Hi everyone, I hope all had some meaningful down time during Spring Break and are ready to engage in your studies again! We are down to 10 weeks of classes before the June 13 deadline for course completion this school year. Lots of information for full time high school students at EBUS to be aware of, please make sure you keep on top of the newsletters and announcements. The remaining newsletters will go out by email April 18th, May 2nd and 16th, June 6th and the final one for the school year is June 20th.
REQUIRED GRADUATION ASSESSMENTS
Students graduating under the 2023 graduation program will need to complete a total of 3 assessments to meet graduation requirements; Literacy 10, Numeracy and Literacy 12. These assessments must be written under the supervision of a teacher and are written in high schools across BC.
The next session EBUS will arrange for students is June 2-13 2025. EBUS can help you find a school close by for you to write in. You can register for that HERE by May 12 2025. Someone from EBUS will respond to your request in late May once we hear from schools over the coming weeks.
You can get all the details about the assessments at https://ebus.ca/welcome-package/grade-10-12-homeroomnews/graduation-assessments-provincial-exams/
For the required graduation numeracy and literacy assessments, all BC students will need government issue photo ID. A BCID card or a public school ID card will qualify. If you need a school ID card please send a current colour photo to ebusresources@sd91.bc.ca well in advance of your assessment date.
SCHOLARSHIPS and GRAD CEREMONIES FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING
Every year EBUS has many scholarships and bursaries available for our full-time students who meet graduation requirements by June and the requirements listed in the scholarship booklet. The booklet was released in the homeroom and at https://ebus.ca/2024-25-ebus-scholarship-booklet/ The deadline to apply is April 15. Scholarship winners are announced at our grad ceremonies or contacted by mail after June 23. We strongly recommend all students who will graduate by June apply for any scholarships they are interested in as we often have scholarships not applied for each year.
EBUS is hosting an in person grad ceremony Saturday June 7 at Van Deusen Gardens in Vancouver and Saturday May 31 in Vanderhoof. Unfortunately there was not enough interest for the Kamloops ceremony to run this year and it was canceled. To participate, students need to register and be approximately 75% complete all grad requirements by the end of April.
SUMMER SESSION 2025
EBUS will be running summer session in 2025, info found at https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/summer-program/ Full time or cross enrolled students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with the firm expectation to finish by the end of August. Registration will open May 5 on our website and the list of courses offered will be announced on the website above by the end of April, but generally nearly all courses are offered. Full time EBUS students need to check that the course is listed on our summer session website, and they you can email your advisor after April 21st with the course name to register for a summer session course. It is strongly recommended students take one course only as you will have a very high success rate of completion.
Once registered, the student is immediately put in the course with access to the first unit. Around June 20 the rest of the course will be opened and then on July 2 they will have full teacher supports. As teachers return to their regular school year job in early September, it is essential students finish their course by the end of August. Note that due to ministry policy, courses started between September and May 5 cannot be moved to summer session.
COURSE SELECTIONS FOR THE 2025-26 SCHOOL YEAR
For students continuing with EBUS for the next school year and wanting to do your course selections, we have arranged the following presentations:
- Students going into grade 12 Tuesday May 6 10:30AM Pacific click HERE
- Students going into grade 10 Tuesday May 6 1:30PM Pacific click HERE
- Students going into grade 11 Wednesday May 7 10:30AM Pacific HERE
For students considering leaving EBUS for the next school year, I recommend you contact the new school you are considering as they will be doing course selections much earlier, often around now. If you plan to leave EBUS at the end of June, please be sure to send your advisor a heads up so we can transfer your file. If you are staying with EBUS, all you need to do is course selections by the June deadlines.
WELLNESS PROJECT – COMMUNICATION
Talking is a big part of every relationship – what we say and how we say it! We can always look at improving our communications, so try using the 4Ts of talking to help improve your skills:
Timing – choose both when and where you have conversations; are you collected and in control before you begin?
Tone – use a calm, respective voice and be mindful of your body language too
Technique – try the compliment sandwich and using and instead of but in your conversation; avoid always and never
Truth – speak any truth with kindness, respect and be open for feedback
Over the years we have collected a number of free online resources to help with mental health. I encourage you to email me if you have a great free resource not listed here.
IMPORTANT DATES
- April 11 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- April 18-21 Easter EBUS closed, courses open
- May 5th Summer session registration opens
- May 9 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- May 19 Victoria Day – EBUS closed, courses open
- May 31 Vanderhoof in person grad, registration needed
- June 2-13 grad assessment session, register HERE
- June 7 Vancouver in person grad, registration needed
- June 13 work submission deadline for report cards
- June 27 report cards published
- June 27 EBUS closed for the school year, reopening September 2
You can find the full year school calendar HERE
PARENT ACCESS
Parents, you can access your student’s progress and report cards on the EBUS parent portal: https://my.ebus.ca/parentportal/login.php We recommend parents log in with their student at least once a week to stay actively engaged in their learning and progress. Students, you can access your report cards from your dashboard, look for the A+ icon in the upper right-hand corner. Report cards are published 3 times a year; December, March, June and for summer session courses only, September.
As I get asked this often, students working in a semester fashion should be about 50% complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June deadlines, they should be about 80% complete at this time.
PHONE APPOINTMENTS
For students and families looking to connect with us by phone we are using an online system this year that is well received by our families.
Leal (for students with last names A-L) can be reached at lbaumann@sd91.bc.ca or book a phone appointment HERE
Chris (for students with last names M-Z) can be reached at cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca or book a phone appointment HERE
The next newsletter will be April 17th.