January is flying by and we are already at the 3rd Friday of the month! We hope your educational journey is progressing as you planned, and if not, you are finding the helpful resources to make productive changes.
As we are at the halfway point in the school year, Leal and 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. Please watch for this important email.
REQUESTING NEW COURSES
As you finish a current course or are 80+% complete, full time students can email your advisor with new course requests. 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 the end of January for the beginning of Term 3/Semester 2. 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 advisor know first so we can check the implications of that on your graduation status. The latest courses should be added this school year is February 10 but recommend students have all courses added as soon as they can. GRADE 12 STUDENTS SHOULD HAVE ALL REQUIRED COURSES FOR GRADUATION STARTED BY FEBURARY 1 TO ENSURE ENOUGH TIME TO COMPLETE BY JUNE 13 2025 AND SATISFY GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS.
The middle of the school year is January 24, a good date to aim for to complete first semester courses. If a student is not finished a course by that date, not a problem at all, keep working! There are no late marks or penalties to continue, and once finished, students can request new courses ideally by February 10 to finish by June 13.
Note that EBUS does run Summer session every year, registration will open in early May. More information will come by newsletter closer to May.
WHAT ABOUT?
Lots of new things to being a full time online student. And often you only realize the questions you have after you’ve been in the learning trenches for a bit to then see the things you don’t know.
Sooo…what about scholarships and a grad ceremony at EBUS?
This year EBUS has scholarships and bursaries available for our full-time students who meet graduation requirements by June and the requirements listed in our EBUS Academy 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. Eligible students must have completed a minimum of 4 EBUS high school courses during their entire grade 12 academic year.
The booklet will be released in the homeroom and our website as soon as its ready, 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.
As well, EBUS Academy can nominate one student as our BC Excellence nominee. For more information on this scholarship, visit https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/scholarships/provincial-scholarships/bc-excellence-scholarships and contact your academic advisor no later than January 31 2025 if interested in pursuing this.
For our graduates, EBUS is planning to host grad ceremony Saturday June 7 and have booked Van Deusen Gardens near Vancouver, Saturday May 24 in Kamloops. and if there is enough interest, a ceremony in Vanderhoof, our hometown as well. To participate, students need to be approximately 75% complete all grad required courses by the end of April. Notices to all grade 12 students will go out in February, so watch for a future email. If you have questions contact your academic advisor.
2024-25 WELLNESS PROJECT JANUARY ANXIETY
Anxiety is a part of the human existence, but sometimes it can feel like its out of control. It helps to know that anxiety is very common for teens, young adults and many adults as well, you are not alone. It is also helpful to know that there are many effective strategies out available, online and in person.
A few we would like to share are:
- Try reframing what your body feels like when you are anxious. See this TED talk on how to make stress your friend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU
- Try a body scan. This involves stopping what you are doing and pay attention to each part of your body in a systematic way. Many people find it helpful to start with your toes and work your way up your body. Notice where there is tension, and try to relax it. Where do you physically carry your anxiety? In your stomach, your chest, your neck? See if you can relax that area of your body. Also notice where your body is relaxed.
- Mindful deep breathing. How we breathe is the only way we can directly access our stress response system, so paying attention and working to control our breathing can directly, positively affect our stress. See this video here on why it works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HojLhKlJto and here is for one to guide you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMb2Bw4Ae8
- And finally if you feel the anxiety is intense, try the 5-4-3-2-1 method of noticing things around you and bring your attention to the world around you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30VMIEmA114
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
- February 7 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- February 10 – deadline to request semester two courses
- February 17 Family day – EBUS closed, courses open
- 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 18-21 Easter EBUS closed, courses open
- April 25 Pro D – teachers unavailable, 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 15, March 15, June 28, and for summer session courses only, September.
As we get asked this often, if your student plans to finish their course(s) in a quarterly fashion, meaning by the end of term 2 or by the end of semester 1 on January 24, students should be nearly complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June deadlines, they should be about 50% 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 February 7.