December 1, 2005 - Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy announced the Ontario government's new Parent Involvement Policy intended to make it easier for all parents to participate in their child's education and future success.  Click here for the press release.

The Parent Voice in Education Project report was released publicly on April 25, 2005.  Click here for a copy.

March  2006 - Ministry of Education memo to all school council chairs.  Funding transfer announced to support school boards and school councils towards the goal of building capacity and initiatives to further involve parents in education. (Francais)

November 2005 - For attendees of The Quest for Communities That Work and YRDSB School Council Forums, click here for key links.

September 2005 - This school year brings new research and new evidence that school councils can impact rates of parental involvement.  See the new article on managing volunteers.  

Executive Director Completes Master of Education

Gord Kerr, the Executive Director of the Ontario School Council Support Centre completed a Master of Education at Nipissing University in the fall of 2005.  Gord's focus was to explore the field of parental involvement from a parent's perspective and research methods to enable parents and educators to collaborate for student success.  

New Research Report Available

Stimulating Parent Involvement to Stimulate Student Success is a condensed version of a Masters Research Paper proving the ability of school councils to have an impact on rates of parental involvement.  This paper was presented at The Quest for Communities that Work in Richmond Hill in November 2005.  This proves the theory outlined in the Royal Commission on Learning published in Ontario in late 1994. 

Expanded Links Section

EQAO, People for Education and several others are now available on the links page.

Eight Types of Involvement Framework Now On-Line

Basic information about each of the eight types of involvement developed for Ontario are now contained within the research section.  Click here to go to the main page.  This work is adapted from the work of Dr. Joyce Epstein's six types of involvement framework but contains some extensions and modifications for use within the context of Ontario.

Ministry Handbook Published (2001)

The Ministry of Education released an updated handbook for all school councils in the province.  Several were sent to every school but the Ministry is inviting councils to obtain copies for all of their members.  To do so, fax a request on school letterhead to Dyment Distribution Services at (416) 421-1231.  To download a copy, visit the links page.

Seeking Success Stories

Do you have a School Council success story to share.  Send an e-mail to gkerr@schoolcouncils.net with highlights of why your School Council is such a success.  It may be included in an upcoming e-newsletter, or be posted here on this site.  Include the words 'success story' in the subject line.

Welcome to the New Ontario School Council Support Centre

Vandorf, Ontario, June 1, 2001:  The Ontario School Council Support Centre officially opened it's doors today, to address many of the key needs identified by school councils over the past five years.  The Centre will provide support to school councils through access to timely and independent information, methods for improving the effectiveness of school councils and methods for focusing school councils on student learning.   

The Centre will operate primarily through the web  support Principals, school council chairs and members with information, ideas and examples from around the province of Ontario.

The Centre's mission is to enhance student learning in Ontario by significantly advancing the effectiveness of the school council system.  

It is a research centre containing material prepared by Gord Kerr, the Centre's volunteer Executive Director.  Kerr has an extensive background in Ontario's school council system and is currently completing a Master of Education at Nipissing University focused entirely on advancing the effectiveness of Ontario's school council system.  Gord speaks on the topic frequently to groups of parents and educators.   

Web Changes

Since this is a new site, there will be many changes coming over the next few months.  Some of the resources for this site are still being prepared, but will be made available as soon as they are ready.  Please drop by again soon.

If you find a 'bug' please let the webmaster know - he'll be only too happy to try to correct it.

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Last modified: September 13, 2007