Community Involvement Requirements

The Ministry of Education requires students to fulfill a minimum of 40 hours of Community Involvement before graduation to receive the OSSD. If a student arrives from outside Ontario and starts at The York School on or after January 1 of their Grade 10 year, 20 hours of Community Involvement will be required. 

Successful completion of both the Literacy Test and the 40 hours of Community Involvement will be recorded on the Ontario Student Transcript. Service Learning is an important component of our Senior School. The IB also requires students to perform meaningful service, as part of the Service as Action (SA) component in the MYP and the Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) component in the DP.

The York School strongly recommends that students perform a total of 40 hours of community involvement in their first two years of high school. Students in Grades 11 and 12 in the IB DP are required to perform regular meaningful service experiences over an 18-month span as part of their CAS Program. They are required to plan, act, observe and reflect upon their experiences.

York Students volunteering at the TDSB’s Beverley School which serves students with exceptionalities

The Director of Student Life and Belonging and the CAS Coordinator act as resources in helping students to find meaningful service opportunities in and outside the school. The Student Council’s Co-Directors of Community Service are also active in organizing student participation in service activities. In-school opportunities may include organizing fundraising for various charities, awareness campaigns, student-coaching, peer-tutoring, and mentoring younger students. Local non-profit organizations offer a wide variety of service opportunities which students may seek out and participate in. 

Students in Grades 9-12 use an online software to record their community involvement hours and reflections; this is backed by the school’s database. Students use ManageBac, an online software platform that allows students to develop a portfolio of their experiences (https://york.managebac.com/login). Students involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Program also use the Duke of Edinburgh Award online record book (http://onlinerecordbook.org/). The system is checked regularly to ensure that students are engaging in safe and meaningful activities. Approval of activities is given by a student’s teacher advisor, in consultation with the CAS Coordinator and Principal

The Ontario Ministry of Education's List of Ineligible Activities

The ministry has developed a list of activities that may not be chosen as community involvement activities and that are therefore ineligible activities. An ineligible activity is an activity that:

  • is a requirement of a class or course in which the student is enrolled (e.g., cooperative education portion of a course, job shadowing, work experience);

  • takes place during the time allotted for the instructional program on a school day. However, an activity that takes place during the student's lunch breaks or “spare” periods is permissible;

  • takes place in a logging or mining environment, if the student is under sixteen years of age;

  • takes place in a factory, if the student is under fifteen years of age;

  • takes place in a workplace other than a factory, if the student is under fourteen years of age and is not accompanied by an adult;

  • would normally be performed for wages by a person in the workplace;

  • involves the operation of a vehicle, power tools, or scaffolding;

  • involves the administration of any type or form of medication or medical procedure to other persons;

  • involves handling of substances classed as “designated substances” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act;

  • requires the knowledge of a tradesperson whose trade is regulated by the provincial government;

  • involves banking or the handling of securities, or the handling of jewellery, works of art, antiques, or other valuables;

  • consists of duties normally performed in the home (i.e., daily chores) or personal recreational activities;

  • involves a court-ordered program (e.g., community-service program for young offenders, probationary program).