September 26, 2021
The month of September always seems to fly by! As we approach October we want to remind everyone of a few important dates coming in the following month, a fun opportunity for our students, and an email change.
Important dates (new Pro-D day in bold)
Monday September 27 – Professional development day (school is not in session)
Wednesday September 29 – Orange shirt day at VISII
Thursday September 30 – National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (school is not in session)
Monday October 4 – Rattle-making workshop
Thursday October 7 – Rattle-making workshop
Monday October 11 – Thanksgiving (school is not in session)
Wednesday October 13 – Ministry training day for our staff (school is not in session)
Friday October 22 – Professional development day (school is not in session)
Orange shirt day
September 30th has been Orange Shirt day in Canada since 2013 (https://www.orangeshirtday.org/). This year, for the first time, September 30 will be recognized as a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. If your learner would like to wear an orange shirt on Wednesday September 29th to honour the survivors of residential schools, we invite and encourage them to do so.
Rattle-making workshop
There is a rattle-making workshop led by Jay Havens on the mornings of October 4th and 7th. Jay Havens is a 2Spirit educator and artist from the Haudenosaunee-Mohawk nation. If you would like more information about this remote workshop, please see the website: https://www.axistheatre.com/all-ages-workshops
The cost of this workshop is $25/student. We are asking parents/guardians to pay for the workshop. However, no child will be excluded; if this amount is onerous, please do not feel that you must pay. If you are able to pay a bit more to subsidise this workshop for other students, please consider doing so. Please send payments by e-transfer to treasurer@visii.ca with a note that it is for the rattle-making workshop.
New Email for e-transfers of tuition payments
If you are paying on a monthly basis, we would now prefer that the e-transfers went to treasurer@visii.ca. The next payment is due September 30. We have already received some payments for this month through admin@visii.ca; that email continues to be functional for the purposes of e-transfers.
Attendance
If your child is going to be away from school, please use the new attendance form on the website which will go live in the coming week. Until then you can send an email to attendance@visii.ca to report a child’s absence or early pick-up. The attendance@visii.ca email will continue to be a way to report a child’s absence after the website form is posted. As per the ministry regulations, any absences that are not reported to the school will be recorded as unexcused absences on your child’s report card. Additionally, as student’s earn more independence, specifically commuting to school alone, a message from the parents/guardians to inform the school that their child will be away spares the education team from worrying about your child’s safety when they don’t show up at the start of the school day.
IEP Team
The Board is pleased to report that our superb educational team is being supported in the preparation of IEPs and submission of supporting documentation by two top-notch experts. Marine McDonnell, our school psychologist, is new to VISII; she has extensive experience with psychoeducational assessments and psychometrics and is helping our education team help you (our families) gather the right documentation to give your children the best possible support. Amy Caesar, who worked with many of our learners last year as well, is helping with the writing of IEPs and developing support plans.
Vancouver Island School of Innovation and Inquiry 