BSEC

Our school will be available on Facebook Live every school day at 11:30 while in-person classes are cancelled.

Staff members are reaching out to students to find out the best way to support learning during the cancellation. If you have not been contacted and would like to connect, please each out in one of these three ways:

1. by calling 780-428-1420 ext. 211,
2. by text at 780-224-9382,
3. by emailing at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

Also, please take a moment and complete our student technology survey. We will be able to work with you from wherever you are to get you the access to learning you need to succeed!

Students – Please click on this link to fill out this short survey about your access to internet-capable technology. This will help us determine the safest and fastest way to share your course work with you.

https://forms.gle/NatKdj7pbaZAdHc38

We know this has been a March Break different than most (in a year that has been different from most!). Here is our plan to support students to stay connected to our school while remaining at a distance from the building during this public health crisis (starting Monday, March 30th):

• Monday morning, we will host a Virtual Assembly where we will check in with students and their families to see how everyone is and to listen to your questions and concerns about the weeks to come.
• Our teachers will be reaching out to individual students to let them know where they are at in their course work. They will also be sharing their plans to support each of you to earn any outstanding you need to complete high school (in line with the minister’s letter from last week).
• Our student services staff members will be connecting with students also to identify needs and potential strategies for supporting students in challenging circumstances.

Our commitment to our school community during this time is to:

• Ensure your safety and the safety of the staff of the school.
• Communicate with you and your family about your learning and ways you can continue to progress toward high school completion,
• Listen to you about what you need and to offer support where we are able.

Dear students, parents, guardians, staff members and volunteers:

The government of Alberta has worked with superintendents across the province to offer direction on how students will learn while in-school classes are cancelled due to the provincial health emergency.

These four principles will guide our approach in the remaining weeks of this school year:

• The safety of students and staff comes first.
• Student learning will continue.
• Provincial funding is still flowing to schools.
• Our school has the flexibility to do what is best for our community.

Learning Solutions, Grades and Diplomas

With those in mind, here are the student learning details you need to know:

• Education content will focus first on courses required for high school graduation requirements, including language arts/English, social studies, mathematics, and science.
• Content from other courses will be delivered where possible, and accommodations for students unable to complete courses are in place.
• Teachers will work with their students and their parents/guardians to access materials safely and in ways that support their success in learning.
• Every student will receive final grades and will receive a report card, appropriate to their grade level.
• Students on track to receive 100 or more credits will still be eligible to graduate and receive a high school diploma. Principals can award up to 15 credits to students in Grade 12 whose program has been negatively impacted by class cancellations. For any courses that are started, schools will complete them with the student to the best of their ability, provide a final mark and award credits.
• Grade 12 Diploma exams are cancelled (but some students may request to write one under special circumstances – contact the principal about this).

Resources for Parents

We know that some people in our school community are also responsible for younger children who cannot attend school either. If you are a parent (or know a parent) who is struggling to find resources to supplement learning, these two provincial resources are available to parents:

LearnAlberta.ca – more than 4,000 digital resources aligned with Alberta’s K-12 curriculum.

My Child’s Learning: A Parent Resource – provides parents with information specific to each grade level.

For those who may wish to access counselling supports while they are away from school, our school counsellors are available via telephone. You can contact the school directly to set up appointments.

We do not know when in-school classes will resume. You should know, however, that we are working hard to ensure that absence from the school building does not take away your opportunities to learn what you need in order to graduate high school. If this year has shown us anything, it is that our school is bigger than a building or any one person – it is a community and we can get through anything together.

Enjoy some rest with some loved ones during spring break. Stay well and watch this space for updates about how to access learning supports beginning March 30th, 2020.