Outreach Alternate Secondary, located in the annex at Maple Ridge Secondary School, is a district-wide alternate program for academically capable 16- to 19-year-old students taking grades 10, 11 and 12 classes.
Our population consists of students from throughout the district who have fallen behind in their schooling largely due to past attendance problems and who now find themselves motivated to complete their high school education.
The program is designed to help students overcome the things that prevented their success in a mainstream school, including addiction issues, poverty issues, anxiety/depression/mental health concerns, school work avoidance, deaths of loved ones, work commitments, sleeping disorders, teen pregnancy, being overwhelmed by 8 courses and 8 teachers, etc.
Outreach Alternate Secondary (OAS) operates on a trimester system and is the only high school in the district not on a linear timetable.
Real classes are taught and students choose from courses that are offered specifically to meet the needs of the student population term-by-term.
Each student is on their own schedule, choosing the classes they need, at times that fit their life.
Classes are two hours in length, starting as early as 10:30 a.m. and running as late as 6:30 p.m. Outreach accepts new students during three intake periods per year and advertises in local newspapers and places information posters in local community centres, youth centres and other high schools.
Outreach offers many opportunities for success. While students are held accountable for their attendance, and may be asked to re-enroll in future terms for classes after too many absences, they are able to make up for any missed work during our tutorial times.
Outreach students also learn about and connect with the larger local community through our Planning 10 classes and our Physical Education Program.
As part of Planning 10, students go through an 8-session Personal Accountability and Achievement Program with help from the Ridge Meadows Youth and Justice Advocacy Association.
Our PE classes are held at the public Maple Ridge Leisure Centre, with students choosing whether they want to take part in an aerobics class, play a sport in the gymnasium, use the cardio or weight training equipment or go for a swim.
