To Graduate with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma four things are required:

1. 30 Credits:    There are currently TWO different education policies to earn your OSSD.

If you started grade 9 in 2024 or later years  (17 compulsory/13 electives)

If you started grade 9 prior in 2023 or before ( 18 compulsory/ 12 electives)

2. Pass the Ontario Literacy Test or take the Ontario Literacy Course.

3. Complete 40 hours of Community Involvement.  Students may submit any completed hours at any time of year. Students can exceed the 40 hour requirement.

Submit Volunteer Hours Here

The Tracking Sheet is not longer submitted to the PHS Guidance Office. It is a helpful tool for students to track details of volunteering when adding them to their resume.

4. Online Learning Requirement – 2 credits  Beginning with students that entered Grade 9 in the 2020-2021 school year, students must earn at least two online asynchronous credits to earn their OSSD.  If this learning method is not well suited for the student, parents may sign an Opt-Out form. Opt-Out forms can be submitted online using School Day.  They also can be picked up in the PHS Guidance Office, the PHS Main Office, the Learning Resources Room 115 and the Student Success Room 113.

Due to Covid:  During the 2022-2023 school year the Ontario Government gave permission for these three activities to be acceptable volunteering activities where they normally would not be accepted:

1. Activities that take place during the time allotted for the instructional program on a school day (e.g., walking a younger neighbour or sibling to and from school, helping
younger siblings with their homework)
2. Activities that include up to 10 hours of paid work  (e.g. grocery work during the pandemic).
3. Activities that consist of duties normally performed in the home (e.g., students could help an elderly relative with errands, provide after-school care for a sibling)

Your parents would be used as your “community sponsor’s name” if you are using the tracking form, with either their phone number or their email address. Again parents usually cannot be your community sponsor but for these 3 activities, they can be.