Welcome to the Richard Pfaff Alternate website!
Richard Pfaff is part of a family of 6 OCDSB Alternate Programs serving 1100 students across the Ottawa-Carleton region and includes our intermediate programs Reality Check and First Place. As you read through the pages of this site, you will learn about our students, our programs, our mission in education and our values.
Alternate programs were developed in Ottawa in the 1980's to remove barriers to success and increase the independence of our students. Students best suited to working in an alternate setting are independent, mature, self-motivated, and respectful of others. In general, our students are seeking to have more control over their own learning while working with their teacher as a coach.
Alternate programs are similar to other Ontario schools. Our students are full-time Ontario students. We follow the same Ontario Curriculum at all grade levels. We evaluate students following Ontario Curriculum Guidelines and Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario's Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12 just like all other schools.
All of our students are working toward an Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Our students pursue the same four major pathways upon graduation: College, University, Employment and Apprenticeships.
Alternate programs are different from other Ontario schools. Firstly, the students call all staff members by our first names because we value trust and relationships. We structure the student timetable differently, so students may complete their school day as early as 1:30 p.m. Students generally have their lunch off-site after the school day so they can possibly work or pursue a co-operative education placement during the afternoon. Students generally work on one course at a time. Students have up to 6 weeks to complete each credit. Students work largely independently, with inter-dependent support, feedback, coaching, and direction from their teacher.
Kevin Gilmore - Principal