PLANNING A PROGRAM OF STUDY
We suggest students follow these guidelines when selecting courses:
Choose a broadly based, balanced program in order to be well versed in many areas and to allow for a change of direction in your program to support possible changes in career goals
Choose courses at the highest level of difficulty at which you can work effectively
Plan your program as far into the future as possible
Many subjects such as mathematics and languages need to be taken in continuous sequence since they are built upon skills learned the previous year
Seek advice from your teachers and your Guidance Counsellor. Your Guidance Counsellor offers information on universities, colleges, and careers. Personal counselling, interest inventories, etc are also available. Course transfers during the year are also done through the Guidance Counsellor.
THE SEMESTER SYSTEM
Durham Christian High School operates on a semester system. Students take four courses from September to January and another four from February to June. Our music program runs courses as full year credits with the majority of class time outside of the regular school day.
THE CREDIT SYSTEM
Durham Christian High School is registered as a private school with the Ontario Ministry of Education and is authorized to issue the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The school curriculum is organized along the lines of the credit system as are all the Public and Roman Catholic Separate High Schools in Ontario. The credit system is a means of promotion based on achievement in individual subjects rather than on overall achievement in a grade. A credit is earned for successful completion of a course for which 110 hours of study are scheduled. A course is successfully completed if the students obtains a final mark of 50% or better in that course. Similarly you could earn 1/2 credit for a course designed to be only 55 hours.
COURSE LEVEL DISTINCTIONS
The courses in grades nine and ten recognize that students enter high school with different gifts, abilities and goals. You can take courses that are suited to your needs and that gradually help you work toward your goals through an increasingly specialized four year program. In grades nine and ten, courses are designated as APPLIED, ACADEMIC or OPEN. In disciplines such as the arts, health and physical education and business studies all students will take the same type of course. In the core subjects however, students will be able to choose between two different types of courses, ACADEMIC or APPLIED.
APPLIED Courses: focus on practical applications and concrete examples. They cover the essential concepts of a subject. Knowledge and skills will be developed through both theory and practical applications. In applied courses, familiar, real-life situations will be used to illustrate ideas and you will be given more opportunities to experience hands-on applications of the concepts you study.
ACADEMIC Courses: draw more heavily on theory and abstract examples and problems. In an academic course, you will learn the essential concepts of a subject and explore related material as well. Although your knowledge and skills in a subject will be developed through both theory and practical applications, the emphasis will be on theory and abstract thinking as a basis for future learning and problem solving
OPEN Courses: in Grades 9 and 10 these are courses for all subjects other than those offered as applied and academic. An open course in a subject has one set of expectations for that subject at the grades 9 and 10 levels and is appropriate for all students. These courses are designed to provide students with a broad educational base that will prepare them for their studies in grade 11 and 12 and help prepare them for their role in society.
Course Calendar
Parent Handbook
Student Handbook
