About Our School

About Our School

CHSS is a 9-12 dual-track school with a French Immersion Program and offers Sm’algyax and French as second language courses.  Our school is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Ts’msyen and Sm’algyax speaking peoples in the City of Prince Rupert . The school has a diverse multicultural population. CHSS has a strong academic program, a trades program, a highly competitive sports program, and a vibrant fine arts program.

Truth and Reconciliation

Staff Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation:

Our staff commitment to Truth and Reconciliation is built on Relationships, Capacity and łoomsk (respect the land, respect yourself and respect others).

  • Relationships involve: Social/Emotional Learning; Trauma Informed Practice; Identity; relationships to others and self (bias and privilege)
  • Capacity involves: professional learning with students and staff; sharing, collaboration; reflection and change; true history today; support; assessment; and pedagogy.
  • łoomsk involves: rights holders, cultural connections; recognizing Indigenous knowledge in a variety of ways; the importance of language (the language of the territory Sm’algyax and recognizing problematic colonial language)

Anti Racism Commitment

Charles Hays Secondary School is committed to creating a welcoming and equitable learning environment that is responsive and inclusive.

In January 2023, the B.C. government launched the provincial K-12 Anti-Racism Action Plan to support school districts in their commitment to anti-racism initiatives in their school communities. This plan is a multi-year framework to specifically address racism and discrimination in education and to create a culture and climate of belonging for all students, staff, and families. The Action Plan includes six priority areas of action: Community Voice, Removing Barriers, Raising Awareness, Collaborative Change, Capacity Building, and School Support.

The K-12 Anti-Racism Action Plan is designed to improve outcomes for Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour and support sector-wide understanding and growth of anti-oppressive systemic practices and content. The Action Plan provides supports and builds equity-based initiatives to start to address historical and oppressive barriers and lead to student success and ultimately empower students and educators to respond to discrimination.

Our commitment at CHSS is to enact this plan through:

  1. Furthering our learning about systemic racism and what it means to be Anti-Racist
  2. Update our Code of Conduct to reflect the Action Plan
  3. Understanding our shared responsibility in dismantling racism through tough conversations and adopting new approaches.