Guidance provides a welcoming environment which is open to all students who are in need of academic, post secondary or personal counselling.

The Guidance Counsellors, Mrs. Pender and Mr. Valliquette, are available to help students in a variety of areas including course selections, post-secondary preparation, career planning and study skills. Course calendars from all Ontario colleges and universities, as well as many out of province post-secondary institutions are available for student use and can be found within the guidance office.

Children and youth spend a great deal of their lives at school; struggling with a mental health issue can affect their school life. They may behave in different ways with teachers and classmates, have difficulty making friends, or avoid going to class. Having difficulties can affect their grades. All of these issues can make things worse for them.

SJHS is dedicated to supporting the mental health of students by promoting positive mental health, identifying students at risk, and helping them to get the support they need. Some of the many school based services we can connect students with include:

• Addictions counselling

• Social worker

• Psychotherapist

• Mental health nurse

Each teenager has his or her own unique interests, goals and strengths. Every student should have the same opportunity to succeed and graduate from high school. That’s why SJHS works with each student to improve his/her learning experience from Grade 8 to 12. Our goal is to help all students build a promising future for themselves.

Mr. Tim O’Connor is the Student Success teacher at SJHS and works collaboratively with individual students, teachers, guidance, and parents/guardians to ensure that students meet wth success whenever possible. Mr. O’Connor (or “Mr. OC” as the kids call him) is the dedicated adult primarily responsible for the academic support of students at risk. His areas of focus include:

• Identify, track and monitor the progress of students considered “at-risk”

• Work with school teams to develop strategies to support students “at-risk” and inform and communicate with all partners

• Ensure that at-risk students are accessing the appropriate programs and receive the necessary support

• Meet with teachers of the students at-risk to setup intervention strategies, monitor academic progress

• Deliver instruction to at-risk students through Credit Recovery and/or other interventions

• Inform the principal and the Student Success Team on the work being done with individual students, work with Administration, Guidance and Special Education to promote and ensure alignment of services for students at-risk.

Information coming soon.

To ensure that ALL students are able to participate in extracurricular activities regardless of where they live, SJHS offers a late taxi service on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays. Students can sign up in the office for late transportation and the taxi service will drive them directly to their doorstep!

Late taxi slips are available at the beginning of lunch on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays.

You will need to get a signed White Taxi Form to be able to take a late taxi home from any school sanctioned after school event.

You must take the taxi directly to your own home.

Late Taxi pick up is in front of the school at 5pm.

Find the taxi driver who is going to your town.

Give the taxi driver your White Taxi slip that you received in the office.

If you need to cancel the taxi after purchasing:

It is your responsibility to call the taxi company and cancel the taxi. And it is your responsibility to bring back the white slip to the office to give it to Mrs. Briscoe.

Vincent’s Taxi Phone: 613-432-2921

Using the Late Taxi service provided by St. Joseph’s High School is a privilege.

Food for Learning programs are vital as numerous studies have proven that when children and youth are provided with the proper nutrition, there is an impact on their cognition, behaviour and academic performance.

When a student arrives at school hungry and participates in a student nutrition program, they will maximize their learning potential through the school day. We know that students in our area arrive hungry for a variety of reasons – poverty, rushed mornings, long bus rides, etc. Regardless of the reason, we aim to minimize the hunger faced by children and youth in Renfrew County each day.

The Food for Learning program is offered daily in our school in the form of a snack program. Students are free to help themselves to a variety of snacks, including but not limited to: granola bars, fresh fruits, yogurt tubes, muffins, scones, cheese, and crackers. All snacks are approved by Canada’s Food Guide and are nut-free.

Backpack food programs provide nutritious, non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food to students to ensure they get enough food on weekends and holidays to avoid hunger when they can’t depend on school snacks. Every backpack food program is unique to the community and school it serves. By providing kids with the nutrients they need when they’re away from school, they show up on Monday morning healthy and ready to learn.

If you would like to be a part of this program, please contact Mrs. Pender @ [email protected] or 613-432-5846 X232