Smart Start

Be Future Ready!

What is Smart Start?

Take control of your high school experience with our innovative, technology-fuelled cohort program. Our dedicated team of expert teachers will show you how to make your mobile and computing devices work for you as you become creative, problem-solving, and empathetic leaders.

Technical Skills

Build a rich toolbox of transferable technical skills through coding, design, podcasting, and more.

Leadership

Discover your innate leadership qualities. Build better self-awareness and self-confidence.

Empathy

Understand the experience of others and apply it to human-centred design.

Pathways

Focused program pathways help you plan for high school and beyond.

Our Program

Design thinking. Collaborative learning. Problem solving. Community partners. State-of-the-art facilities. Have a look at what Smart Start is all about in this video.

Pathways

You'll begin in Grades 9 and 10 with a package of courses from our dedicated team of Smart Start teachers.

From Grade 11 onward, you can then choose a path towards a Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) in Business, SHSM in Justice, Co-Op, and more.

Check out this chart to see all of the possible programs and pathways enabled by Smart Start.

What's a Specialist High Skills Major?


The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) program helps focus your learning on a specific economic sector or industry in your Grade 11 & 12 years. You'll follow a set of courses, earn valuable industry certifications, and gain important skills on the job through co-op placements.
An SHSM will help you in your transition after graduation to apprenticeship training, college, university or the workplace.

What Moves You?

The highlight of Smart Start is a passion project that combines all of the program's core components: problem solving, design thinking, leadership, business, empathy. What things matter to you? What can you do about it — for yourself and for others?

Program Requirements

Bring Your Own Devices

Participation in Smart Start requires students to bring their own mobile and computing devices. Each student is required to have both:

  • A mobile device (e.g. phone or tablet) with working photo, video, and audio recording capabilities.¹

  • A notebook computer running the Chrome browser.²

Fees

The required program fee is $150.³

Optional enhanced certifications may require additional fees, to be determined.⁴

Additional Details

  1. Appropriate mobile devices include iPhone, iPad, and Android-based phones. Note that Apple hardware running iOS or iPadOS benefit greatly from free content creation apps such as Apple's iMovie and GarageBand. Android-based phones are also acceptable, but have fewer choices due to constant changes in available free or advertising-supported apps.
  2. Appropriate notebook computers include: Windows PC laptops, Apple MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Chromebook. Notebook computers should have working Wi-Fi access. A current version of the Chrome browser is required for use with a wide variety of web apps, such as Google's G Suite.
  3. The program fee of $150 is payable in three (3) instalments of $50 each, due on February 1, April 1, and June 1, 2022.
  4. Additional fees for optional certifications and training will vary. As reference, First Aid Certification during the 2019 cohort year cost an additional $50.

Register Now

Sign up below for Smart Start and Be Future Ready!

Please note that filling out this registration form does not guarantee acceptance into the program. Space in our program is limited and registration is on a first come, first served basis.

Click below to register for Smart Start.

Contact

Program Coordinator
Sheri Burke

525 New Westminster Drive
Thornhill, Ontario L4J 7X3

Phone
+1 905 882 1460

Fax
+1 905 882 5074