Close
Skip to Content
HDSB Logo
Main menu icon
I'd Like to...
  • Access eLearning courses
  • Apply for a Job
  • Find Adult and Continuing Education
  • Find My Local School
  • Find Student Busing
  • Get Homework Help
  • Pay Online
  • Register My Child for School
  • Rent School Space
  • Report A Student Absence
  • Request a Transcript
  • Resolve an Issue/Concern
  • Transfer within the Halton District
  • Volunteer
Alerts
  • Parents
    • Absence Reporting - SchoolMessenger
    • Calendar
    • Get Involved
    • Health and Well-Being
    • New to Halton
    • Register My Child for School
    • Special Education Programs and Placements
    • Welcome to a New School Year
    • Before and After School Care
    • COVID-19
    • Halton Community Resources
    • Human Rights & Equity
    • Pay Online
    • Report Cards
    • Technology & You
    • Why Choose HDSB?
    • Bus Cancellation and School Closure – Inclement Weather
    • Find My Local School
    • HDSB Mobile App
    • Kindergarten
    • Privacy and Freedom of Information (FOI)
    • Safe Schools
    • Transportation
  • Students
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • COVID-19
    • Graduation Requirements
    • High School Info Night
    • International Students
    • Safe Schools
    • Student Senate
    • Welcome Centre for Newcomer Students
    • Calendar
    • Environmental Leadership
    • Halton Cloud
    • Homework Help, Guidelines and Tools
    • Library Services
    • Secondary School
    • Transcript Requests
    • Community Involvement Hours
    • Expelled or Suspended Students (H.O.P.E.S.)
    • Health and Well-Being
    • Indigenous Rights & Education
    • Online Resources
    • Student Excellence Awards
    • Virtual Learning
  • Schools
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • Distribution of Materials to Schools
    • Information Technology in Schools
    • Program Accommodation Studies
    • Rent School Space
    • School Construction Projects
    • School Hours
    • Transfer Schools within the HDSB
    • Who to Contact
    • COVID-19
    • Find My Local School
    • Our Schools
    • Register My Child for School
    • School Boundary Reviews
    • School Enrolments
    • Secondary School
    • Transportation
    Image School Listing
    School Listing
  • Learning and Resources
    • Adult, Alternative and Continuing Education
    • Curriculum
    • English Language Learners-ELL
    • French
    • International and Indigenous Languages Elementary
    • Library Services
    • Secondary Education and Pathways
    • Virtual Learning
    • Arts Programs
    • De-Streaming
    • EQAO
    • Health and Physical Education
    • Kindergarten
    • Literacy & Math Resources
    • Special Education Programs and Placements
    • Before and After School Care
    • Elementary Education Programs
    • First Nation, Métis and Inuit Students
    • Innovation in Education at the HDSB
    • Learning & Tutoring Opportunities
    • Prior Learning Assessment
    • Summer School
  • Our Board
    • 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan
    • Board of Trustees
    • Contact Us
    • Get Involved
    • HDSB Employee Groups
    • How to Resolve Issues and Concerns
    • Labour Updates
    • Policies and Administrative Procedures
    • Accessibility
    • Budget and Financial Information
    • Departments
    • Halton Learning Foundation
    • HDSB Student & Staff Census
    • Human Rights & Equity
    • Livestream
    • Publications
    • Administration and Superintendents
    • Careers at the HDSB
    • Director's Cut - Videos
    • Have Your Say Survey
    • HDSBcares
    • Indigenous Rights & Education
    • News
    • Reimagine Forward

Acton High School’s Foundations program gets students on solid footing through college partnership

subnav icon More
Home/Our Board/Board of Trustees/Previous Director’s Annual Report 2014-2015/Acton High School’s Foundations program gets students on solid footing through college partnership/
Decrease Text Size Default Text Size Increase Text Size
Print Link
Share Link

More in this Section...

  • Board of Trustees
    • Accessibility Plan
    • Audit Committee Agenda and Minutes
    • Board Agenda and Minutes
    • Board By-laws
    • Board Committee Agenda and Minutes
    • Board Improvement Plans
    • Confirmation
    • Correspondence from the Chair of the Board
    • Delegating the Board
    • Director's Annual Report 2017-2018
      • A Message From The Director 2017-2018
      • Awards For Students, Staff & Schools 2017-2018
      • Engagement and Achievements 2017-2018
      • EQAO 2017-2018
      • Equity And Well Being 2017-2018
      • Facts About HDSB 2017-2018
      • Financial Expenditures 2017-2018
      • Stewardship and Resources 2017-2018
      • Student Scholarships
    • Director's Annual Report 2018-2019
      • Annual Report Highlights
        • Engagement and Achievement
        • Equity And Well-being
        • Stewardship and Resources
      • Awards For Students, Staff & Schools
      • EQAO
      • Facts About HDSB
      • Financial Expenditures
      • Senior Administration Team
    • Director's Annual Report 2019-2020
      • A Message from the Director 2019-2020
      • Annual Report Highlights 2019-2020
        • Awards For Students, Staff & Schools 2019-2020
        • Development of Strategic Multi-Year Plan
        • Engagement and Achievement 2019-2020
        • Equity & Well-Being 2019-2020
        • Stewardship & Resources 2019-2020
        • Support for Learning and Teaching
      • Facts About HDSB 2019-2020
      • Financial Expenditures 2019-2020
      • Senior Administration Team
    • Director's Annual Report 2020-2021
    • Director's Annual Report 2021-2022
    • How to Become a Student Trustee
    • How to Resolve Issues and Concerns
    • Inspire Awards
      • Inspire Award Recipients
      • Inspire Awards Recipients 2016-2017
      • Inspire Awards Recipients 2017-2018
      • Inspire Awards Recipients 2018-2019
      • Inspire Awards Recipients 2019-2020
      • Past Inspire Awards Recipients
      • Past Inspire Awards Recipients
    • Municipal Election 2018
    • Previous Director’s Annual Report 2014-2015
      • Acton High School’s Foundations program gets students on solid footing through college partnership
      • Anne J. MacArthur PS opens today to students and staff
      • Bruce Trail Public School takes a unique approach to math instruction
      • Early reading intervention program proving very successful
      • Halton District School Board Grade 9 students perform well in math testing
      • HDSB at a Glance
      • HDSB students continue to perform well in Grade 10 Literacy
      • Helping Students
      • Hundreds attend Mental Health Symposium
      • Hundreds of students attend Making The Change conference
      • Métis flag-raising ceremony honours Louis Riel Day
      • Operating Expenditures 2014-2015
      • Our System
      • Pan Am/Parapan Am Games athletes, mascot inspire students this week
      • Parent involvement remains key to child’s math development
      • REACH program provides mental health and academic support
      • Senior Administrative Team
      • Smart Inclusion Project engages students with intellectual disabilities
      • Staff to acquire 21st century learning skills through upcoming symposium
      • Supporting Staff
      • Welcome to HDSB
      • Young females introduced to Girls in Technology Transition program
    • Previous Director's Annual Report 2015-2016
      • A message from the Director and Chair
      • Awards for Students, Staff and Schools
      • Brookville PS receives a Premier's Award for Accepting Schools
      • Brookville, Sam Sherratt PS collaborate to better understand differing perspectives
      • Bruce Trail PS exceeds goal and collects 80 backpacks for newcomer families
      • EQAO Results
      • Facts about HDSB
      • Financial Expenditures
      • Georgetown District High School students create a ‘charter’ to champion rights of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples
      • Halton District School Board welcomes Syrian refugees
      • Halton schools incorporate unique teaching approach to address student behaviourial challenges
      • Helping Students Succeed
      • Lakeshore teacher Stacey Falconer plans hands-on, engaging learning for her Special Education students
      • Learning and Support for Staff
      • Lynn Wisniewski receives Ontario School Library Association Award
      • Math coaches help students gain confidence in mathematics
      • Math symposium for parents equals great success
      • Mental health wellness event in Georgetown draws hundreds of students
      • Michelle Newlands named among top 40 principals in Canada
      • New Advanced Manufacturing Program to fully launch in September 2016
      • New construction Specialist High Skills Major program helps students build employable skills
      • Optimizing System Initiatives
      • Park Public School invigorates classroom learning with a stationary bike
      • Ruth Teszeri receives 2015-2016 award for Excellence and Innovation in Mathematics Education
      • Sandra Dubreuil wins Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan award
      • Senior Administrative Team
      • Syrian refugee families enjoy first day of school
      • Two Charles R. Beaudoin PS students win awards at RBG art show
      • Two public schools celebrate official openings
      • Welcome Centre enjoys successful official opening celebration
      • White Oaks Secondary School wins a national debate title
    • Previous Director's Annual Report 2016-2017
      • A message from the Director
      • Awards for Students, Staff and Schools
      • Engagement and Achievement
      • EQAO
      • Equity and Well-being
      • Facts about HDSB
      • Financial Expenditures
      • Senior Administrative Team
      • Stewardship and Resources
    • SEAC Agenda and Minutes
    • Trustee Expenses
  • 2018-19 Budget Input
  • 2019-20 Budget Input
  • 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan
  • A to Z Services
  • Accessibility
  • Administration and Superintendents
  • Budget and Financial Information
  • Careers at the HDSB
  • Contact Us
  • Departments
  • Director's Cut - Videos
  • Get Involved
  • Halton Learning Foundation
  • Have Your Say Survey
  • HDSB Employee Groups
  • HDSB Human Rights Symposium
  • HDSB Human Rights Symposium
  • HDSB SCERTS Workshop
  • HDSB Student & Staff Census
  • HDSB Student Census
  • HDSBcares
  • How to Resolve Issues and Concerns
  • Human Rights & Equity
  • Human Rights & Equity Advisor
  • Indigenous Rights & Education
  • Labour Updates
  • Livestream
  • Multi-Year Plan 2016-2020
  • News
  • News All
  • Policies and Administrative Procedures
  • Provide Input on Distance Learning
  • Publications
  • Reimagine Forward
  • Search
  • Sign In

Quick Links

  • Board Meeting Schedule
  • Careers at HDSB
  • Departments
  • myHDSB
  • News
  • Trustees
  • Who to Contact

Page Image

Page Content

​​Education Matters /​June 2015

ACTON High School has partnered with Mohawk College on a dual credit re-engagement program calledFoundations, and it’s helping students re-enter secondary school with greater confidence. 

Foundations is designed to re-engage senior students who require credits to graduate high school and help them be eligible for college. 

Any person who is behind on credits and disengaged from school can apply for the program. A team including classroom, student success and guidance teachers, and administration assess the needs of the student. They help determine if the program is appropriate for a student depending on their needs and interest, their compatibility with the group and the likely pathway they would choose after completing high school.

Mohawk College is offering an introduction to construction program. Through Foundations, students, for example, can work on a Habitat For Humanity home or on community garden projects for the college to gain construction knowledge in order to transition to Mohawk.

By the end of a semester, students will have had the opportunity to earn three high school credits, one college credit, their required 40 community hours, and a recovery of credits that had not been completed prior. The nameFoundations was specifically chosen to represent the building of a home, in which one builds the house from the ground up.

“This is a great hands-on experience for students,” said Foundations teacher Matthew Jones. “We wanted to offer the students the opportunity to see that college may be the right pathway for them.”

Teacher Mike Tew explained the attraction of the re-engagement program is that some students who may not necessarily view college as an option may feel differently once they have enrolled in Foundations.

“We want to spark interest in otherwise disengaged senior students,” he said, noting students have put to the test their understanding of power tools by building wooden paddles and a picnic table. 

Jones said the Foundations experience is effective because cross-curricular projects that develop skills relevant to the workplace can help motivate students.

Added Tew: “This program helps students regain confidence re-entering school and opens their minds to the possibilities of applying to college. Also, because it functions as a smaller class with around 15 students, there is more opportunity for personal attention. The program has given many opportunities to students they wouldn't otherwise have including working with Habitat for Humanity, development of a community garden, and learning employability skills and training.”

Student Ryan Payne encourages young people to seriously consider Foundations as a viable educational pursuit.

“It’s helped me appreciate school again,” he said, calling this semester the “best ever.”​​​


Board Office

Halton District School Board
J.W. Singleton Education Centre
2050 Guelph Line
Burlington, Ontario, L7P 5A8

Numbers

Phone: 905-335-3663
Fax: 905-335-9802

Links
Email Us
A to Z ServicesAccessibilityContact UsTransportationFeedbackStaffCareers
​​​​​​​​© 2023 Halton District School Board, 2050 Guelph Line, Burlington, ON, Canada L7P 5A8, Phone Switchboard: 905-335-3663

Auto Attendant: 905-335-3665, ​Toll Free: 1-877-618-3456, Fax: 905-335-9802