Hi everyone, we made it to May, I hope you are able to find some way to enjoy some outside time today.  We are down to the final 5 full weeks of classes before the June 17 deadline 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.  The remaining newsletters will go out by email May 20^th, then June 2^nd and the final one for the school year is June 17^th.

IMPORTANT – COURSE SELECTIONS FOR THE 2022-23 SCHOOL YEAR

For students continuing with EBUS for the next school year and wanting to do your course selections, we have arranged the following presentations:

Wednesday May 11 10:30AM Pacific – students going into grade 12 Click here to join the meeting

Thursday May 12 1:15PM Pacific – students going into grade 11 Click here to join the meeting

Tuesday May 17 1:15PM Pacific – students going into grade 10 Click here to join the meeting

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 7.

IMPORTANT – GRADUATION ASSESSMENT REGISTRATIONS FOR JUNE

Students graduating under the 2018 graduation program 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 13-17 2022. EBUS can help you find a school close by for you to write in.  Students need to register here www.ebusgradassessment.weebly.com  by May 23 2022.  Someone from EBUS will respond to your request in June once we hear from schools.

You can get all the details about the assessments at https://ebus.ca/welcome-package/grade-10-12-homeroomnews/graduation-assessments-provincial-exams/

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 Nikki at nvandolah@sd91.bc.ca well in advance of your assessment date.

SUMMER SESSION 2022

EBUS is running summer session in 2022, info found at https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/summer-program/!  Students can take 1-2 courses with teacher supports in the summer, with the firm expectation to finish by the end of August.  My strong recommendation is to take 1 course and successfully complete it, as the majority of students who take 2 summer session courses do not complete either course.  Registration opened May 2 at www.ebus.ca   Full time students need to complete a dashboard request or email me with the course name.  Once registered, the student is immediately put in the course with access to the first unit.  On June 22 the rest of the course will be opened and then on July 4 they will have full teacher supports.  As teachers return to their regular school year job in early September, it is essential students finish their course by the end of August.  It is strongly recommended students only take 1 course to ensure successful completion, but students planning for 2 courses need to contact their academic advisor indicating parent support and a detailed plan of their summer activities and plan to complete both courses by the end of August.  Note courses started between September and May 1 cannot be moved to summer session.  

IMPORTANT –COURSE ACCESS IN JULY & AUGUST 2022

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 June 17. 

We encourage all students to finish their course work by the June 17 deadlines for a variety of reasons, but if necessary, students can continue into the fall with no penalty. 

In the meantime keep working hard, now and until the end of June but be aware:

• June 17 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 29-Sept 6 EBUS is closed for summer break,
  • meaning there is no one 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.

MENTAL HEALTH MINUTE

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.  Even with the COVID protocols, 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! 

Mental Health Resources

UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES

• May 2 summer session registration opens at www.ebus.ca
• May 5 Term 3 report cards available
• May 11 Grade 12 course selection 10:30 AM here
• May 12 Grade 11 course selection 1:15PM here
• May 13 Professional Development Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
• May 17 Grade 10 course selection 1:15PM here
• May 23 Victoria Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
• June 3 in person grad ceremony in Richmond
• June 13-17 grad assessment session, registration info coming
• June 17 Term 4, Semester 2 and yearend deadline
• June 27 report cards available
• June 29 EBUS closed for summer holidays – staff unavailable until Sept 6

• 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. 

You can find the 2021-22 year 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 5 times a year; November, January, March, June and for summer session courses only, September.

As I get asked this often, students working on a semester fashion should be about 75% complete.  And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June deadlines, they should be about 80% complete at this time to finish by June 17. 

PHONE APPOINTMENTS

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 as “no caller ID” but I will call at the time you request.

Keep well, the next newsletter will be Friday May 20th.