We hope February is treating you well and that students have finished the first semester courses and have requested the second semester courses or are past the halfway point in courses finished before summer holidays. With 4 months to go the end of school year date of June 14, it’s 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, we are 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. Leal and I are working on grade 12 students as a priority 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
As you finish a current course or are 80+% complete, fulltime students can email your advisor with new course requests. All grade 10, 11 and 12 courses are now open. Be sure to put the full student name and the specific course you are requesting, like English New Media 10 or Foundations Math 11. We do not automatically add new courses at this time in the school year. As students complete or drop courses they finish or are not interested in taking, that frees up a seat for another, so it is in all students’ interests to not have inactive courses on your dashboard and to finish courses as soon as you can. To drop a course, use the “drop course” button on your dashboard, but be sure to let your advisory know first so we can check the implications of that on your graduation status. Most courses still have availability but we cannot guarantee seats after February 28. If this timeline does not work you, contact your academic advisor before then to discuss your options.
EBUS will run Summer session this year, registration will open the first week of May and more info about that will come out closer to the date. We will know which courses are offered for summer session after April 25th. Students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with a firm commitment to finish by August 23. Registration will open in early May and more details will be in the April newsletters.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING
Every year EBUS has many scholarships and bursaries available for our full-time students who meet graduation requirements by June 2025 and the requirements listed in the scholarship booklet.
Students who are with EBUS prior to their graduation (grade 12) year and meet all grad requirements are eligible for all District Authority and EBUS scholarships and bursaries. Students enrolled in EBUS during their Grade 12 year, and considered a full-time student by EBUS criteria are eligible to apply for any and all scholarships awarded by EBUS. Students must be enrolled full-time for the academic year; new students enrolled only in their final semester of Grade 12, whether taking a full course load (4 to 6 courses) in the second semester or not, are NOT considered eligible for EBUS scholarship awards but can apply for an EBUS District Authority scholarship award. The student must have completed a minimum of 4 EBUS high school courses during their entire grade 12 academic year.
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 planning to host grad ceremony Saturday June 7 and have booked Van Deusen Gardens near Vancouver, and Saturday May 24 in Kamloops. If there is enough interest, a ceremony in our hometown of Vanderhoof will be planned as well for May 31st. To participate students need to be approximately 75% complete all grad required courses by the end of April. Notices to all eligible grade 12 students were emailed out earlier in February. If you have questions contact your academic advisor.
COURSE SELECTIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2025
For students continuing into the 2025-26 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 future newsletters.
For students considering leaving EBUS for the next school year, we recommend you contact the new school you will be attending in September, 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 your advisor a heads up so we can prepare to transfer your file.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
- March 1 work submission deadline for report cards
- March 15 report cards published
- March 22 to April 6 Spring Break – EBUS closed, courses open
- April 11 Pro D DATE CHANGE – teachers unavailable, courses open
- April 18-21 Easter EBUS closed, courses open
- May 9 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- May 19 Victoria Day – EBUS closed, courses open
- May 24 Kamloops in person grad
- June 2-13 grad assessment session
- June 7 Vancouver in person grad
- June 13 work submission deadline for report cards
- June 27 report cards published
- June 27 EBUS closed for the school year, reopening September 2
- 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 you can continue with your studies without penalty. 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 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.
For awareness, if your student plans to finish their course(s) in a quarterly fashion, meaning by the end of term 3 or on April 22 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
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
Keep well, the next newsletter will be Friday March 7.