September Newsletter
September 2021 School of Hope Vermilion - Home School
Principal's Message
September 3rd, 2021
Good day families!
Welcome to another school year! We are happy to welcome our returning families, and excited to greet our new ones. The School of Hope is proud to be in partnership with families to help students meet their goals and dreams. Our top values are Flexibility and Relationships - and we will continue to work hard towards helping your family find both at our school.
Teacher Contact
Teachers are your number one contact person for help. They are able to answer most questions or point you in the right direction, so please reach out!
For grades 1-9 your homeroom teacher will be contacting you soon. They will:
Introduce themselves and start to get to know you and your child!
Ensure you know how and when they can be contacted
Go over work expectations
Ensure you know how to log in to courses and online lessons etc.
Help you start a first easy assignment to get things rolling
Invite students to the first online lessons
For high school students, you will be getting called by your core course teachers. They will go over a similar list as in the younger grades, but they will also reinforce the online learning course for you to start on right away called Media Online learning. It walks students on how our LMS system called Canvas works, how assignments are to be handed in etc.
Courses/Online Lessons
Instructions on how to log on to our courses were sent in the acceptance email/letter you received earlier. These can be reviewed with your teacher.
Canvas courses were opened on September 1st, and should be accessible. Some students have begun coursework and submitting items, which is fantastic!
Online lessons will begin September 13th. A reminder that the lessons will be recorded and posted in the Canvas course, so if you can access them later that day, or anytime going forward (sometimes very useful to review part of a lesson later!). Links for those lessons are available in your Canvas courses.
Tech issues? Call our tech support expert, Iain at 1-866-888-9010.
Text books and resources
Texts and resources have been shipped throughout the summer and continue to be mailed each day. Families who registered in the spring or first half of August should already have their books, while those who registered in the last part of August until now should have resources on the way soon.
If you are awaiting resources, many of our courses do not require texts to get started. We suggest contacting your teacher who may be able to point out where you could get started, or may be able to send you a temporary digital copy of the first section of a required text so you may get started on the course. *Note - last year’s resources must be returned before getting this year’s!
Work Expectations
Reminder to new families that online learning work expectations are similar to those in brick and mortar buildings. Your teachers will be expecting work handed in each week. Not only will it help your child stay on track to finish the course on time, but teachers will be able to see if your child is understanding the concepts being taught, and will be able to help them if they need it. It is also one of the ways we monitor attendance.
Although the baseline expectation is to receive work each week. It is important to remember that one of our core values is flexibility. We realize that many circumstances and opportunities may occur in the year (ex. Seasonal farm work, family vacations, sickness, domestic changes, etc.) Our families are encouraged to contact their teacher to arrange a teacher approved alternative schedule that will allow them to meet their circumstances and still finish their course work.
Home Schooling
Our facilitator team is finishing up the process of dividing up family lists. This process is based on maintaining existing facilitator/family pairings when possible, assuring facilitators have a reasonable number of families/students to care for, and attempting to make efficient use of facilitator travel time.
You should be getting contacted next week by your facilitator, where they will introduce themselves and begin the process of booking 1st Visits. Our visits are slated to be in person for fall and spring, with phone/zoom call midpoint through the year. This may change depending on Covid realities, but we really hope to maintain visits when we can.
In the past, we referred to our homeschooling school as Vermilion Homeschooling. Following direction of our Parent Council, we have begun the process of transitioning to Hope Homeschooling this year.
Parent Council
We are always looking for parent input and involvement! At our online meetings, we review new situations, challenges and plans for our school, and consider new ideas. We invite interested parents to email michel.despins@ecacs16.ab.ca (Principal), who will send you a zoom link for the meeting. Our next meeting will be September 20th at 6:30pm.
We thank you for the honour of choosing the School of Hope, and look forward to a great school year!
God Bless,
Michel Despins and Dwayne Coffey
School of Hope/ Hope Homeschooling Admin
Dual Credit Courses
School of Hope and Lakeland College are working together to offer a Dual Credit Program for Senior High students.
Dual Credit:
New Online Registration Process: Please follow these steps:
1. Go to soh.ecacs.ca
2. Select Dual Credit Tab
3. Click "Register Now"
4. Click "Start Filling"
5. 1st Prompt is to indicate if you are currently an ECACS student or NEW. Select the correct status and follow the prompts.
Start Dates for courses:
1. Environmental Sustainability and Basic Energy Principles September 21, 2021
2. American Sign Language - October 5, 2021
3. All other courses start on October 12.
Please REGISTER ASAP - so that numbers can be verified and course offerings confirmed.
RAP
This program requires a partnership between ECACS and an EMPLOYER. Please contact Dwayne Coffey at 1-780-753-0671 for information on how to initiate this process.
Drama Club News
Calling all thespians!
Starting next fall, School of Hope will be opening its first ever drama club. The club will rehearse and perform plays and musicals like an in-person high school, only it will all be done over Zoom!
The club will be open for students in grades 7-12, with opportunities for technical theater students and on-zoom-stage performers.
So please join us next fall for the premier of this new club!
Hands of Hope
Have you ever wondered about what you can do to add good to the world?
Are you interested in helping others?
Do you feel that when we work together we can make a difference in the world?
Are you currently in Grade 7 - 12
Please join our Hands of Hope club where students make a difference!
First meeting this year will be on Friday September 24 beginning at 2;30 p.m.
Information and a Zoom link to join the meeting will be shared in Canvas notices.
Your teacher contacts this year are
Mr. Kim - wayne.kim@ecacs16.ab.ca and
Ms. Henderson - joanne.henderson@ecacs16.ab.ca
You are welcome to send your questions about the club to either teacher.
School Council
A group of parents representing all grade levels that provide advice and guidance to the School of Hope's administration. Together, we ensure that students have the best educational experience, teacher interactions and learning outcomes.
If you are interested in joining the parent council, please contact SOH principal Michel Despins. He can be reached at 1-780-853-2188 Ext 120 or emailed
Please read the minutes for the May 31 Parent Council Meeting by clicking the PDF below.
Next Meeting Date: September 20th, 6:30 PM
Important Dates
September 6 - No School (Labour Day)
September 13 - First Day of Online ClassesSeptember 20 - School Council Meeting 6:30 PM
September 17 - Welcome Back Party in the Park (Lethbridge) 1:00 PM
September 20 - Welcome Back Picnic (Sherwood Park) 1:30 PM
September 24 - Welcome Back Picnic (Vermilion) Time TBD
September - Welcome Back Picnic (Calgary) Date & Time TBD
September 30 - National Day of Truth and Reconciliation(Wear orange shirt day)
October 11 No School (Thanksgiving Day)
Book Returns
Welcome back!
If you have resources (from past years) that you are no longer using, they are considered overdue and should be sent back to the office as soon as possible so other students are able to use them, as we are now short of some resources. Please send these books back via our Canada Post return account as stated in the information letter provided below.
Your help resolving this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Mission
WHAT IS VIBE?
VIBE is one of the Mental Health Capacity Building (MHCB) sites that received yearly funding from Alberta Health Services. We have been established for 11 years in east central Alberta, providing services in Vermilion and the surrounding area. MHCB programs follow a framework which is based in research and best practice to:
- promote positive mental health in children, youth, families & communities.
- raise awareness, increase knowledge, build personal skills (such as self-care and self-regulation techniques), develop interpersonal skills, foster positive community norms (such as support networks, physical & psychological safety).
Family School Liaison Program (FSL)
The Family School Liaison Program (FSL) is committed to helping students be successful in school by providing skills-focused short term counselling services.
School of Hope - Vermilion Home Schooling
Email: michel.despins@ecacs16.ab.ca
Website: soh.ecacs.ca
Location: 5212 Railway Ave, Vermilion, AB, Canada
Phone: 888-350-4673
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/School-of-Hope-320214374696062/?ref=pages_you_manage