Welcome to the Ottawa Technical Secondary School website. We offer career and technological education to students interested in skilled trades along with specialized program classes for students with exceptionalities.
We would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather and learn is the traditional, unceded, and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe People. As we learn together, we honour and respect the generations of Algonquin People who have been the stewards of this land. We must fulfill our obligation to fight against the harm done to Indigenous people by the education system as we work to heed the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We are fortunate to work with Jasmine Doig who is the Indigenous Graduation Coach at OTSS. Jasmine has extensive experience working in the community and is dedicated to supporting students in their learning. This year OTSS is thrilled to host the first Inuktitut language classes in the province of Ontario. This is one step forward in the process of reconciliation.
Our focus is supporting students as they prepare for the opportunities that await them after high school. Whether honing the skills needed in state-of-the-art technology and skilled trades classes or learning the subtleties of relating with one another, our students are becoming every day! Who they become is up to them; they have the agency to chart their own pathways. Our mission is to support them and to be there for them as they take risks, sometimes fail, learn, and try again in the process of human development.
We are grateful to serve inspiring students at Ottawa Technical Secondary School. Our school is really two amazing schools integrated into one whole aligned in our sense of purpose. We offer many specialized program classes for students with exceptionalities and we offer a credit program for students who are passionate about technology and the trades. Our school offers many rich learning opportunities for students with a focus on experiential education as well as authentic career-building opportunities including Specialist High-Skills Majors, Co-op, OYAP, and college pathways. As a Trades and Technology School, students can pursue classes in Transportation, Construction, Hairstyling and Aesthetics, Hospitality (Baking and Culinary Arts), Manufacturing & Welding, Health Care, Design and Communication Technology (including 3D Printing, Digital Media, Graphics, and Photography).
As a school community, we are committed to supporting all students. Our purpose is to engage in relationship-based learning while we create eight conditions for achievement: safety, co-regulation, belonging, engagement, positivity, identity, meaning, and mastery. We are committed to learning more about all of our students - their multiple identities, strengths, gifts, and ways we can better support their learning - with humility and gratitude.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to your children’s teachers, student services, or the administration at any time. Working collaboratively with guardians and parents is critical to student success and we value all that you share with us.
Sincerely,
Graham Schuler, Matt Armstrong, and Jason Rama
The Grateful Administration of Ottawa Technical Secondary School