87
Schools
48,655
Students
5,007
Full-time employees
$716.9M
2024-25 Operating Budget
Our Strategic Commitments
Our Strategic Commitments guide our school communities in building a nurturing and supportive learning environment that embraces community, wellness, and innovation. We use these commitments as building blocks to provide our staff with a solid foundation to live out our vision and mission and to prepare our students to be compassionate, engaged citizens. As a Catholic school board, we pride ourselves on being a big board with an even bigger heart. Be Community, Be Well, and Be Innovative are integrated into everything we do.
Be Community
Embracing diversity and inclusion while promoting equity, we are guided by faith-based Catholic social teachings and learning partnerships that create safe and welcoming places for all.
Be Well
Honouring the dignity of every person, we care for and support the well-being of all. As Catholic educators, we believe every human being has inherent dignity and is made in God’s image and likeness. This fundamental concept is at the core of everything we do in OSCB schools.
Be Innovative
We foster innovation through Deep Learning so that all can realize their full potential. Our Deep Learning approach fosters skills and competencies in a supportive environment that integrates technology and innovative teaching methods.
Our Strategic Plan provides a vision for the Board by establishing strategic direction and emphasizing student achievement. This multi-year plan collectively guides our words and actions as we continue to build safe, caring, inclusive, faith-filled environments dedicated to equity and well-being and Deep Learning opportunities for students.
The Board’s Student Achievement Plan (SAP) flows out of the Strategic Plan. These documents outline our priorities and goals for performance measures, evidence-gathering methods, and targets for improvement.
Our Spiritual Theme
In the Ottawa Catholic School Board community, the Spiritual Theme unites all community members as people of faith. These themes encourage us to dig deeper into applying the messages of God’s Word to our lives.
This 2023-24 school year marked the third year of our Spiritual Theme, “Gratitude Rooted in Joy Fills Us With Hope.” Our focus this year was on Hope. Hope is a powerful and positive virtue that renews our mind, body, and soul. This is rooted in God’s love, and Hope has the power to transform our lives and the lives of those around us. This school year brought renewed hope for students and staff as we celebrated well-being, innovation, and community.
Our Focus – Deep Learning & Global Competencies
Deep Learning is an educational philosophy that creates a foundation for success, emphasizing real-world learning, where students engage in meaningful projects and problem-solving activities that connect classroom learning to global issues. Deep Learning transforms the educator’s role into an activator who designs experiences that build on six global competencies: citizenship, character, communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Our Board implements this approach across all grade levels, allowing students to continue to develop these skills throughout their education. We consider these global competencies a guiding light that helps develop well-rounded individuals capable of thriving in a connected world.
Character is one of the more apparent skills that a child will need throughout their whole life. This skill describes how a child interacts with others in the world and produces important traits like perseverance, resilience, humility, and kindness.
Communication is an essential skill that will help a child interact with others, express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. This skill also allows a child to understand others and involves using a variety of tools and mediums to connect with the right audience
Citizenship is the skill that allows a child to connect with people with diverse world views and perspectives diplomatically. People who master this skill are engaged members of society who contribute to improving our world for the benefit of all.
Creativity is a valuable skill that God has placed in each of us. It allows a child to take an idea and turn it into a reality. This skill is developed when a child is encouraged to “think outside the box,” be resourceful, and take risks to come up with innovative ideas and solutions to problems.
Collaboration is a skill that allows a child to work well with others. A successful collaborator knows how to offer their unique talents and abilities while accepting, valuing, and building upon the strengths that others bring to the table.
Critical thinking is the ability to thoughtfully evaluate information and arguments by seeing patterns and making connections. This skill is becoming more and more important as information becomes easier to access and will help a child apply information and knowledge in the real world.