Embracing diversity and inclusion while promoting equity, we are guided by faith-based Catholic social teachings and learning partnerships that create safe and welcoming places for all.
Our school communities found ways to reinforce the ties that bind our community together and seek opportunities for everyone to feel included and heard.
Living our Faith Throughout the Year
More than just a subject, our Catholic faith informs everything we do as a school board. Countless opportunities for students and staff to live their faith are woven into lessons, events, and activities throughout the year. Many aspects of our faith can be seen in school chapels, classroom prayer tables, student artwork, and community celebrations during Catholic Education Week. Perhaps the most prevalent reflection of our faith is in acts of service and social justice. These are most visible in our schools during Advent and Lent, but supporting others in our community is a message our staff and students share throughout the year. Our high schools have been commended for their charitable fundraising efforts. Our highly successful OCSB Social Entrepreneurs program is centred on understanding social issues and helping others in the community. Our staff and retirees donated $280,000 this year that went directly to the Catholic Education Foundation of Ottawa (CEFO) to support emergency needs for families across our system. Fr. Gill Mongeau SJ, the 2022 OCSB Distinguished Catholic Alumni Award recipient, said it best when he explained, “I love God in and through my love of my neighbour.”
Continuing our Work on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, we continued to work towards the goals outlined in our 2021-2024 Equity and Diversity Framework. Our human resources department continued to implement intentional strategies to attract diverse candidates and address representational gaps. In February, we held a consultation session with the Director of Education and Black, Indigenous, and racially diverse aspiring leaders. Education and awareness training for our leadership and staff remained a priority.
Numerous initiatives were implemented at the Board level to support school and classroom practices to address systemic inequity. These included a presentation on recognizing and dismantling antisemitism and activities celebrating Asian Heritage Month. Our Black Student Association held a successful student voice forum where they shared ideas and strategies to combat racism and celebrate Black excellence. In March, we had the first OCSB Standing Against Racism week to continue to build capacity for all staff and students to understand and engage in anti-racism work. Initiatives in our schools focused on building capacity, supporting diverse students, and engaging parents and the community.
We also continue to ensure that our 2SLGBTQ+ students know they are essential to our Catholic community. We hosted a leadership development session called 2SLGBTQ+ Inclusion in March at the OCSB. The event allowed staff to learn from colleagues and share ideas, resources, and best practices for supporting 2SLGBTQ+ students using a pastoral approach. Our equity work and our focus on indigenous education are based on Catholic social teachings and the dignity of the human person.
Reducing Barriers for Our Racialized Students
We continued our partnership with the non-profit organization Jaku Konbit to offer their Black Stars Tutoring program to our racialized students. Black Star Tutoring aims to empower children and youth from diverse backgrounds who want to improve their knowledge of core subjects. The program provides highly competent, university-educated tutors who reflect the immigrant community. These tutors offer personalized lesson plans to students through weekly, one-hour virtual sessions. Staff in our schools ensure that the students in the program have access to the technology needed to participate. In addition to improving academic performance, the program aims to increase student self-esteem, motivation, and enthusiasm.
Selecting Equitable, Culturally Responsive, and Relevant Texts
Over the past two years, our Student Success department developed a toolkit to assist educators in assessing the appropriateness of texts for our students and to promote the importance of reflecting diverse voices in the literature we study. The toolkit is for teachers in all disciplines. It includes questions, vocabulary, and prompts to ensure that students see their identities and their histories authentically reflected and validated in the resources and texts used in their classroom. It provides a reflective process for educators to review texts used in their curricula while providing students with the resources to choose texts for book clubs, novel studies, or literature circles. Initially developed for grades 7-12, the toolkit was expanded last year to incorporate the assessment of illustrations so that it can now be applied to texts from Kindergarten through to grade 12.
Building Ties with Our Indigenous Neighbours
The Indigenous Cultural Experience Day held on May 31, 2023, at St. Francis Xavier High School was a huge success, with more than 2,150 enthusiastic students participating. The students led the event, which celebrated Indigenous culture and showcased a range of community performers. From the mesmerizing Inuit Throat Singers to the lively Métis Jiggers, the students had a memorable experience highlighting Indigenous traditions’ richness and diversity. The event was opened and closed by respected elders and First Nation Speakers, adding a deep reverence and significance to the proceedings. Principal Sean Power expressed his pride in the staff and students for their tireless work in ensuring the event was authentic and meaningful. He also praised the school’s Indigenous Student Association for its unwavering commitment to promoting awareness and appreciation for Indigenous Culture.
OCSB Family Welcome Centre
Our OCSB Family Welcome Centre helps newcomer families register their children for school and settle into the Ottawa Catholic School Board community. In the 2022-2023 year, we saw our highest number of registrations, with 1,765 students being welcomed through the centre. Newcomer students and their families enrich our schools through their diverse cultures and lived experiences.
Our Adult Student Community
In June, St. Nicholas Adult High School proudly celebrated the graduation of 266 adult students. These graduates demonstrated perseverance and determination, which enabled them to achieve their high school diplomas. The school also held a special celebration for Classroom Supervisor Training Program graduates, attended by staff and Ben Vallati, Superintendent of Continuing & Community Education. This program was introduced in the fall of 2022 as part of Adult Learning & Skills Development to train Classroom Supervisors to provide safe and secure supervision to students in Elementary or Secondary classes in the teacher’s absence.
Ensuring Student Voices are Heard
As members of our OCSB Equity, Mental Health, and Environment committees, our student trustees played a critical role in ensuring that student perspective was incorporated into much of the work done by our central staff. Throughout the year, our student trustees also made it a priority to listen to the student community. In addition to regular meetings with the student senate, they visited several high schools to learn about each school’s achievements and needs from a student perspective. This resulted in them developing a set of guidelines to provide student councils with information to assist when interacting with their school administration, especially when dealing with conflicts, and to improve the overall environment within the school.
Engaging and Supporting Our Parent Community
The OCSB is fortunate to have three active board-wide parent organizations that keep parents informed and champion their interests. The Catholic School Parents’ Association represents our school councils and provides all parents with education, information, and communication. The Parent Involvement Committee acts in an advisory capacity to support and encourage parent engagement. The Special Education Advisory Committee provides essential advice on matters regarding special education. In 2022-2023, these organizations partnered with each other and with OCSB staff to keep our communities informed and engaged. Board staff supported CSPA by regularly contributing to their monthly newsletters for parents and assisting with publicizing their activities. Over the year, the parent groups facilitated 17 events for parents and families, with 23 individual parent sessions and over 1300 registrations. OCSB staff presented at several of these events and provided practical resources for parents.