THE DRAGON'S PEN
/ by Henry MacDougall
(click images to enlarge)
IT’S BACK TO SCHOOL SEASON
As another school year begins at King George, it’s once again time to welcome a brand new class of grade eight students.
King George Secondary — every west end teenager’s alma mater.
Thinking back to my own first year at KG, I think that all new students should have a guide to help them out with navigating the unfamiliar environment of a new school. Although this column will focus a lot on new students, it will also include lots of useful information for returning students, like important dates to note on your calendar and a comprehensive schedule for the beginning of the school year. Here are some things you should know before school starts.
ORIENTATION & FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: Grade eights will be invited to the annual Grade Eight Orientation taking place on September 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the gymnasium. The orientation will be led by student volunteers. By the end of the orientation, grade eights will be set up with lockers and a homeroom class. At the same time, parents will be invited to an information session taking place in the cafeteria. The rest of the school (Grades 9-12) will start the day at 1 p.m. and go for an hour, getting lockers set up and settling in with their new homeroom.
HOW TO VIEW YOUR CLASS SCHEDULE: To access your class schedule, you will need to sign in to the MyEducation BC portal, which will be opening up for logins on September 5. The link for that is here and you can log in by entering your seven-digit student number and custom password. You may need to set a new password.
Class schedules are all online now at MyEd BC.
If the service is acting strangely and is not letting you log on, it’s very likely that the issue is with MyEd itself, as it has quite a reputation for being buggy. If something like this happens, reach out to the KG Office by calling 604-713-8999, and they can lend a helping hand.
MyEd is very important as a student at KG, as it’s where you can see both your schedule and report cards when they are released.
Login to MyEd BC on the first day of school to see your classes and schedule.
KEY TERMS: Here are some of the main recurring events at KG.
Semester Transition Days: A semester transition day is a day for students to catch up on missed assignments at the end of the first semester.
Students are not required to attend these days, but are invited to come into school if they have an overdue assignment or test that they should complete. There are also two of these days at the end of the second semester, but these are not categorized as transition days.
Professional Development Days: Professional Development days (Pro-D days) are days for teachers to learn new skills they can use while teaching. For students, however, Pro-D days function essentially as days off from school. These days are dotted throughout the year, with almost one every month. This year, Pro-D days are only taking place on Fridays.
Collaborative Days: Collaborative days (commonly referred to as “collabs”) are similar to Pro-D days, however instead of students missing an entire day, only a single period is skipped.
Collabs only ever impact the first or last period of a school day. The times are balanced with block switches that occur in the middle of each semester, so that no class is taught for less time than another. This year, collabs are only happening on Fridays.
There are lots of class schedule information and special days to keep track of.
Block Rotations: Block rotations modify the order of the school day by switching Periods 1 and 2, while also switching 3 and 4. Block rotations will take place twice in the year, each time in the middle of a semester.
MONTH BY MONTH
I’ll now go over the general schedule of each month of the upcoming school year, including the dates of most special events:
September will start with the first day of school on September 5, and the rest of September will be largely uneventful save for a Pro-D day on September 22.
We’ll have a few days off in early October with no school in session on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on October 2, as well as Thanksgiving on October 9. There will be a small step up in terms of busyness this month, but we’ll still have a collab day on October 6 and a Pro-D day on October 20. Interim report cards will be handed out on the 13th of the month.
In November there will be a collab day on November 3 and a Pro-D day on the 24th. School will not be in session on Remembrance Day, November 11. This year’s first block rotation will take place on November 14, and the Semester 1 Midterm Report cards will be released on November 24.
December will be a change of pace for sure, as students will get some well-earned rest during winter break. A collab day will take place on December 1. Parent/Teacher Conferences for the first semester will be taking place on December 7. According to the calendar posted on the KG website, winter break will be starting on December 23, 2023 and will go until January 7, 2024.
There will be a collab day on January 19, and the first semester will end on January 31.
February will mark the end of the first semester, with two Semester Transition days on February 1 and 2. Getting into the second semester, there will be a Pro-D day on February 16 and a day off school for Family Day on the 19th.
March will begin with a collab day on the 1st, and interim report cards will be released on March 8. Spring break will be from March 18 to 28, but there also will be a day off on March 29 for Good Friday.
April will see a day off for Easter Monday on April 1, but other than that the month will be quite busy. There will be a collab day on April 12 and a Pro-D day on the 22nd. There will be a block rotation on April 23, and the Semester 2 Interim Report Cards will be released on April 26.
May will begin with Parent/Teacher conferences on May 2. There will also be two collab days, the first being May 3, and the second May 31. In addition, there will be a Pro-D day on May 17. School will not be in session on May 20 for Victoria Day.
June will be majorly uneventful in terms of special days, but will be quite busy with final assignments and tests. The last day of school will be June 27, which is also when the final report cards will be released.
READY FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR!
Everyone’s getting ready to start another great year at KG! For returning students, let’s make sure that Grade eights always feel welcome. And for new students, remember to get involved in school activities.
See you in the hallways!
