Student Success

About Student Success

St. Mary Catholic Secondary School Student Success is an innovative program aimed at helping all students achieve their potential and succeed in their educational journey. Student Success Teachers play a key role in supporting school-wide efforts to improve outcomes for students who are struggling with the secondary curriculum and may be at-risk of not graduating or receiving certification for their achievements. Direct support to these students is provided in order to improve attendance, retention and achievement rates. In addition, Student Success Teachers work closely with parents and the community to support meaningful learning opportunities for students. Student Success Teachers are an integral part of the school's Student Success Team, which includes Guidance and Special Education Teachers, child and youth counsellor, school nurse, school administration and other identified personnel.

The student success office at St. Mary is located on the first floor in room 102 right beside student services. You may contact Mr. D. Pados or Mr. P. Aref at 905-528-0214, extension 3437.

The St. Mary student success office is a place where students who are identified as in-risk of not graduating are invited to access extra supports. The office is a welcoming environment with a computer and resources conducive to learning. This office is also used for the Credit Rescue Program. Credit rescue is a program in which students attempt to catch up in currently scheduled courses that they are not passing at midterm. The student success teacher will support these students as they attempt to improve their grade in an effort to achieve success in all of their courses. Students may be removed from their class for a short period of time in order to catch up on the missed work. The Student Success Teacher works collaboratively with the Classroom Teacher in rescuing credits that are in jeopardy. Students are recommended for the program by their Classroom Teacher. Students are also encouraged to drop in on their lunch to complete these missed assessments.

The purpose of the Student Success Team is to:

- Identify and track students who are in need of assistance.
- Make sure students identified are placed in the correct level according to their individual capabilities.
- Decide appropriate interventions to assist the student.
- Liaise with student, teacher and parents.
- Oversee the credit rescue program.
- Develop initiatives to support and promote student success.
- Assist in transition between grade 8 to high school.

The Student Success program supports that clear indicators of achievement which promote academic excellence take place in an appropriate and challenging environment in which members of the St. Mary Catholic Secondary School community exemplify the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Student Success Teachers

Mr. D. Pados
Mr. P. Aref

OSSLT Spring Administration 2023

Here are a couple of links to help you prepare for the literacy test:

OSSLT myClass Site (LMS) https://hwcdsb.elearningontario.ca/d2l/hom ...

EQAO Online Practice https://d1c1qqn86e6v14.cloudfront.net/#/en ...

Mathify – Free Math Tutoring Support for Grade 4-12 Students

TVO Learn Mathify is an innovative software tool provided by TVO and the Ontario Ministry of Education. This site is safe, free and focuses on live mathematical help for Ontario students in Grades 4-12. This enriched online classroom tool provides a seamless learning experience for students, as well as providing live math tutoring with Ontario Certified math teachers.

To support learning at home and in class, tutors are available online Monday to Friday from 9 am to 9 pm ET, and Saturdays and Sundays from 3 pm to 9 pm ET. Boost your child’s math understanding and confidence with a personalized math coach that works with your schedule.

Students must first register with their teacher, then they can choose a tutor and start immediately. Once accounts have been created in class, your child can easily access TVO Learn Mathify on their myClass (LMS) page.

This Ministry and HWCDSB initiative are part of an effort to fill the gap in learning and strengthen mathematical skills.

For more information, parents can visit https://www.tvomathify.com/parents

Self-Care 101

Self-care is an important part of wellness and even more important when we go through difficult and stressful times in our lives. Take time to look after yourself so that when difficult situations happen, you will have the necessary energy, resources and strategies to help you get through it!

SMHO (School Mental Health Ontario)

Self-Care-101 by SMHO.pdf

Mathify (formerly known as Homework Help)

Support math learning at home. Mathify (formerly known as Homework Help) is an innovative platform provided by TVO and the Ontario Ministry of Education.

A complement to existing math lessons and practice, TVO Mathify connects students in Grades 6-11 with free 1:1 online math tutoring. All tutors are Ontario Certified Teachers, here to help the student(s) in your life better understand math concepts and questions, from the simple to the complex.

TVO Mathify is designed to address your child's individual learning style. It’s safe, secure and free for all Grade 6-11 students enrolled in Ontario’s publicly funded English-language schools.

Introduce your child to a personal math coach today. Introduce TVO Mathify. This year, Mathify has expanded to include students from Grades 6 to 11. Tutors are available online Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday from 3:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Students can create a personalized math portfolio that transitions from in-class to at-home directly through myClass/LMS.

For more information, click on the link below.

TVO Mathify Info.pdf

At school, at home, at play…your child’s numeracy skills are always developing

At home, there are a lot of things you can do to help develop your child’s numeracy skills, here are just 6:

- Help your child develop a growth mindset about math.

- Talk about math and point out ways you use math everyday. Do math out loud. Add, subtract, multiply, divide, estimate…do it out loud so your child can hear your thinking.

- Play games that involve math with your child. Games that use dice and spinners (e.g., hide and seek, hopscotch, Snakes and Ladders, Sorry, and Trouble) help with counting. Games using playing cards (e.g., Snap and War) help with comparing and ordering numbers. Games that use strategy (e.g. Guess Who, Checkers, Labyrinth, Sequence, and Chess) help develop logic. Puzzles, Tangrams, Blokus, Nowhere to Go, Pentomino, Rush Hour, Q-Bitz, and Tetris help develop spatial reasoning. Monopoly and Life help with currency. Battleship helps children get familiar with the coordinate grid system.

- Make fractions part of your daily life. Use them when cooking, dividing up a cake, comparing who ate the most pizza…

- Point out patterns everywhere…in nature, shapes, floor tiles, numbers, cell phone plans…

- Read stories to them with math themes (refer to the “Link to Literacy”).

At Home Online Engagement and Support

There are a variety of online programs that can promote a love of mathematics and provide support for children. Here are a few that are available to the students of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board:

Prodigy (https://www.prodigygame.com/):
Prodigy is an online math game that allows your child to develop his/her numeracy skills while exploring various magical worlds. While most children have been given an account by their teacher, parents are able to link to their child’s account to view his/her progress.

SuccessMaker (http://successmaker.hwcdsb.ca):
SuccessMaker (also known as Home Grown Math Success) is an adaptive online Math program for Grades 1 to 8 students that is aligned to the Ontario curriculum. If you are interested in having your child work on this program, please contact your child’s teacher.

e-math+ (http://mynelson.com):
e-math+ is designed to support grade 3 to 6 students on their mathematical journey. It contains a variety of tools, such as videos, virtual manipulatives, and a glossary, that are helpful for children and parents as they work through their school work. Students access their e-math+ accounts from the mynelson.com website and log in using the information provided by their teachers.

Mathify (Click the Mathify icon within myClass):
Mathify (formerly known as Homework Help) is an innovative platform provided by TVO and the Ontario Ministry of Education. This site focuses on mathematical help for Ontario students. It is an enriched online classroom tool providing a seamless learning experience for Grade 7 – 10 students, as well as providing live after-school math tutoring with OCT math teachers.
Ontario Certified math tutors available 5:30-9:30pm ET, Sunday to Thursday.

For more ideas to help develop your child’s numeracy skills and online resources, please check out the PDFs below.

Developing Numeracy Skills At Home.pdf

Link Numeracy to Literacy.pdf

St. Mary's Breakfast Program

Monday to Friday from 7:30 AM to 8:25 AM in Room 128.
Every student is welcome to enjoy a free breakfast! What's the catch? None!
Be kind, courteous and respectful and don't forget to say thank you!
Eating a nutritious breakfast gets your body and brain going so you can do well in school.

Brought to you by St. Mary's Student Success Department and Staff.

The Ontario Educational Resource Bank

http://resources.elearningontario.ca

The Ontario Educational Resource Bank includes more than 29000 resources for K-12 students. The OERB can be used by students to keep up with lessons if they are absent (search by keyword for the topic covered in class that day), to establish background knowledge of content/concepts prior to learning about it in class (this is a proven learning strategy that is especially helpful for the struggling student). Setting up prior knowledge is key to student understanding of new material. The OERB can also be used to review difficult concepts covered in class. For username and password, please see a student success teacher.

Ministry Resources

To access the ministry's resources on student success, please visit the Ontario Ministry of Education website at: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teachers/stud ...

Please refer to the attached documents for more information.

Ontario Bullying We Can All Help Stop It EN.pdf

Ontario More Ways to Succeed.pdf

What You Need to Graduate Secondary School.pdf

Pathways to Success

Visit http://www.pathtosuccess.ca for resources in helping you choose your path!
You can find course offers and program information, pathway destinations, career exploration resources, career assessment resources and community employer resources.