Hi everyone, we made it to May Long Weekend, I hope you find some ways to enjoy some outside time. We are down to the final 4 full weeks of classes before the June 14 date for course completion this school year. Lots for full time high school students at EBUS to be aware of, please make sure you keep on top of the newsletters and announcements.
IMPORTANT – COURSE SELECTIONS FOR THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR
For students continuing with EBUS for the next school year we have begun our course selection process for September 2024.
Our course selection presentations and further resources are available here
Going into grade 10 video recording is HERE
Going into grade 11 video recording is HERE
Going into grade 12 video recording is HERE
Course selection booklet: https://ebus.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CourseDescriptionBooklet_2025.pdf
Course planning worksheet: https://ebus.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/course-planning-2024.pdf
List of Grade 10 courses with course outlines: https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-10-courses/
List of Grade 11 courses with course outlines: https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-11-courses/
List of Grade 12 courses with course outlines: https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-12-courses/
Returning full time students need to email cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca the 4 courses you would like to start in September by June 24 2024.
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 your 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 June 24.
IMPORTANT – REQUIRED GRADUATION ASSESSMENTS
Students graduating under the 2018 or 2023 graduation programs will need to complete a possible total of 3 assessments to meet graduation requirements; Literacy 10, Numeracy and Literacy 12. These assessments must be written under the supervision of a teacher and are written generally in high schools across BC.
The next session EBUS will arrange for students is June 10-14 2024. EBUS can help you find a school close by for you to write in. You can register for that HERE by May 17 2024. Requests sent after this date will be accepted but EBUS cannot guarantee we will be able to find a seat. Someone from EBUS will respond to your request in June once we hear from schools later in May.
You can get all the details about the assessments at https://ebus.ca/welcome-package/grade-10-12-homeroomnews/graduation-assessments-provincial-exams/
For students looking at post-secondary education, UBC requires students applying there must score a 3 or better on the Literacy 12 assessment, with no requirements for the Literacy 10 or Numeracy. Currently, other colleges and universities have not indicated the Literacy 12 result will be used as part of their admissions requirements, and students are responsible to research their future college or university to ensure you meet all admissions requirements.
For the required graduation numeracy and literacy assessments, all BC students will need government issue photo ID. A BCID card or a public school ID card will qualify. If you need a school ID card please send a current colour photo to ebusresources@sd91.bc.ca well in advance of your assessment date.
SUMMER SESSION 2024
EBUS is running summer session in 2024 and courses are beginning to fill up!
Full time students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with the firm expectation to finish by the end of August, aiming for August 23. Full time EBUS students can email me with the course name to register for a summer session course. It is strongly recommended students take one course only as you will have a very high success rate of completion. Summer session has class size limits and once a course reaches capacity there will be no further seats available so make your request soon!
A few things to be clear about with summer session:
- Summer courses will show up on your dashboard some time the week of May 21st, and only the first unit or few assignments will be available until the last week of June when the entire course will open.
- The course must be finished in the summer, aim for August 23 as a hard deadline.
- If you have not completed 10% of the course by July 15, or 50% by August 4 you may be withdrawn
- This is not a head start for the next school year.
Some students wonder think about taking 2 summer courses. Summer session is significantly more challenging compared to the regular school year and we want to see you successful and not disappointed or frustrated.
Because summer session is only 2.5 months long, compared to 10 months for a regular school year course, you will need to carefully plan your schedule. Also note that students who are not 80% complete by August 23 risk not getting an extension, and those that do must finish the course by the end of September at the absolute latest, or the student will be withdrawn and need to retake the entire course.
We are asking all students who are requesting 2 courses for summer session to email me a detailed plan with the following:
- What other activities, jobs, sports or trips or holidays you have planned for the summer and the dates these are happening
- When you will begin the course and submit the first completed assignment before June 10th
- Which days of the week will you be working on assignments and how many hours each day you will schedule for course work completion
- Confirmation that you have discussed this plan with your parent/guardian
As teachers return to their regular school year job in early September, it is essential students finish their course by the end of August. Note that due to ministry policy, courses students are active in between September and May 7 cannot be moved to summer session.
IMPORTANT –COURSE ACCESS IN JULY & AUGUST 2024
At about this time in the school year families begin to look at time remaining before summer holidays, the amount of work to be completed before then, and ask what happens after the guarantee date of June 14.
We encourage all students to finish their course work by the June 14 deadlines for a variety of reasons, but if necessary, students who are making progress can continue into the fall with no penalty.
In the meantime keep working regularly, consistently and diligently until the end of June but be aware:
- June 14 is the guarantee date
- All work finished by this date will be reflected on student’s EBUS report card and available for ‘home’ schools to see via provincial student information system by end of June.
- From June 28-Sept 3 EBUS is closed for summer break, meaning
- there are no teachers or staff answering emails/phone calls, marking, setting up tests, or providing teacher supports for regular school year courses.
- ‘Regular school year’ computer servers will be down for annual maintenance. This means students who start courses from September until now in the school year, will not have course access for an extended period of time in the summer.
- This will not affect our annual Summer Session as that will be run on a separate server.
Please note that transferring from ‘school year’ or current courses to ‘summer session courses’ is not an option. Please connect with your academic advisor if you have any questions or concerns.
So, follow Dory’s lead from Finding Nemo – just keep working…just keep working.
WELLNESS PROJECT CONFIDENCE
This school year’s student planner can be found HERE
This month’s wellness focus is on confidence. Each and everyone of us has a huge number of talents, strengths, skills and abilities. Its important we acknowledge these, especially when we are aware of our self-talk, that little voice inside our head! Having a positive self-talk mindset that celebrates awesome you is critical for our wellbeing. Try it today, use your self-talk to only say the positives about yourself and see how it helps!
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, outdoor exercise is one of the highly recommended activities to benefit you mentally and physically. Give it a try!
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
- May 17 graduation assessment registration closed (requests received after this date will be accepted but we cannot guarantee they will be processed) REGISTER HERE
- May 20 Victoria Day – EBUS closed, courses open
- June 10-14 Graduation Assessment session
- June 14 year end work submission deadline
- June 24 course request deadline
- June 27 report cards available on EBUS dashboards
- June 28 EBUS closed for the school year
- Tuesday September 3 – the 2024-25 school year begins
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.
As I get asked this often, students planning to finish by the June 14 deadlines should be 80+% complete.
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. EBUS Academy has also set up Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone calls so I now have a phone number you can reach me at! 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. Between May 23 and June 7, I will have very limited availability as I will be preparing for our two graduation ceremonies.
Keep well, the final two newsletters will be emailed June 7th and 21st.