Welcome to November! As the early days of winter descend across BC with the first snowflakes, we wanted to connect with you about some important information.
As a full-time high school student with EBUS, we will email you each a credit check 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 satisfy graduation requirements. At this point, most grade 10-12 students’ grad credit checks have been emailed to students and caregivers and we will soon be sending a second round. Watch for this important email in the coming weeks if you have not received one.
We have been adding online virtual class opportunities and local field trips in the homeroom on all student dashboards as they come up. There are also links to the various clubs EBUS is sponsoring this year. Students are encouraged to check the homeroom page on their dashboard 1-2 times a week to keep up to date with all the different opportunities.
REQUIRED GRADUATION ASSESSMENTS
Students graduating under the 2023 graduation program will need to complete a total of 3 assessments to meet graduation requirements: Literacy 10, Numeracy and Literacy 12. These assessments must be written in person under the supervision of a teacher and are written in high schools across BC. EBUS will help our full-time students find a seat in a local high school for the January and June sessions.
Students need to complete these only one time.
For students looking to write in the January session, EBUS can help you find a school close by for you to write in. You can register for that HERE between November 3 and December 8. Registrations received after the 8th will be accepted but we cannot guarantee a seat.
You can get all the details at https://ebus.ca/welcome-package/grade-10-12-homeroomnews/graduation-assessments-provincial-exams/ Students can find also find information, including practice assessments in the Graduation Assessments section of the Grade 10-12 Homeroom, accessed through their EBUS dashboard.
For students looking at post-secondary education, UBC requires students 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. It is recommended grade 12s write their assessments in January as June assessment results are not released by the ministry until late July each year.
For the required graduation numeracy and literacy assessments, all BC students will need government issue photo ID. 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.
REQUESTING COURSE CHANGES/NEW COURSES
For full time students wanting to change courses, please use the “drop course” button on your dashboard and email me your new request. Be sure to put the full student name and the specific course you are requesting, like English New Media 10. If you have courses on your dashboard, you should be handing in work in all of those courses. We strongly recommend students request all new courses by February 10.
NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION DROP-IN
For any new students to EBUS Academy with questions or looking for support, please join us Wednesday November 12 2PM Pacific time HERE
At any time feel free to book a phone appt with your academic advisor as well
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
POST-SECONDARY PLANNING PRESENTATION
Grade 10-12 students considering applying to post-secondary school can view a recording of our Post-Secondary Planning Presentation here: Post-Secondary Planning Presentation Recording
WELLNESS PROJECT NOVEMBER – PHYSICAL HEALTH
This month’s wellness project focus is on physical health, particularly the importance of sleep. Sleep is a critical foundation of wellness, yet many people and teens struggle with a good sleep schedule and routine. Lack of sleep can affect our emotions, our physical body, and our mind. Are you tired during the day? Try these to help get into a good sleep schedule:
- Wake up at a consistent time each day, and get out in sunlight first thing when you are up
- Get vigorous exercise daily
- Eat nutritious food and hydrate well throughout the day
- Go to bed at the same time each day
- Stop using any screens 1-2 hours before you go to bed
It might take some time to get into a good routine, but a healthy amount of sleep will benefit your entire life.
WHAT ABOUT?
To ensure our full-time high school students have all the information about EBUS Academy needed to be successful, our website contains lots of information vital to student success. In this section of our bi-weekly newsletter, we will highlight some of the elements of EBUS that we get lots of questions about.
Sooo…what about the ends of school terms?
Ministry of Education policy requires high schools to formally report out to parents. At the end of each term, a report card is produced showing the progress in the high school course as a percentage complete, a grade shown as a percentage, and any comments regarding student learning. The term deadline of November 21 is set as a guarantee date – any work submitted before that date will be marked and included in the term 1 report card. Work can be submitted November 22 and beyond, and we strongly encourage students to keep working, but that work may not be on your term 1 report card, a snapshot of learning accomplished and assessed by November 21.
If a student has a self-determined deadline of November 21 to finish a course and does not finish by that date, they just continue on until finished, no penalties or late marks taken off, no need to ask for an extension before the year end June deadlines. The final course completion will show up on the next report card. So in the end, take Dory’s advice from Finding Nemo and just keep working…just keep working 😊
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES 2025-26
- Nov 10 assembly
- Nov 11 Remembrance Day – EBUS closed, courses open to students
- Nov 21 Pro D Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
- Nov 21 report card 1 guarantee date – all work handed in by this date will be assessed for the Dec 12 report cards
- Dec 11 assembly
- Dec 12 report cards available
- December 19 EBUS closes for winter break, teachers not available, courses open
- January 5 2026 EBUS reopens
- Jan 15 assembly
- Feb 6 Pro D
- Feb 12 assembly
- Feb 16 Family Day EBUS closed, courses open to students
- Feb 20 report card 2 guarantee date – all work handed in by this date will be assessed for the March 14 report cards
- Mar 12 assembly
- March 13 EBUS closes for Spring Break, staff unavailable, courses open
- March 14 report cards available
- March 30 EBUS reopens
- April 3-6 Easter Break – EBUS closed, courses open
- Apr 9 assembly
- Apr 24 Pro D
- May 5 summer session registration opens
- May 8 Pro D
- May 14 assembly
- May 18 Victoria Day
- June 18 assembly
- June 12 report card 3 guarantee dates
- June 24 report cards released
- June 26 school closes
You can find the full year school calendar at
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 we get asked this often, if your student plans to finish their course(s) in a quarterly fashion, meaning Nov 10, they should be about 90%+ complete today. For a planned finish by the middle of the school year or January 19, students should be about 50%+ complete. And for students working in a linear fashion to complete by the June 13th deadlines, they should be about 25%+ 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 Thursday, November 20th as the 21st is a pro-d-day.