Welcome to Pinetree Secondary! Grade 8 Middle School Visits- Getting Ready for Grade 9 “Accepting Challenges Together”

People to Know! Administration at Pinetree PRINCIPAL: MR. JOHN MCCULLOUGH VICE PRINCIPALS: MS. CHERYL WOODS MR. MIKE SLINGER Counsellors at Pinetree O MS. HARDEEP JOHALA- F, Z O MS. SHARON STARRG- LED, R O MS. LINDA HAMILTONLee – P O MS. MEENA DHILLONS-Y

Success=Getting Involved (Leadership and Volunteering, Fine & Performing Arts) O Teams and Clubs O Alpha Wolves O Book Lounge Club O Drag Racing O Journalism Club (Inbox Student Newspaper) O Key (Kiawannis) Service Club O Library Volunteers O Math Club O Me-to-We Club O Music Council O Ski & Snowboarding Club O Table Tennis O Treehouse Theatre Council O Sports/Athletics O Cross Country O Soccer O Volleyball (Girls) O Basketball (Boys Jr. & Sr.) O Badminton O Wrestling O Tennis O Track & Field

Counsellor Role at Pinetree NEED HELP? LET US GIVE YOU A HAND!! O Course planning O Career planning & Career Center O Post secondary information, admissions and financial aid O Help with academic, personal, social and family problems O Prevention and awareness education O Crisis intervention and referral to community services O Support services: career resource facilitator, learning resource center and gifted program

Supporting Pinetree Students O ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE O EAL Beginner /Oral Communications O EAL Foundational English/ Oral Communications O EAL Canadian Studies O EAL English Skills O EAL English Composition O TEACHER SUPPORT O Teachers provide tutorials outside class time O STUDENT SERVICES – LEARNING CENTER O Academic support for grades 9 – 12 O Work with teachers, students & parents to facilitate student success O LIBRARY O Print materials, audio-visual resources and computer lab – online access for students O ADVISORY “PACK” O Groups of students linked with a teacher advisor-meet once a week on Wednesdays O Sense of belonging and support O Organized according to grade O TUTORING O Tutoring lists available from your counsellors O Peer Tutors available in LC

The Transition from Grade 8 to 9 O Our goal is to help grade 8’s make a smooth transition to high school. To help ease the transition we have planned the following events. O Visits to Middle Schools-programming O Tour of Pinetree- Thursday, February 5 th 12:00pm – 2:30pm O Articulation meetings with teachers at the middle schools O Grade 9 Orientation – last week of August. (Led by our Alphawolves)

Choosing Courses: The Programming Process O Take time to learn about courses before you choose O Read the course calendar descriptions carefully O Don’t worry about what your friends are taking, instead focus on your skills and abilities O Discuss your choices with your parents O Contact your counsellor if you have questions

Course Programming O Grade 9 students are required to take 8 courses. O English 9 ( or EAL) O Socials 9 ( or EAL) O Science 9 O Math 9 O PE 9 O 3 Electives

Elective Choices O ART 9- learn skills in drawing, painting, collage, mixed media, printmaking, paper mache, and photography. O BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY 9- learn about the world of business, including advertising, communications, money etc. O DRAMA 9- learn basic acting skills in areas of mime, voice, movement, stage combat, improvisation and some script work. Work towards building confidence and cooperative teamwork skills. O FOODS & NUTRITION 9- Explore great food and food culture. A “hands – on course”.

Elective Choices Cont. O INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 9- Explore and learn technologies in: desktop publishing essentials, HTML web page coding, flash animation, programming basics, photoshop, video editing and presentation software. O WOOD WORK 9- learn to safely use tools and equipment to design, create and finish your own projects. O ENGINEERING AND DESIGN 9- get challenged to solved problems and design solutions that you can build or test! In the past students have built C02 dragsters, Rube Goldberg (engineer/inventor) machines, mobiles, balances and more!

Elective Choices cont… O MUSIC PROGRAM: O Concert Band 9 O Jazz Band 9 O Concert Choir 9 O Vocal Jazz 9 O LANGUAGES: O French 9 O Japanese 9 O Mandarin 9 O Spanish 9

Language Considerations O Good at French? Keep French 9 O Good at Languages – take French 9, Spanish 9, Mandarin 9 or Japanese 9 O Good student but want a change- switch to a different language O Not strong in languages- don’t take one O Want a break? – wait until grade 11 and take a beginner language in grade 11 (i.e.. Beginner Spanish 11 or Beginner Japanese 11)

Timetable Features O TWO SEMESTERS PER YEAR O September to January and February to June O Semester courses last for 5 months; examples include: Science, Socials, English, Electives O LINEAR COURSES AT THE GRADE 9 LEVEL O Math, PE, Band, Choir, Honours English/SS O September to June O STUDENTS IN ALL GRADES ARE EXPECTED TO TAKE 8 COURSES PER YEAR O COMMON MEETING TIMES FOR STUDENTS O Nutrition Break O Lunch O PACK O COMMON LUNCH FOR ALL STUDENTS O Activities – great intramural program O AFTERNOON LONG BLOCKS O Extended labs O Field Trips O ROTATING BLOCKS

MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAY 8: :00 * 4 9: :00 9: :05 * 5 10: :10 10:20B R E A K10:20 10: :20 * 2 11: :30 11:25 11: PACK 11: :40 11:50 * 3 12:55 12:50 LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH 12:50 12:55 LUNCH 1:30 3: :30 3:15 1:35 1 PINETREE SECONDARY SCHOOL Timetable: Rotation of Blocks Sample

Timeline Grade 8’s O Grade 8 Walkabout – Thursday, February 5, :00pm-2:30pm O Honours Assessment: Thursday, February 5, 2015 O Science Honours Exam – 9am before the Walkabout O Math Honours Exam- 10:15am before the Walkabout O Humanities Honours Exam 2:30 pm after the Walkabout O All course selection sheets must be signed by a parent O Final date for programming sheets to be returned to your teacher is O ______________________________

Questions/Cross Catchment Please call or your counsellor if you have questions: Lee – P A-F, Z G – Led, R S-Y CROSS CATCHMENT PROCESS: O All students complete a programming sheet for the school they would normally attend (HOME SCHOOL). O February 6 th, 2015 on-line Cross Catchment applications available online at the School District #43 Website O Deadline to complete online forms is February 18, 2015 O Have your parents go the school district website