Provincial and Demonstration Schools in Ontario
Provincial Schools and
Provincial Demonstration Schools:
- are operated by the Ministry of Education;
- provide education for students who are deaf or blind, or who have severe learning disabilities;
- provide an alternative education option;
- serve as regional resource centers for students who are deaf, blind, or deaf-blind;
- provide preschool home visiting services for students who are deaf or deaf-blind;
- and provide learning materials and media for students who are deaf, blind, or deaf-blind;
- provide school board teachers with resource services;
- play a valuable role in teacher training.
The Board document, Special Education Programs and Services: Parent Guide, prepared by Dufferin-Peel provides information for parents about the Provincial and Demonstration Schools throughout Ontario. General descriptive statements naming the categories of exceptional students for whom these residential and/or day placements are designed, are followed by the names, addresses and phone numbers of the specific schools for these identified students.
Hearing and vision staff and Special Education Consultants facilitate visits to the provincial schools.
School for the Blind and Deaf-Blind
W. Ross Macdonald School is located in Brantford and provides education for students who are blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind. The school provides:
- a provincial resource centre for the visually impaired and deaf-blind;
- support to local school boards through consultation and the provision of special learning materials, such as Braille materials, audiotapes, and large-print textbooks;
- professional services and guidance to ministries of education on an interprovincial, cooperative basis.
Programs are tailored to the needs of the individual student and:
- are designed to help these students learn to live independently in a non- sheltered environment;
- are delivered by specially trained teachers;
- follow the Ontario curriculum developed for all students in the province;
- offer a full range of courses at the secondary level;
- offer courses in special subject areas such as music, broad-based technology, family studies, physical education, and mobility training;
- are individualized, to offer a comprehensive “life skills” program;
- provide through home visiting for parents and families of preschool deaf-blind children to assist in preparing these children for future education
Provincial Schools for the Deaf
The following Provincial Schools offer services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students:
- Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville
- Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf in Milton
- Robarts School for the Deaf in London
- Centre Jules-Léger in Ottawa
Admittance to a Provincial School is determined by the Provincial Schools Admission Committee in accordance with the requirements set out in Regulation 296. These schools provide elementary and secondary school programs for deaf students from preschool level to high school graduation. The curriculum follows the Ontario curriculum and parallels courses and programs provided in school boards. Each student has his or her special needs met as set out in his or her Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Schools for the deaf:
- provide rich and supportive bilingual/bicultural educational environments which facilitate students’ language acquisition, learning, and social development through American Sign Language (ASL) and English;
- operate primarily as day schools;
- provide residential facilities five days per week for those students who do not live within reasonable commuting distance from the school.
Each school has a Resource Services Department which provides:
- consultation and educational advice to parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children and school board personnel;
- information brochures;
- a wide variety of workshops for parents, school boards, and other agencies;
- an extensive home-visiting program delivered to parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing preschool children by teachers trained in preschool and deaf education.
Demonstration Schools
Each provincial Demonstration School (4) has an enrolment of forty students. The language of instruction at the Amethyst, Sagonaska, and Trillium schools is English; at Centre Jules-Léger, instruction is in French. Application for admission to a provincial Demonstration School is made on behalf of students by the school board, with parental consent. The Provincial Committee on Learning Disabilities (PCLD) determines whether a student is eligible for admission. Although the primary responsibility to provide appropriate educational programs for students with learning disabilities remains with school boards, the ministry recognizes that some students require a residential school setting for a period of time. The Demonstration Schools were established to:
- provide special residential education programs for students between the ages of 5 and 21 years;
- enhance the development of each student’s academic and social skills;
- develop the abilities of the students enrolled to a level that will enable them to return to programs operated by a local school board within two years.
In addition to providing residential schooling for students with severe learning disabilities, the provincial Demonstration Schools have special programs for students with severe learning disabilities in association with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD). These are highly intensive, one-year programs.
The Trillium School also operates Learning for Emotional and Academic Development (LEAD), a special program for students with severe learning disabilities who require an additional level of social/emotional support.
An in-service teacher education program is provided at each Demonstration School. This program is designed to share methodologies and materials with teachers of Ontario school boards. Information about the programs offered should be obtained from the schools themselves.
