The Mission of the Support Centre

To enhance student learning in Ontario by significantly advancing the effectiveness of Ontario's School Council system.

To encourage the development of a shared sense of accountability for the public education system - where educators, parents and the community each share some of the responsibility for the effectiveness of individual schools.

Core Beliefs

That School Councils play a vital role in Ontario's education system.

That School Councils must remain focused on student learning at all times to be effective.

That leadership is required to enable School Councils to become highly effective.

That training and development is required for all participants (educators, parents and community members) to enable School Councils to become increasingly effective.

That School Councils are most effective when focused on the three primary vehicles identified in the Road Ahead III by the Education Improvement Commission as follows:

• Fostering parental and community involvement in education.

• Participating in the school improvement planning process.

• Influencing decisions made by Principals and school boards.

That School Councils can become highly effective by leveraging proven techniques for stimulating school, family and community partnerships. 

Key Support Centre Strategies

1.  Provide leadership and support to key stakeholders to enable individuals to develop their school council to it's full potential.

2.  Provide school council leaders, both Principals and Chairs, with the latest educational research to demonstrate effective methods for educators and non-educators to work effectively together.

3.  Provide background information reports on issues common to many schools across the province to eliminate the sense that each school council is 're-inventing the wheel' or operating as an island. 

4.  Demonstrate the potential of the school council system by highlighting examples of best practices from around Ontario and the world. 

5.  Pursue primary research to explore issues of interest to school councils in Ontario.

6.  Develop tools and publications for use by members to assess progress and guide councils forward.

7.  To be of use to Principals, Vice-Principals, Council Chairs, Council Members, Teachers, School Support Staff, Staff Development Offices, and Senior Board Administrators with responsibility for School Councils.

Support Centre Profile

The Ontario School Council Support Centre is a research and support centre operated on a volunteer basis.        

Resources and information provided by the Support Centre are intended to provide impartial, research-based, or experience-based perspectives to enable school councils to become increasingly effective and focused on improving student learning.  

The Support Centre does not intentionally take a position on issues of a political nature.  The Support Centre is designed to provide independent, non-political information.   

The use of information available on this web site becomes the responsibility of the user.  The Ontario School Council Support Centre does not offer legal advice, nor does it warrant or guarantee the results of any action taken as a result of reading material published either on this site, or connected to this site through a link.  

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Copyright © 2001 - 2006 Ontario School Council Support Centre
Last modified: September 13, 2007