Planning for High School Buck Mountain Central

High School Credit Students no longer "pass" or "fail" a grade, they pass or fail individual subjects. Most often, student must pass a grade 10 course to take the grade 11 course; and must pass the grade 11 course to take the grade 12 course. Students who fail a course will have to re-take the course before they can move on to the next grade level of that course. Exception: "retroactive" credits

High School Redesign Our school has received the approval of our Superintendent to proceed with joining the high school redesign project for the next three years. This is a province-wide project that involves over a hundred high schools who are looking at providing a high school experience that is not constrained by the time requirement of “25 hours of instruction – 1 credit” [so-called Carnegie Unit] Basic Outline of BM’s Vision for HS Redesign: Introduction of a daily “flex block” Introduction of a formal credit recovery program Introduction of teacher advisory groups

Our “new timetable” Period 1 8:55 9:33 38 Period 2 10:11 Period 3 10:41 28 Flex Block Break 10:46 5   Period 4 11:24 Period 5 12:02 Lunch 12:38 36 Period 6 12:40 1:18 Period 7 1:56 2:01 Period 8 2:39 Period 9 3:18

What is a flex block and how might it work? A “flex block” is time built into the timetable that offers students some choice in terms of where they want to invest their learning time. Thus the term, flex. At BM we are going to merge this concept with the response to intervention work we started in junior high this year. In this way, we can combine offering choice to students along with providing opportunities for extension, introduction of restorative principles via counselling circles and targeting students who may need additional help, either at Tier II or Tier III levels. Sample 4 week cycle Flex.docx Flex block defintions and descriptions.docx The flex block will build upon the experiences of this year working with our junior high students and the learning experiences and opportunities we implemented with them.

Credit Recovery This is a formal process that provides opportunities for students to gain credit for courses that they fail without having to redo the whole course and without having to drop down to the lower level. Basically, students would have to redo, or do for the first time, assignments and other work in a course they fail, perhaps re-write a final exam, or do other work to ensure they meet the outcomes for the course. There would be guidelines, i.e. a student can not, for instance, go for credit recovery if they receive a grade of less that 40% for a course. Credit recovery would make the most sense if a student passes the final exam but fails the course because they did not hand in assignments. When we go this route of credit recovery, we will look at and perhaps revise our student assessment policy such that we will ensure students complete and hand in work as needed, ensure teachers provide zeroes for work not handed in and make re-dos requirements more stringent. The flex block could be used by students for credit recovery.

Teacher Advisory Groups The following are thoughts: A teacher advisory group is a counselling program where each teacher in the school is responsible for the academic progress of a small group of students. The teacher supervises the day to day work of the student as well as provides direction, advice and support such that a student can be more successful in school. In our school, we will have a teacher responsible for: credits and progress through high school homework, studying for tests, assignment Teacher advisors will be expected to touch base with students a least weekly and Bi-monthly we will set aside time for each teacher advisor to meet with his/her advisory group. This will occur every second Day 3 and will happen during the Flex time. Junior high and senior high students will be grouped separately with an advisor.

High School Diploma

"Core" Requirements for the High School Diploma

ATTENDANCE

Transitions between high school courses - Sept 2013.pptx

High School Courses Diploma examinations: students in the following courses must write a diploma examination in grade 12: Biology 30, Chemistry 30, English 30-1, English 30-2; Mathematics 30-1; Mathematics 30-2; Social Studies 30-1; Social Studies 30-2; Science 30. The diploma examination is worth 50% of a grade 12 student's final grade.

We will look to add Drama as an option for 2014-15 FINE ARTS Art 10 Art 20 Art 30 Band 10 Band 20 Band 30 For the fine arts, grade 10 and 20 level courses can be taken for 3 or 5 credits. Grade 12 level can ONLY be taken for 5 credits. We will look to add Drama as an option for 2014-15

CTS– Career and Technology Studies Communications/ Information Processing Foods Wildlife (Outdoor Education) Leadership Additional Outreach/ ADLC courses are also available. These courses are offered as 1-credit modules. A student should get 5 credits in a year in a CTS stream.

Distance Education – non refundable fees for students who chose to take a distance education course - $50 per credit. One credit course = $50 Three credit course = $150 Five credit course = $250 Students who have a choice in whether or not to take a course will be required to pay the non refundable fee. If the school does not provide a choice, there will be no fee. i.e. Physics 20. Often students do not have another course to choose from so the choice is usually distance learning. In this case, because we have not provided students with a choice, there would be no fee for students if they take a course from the Alberta Distance Learning Center or other distance learning course.

ENGLISH English 10-1 English 20-1 English 30-2 Requirements coming out of grade 9: English 10-1 Minimum 50% English 10-2 Less than 50% or modified grade 9 English Students can drop down from -1 to -2, but can not move up from -2 to -1. Students must carefully consider which courses to take. In many instance, especially for students not going to university, English 30-2 could be a better option for them.

Social Studies Social 10-1 Social 20-1 Social 30-1 Requirements coming out of grade 9: Social 10-1 Minimum 50% Social 10-2 Less than 50% or modified grade 9 Social Students can drop down from -1 to -2, but can not move up from -2 to -1. Students seeking to attend post-secondary education should find out if Social Studies 30-1 is a requirement for their training. In many instances (and for many students not seeking post-secondary education) Social Studies 30-2 is an option to consider.

SCIENCES Science 10 Biology 20 Biology 30 Chemistry 20 Chemistry 30 Physics 20 Physics 30 Science 14 Science 24 Requirements coming out of grade 9: Science 10 Minimum of 50% Science 14 Less than 50% or modified science 9

Chemistry and Physics  Strongly recommend Math -1 Science 10 (minimum 50%, recommend 60%)   Chemistry 20 and/or Physics 20 Math 10 C recommended  Chemistry 20 (minimum 50%, recommend 60%)   Chemistry 30 Math 20-1 recommended Physics 20 (minimum 50%, recommend 60%) Physics 30

MATHEMATICS Requirements coming out of grade 9 Math 10C Minimum 50% Math 10-3 Less than 50% (Recommend if less than 60%) Math 10-4 Modified Math

"Other" Required Courses for High School Diploma CALM - Career and Life Management  Three (3) credit course offered in  grade 10 to BM students. Physical Education 10 PE 10 can be taken as a 3 or 5 credit course. Three is mandatory. PE 10 PE 20 PE 30

RETROACTIVE CREDITS

WORK EXPERIENCE

CLOSED CAMPUS