Dear MEI Parents,
Key points in this letter
> The government has approved MEI’s Stage 2 Plan
> The Secondary School is shifting to the Quarter System
> Secondary Classes to begin on September 9th (Grade 9, 1/2 day) & 10th (Grades 9 - 12, full day)
> Mark Thiessen will follow up with more detailed information for secondary parents this week
MEI has received formal approval from the government to proceed with our Stage 2 Plan as presented (Click here). We will proceed, but with one change to the secondary component of our plan.
We have made the decision to move our secondary school schedule to the Quarter System. This means that our students in grades 9 - 12 will take one course in the morning and a second course in the afternoon for a period of 10 weeks, and then switch to two different courses in the next quarter which will be completed at the end of January, 2021. We will be reviewing our plan at that time to determine the course of action for the second half of the year.
To accommodate for the new changes for secondary teachers and the additional planning required, the start of classes for secondary students only will be delayed. Grade 9s will have a 1/2 day orientation on Wednesday, September 9th and Grades 9 - 12 will begin with a full day on Thursday, September 10th. Elementary and Middle classes will begin on Tuesday, September 8th as planned with a 1/2 day start.
Why change to the Quarter System?
The secondary team has made every effort to provide the diverse learning opportunities that our students are accustomed to through four courses per day, while maintaining the critically important safety standards under B.C.’s Back To School Plan (Click here). The only way to accomplish both of these priorities, safety and diverse learning opportunities within a semester system, was to significantly limit courses that students have requested. This would mean that students would ‘not get the classes they wanted’ at a much higher frequency than in other years. Being the largest independent school in B.C., any scheduling with a 120-cohort-limit becomes extremely complicated because each of our grades is closer to 160 in size.
Thanks for your prayers and support. The team is working hard to find solutions to the scheduling challenges they are being faced with.
Mark Thiessen, Secondary Principal, will provide further details this week to parents of students in the high school.
Vijay Manuel
Why change to the Quarter System?
The secondary team has made every effort to provide the diverse learning opportunities that our students are accustomed to through four courses per day, while maintaining the critically important safety standards under B.C.’s Back To School Plan (Click here). The only way to accomplish both of these priorities, safety and diverse learning opportunities within a semester system, was to significantly limit courses that students have requested. This would mean that students would ‘not get the classes they wanted’ at a much higher frequency than in other years. Being the largest independent school in B.C., any scheduling with a 120-cohort-limit becomes extremely complicated because each of our grades is closer to 160 in size.
Thanks for your prayers and support. The team is working hard to find solutions to the scheduling challenges they are being faced with.
Mark Thiessen, Secondary Principal, will provide further details this week to parents of students in the high school.
Vijay Manuel
Will there be busses running to bring grade 9 students home after the half day on the 9th?
ReplyDeleteWill grade 10-12s not go to school on September 9th?
ReplyDelete