GUELPH – Students struggling with substance use will soon have a new place to receive support.
The Grove Hub on Woolwhich Street in Guelph will be home to a new alternative day school set to open in the next few weeks.
It’s a care and treatment program for Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) students in Grades 8 to 12 who are struggling with mental health and addiction.
The program is a partnership between the UGDSB and the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington.
“The program’s goal is to create a safe and inclusive learning space where students can develop the skills necessary to begin the process of attending a community school,” UGDSB spokesperson Megan Sicoli told the Advertiser.
“By offering academic guidance and teaching, alongside mental health and substance use health professionals, students can overcome barriers to attend school, while working on achieving school credits.”
UGDSB administrator April King announced the new school during a special education advisory committee meeting on Dec. 10.
She said the board is launching the program in response to the closing of Portage, a residential youth addiction rehabilitation centre in Elora that included five full-time UGDSB teachers.
Therapeutic and academic support will be provided at the Grove site, with the goal of helping students transition back to their home schools, King said.
“We recognize that there are still quite a few youth out there that maybe haven’t left their basements since COVID,” she said.
“The goal here is to slowly work with them … [some students will] initially just come for an hour at a time and just getting used to leaving their house and having those social skills and receiving that therapeutic support before we provide academics.”
Once students are ready for full days, King said they would transition into a hybrid model, spending some time at the Grove while also taking classes at their home school.
For students in Wellington County, King said the board is exploring remote options. For example, youth in Palmerston may be able to attend the Grove Hub there and connect to the school at the Guelph hub virtually.
“We want to make sure that we’re accessible across the region,” King said.
For more information email april.king@ugdsb.on.ca.
