Enhanced programs at secondary schools of the Peel public board and the Dufferin Peel separate board

The policies for enhanced programs in secondary schools differ greatly between the Peel public board and the Dufferin Peel separate board.

To take part in an enhanced program, a student must have the designation of gifted and be provided the placement through an IPRC. ABC Peel can provide suggestions on assessments and the IPRC process. IPRCs are arranged through the principal of the student's school.

The Secondary Curriculum

The Ministry of Education has no formal recognition of enhanced programming, which are therefore locally developed and based on the Ministry "academic" courses. The enhanced programs in the Peel and Dufferin Peel boards are described below.

Curriculum books for secondary are available at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/.

To order hard copies from (416) 325-2929, press 1 for English, and 1 again for staff to take your order. If you press 3, there is information on secondary correspondence courses.

Regional Enhanced Programs at Five Peel Secondary Schools

Five Peel secondary schools are designated regional centres and provide enhanced programming from Grade 9 through to graduation.

The enhanced subjects vary from centre to centre, and are based on the number of identified enhanced students in each school, their interests, and the capacity of the school to meet those interests. Details are provided in each school's course calendar, but typically the enhanced core for each year, grade 9 to OAC, includes English, History or a senior Social Studies, Science (or Physics, Chemistry and Biology in senior years), and Math (then Algebra & Geometry and Calculus). The enhanced content of each course depends on the department head and the teacher of the course.

From 2001/02 onwards, the Grade 9 and 10 enhanced programs in your "local" secondary schools were cancelled. Therefore students qualified and wanting enhanced secondary schooling must go to the regional centres listed below.

Where are the Peel Regional Enhanced Centres?

The Peel regional enhanced secondary schools, and their approximate geographical areas, are:

• Lorne Park - south and south west Mississauga
• Woodlands - north and west Mississauga
• Glenforest - east Mississauga
• Heart Lake - Brampton/Bramalea and Malton
• Humberview - Caledon

The Peel board provides busing to these regional centres, based on the usual distance criteria. The geographical boundaries or catchment areas for each regional centre are based on the "home" secondary school and each school can provide details.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) Program

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is available through Turner Fenton and Glenforest in the Peel public board, as well as at the Dufferin Peel separate board schools at St Francis Xavier (south of 401) and Notre Dame (north of 401). The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a pre-university course with examinations, which meets the needs of highly motivated students. The IB is designed as a comprehensive two-year curriculum that allows its graduates to fulfil requirements of various national education systems, the diploma model is based on the pattern of no single country but incorporates elements of several. For further details, contact the three schools mentioned above and see http://www.ibo.org/ibo.

ABC Peel recommends that students carefully consider the implications of the IB, its content and prescriptive course structure. Gifted students often develop new interests as they move through high school. Therefore the range and flexibility of enhanced courses may be more appropriate, particularly if they are supplemented with APs.

AP's at Glenforest Secondary

In September 2000, Glenforest started a new program for Advanced Placement (see at www.ap.ca and www.collegeboard.org/ap/students/index.html), which supplements its regional enhanced program. More details on the Glenforest enhanced/AP model are available by contacting ABC Peel. Parents at the other regional enhanced centres might want to consider working with school department heads and teachers, as well as the principal, to see if APs might be introduced more widely.

Secondary Programs for Gifted at Dufferin Peel Separate Board

The Dufferin Peel separate board secondary schools do not have programs for the gifted other than the IB mentioned above. Note that the IB is only available for grades 11 and 12, though there is a grade 10 pre-IB course required.

Under provincial regulations, students can attend secondary schools at either the public or the separate boards, irrespective of their school tax status or where their younger siblings attend school.

What to Look for in a Secondary Program

ABC Peel is recommends that, before making choices, parents and students look carefully at the comparative advantages of

1. regular academic classes in the local secondary school;
2. regional programs such as the arts at Cawthra Park and Mayfield, and international business at Gordon Graydon;
3. International Baccalaureate programs at Turner Fenton, Glenforest, St Francis Xavier, and Notre Dame;
4. regional enhanced at one of the five regional centres; or
5. regional enhanced at one of the six regional centres, supplemented with Advanced Placement exams.

The differences and their longer-term benefits are very important. Often these choices should be reviewed as early as Grade 6. Courses at the regional enhanced intermediate schools (Grades 7 and 8) prepare students for enhanced programs at secondary school, build a peer group, and often provide a sound transition from elementary to secondary school.

Rev2006-08

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