Hi folks!

Welcome to the 2021-22 school year with EBUS Academy!  The EBUS staff is excited to get things rolling for what looks to be a very busy year here at EBUS.  Over the summer we have added a new computer server for courses, added some new staff and continue to work to meet the needs our students who come to us for their educational journey

As word of introduction, I am the academic advisor/counselor for full time students in grades 10-12 at EBUS and am also the Careers 12 teacher.  I have been with EBUS since 2013, and with School District 91 since 1997.  When I am not busy with work, I am very active with Search and Rescue in British Columbia in a variety of ways, and I also enjoy the outdoors and working with wood.   

NEW FOR 2021-22

As you can imagine, this year we again are facing significant interest in our program.  Staff worked overtime this summer taking requests and applications and we are working hard to process and accommodate as many new students as we can.  For students who are new to EBUS, I look forward to connecting with you and appreciate your patience as we get your accounts created and everything all set for your education. For our many returning students, I look forward to reconnecting with you and getting caught up with how you are doing, and appreciate your patience if it takes longer than usual for that to happen.  To speed up the way I connect with you, I am using Microsoft Bookings to take phone call appointments and you can book a 10, 20 or 30 minute appointment with me at https://tinyurl.com/yyrbnz7p

Given the incredible interest and demand for seats with EBUS, either full time or cross enrolled students, all students will see more encouragement to get active and stay continually active in all the courses on your dashboard and finish your courses as soon as you can.  We ask that you only sign up for the courses you will be actively work in for now, and email me the list of the courses you want to add later in the year, and we will hold a seat for those “second semester” courses for our full time students.   Please note those students who do not log in, start work and submit assignments within FOUR WEEKS of the course showing up on your dashboard risk being withdrawn from the course and the seat given to another student wanting that course.  If this is a concern for you, please reach out to me and your teacher and we will work to support you in moving ahead with your education.

For students who completed their course selections in MyEd, or emailed me their choices by JUNE 28, your courses are expected to be on your dashboard ready to go on Tuesday Sept 7.  To access your courses, you need to go through your EBUS dashboard, this is the way to access your courses on the new server.  Courses will possibly show on your dashboard but not actively open to you until then, please be patient as our staff work as fast as possible to get courses active on student dashboards.

If you sent your course requests in after June 28^th, we are processing those in the order received and add courses in the morning and afternoon.  Check your dashboard daily for your courses to be added.  If you emailed your courses in to me before Sept 1 and still do not have them by SEPT 15, email me and I will look into the situation. 

New courses

Our teachers worked hard to develop new courses for students and we are excited to offer the following this fall:

English Composition 11 (meets Language Arts 11 grad requirement)

English First Peoples 12 (meets Language Arts 12 grad requirement)

Astronomy 12 Specialized Science (meets Science 11/12 grad requirement)

Entrepreneurship 12

For students wanting to see what courses we offer, you can see each grade as listed below:

Grade 10 https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-10-courses/

Grade 11 https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-11-courses/

Grade 12 https://ebus.ca/online-learning-programs/high-school/grade-12-courses/

If students want to make changes to your courses, you can use the “drop course” and to add a course, you can use the “add course” button, email me or book a phone appt at https://tinyurl.com/yyrbnz7p. 

Watch for future announcements for news courses to come this year including Robotics, Mandarin and more!

STUDENT SUCCESS

EBUS wants to see our students as successful in their learning as they can be.  With that in mind, we find that successful students have some similarities I would like to share with you.  Successful online students:

• Start their course within a week of it arriving on their dashboard
• Are motivated, proactive self-starters who reach out to the teachers when they have questions
• Create a regular check in process between parent/guardian and student
• Contact their teachers soon if you have questions or problems or will be away from your studies for more than 2 weeks
• Log in to their course and submit work every 1-2 school days
• Have a course completion date in mind, and regularly check their progress against that
• Have a school year to complete their studies but we encourage students to work towards finishing courses by the June 15 deadlines of each school year at the latest.  Note students who are not active in their courses for more than 6 weeks risk being withdrawn from that course
• Check the homeroom regularly for updates, found on their dashboard or at https://ebus.ca/connect/news/
• If you have log in or tech issues, or change your contact info, contact the help desk at 1-800-567-1236 ext 2255

WELCOME PACKAGE

As we get going with your EBUS courses, I want to remind our students and families of a few things.  Our website is the main point of contact for information.  To access the EBUS welcome package, you can find that on our website www.ebus.ca at this link: http://ebus.ca/welcome-package/

This has lots of useful information, such as the school year calendar, course resources, who to call when you have a question, and more!

NEW GRAD REQUIREMENT – LITERACY 12

As you are aware, the Ministry of Education changed the grad program in BC IN 2018 along with the curriculum for all courses.  The last changes include rolling out the required Literacy 12 assessments starting in November.  In total, there are 3 graduation assessments all students must write, Literacy 10, Numeracy and Literacy 12.  The assessments are to be written in either January or June, with registration for January starting in November, and registration to write in June beginning in April.  More info on the assessments will be posted in the homeroom on your dashboard closer to the dates. 

LEARNING SUPPORT FUNDS

For full time EBUS students, the ministry provides learning support funds for new courses you are currently active in.  The process of accessing these funds has changed so please be sure to read all of the info on our website.  Detailed information on the funds, how many courses you need to be active in, what you can use the funds for and more, is available at http://ebus.ca/welcome-package/learning-support-funds/ I encourage you to read all of the information on this.  Students who are actively working in 4 or more new courses (more than 10% complete in the curriculum) will be eligible for the funding for 3^rd party vendor invoices.  The intent of Learning support funds is to support the current year’s learning, so all support funds must be applied for before Spring Break.  

HOMEROOM

When I have different announcements, I will use the Grades 10-12 Homeroom.  This is not a course, but a forum for me to pass along information to students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Please check the homeroom regularly so you are keeping up to speed with all things happening this school year, such as changes to the grad program and provincial exams, scholarships, and extra-curricular activities around the province.  Students and parents can also access all of the information for the Homeroom on our webpage at http://ebus.ca/welcome-package/grade-10-12-homeroomnews/

EBUS COURSES FOR FALL 2021

For our current students who submitted their course requests by June 28, your courses are on your dashboard Tuesday and you can begin your courses.  Full time students should plan for 25 learning hours each week and I encourage you to create a custom weekly schedule that will work for you.  For new students who applied in Spring and over the summer and have been approved by me, we are working hard to create your EBUS account and send you the welcome email with your login and password. These are sent first thing in the morning and after lunch each school day, so check your email, including junk and spam mail folders, a couple times a day.  New students who were approved, if you have not received your welcome email by September 15, email me or book a phone appt with me and I will look into the delay.

For all full time EBUS high school students, I will update or create and email out a graduation credit check for each student as soon as I can, and appreciate your patience as you wait for this document.  This will show the courses already successfully completed, those you are currently enrolled in, those planned for later this year, and those remaining to be complete to meet graduation requirements. 

UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES

Please note:

• Tuesday Sept 7 summer session report cards on student dashboards
• Tuesday Sept 7 school opens, courses open and available
• Thursday Sept 9 School assembly 12:30pm on TEAMS
• Friday Sept 17 EBUS secondary newsletter
• Friday Sept 24 District Planning Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open to students
• Thursday Sept 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open to students
• Wednesday Oct 6 high school assembly 11AM on TEAMS
• Monday Oct 11 Thanksgiving – EBUS closed, courses open
• Friday Oct 22 Professional Development Day – EBUS staff unavailable, courses open
• Wednesday Nov 10 school assembly 10:30am on TEAMS
• Thursday Nov 11 Remembrance Day – EBUS closed, courses open to students
• Friday Nov 12 Term 1 ends, report cards available Nov 25

You can find the full year school calendar here

District Calendar

PARENT ACCESS

Parents, you can access your student’s progress and report cards on the EBUS parent portal: https://ebus.ca/information-for-parents/   Students, you can access your report cards from your dashboard looking 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, September.

PHOTO ID REQUIRED

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.

Lots of info J  I intend to produce and send out a newsletter on the 1^st and 3^rd Friday of each month, please watch for that to keep up with all that EBUS has to offer. 

If you have any further questions, or any changes need to be made, please let me know!  I am available by email at cmushumanski@sd91.bc.ca or book a phone appointment at https://tinyurl.com/yyrbnz7p

I wish you a successful, rewarding, engaging and productive school year at EBUS Academy!

Chris