Toronto-based Onestop Media is extending its reach into Toronto high schools with a new partnership with the Toronto District School Board.

The media co has signed a deal with the board to place its digital communications network into four downtown schools, including Harbord Collegiate, Central Technical School, Central Commerce Collegiate and Heydon Park Secondary.

The network will be used to introduce real-time communications into the schools and will feature content such as student news reports, safety and security information and school announcements. Staff and students can upload their own videos, images and text directly into the LCD screens to update their own content.

Partnership and sponsorship opportunities for brands or organizations that are complementary to the school environment are being developed for the pilot project, Michael Girgis, president and CEO, OneStop MediaGroup, tells MiC. Details of brands on board are not yet being revealed, but Girgis said they are organizations with which OneStop and the TDSB feel comfortable with, and that they fall within the categories of government and post-secondary education.

The goal of placing the network in the high schools was to use media to speak to students in a way that is increasingly relevant to their lifestyles, a release announcing the new network stated. Eventually, developing content for this type of media may become a part of the curriculum.

‘Today’s youth are tech savvy,’ Chris Bolton, TDSB vice chair, said in a release. ‘This project engages them through their own media environment but also challenges them to be involved in their school and community. Learning has become more relevant using the technology and is reflective of their interests and those of their community, which also shares the benefits of this new communication piece in the Toronto District School Board.’