Principal Message
As February unfolds, we begin to see signs of spring on the horizon which is a reminder that growth and renewal are just around the corner. This is a great time for students to reflect on their progress, set fresh goals, and embrace new opportunities in their learning journey. Our dedicated teachers and staff are here to support our students.
Final exam Dates
We have added June 18th to our exam schedule for grade 12 students. We will be running Senior level exams on that day. Exam dates are June 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25. Exam schedules will be emailed to all students on or before March 31st, 2025.
OSSLT Dates
VLC students who are in grade 10 (born in or before 2009) and who are enrolled in their grade 10 English course are encouraged to write the OSSLT. Instructions for signing up has been shared with families via email. Please note that the OSSLT is a graduation requirement.
March break
March break this year is from March 10 -14. During this time our teaching staff will not be available as this is also a time off for the. Classes will resume on Monday, March 17.
Taking Courses Elsewhere
If a homeschooled student is taking courses with the Virtual Learning Centre and would like to enrol in courses from other programs that are privately or publicly funded, including the Independent Learning Centre (ILC), our office needs to be notified ahead of time. Failure to do so may result in withdrawal from our program.
When a student completes any external credits, they must upload the final report card to their Student Profile, so the office can help them keep track of their OSSD requirements and ensure they have prerequisites for future courses. Given that many of our students are homeschooled, it is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to keep track of their OSSD requirements but our office can provide support along the way. Our guidance counsellor will share resources with students that will help them keep track of these requirements and they can provide assistance with course selection, and pathway planning and eventually support them in the graduation and post-secondary application process.
Any external credits completed (outside of the VLC) will not be added to the student’s status/credit counselling sheet or the Completion of Requirements for Graduation page of our VLC final report cards until a student’s graduating semester with the VLC.
Honorlock
Please note that all exams will be proctored with HonorLock. For more information visit their website (https://honorlock.com/students/).
Graduation Date
Our graduation is scheduled for June 26 at 1 pm at our office 230 Angeline Street South, Lindsay, ON More details will be shared with graduating students in the coming weeks.
Graduation Requirements
A reminder all students graduating with an OSSD require 30 credits, a successful OSSLT test and 40 hours of community service hours.
Full Disclosure date
Students in senior courses (grade 11/12) have until April 24th at 4:00 pm to withdraw from a course without the course showing up on a transcript. Students will receive their midterm report cards beforehand.
College and University Acceptance
Congratulations to many of our students who have received early acceptance into their desired university and college programs. A reminder to review all policies of the institutions you are accepting offers from so that you are fulfilling the proper requirements by the end of June. We are very proud of the incredible offers coming in for our VLC grade 12 students.
Community Involvement Hours
Please be advised that all students graduating from an Ontario secondary school must complete 40 hours of community involvement as a graduation requirement. Volunteering with a suitable organization is a vital component of this mandate. We encourage students to aim for 10 volunteer hours annually during their enrollment with VLC. For detailed information on community involvement requirements, please visit: Ontario High School Volunteer Hours.
Some Examples include:
Help the elderly, sick, isolated, disabled, or disadvantaged in organized settings or on an individual basis.
Work for non-profit organizations.
Serve as a youth leader.
Work for service clubs, community organizations, and church groups.
Tutor/mentor.
Work in the public sector (e.g. community policing, hospitals, schools, libraries).
Community development and beautification of environmental concerns.
Ambassadorship work for political parties/causes.
Coach, referee, scorekeep.
Guidance
A reminder that students can book a guidance appointment with Mrs Marshall to discuss pathway planning using the Guidance course. The guidance course is available on every VLC students dashboard in Canvas. Helpful modules, forms and webinars for each grade can also be found in the zoom recording section.
Great Grain Challenge
The high cost of living is a burden for many families and individuals living in Ontario. The G7 Student Senate of the Trillium Lakelands District School Board has recognized this growing need, and the extreme demands placed on Food Banks to meet this crisis, by organizing an initiative called “The Great Grain Challenge”. The Virtual Learning Centre is part of the G7 Student Senate and is included in this challenge. Despite our student population being spread across Ontario, we believe that being virtual isn’t a limitation, rather an opportunity to contribute to food banks across the province. This is because the issues related to food insecurity go beyond the TLDSB area and are common to all communities in Ontario.
Following the March Break, students will be encouraged to contribute non-perishable foods, with an emphasis on whole grains, or monetary donations to their local food bank. More information will be provided in the Student Guide about the documentation process for keeping track of individual donations. The total amount of donations will be tracked for each school, and the school with the most donations per student will be acknowledged board wide. Our goal is for the equivalent of every student at VLC to contribute at least one whole grain product to their local Food Bank. Let’s work together to help our communities through this time of need.
Registration information
We are excited to announce that we will be launching a new student portal. This new portal will include access to see previous courses, student notes, student documents and exam and course schedules.
Our new student portal and registration will be launching for current students starting on March 4th at 10:00 AM. This is going to be opened by grade with the dates listed below. If a student tries to register on a day before the registration has opened for them they will not be able to start a registration. Regardless of what grade level courses a student is taking, registration can only be done by date of birth. Students will be able to log in to the new student portal by accessing our website and clicking on the new student portal button.
Registration Dates
- Current Grade 12 (born on or before Dec 31, 2007) students will register on March 4th @ 10 am.
- Current Grade 11 (born on or before Dec 31, 2008) students will register on March 5th @ 10 am.
- Current Grade 10 (born on or before Dec 31, 2009) students will register on March 6th @ 10 am.
- Current Grade 9 (born on or before Dec 31, 2010) students will register on March 7th @ 10 am.
- New Students to VLC will be able to register starting March 19th @ 10 am.
Included in the new portal will be our new registration process. There are 2 steps for all students to complete the registration process. Historically students have reviewed information and selected courses all at once. This is no longer going to be the process.
Step 1
Step one will be to review your current personal information and provide updated documents for the 2025-2026 school year. Once all information has been confirmed by the student and documents uploaded it will be reviewed by our staff. This process of review can take up to 15 business days and will be reviewed on the order they were submitted. You may also be contacted during this time if additional documents are required. To see a list of required documents please visit our website.
Step 2
Once all documents are received and verified by our office staff students will be notified via email that they can now select their courses. They will then log in to the student portal and the link for selecting courses will be on the landing page.
Meet the teacher night
An email will be going out to families by Friday with information about Parent Teacher Night this week. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with teachers, get to know them, and share information about your student’s learning needs. This is meant to be a brief discussion about student achievement.
Here are the key details:
Date: Wednesday, March 5
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Duration: Each interview will be 5 minutes long
Location: Virtually in Zoom
Summer School 2025
VLC will not be running summer school.
Please contact Mrs Marshall for summer school opportunities beginning April 3.
School News and Dates
Parents are encouraged to check our website regularly to keep up to date with school news. Important school dates can also be checked on our website using the Calendar menu.
Technical Support
If students are having technical difficulties they can open a support ticket in Canvas by using the Help menu on the left-hand side and choosing “Report a Problem”. This will go to our support team and a solution will be emailed to the student’s VLC Gmail address.
