March already?! I hope you are all doing well and are seeing the early signs of spring where you live. With just over 3 months to go until the June 14 year-end deadline, 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.
I am 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. Students who are planning to graduate by the June 2024 deadlines must be in all their courses to graduate by now.
For current grade 10 and 11 students carrying on with EBUS Academy for the next school year these will be useful for course selections which will happen May 7th and 8th. That 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 times and the process to select courses in the April 8th and 19th and May 3rd 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 around now. 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. If you are staying with EBUS, all you need to do is course selections by the June deadlines.
WHAT ABOUT?
Lots of new things to being a fulltime 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 Spring Break at EBUS?
School District 91 has established our break from March 25th to April 5th with teachers returning Monday April 8. During this time, courses are open but all teachers and staff are away for holidays, so no one will be setting up tests, answering emails or phone calls or marking. You may notice these dates may not be the same dates for the local schools where you live. In fact, Spring Break across BC stretches over a few different weeks, not every district is the same.
So what does that mean for you? First, I do encourage all students to take some holiday time, rest and recharging is vital. With EBUS’ flexible scheduling, a student can take off a different week than when EBUS is off, and then work on their courses during EBUS’ Spring Break. Remember, there is no one to answer questions, set up tests or mark assignments during our Spring Break, but with some planning, students can take a good holiday when it fits your schedule.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS GRADUATING
Every year EBUS has more than $35 000 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/2023-24-ebus-scholarships/ The deadline to apply is April 15. Scholarship winners are announced at our grad ceremonies or contacted by mail later in June. 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 intending to host an in person grad ceremony Saturday June 1 at Van Deusen Gardens in Vancouver, Saturday June 22 in Kamloops, and if there is enough interest, one in Vanderhoof Saturday May 25. To express your interest in a Vanderhoof ceremony, please email cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca soon. 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 by email soon. If you have questions, contact your academic advisor.
SUMMER SESSION 2024
EBUS will be running summer session in 2024! Full time or cross enrolled students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with the firm expectation to finish by August 23. I strongly recommend choosing one course for summer session to ensure you will complete it during that short time frame. Registration will open around May 2 at our website, www.ebus.ca and the list of courses offered will be announced in late April, but generally nearly all courses are offered. As teachers return to their regular school year job in early September, it is essential students finish their course by the end of August. Watch for more details.
WELLNESS PROJECT GRATITUDE
This month’s wellness project focus is on physical health, particularly the importance of sleep. Getting 7-8 hours or more of good quality sleep a day is shown to greatly improve a number things in our lives. We encourage you to learn more about ways you can improve the length and quality of your sleep and get into that routine!
With the weather improving, temperatures rising and spring spreading across our communities, one of the wise things everyone can do is start getting outside more often.
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!
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES
- March 1 work submission deadline for term 2
- March 15 term 2 report cards published
- March 23 – April 7 Spring Break EBUS closed, teachers not available but courses open
- April 15 Grade 12 scholarship applications due
- April 26 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- First week of May summer session registration opens
- May 10 Pro D – teachers unavailable, courses open
- May 20 Victoria Day – EBUS closed, courses open
- May 25 grad ceremony in Vanderhoof
- June 1 grad ceremony in Vancouver
- June 10-14 Graduation Assessment session
- June 14 year end work submission deadline
- June 22 grad ceremony in Kamloops
- June 28 EBUS closed for the school year
- Note that Term end dates are guidelines for students to finish courses, if you do not finish by the April 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.
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 20 students should be 50% complete. Those working on a semester fashion should be about 30% complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June deadlines, they should be about 70% complete at this time.
PHONE APPOINTMENTS
Currently I am 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 up as SD91 for School District 91. I am available at 1-250-567-4413 ext 7409. Booking a phone appt is the easiest was to ensure you will reach me, but I will answer calls during the workday when available.
Keep well, the next newsletter will be Friday March 19 right before our Spring Break begins.