I hope you are all doing well and for many of you, students have finished the first semester courses and have requested the second semester courses or are past the halfway point in courses finished by June. With 4 months to go the end of school year deadline of June 15, its important for all students, parents and guardians to assess the progress made to date and make a plan for assignment and course completion for the remainder of the school year.
As we are past the halfway point in the school year, I will be updating student credit checks detailing your progress in the graduation program showing the courses and required assessments completed, courses you are registered in and what remains to be complete to meet graduation requirements. I completed all grade 12s and soon will be working on the grades 11s and 10s to ensure our students intending to graduate have a clear picture of their educational plans and to help with course planning for the next school year if relevant. For students carrying on for the next school year these will be useful for course selections which will happen in May.
REQUESTING NEW COURSES
By now students should have requested their new courses and be well underway in them to finish by June 15. Full time students can email me with new course requests no later than March 1. All grade 10, 11 and 12 courses are open but they will be closing as courses get to capacity. EBUS does run Summer session every year where students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with a firm commitment to finish by the end of August. Registration will open in early May at our website, www.ebus.ca
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING
Every year EBUS has up to $40 000 in 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/2021-22-scholarship-package/ and the deadline to apply is April 15. Scholarship winners are announced at our grad ceremonies. 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.
With COVID considerations this year EBUS is intending to host an in person grad ceremony Friday June 3 at Van Deusen Gardens in Vancouver, and if there is enough interest, one in Vanderhoof Saturday May 28. To express your interest in a Vanderhoof ceremony, please email cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca by Tuesday Feb 22. To participate, students need to be approximately 75% complete all grad requirements by the end of April. Notices to all grade 12 students will go out in February. If you have questions, contact your academic advisor.
COURSE SELECTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2022
For students continuing into the 2022-23 school year, EBUS will be doing grade presentations and course selections in May. The presentation will go over graduation requirements, course selection considerations, thoughts on learning after high school and more. Watch for details announcing the specific grade presentation dates and process to select courses in MyEd in future newsletters.
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 February or March. If you plan to leave EBUS at the end of June, please be sure to send you advisor a heads up so we can transfer your file.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
- Monday Feb 21 Family Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- March 1 deadline to request courses for this school year
- March 18 Professional Development Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- SPRING BREAK March 21-April 1 EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- April 15 EBUS Scholarship application deadline
- April 15-18 Easter Break – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- April 22 Term 3 deadline for report cards
- April 29 Professional Development Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- Early May summer session registration opens
- May 5 Term 3 report cards available
- May 13 Professional Development Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- May 23 Victoria Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- June 17 Term 4, Semester 2 and yearend deadline
- June 27 report cards available
- June 29 EBUS closed for summer holidays – staff unavailable until Sept 6
- Note that Term end dates are guidelines for students to finish courses, if you do not finish by the November or January term end date, continue with your studies without penalty and finish the course(s) as soon as possible. New courses are not automatically added at the Term change, students must request them as they finish current courses.
You can find the full year school calendar at
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 5 times a year; November, January, March, June and for summer session courses only, September.
As I get asked this often, if your student plans to finish their course(s) in a quarterly fashion, meaning by the end of term 3 or on April 19 students should be 30% complete. Those working on a semester fashion should be about 20% complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June deadlines, they should be about 65% complete at this time.
PHONE APPOINTMENTS
As COVID related changes were announced by the Province, I transitioned to working from home. To book a phone appt with me, use https://tinyurl.com/yyrbnz7p and select the appropriate amount of time you need when you are available for my call. My calls will show as “no caller ID” but I will call at the time you request.
Keep well, the next newsletter will be Friday March 4.