On Thursday November 20, 2025, the Upper Grand District School Board and its community partners celebrated the grand opening of the Living Classroom program at Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care Home in Fergus.
The Living Classroom is a unique initiative that provides learners with the opportunity to earn their Personal Support Worker (PSW) certification in a fully immersive healthcare environment. Students actively engage with healthcare clients, staff, and families throughout their certification journey. This partnership is designed to foster a compassionate community of PSWs, equipping them to enter the workforce with confidence upon graduation.
UGDSB’s Director of Education Peter Sovran, Chair of the Board Ralf Mesenbrink, and Upper Grand staff members were joined by representatives from the County of Wellington, Wellington Terrace, and local leaders to celebrate the opening of this immersive program.
This is the second Living Classroom program the UGDSB has opened, following the successful launch of the program at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph (SJHCG) last year. The school board will launch a third cohort at SJHCG in January.
By September 2026, the UGDSB hopes to graduate at least 60 learners from the program, helping to meet the demand for healthcare workers in the community.
What makes the Living Classroom so powerful is the people it attracts. Learners include recent high school graduates, adults changing careers, longtime health-care workers who want to expand their skills, and even current UGDSB staff who see this as an opportunity to grow. Some participants already work at Wellington Terrace and are looking to build new pathways within the organization. Others are beginning an entirely new journey. Every one of them has chosen a career rooted in compassion, dignity, and service.
The aim of the program is to fully support learners in earning their PSW certificate, achieving their OSSD if needed, and upgrading credits while in the program. The board has also created a PSW-to-RPN-to-RN pathway for learners who wish to continue their education.
The Living Classroom program is funded by the Government of Ontario and led by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) through the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (Ontario CLRI), in partnership with the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA).
