Parent Engagement

Durham District School Board (DDSB) recognizes the importance of partnerships with parents and guardians in creating positive learning environments. The School Community Council (SCC) is an advisory body that makes recommendations to the Principal and school board to further student achievement and well-being. Every school in the DDSB has an SCC. The SCC is made up of parents, school staff and community members and should represent the diversity of the school community.

Parent Involvement Committee

The Durham District School Board’s Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) is calling for applications for two volunteer Parent/Guardian Representatives from all areas - Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, the North schools (Brock, Uxbridge Scugog). Expressions of interest for the role of Community Representative from all areas will also be accepted. Successful applicants will commit to a two year term.  

The PIC’s primary role is to support, encourage and enhance parent engagement at the board level to improve student achievement and well-being. This purpose is achieved primarily by providing advice on parent engagement to the board, communicating with and supporting School Councils and undertaking activities to help parents/guardians support their children’s learning at home and at school. The PIC strives to maintain a balanced representation from across the region. Regular PIC meetings are held in person and virtually four times per school year.

Join our School Community Council

To join the SCC as a voting member at your school, contact the school Principal. You will need to fill out a nomination form in September. All members of the SCC are elected within the first 30 days of the school year.  SCC Meetings are scheduled Tuesday evenings near the end of each month from 6:00 - 8:00 pm.  Meetings are typically located in GLR's Library but will be held virtually until further notice as follows:  September 21, 2021, October 26, 2021, November 30, 2021, January 25, February 22, 2022, March 29, 2022, April 26, 2022, May 31, 2022, June 28, 2022.  Please email Glrobertscvi@ddsb.ca to rsvp for a meeting the week prior to the meeting date.  We look forward to seeing you.

School Community Council Handbook

Read the Durham District School Board School Community Council Handbook for more information about SCC organizational guidelines, tools and resources. You can also visit the Ministry of Education's website for more information about school councils.

SCC brochure

Frequently Asked Questions brochures are available in the following languages:

• SCC Brochure – Arabic
• SCC Brochure – Bengali
• SCC Brochure – Chinese
• SCC Brochure – Dari
• SCC Brochure – English
• SCC Brochure – Farsi
• SCC Brochure – French
• SCC Brochure – Gujarati
• SCC Brochure – Hindi
• SCC Brochure – Punjabi
• SCC Brochure – Romanian
• SCC Brochure – Russian
• SCC Brochure – Spanish
• SCC Brochure – Tamil
• SCC Brochure – Urdu
• SCC Brochure - Vietnamese

Meetings

SCC meetings are open to the public, but only those who are elected members will have a vote. Meetings are held at least 4 times each year.

Regional SCC meetings

Regional SCC meetings take place throughout the year and provide SCC members an opportunity to attend workshops and exchange ideas with SCC members from other schools in the DDSB. The Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) plans and executes the Regional SCC meetings with input from school community councils.

SCC guidelines, policies, and regulations

School Community Councils follow these guidelines and regulations:

• DDSB SCC Accounting Guidelines
• DDSB SCC policy
• DDSB SCC Election Framework
• DDSB Volunteer Programs in Schools Procedure
• DDSB Fundraising Regulation

Parent Reaching Out Grant (PRO Grant)

Apply for the Parent Reaching Out Grant through the Ministry of Education. This funding supports initiatives that get parents involved in student learning.