What is the High Performance Athlete (HPA) Program?
A specialized, cooperative education program, for students who are competing at the provincial, national and/or international level. In HPA, students practice and demonstrate, through a cooperative education program, the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom, to their training/competition setting.
The HPA program is made up of:
- the HPA cooperative education course; and
- a subject-related course.
A student may earn up to two co-op credits for each subject-related course they take. There is no limit to the number of credits a student can earn through cooperative education (Co-op) programming as long as you have a related course to link the Co-op to.
HPA co-op is the same as any other curriculum course:
- it is taken for either a semester/full year; for 1 period, 2 periods (half day); or 4 periods (full day);
- it has curriculum expectations;
- work is assessed by the Co-op teacher and the placement supervisor (in this case the coach or trainer);
- it meets the requirements for an OSSD and/or SHSM diploma
Who is it for?
HPA is co-op programming tailored to meet the learning needs of students who are committed to focusing on their long term career objectives while accommodating competitive training needs. Criteria for consideration/acceptance into HPA programming is based upon:
- eligibility of the sport based on Board Qualifying Eligibility Document*
- level of competition (provincial, national or international);
- the # of hours committed to training;
- the learning needs of the student;
- training season;
- completed application process; and
- a program readiness assessment.
- Coaches Reference Form
To access HPA programming students must apply for Co-op and have a pre-placement interview with the teacher.
Students and their parent/guardians must commit to the protocols set out in the HPA Protocol Agreement
*Please speak to your school's Co-operative Education Head for qualifying sports.
What are the benefits of HPA programming?
HPA programming provides students with an opportunity to:
- access individually tailored Co-op courses
- earn credits towards their OSSD while training and competing.
A listing of schools which offer the HPA program can be found on the Secondary School Programs at a Glance page.
Who do I see in the school for more information about the HPA program?
See the Co-operative Education Head or Guidance/Career Education Head in your school.
More information