Senior High Academic Support Program
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PROGRAM FOCUS

• The Senior High Academic Support Program provides small group or individualized instruction to intellectually able students experiencing academic difficulties. The student is enrolled in the regular senior high school program and attends the Academic Support Program for differentiated instruction in core academic subjects.
• A learning disabled student is one who manifests an educationally significant discrepancy between his tested intellectual potential and actual level of performance. This discrepancy may be evidenced in the areas of understanding or using language; spoken or written which in turn may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations.
• The Senior High Academic Support Program serves students who are experiencing learning and/or attention difficulties and as a result are underachieving in core subject areas.
• The thrust of the Program is to:
  • Provide an intensive individualized program primarily in core subject areas.
  • Assist the student in developing a healthy self-concept and a positive attitude toward learning and school.
  • Assist the student in developing a healthy self-concept and a positive attitude toward learning and school.
  • Provide programming in compensatory skills such as organization and study skills.

CITERIA

Teachers, counselors or parents who recognize the student’s need for individualized instruction may request assistance through the school principal. The referring school will then contact the consultant for A.S.P. at Learning Support Services. A complete comprehensive assessment of the student’s strengths and weaknesses will be completed. If the student’s difficulties are of a nature that would warrant placement in the Academic Support Program, enrolment will be recommended. Parental consent is required prior to the student’s placement in the program.


SPECIAL PROJECTS 14 (3 credits)

Course Description
This course would concentrate on learning styles and processes rather than subject area content. The purpose would be to assist students by identifying individual learning styles and developing specific strategies for reading, writing, classroom and home learning, studying, and test writing. A major focus of the course would be to monitor student progress in other subjects and to assist them in developing effective learning strategies and habits which might help them to successfully complete courses and earn credits.

Who would take this course?
There are often students who do not meet the guidelines for the Academic Support Program but are experiencing great difficulty passing courses and need some form of support or assistance. This proposed course is not intended as an Integrated Occupational Program (IOP) or as an alternate way of meeting the needs of IOP students. We believe that those students are best served by a comprehensive IOP program and should be encouraged to follow referral suggestions for the district programs at St. Joseph. We also recognize, however, that some students attending Holy Trinity will need additional help and support even if they do not meet the guidelines for an IOP or Academic Support Program. This course is designed to be taken at the grade ten level so that the skills and habits acquired could be applied by students throughout their high school program. Students in other grades may also be admitted if space permits.

Criteria for Selection
The following are criteria for determining which students will be given priority for enrollment:

Students who received Resource assistance in junior high and have been recommended by both a Resource and classroom teacher; students who were either on modified programs or who received failing grades in at least two core grade nine subjects; students currently experiencing difficulty in high school courses who have been recommended by the classroom teacher

Students whose parents are aware of the nature of the course and are willing to assist by maintaining contact with the teachers and to help monitor homework and attendance

Successful students who would like to enhance their abilities to learn and improve their grades