvement of school, business, industry, and community. College Heights and its partners are determined to ensure the best possible futures for the students who participate in the projects provided.
VISION AND IMPLEMENTATION
To develop curriculum, programs, and partnerships that will provide students with opportunities in technological fields. The vision and mission will be implemented into College Heights through the Five Guiding Principles.
Our Five Guiding Principles:
To foster a healthy start in adolescent/adult life.
To provide ongoing, positive relationships with caring adults.
To enable positive and meaningful experiences within a safe environment.
To develop marketable skills to foster employability.
To offer a chance to give back through community service."
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Education That Works!
Visit our school website and see what we have to offer!
We are a technical school, offering students the opportunity to build their skills in the trades and find the pathway to their future.
Welcome!
Welcome to the first post of our blog...the College Heights' Blogspot!
We are starting up the second semester and what a start! Everyone is busily sorting out their timetable to meet their needs.
What a great first week back!
We are starting up the second semester and what a start! Everyone is busily sorting out their timetable to meet their needs.
What a great first week back!
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