Our first newsletter of the new year! We hope you had a safe and restful holiday and are energized for learning as 2026 begins.
Often after a 2 week break like this, teachers come back to a higher than normal email and marking load; we appreciate your patience as we try and catch up as quickly as possible after the break.
As we are close to the halfway point in the school year, we 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.
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 semester two. 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 2026.
The middle of the school year is January 23, 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 by February 10 to finish by June 13. After February 10 we cannot guarantee space in courses unless it is required for a grade 12 student’s graduation plan.
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.
This year EBUS has scholarships and bursaries available for our full-time students who meet graduation requirements by June 2026 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. The student 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 very soon, 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 2026 if interested in pursuing this.
EBUS is planning to host grad ceremony Saturday May 30 and have booked Van Deusen Gardens near Vancouver, Saturday May 23 in Kamloops. If there is enough interest, a ceremony in Vanderhoof, our hometown, will be planned 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.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
- January 5 2026 EBUS opens
- January 14 Academic Advising Drop-In to ask questions
- January 15 school assembly
- January 13-30 grad assessment session
- January 23 date for students to aim to finish semester 1 courses and email request semester two courses
- February 6 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- February 10 – deadline to request semester two courses
- February 16 Family day – EBUS closed, courses open
- March 14 report cards published
- March 14 to March 29 Spring Break – EBUS closed, courses open
- April 3-6 Easter EBUS closed, courses open
- April 24 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- May 8 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- May 18 Victoria Day – EBUS closed, courses open
- May 23 Kamloops in person grad
- June 8-19 grad assessment session
- June 6 Vancouver in person grad
- June 12 work submission deadline for report cards
- June 24 report cards published
- June 26 EBUS closed for the school year, reopening September 8
- Note that Term end dates are guidelines for students to finish courses, if you do not finish by 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.
- 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 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 24, 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 23, students should be nearly complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June 13 deadline, 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-K) can be reached at lbaumann@sd91.bc.ca or book a phone appointment HERE
Chris (for students with last names L-Z) can be reached at cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca or book a phone appointment HERE
Keep well, the next newsletter will be Friday January 16.