The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) offers the Reaching Ahead summer learning program for Grade 8 students looking to get a head start with their high school experience before starting Grade 9 in the fall.
The program helps you make the transition to high school an easier one, allowing you to gain new skills and confidence, make new friends, and learn about pathways through and beyond high school. You can also earn community service hours and earn your first full high school credit when completing the program.
Overview
Reaching Ahead lets you discover and develop workplace essential skills and work habits that help you achieve success when becoming employed.
Program location and times
The Reaching Ahead program follows the summer school schedule, running for 18 days through the month of July. The course starts on Wednesday, July 6th, and the final day is Friday, July 29th. In the summer of 2022, Reaching Ahead will once again be offered at schools with 4 hours of classroom instruction in the morning, and 2 hours of online activities in the afternoon. Locations for the program will be determined by enrollment.
Registration
For assistance at any time, please email: [email protected]
1) For grade 8s in the GECDSB:
Families whose grade 8 student attends a GECDSB school can register for Reaching Ahead by clicking here. A Form will open where the legal guardian or parent can provide consent for the student to take the course; instructions to register for the course will appear after this consent form is submitted.
After successfully registering, we will contact your principal for approval. Upon approval, you will receive a confirmation email in your board email account that outlines next steps for participating. So be sure to check your GECDSB student email account for next steps and information about your summer learning experience.
2) For grade 8 students who are not currently in the GECDSB:
If you are a grade 8 student from another school board, register for Reaching Ahead through an online application here.
Testimonials
Discover what previous Grade 8 students in the past had to say about participating in the program!
Testimonial #1 |
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"The Reaching Ahead program, in my mind, was a great idea to do, to get my first full credit. It was an amazing learning experience to get myself prepared and ready for high school. Some things I enjoyed about the course was the fact knowing that this was going to set me up for high school really well and help me out in the future. It will hopefully give me the feeling of satisfaction after finishing the course. The most valuable lesson from this course would be now knowing how I should manage my time in high school, knowing to not spend all my time doing homework or being on my phone, learning to go out of my comfort zone more often and to meet new people in my community." |
Testimonial #2 |
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"The thing that I enjoyed most about participating in this class was getting a head start on the whole high school experience. I find it amazing how in just a few weeks we were able to get a full high school credit. I also made some friends during the completion of this course and am excited to go to high school with even more friends than I had when I graduated. The thing that I found most valuable in this course was the assignments we had to complete." |
Testimonial #3 |
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"I actually really enjoyed this course. I was wary at first due to this course taking up half of my summer, and I believed that it would be a waste of my time. But I considered the pros and cons and decided that it would probably be best for me in the end if I were to take this course. I was right. This course taught me a lot about high school, jobs and much more. I learned a lot more about high school than I initially knew. I really enjoyed how the school day was only half of a regular school day." |