Secondary Virtual Students and Families,

As we shared last week, efforts to staff, timetable and place all students into classrooms is ongoing and has continued throughout the weekend. A team of guidance counsellors is working as quickly as possible to schedule as many students as possible to begin classes on Tuesday, September 22.

As you may have seen already, timetables were sent to all Secondary Virtual School students today. However, due to the more than 18,000 students enrolled in Secondary Virtual School (4,000 more than projected) and due to ongoing efforts to hire staff to meet our needs, some students will have received an empty timetable with no courses. For students in this position, please be assured that guidance counsellors continue to schedule students and we ask that you continue to check your Brightspace account to see if classes have been loaded by Tuesday morning.

As is the case every year, the opening days of secondary school typically see courses being adjusted as staffing and timetables are finalized. For students who still do not have a timetable on Brightspace by Tuesday morning, plans are in place to open new classes as soon as we secure more teachers as quickly as possible. Information and instructions about how to sign up for these new classes will be provided once new courses and teachers are finalized. We will also adjust quadmester start and end dates for these new courses. All students will receive the support they need and will not begin the school year behind in their courses as term dates for these new courses will be adjusted.

In terms of required timetable changes, students should continue to be in contact with the guidance counsellor at their home school for support.

We are committed to meeting the needs of all students and once again ask for your patience and understanding as we continue with the incredibly challenging and complex work of establishing a Secondary Virtual School to serve more than 18,000 students.

Thank you.