Embedded Files
Who are we?
Twin Rivers Education Centre (TREC) is located in the territory of the Secwepemc Nation, specifically the territory of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc People. As stated in the 2021/22 TREC School Learning Plan:
Twin Rivers Education Centre (TREC) is designated a Type 3 Alternative Education School. Alternate education programs focus on educational, social and emotional issues for students whose needs are not being met in a traditional school program. An alternate education program provides its support through differentiated instruction, specialized program delivery and enhanced counselling services based on students’ needs. Students who attend alternate education programs are often the most vulnerable population in the school system. Alternate education programs have disproportionate numbers of children and youth in care, Aboriginal students, children and youth living in poverty or the street, gifted children who have difficulty in social situations, children and youth involved in drugs, alcohol and the sex trade, and youth with mental health concerns. Alternate education programs offer an opportunity for these vulnerable and at-risk students to experience success. (TREC School Learning Plan, 2021)
Although TREC is diverse program comprised of 14 programs in 9 different sites, this website is exclusive in scope to the onsite TREC high school program at 675 Holt Street.
Our Staff
Our Staff
TREC (675 Holt) consists of consists of 6 full-time classroom teachers, 2 school counsellors, 3 Certified Education Assistants (CEAs), 2 administrators, 2 office support staff, 1 Aboriginal Education Workers (AEW) and 1 Aboriginal Family Liason.
Our Students
Our Students
Twin Rivers Education Centre is alternate education school campus for students ages 14-19 with a current erollment in May 2021 of 205 students. Each student in our school has an individual Student Learning Plan that is unique to his/her/their needs and is reviewed by our school based team several times throughout the year.
In B.C., alternative schools have a very unique structure from mainstream education settings. In our alternative school setting:
Students work at their own pace through course material.
They are assigned to a block to complete work independently with assistance from their course teacher.
Every block has up to 15 +2 students who may be working on a variety of different courses and grade levels (9-12) within that same block.
The majority of our learners are also vulnerable to issues with addictions, mental health, trauma, poverty, and housing/food insecurity.
TREC is often the "last resort" for many of these students, who have struggled to cope in the mainstream school setting.
We aim to offer "wrap around" education opportunities that consider the whole learner.
They have flexible access to counselling, cultural, and outside agency support within their school timetable.
Non-attendance and school avoidance is often the leading pre-curser that has mainstream school's referring students to us. Therefore, one of our main goals is to improve attendance and we must continually evaluate our programs and look for creative ways to keep our kids attending school and connected to a healthy community.
Indigenous Learners at TREC
Currently, 49% of our student population declare aboriginal ancestry in our TREC programs. Achieving parity with the indigenous graduations rates and non-indigenous graduation rates is always at the heart of our practise. Our Aboriginal Education Worker and Aboriginal Family Counsellor support are essential to the indigenous learner at TREC and we continue to build connections with local Indigenous community members as well. We aim to show commitment to Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) and the Calls to Action for Students, specifically:
The need to develop culturally appropriate and relevant curricula (10. iii); and
Youth and young people “must have a strong voice in developing policies, programs, and practices” (66) (Smith, 2018)
Our School Learning Plan specifically addresses an obligation to Local Education Agreement (LEA), including:
• Increasing the sense of identity, belonging and pride in all Aboriginal students.
• Connecting students the concepts of Mastery, Belonging, Generosity and Independance.
• Increasing Aboriginal students sense of belonging, including sense of place, personal and cultural identity and self-esteem, in a caring, safe and inclusive environment.
• Meeting the cultural needs of Aboriginal students in all aspects of learning. This includes resources, strategies and assessment (TREC SLP, 2021).
Community Partners
Annually, TREC partners with over 30 community agencies to ensure supports are provided for the myriad of needs our students are presented with on a daily basis., including agencies like LMO, SCFS, Boys & Girls Club, MCFD, CYMH, the Phoenix Centre, Active Care, A Way Home, The Youth Shelter, The YMCA, Open Door, RCMP, Youth Probation, Parkview, Kamloops Centre for Sexual Assault, John Howard Society, United Way, IHA, TRU, and many others. Through partnerships and government grants we are better equipped to handle the "human and emotional needs" of our learners so teachers and staff can support the "educational needs."
Click here to learn more about the inquiry behind the CONNECT program :
Resources
Carmichael, C. (2021) Twin Rivers Education Centre School Learning Plan. Retrieved from https://www.sd73.bc.ca/en/schools-programs/resources/SLP/TREC_2021-2022.pdf
Smith, J.; Brown, A. 2018. Community-Led Learning (CLL): Trans-systemic Spaces in Indigenous Education. Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation.
Page updated
Report abuse