We are off to a fantastic start to the 2008-2009 school year. Our enrollments continue to be steady and the fax machine just never seems to stop.
Our school goals this year are built on the concept ‘Building Success, one step at a time’. Our elementary goal is to ‘Increase student’s ability in reading for meaning’. Our secondary goal is to ‘Increase the success rate of students in grades 8 – 12’.
We continue to add more ways to help students succeed. Homeroom teachers are communicating with students via email, phone and Elluminate to provide that personal connection that we know is so important for students.
We encourage you to call your homeroom teacher any time that you have questions. For specific questions about course assignments, please call and leave a message for your markers. Everyone on our team is willing and eager to assist you. Please feel free to contact me if you any questions or concerns.
Al MacKay-Smith
Auto Tech 11:
We are quite excited about this new pilot course that we are offering online. Our students use a world-class multi-media resource for Automotive Technology theory called CDX Global. Students also can get hands-on experience in work-place settings.
Following this pilot phase, we hope to be able to offer this course to more students. Please contact Al MacKay-Smith for further details.
Daily Physical Activity:
Daily Physical Activity is a new Ministry of Education requirement for all students. Students in K-9 must participate in DPA for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. Students in Grades 10 – 12 must participate and record 150 minutes per week. If you are a full-time student with SCIDES, you will have received information regarding DPA with your report card.
French/German/Spanish:
What is a tape recorder? This is a question that we have often heard from our students. Thanks to Ian Gordon, our Grade 11 homeroom teacher, all of our ‘tape’ resources have been transferred to CD.
Students taking French and Spanish also receive a FirstClass email account so that they may send their oral component via a voicemail attachment.
Online or Paper?
Many of our courses are offered in a paper based format as well as online supported. Online supported classes are offered via FirstClass.
This program allows you access to an online classroom where you can easily download your assignments and word-process them.
Also included in the classroom are tips for assignments, study hints for tests and direct email contact with your marker and home room teacher.
Don’t be afraid of trying the online option. You still receive all of the paper-based material; the advantage is that you can do your assignments electronically. Feedback and turn around time for assignments is much faster than snail mail.
Upcoming Events
Holiday Events For Our Students:
We are offering a choice of four free events for our elementary and secondary students and their families. We have 35 seats available for students. Please call Jocelynne Brunet, 1-800-663-3536 ext. 1224 to reserve seating.
THE NUTCRACKER: Kelowna Community Theatre, Dec. 12, 11:30 a.m.
SEUSSICAL, THE MUSICAL: Kamloops Sagebrush Theatre, Dec. 3, 10:30 a.m.
WILDLIGHTS: BC Wildlife Park (Kamloops), Dec. 13, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER: Kelowna Community Theatre, Nov. 29, 1:30 p.m.
Join the PAC: Parent Advisory Council
If you want input into how SCIDES runs, join the PAC, the Parent Advisory Council. Our next meeting is Dec. 15, and we want to invite all parents to join us. We meet by phone, teleconferencing from home. Please call Al Mackay-Smith, at 1-800-663-3536, ext. 1200.
Grade 8 & 9: Staying Connected!
Grade 8 & 9 students are being offered a wonderful opportunity to do their core courses online with teachers and students from three regions in the province. Distance education schools from North Coast (Terrrace), Northern BC, and SCIDES have partnered together to offer Math, Science, HACE, Social Studies and Science using a virtual classroom program called Elluminate.
Students meet once a week for live lessons and discussion. This semester, we offered Math and English for both grades 8 and 9, as well as HACE 8. Next semester we will offer Science and Social Studies. If you would like to participate, please call one of our program advisors.
SCIDES offers three scholarships and one bursary. The three scholarships are: top academic student, top trades and technical student and top student in the arts and/or humanities. We also offer a bursary for citizenship. Each of these awards is $500.00. Details can be found on our website.
Check out this website for an online database of scholarships offered in B.C.:
http://bcawardsonline.sd61.bc.ca
Universities and colleges are now accepting applications for the 2009-2010 school year. You can apply online for entrance as well as residence now.
SCIDES Term 1 Secondary Honour Roll:
Honour Roll Principal's List
Logan Turner (Gr 8) Kayla Fagg (Gr 11) Josef Zarif (Gr 12)
Jasmine Watters (Gr 9) Sarah Lassaline (Gr 11)
Taylor Schneider (Gr 10) Ryan Williams (Gr 11) Merit List
Gillian Wong (Gr 10) Jesse Savage (Gr 12) Ayla Aljam-Oppenheim (Gr 9)
Gabriela Carvalho (Gr 11) Trista Blain (Gr 12) Jackson Cook (Gr 9)
