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June 11th, 2021

Principal's Message

Rocky View Schools - Superintendent of Schools announces leadership  announcements


Good Afternoon Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying your week and looking forward to the weekend. It is hard to believe this is the last full week of regular classes for the 2021.22 school year. It seems like yesterday I was at my desk in August, looking through the return to school plans, figuring out how we were going to come back to in-person learning. As I have mentioned numerous times in this space, I am proud of the BCHS community for pulling together and sticking through everything that has come our way this year. Off the top of my head, this included: decisions to go to online/in-person schooling (of which 232 of our students eventually chose online and 950 in-person), public health protocols in school (directional hallways, hand sanitizing, masking, distancing, staying home when sick), positive COVID cases at school leading to students and staff needing to quarantine, quarantine learning where teachers taught through zoom, frigid temperatures in February that led to cancellation of school, stopping and starting with activities and sports, changing restrictions, illness, uncertainty, and the list goes on.

After typing all of this, I actually got a little tired myself. What we have learned is that BCHS students, staff, and families flexed their resilience this year and kept showing up because we knew this was the way through the year. Through it all, students and staff maintained a positive attitude that still made coming to school an enjoyable activity.

We are grateful and hopeful that we can talk about all of this in hindsight in the future and look forward to welcoming our students back in the fall to a more 'normal' environment. Already, staff are signing up for extra-curricular responsibilities such as running clubs and coaching, and discussing creative ways to ensure our students feel like BCHS is a place where they belong and can succeed in the future.

Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Your flexibility and understanding have made a difference at our school and we couldn't be happier to work with the BCHS community this year.


1. Last Day of Official Classes

The last day of regular instruction for high school students is Wednesday, June 16. Similar to the end of our first semester, RVS has adjusted final exam expectations for June due to the unique school year. Our school will not have cumulative final exams but will remain open to June 24 to offer students the following supports. Also, some Grade 12 students may choose to write optional diploma exams.

June 17-24:

Students Who Are Not Passing: Students who are not passing are required to attend school to receive targeted support. This support will be targeted to complete assignments that would have a substantial impact on their course grade (example: redoing a source analysis, rewriting a unit exam, etc.).

Students Who Are Passing: Students who are passing may choose to be reassessed or to complete assignments that would have a substantial impact on course grade (example: redoing a source analysis, rewriting a unit exam, etc.). Of note, the week is not intended for students to attempt to re-do every major assessment. Teachers and students will work together to identify one key assessment that could improve their grade rather than writing a high-stakes, final exam.

Other Supports Available: Our school is also open June 17-24 to support students for several reasons. A few examples include those requiring emotional support, students with specialized or exceptional needs, or to provide space and supervision for those writing diploma exams.


2. Staffing Announcements

We are pleased to announce the following staffing positions for the 2021.22 school year.

Patrick Redecopp - Construction/PE

We are welcoming Patrick to our school to re-boot our construction program. With an interest in woodworking and two journeyman tickets in Gasfitting and plumbing, Patrick brings a host of skills to our woodshop. We are excited to see this program get going again.

Rebecca Nguyen - PE/Yoga

Rebecca is now entering her third year at BCHS in PE/Yoga. Her growth and expertise in these areas is evident and she is a credit to our school.

Mikkel Nannan - Mechanics

Mikkel is joining our school from Chestermere Lake Middle School where he has taught shop. On top of teaching, Mikkel has worked off and on in his family run auto mechanics shop for 21 years and brings a passion for the industry.

Thanks, have a great weekend. The update next week will be shorter as we finish up the year.

Ryan
On Saturday, June 5th, 198 graduates, along with parents, staff, and friends, braved the weather to celebrate our BCHS graduating class of 2021. It was a special day for our gr. 12 students who have worked so hard through many challenges to get to this point. Thank you to everyone for making it a memorable celebration.
While many plans for learning had to be scuttled due to COVD-19, Ms. Williams' Social classes took advantage of the opportunity to embark on virtual tours.

Earlier in the semester Ms. Williams’ grade 9 Social Studies class got a tour of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (in Winnipeg).  In the tour we reviewed what we had learned about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and got to see some of the displays including a piece of art that created a map of Canada by outlining the borders with people and our rights written on the land.


 
Then in late May we had a visit from Senator Paula Simons who answered our questions about government actions relating to mental health, Covid, post-secondary education funding, immigration and systemic racism.
 

And in Ms. Williams’ Social 20-1 class we got the opportunity to pilot a new virtual tour of the national Canadian Museum of History. The tour took us through some of the exhibits highlighting events surrounding Confederation.  Our tour guide was able to give us little tid bits of trivia and even gossip from the time to help make confederation more interesting.  
 
Interested in medical school? On June 17th, there is an information session provided for prospective students who are interested in health and science learning. For more information, email rreed@rockyview.ab.ca.
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