Blog - Roots to Routes Academy

Is Ontario’s Guidance Counseling System No Good For Black Students?

Guidance counseling is meant to be a bridge between students and their futures, a safe space for them to discuss career paths, solve academic challenges, and access supportive resources.

But for many Black students in Ontario, that bridge feels incomplete, riddled with gaps that leave them stranded. This isn’t about isolated missteps; it’s about systemic flaws ingrained in a system that struggles to serve marginalized communities.

To understand this, we decided to look closely at how Ontario’s guidance counseling operates, and who it’s truly designed for.

You’d be surprised at what we discovered.

5 Reasons To Recover Credits And Reduce Academic Pressure

For high school students in Ontario and across Toronto, academic pressure can feel overwhelming.

Falling behind in credits often leads to stress, self-doubt, and uncertainty about your future. At Roots to Routes Academy, a safe, culturally affirming space for black students in grades 9–12, we believe credit recovery isn’t just about catching up. It’s about reducing stress, rebuilding confidence, and opening doors to brighter opportunities.

Here are five reasons why you should recover dropped credits before your next semester.

How to Improve Your Grades and Recover from a Bad Semester In 4 Easy Steps!

A challenging semester can leave students feeling discouraged, especially when facing systemic barriers like racial bias or a lack of culturally responsive support.

For Black students in Ontario, recovering from poor grades isn’t just about studying harder; it’s about rebuilding your confidence in an environment that sees and supports you. At Roots to Routes Academy, an Ontario-based safe space for Grades 9–12 students, we combine academic excellence with cultural pride to help you thrive.

Here’s how to improve your grades and recover from a bad semester.

ChatGPT in Public Education: Revolutionizes Learning

Blog ChatGPT in Public Education: Revolutionizes Learning July 2, 2024 Share this article: xavier Facebook Twitter Youtube

ChatGPT in Education

ChatGPT is the talk of the decade, shaping how we can simplify communication. It is a software that will explore the internet, and pieces of writing previously written by the user, to produce a human-like response to any question. Now, schools are afraid of how to monitor plagiarism coming from the use of ChatGPT, particularly for the purpose of writing essays. Schools and teachers are in conversation about whether or not this tool should be used at school. Some believe it should be prohibited by students to prevent academic dishonesty while others believe that it should be embraced to help students to become critical thinkers and understand the biases presented within the content ChatGPT creates. All this and more in today’s episode ChatGPT in Education.

Creative Minds

A person with a creative mind is someone who relates their experiences and existing knowledge to create. Creation can take the form of paintings, poetry writing and even math solutions. This means that students need to be taught mathematics in a way that relates their personal experiences to their lived experiences. This and more in today’s episode!

Allyship

You might have seen the analogy of the burning house. This became a trendy way to explain to people why “Black Lives Matter”. Of course all houses matter, but when there is a house on fire and nothing is being done to put it out, it is our responsibility to get help to put out the fire. However, by neglecting to help a neighbour with a house on fire, it may spread to the other houses which would also leave you in a position of need. As Martin Luther King famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. This is the foundation of true allyship.

What is Cultural Literacy?

There are so many components within a language that are organized to evaluate a student’s fluency such as comprehension, reading, writing and oral communication. However, even with all of these aspects fulfilled, you can still be perceived as a foreigner in another country. Even with a perfect accent, you might find yourself feeling like an outsider linguistically. This is because languages are embedded in the culture of a society. Language is a direct reflection of the cultural context of the people. In this episode, we go into cultural literacy and how it impacts our ability to communicate with others.

Classroom Size Matters

As the years progress, classroom sizes have increased steadily to an average of 35+ students. As much as it may be “working” as per the education system it has also caused for many issues among students and staff. Our children deserve to have an environment where they can ask questions, seek support and develop their confidence. However, due to a lack of investments in the education system, our children are left to take the personal initiatives to self-advocate to clarify their understanding. This and more on our episode Classroom Size Matters. Please feel free to reach out to us if you would like to share your feedback on the episode! We would love to make a Part 2 on any other questions that are unanswered!

Is it Mental Health?

This episode is dedicated to all parents who have gone through many hardships and have thrived through it all and yet still don’t understand why their children are having mental health issues and how they didn’t. Well, Korina and Ramya have made it easy to understand in this episode of “Is it Mental Health?” with their 5 step process on how to help your children achieve their full potential! Also, if you are interested in learning more about the Mental Health Line BeanBagChat, please check out their page here.