Registration for the EIPS Junior High Honours program opened January 9. The first parent or guardian on file in PowerSchool for all current grades 7 and 8 students received an email through Permission Click outlining the application process for the program—including a link to an application form. Check your spam or junk folder if you, as the first parent or guardian on file, didn’t receive the email on January 9 or the reminder email on January 16. The deadline to apply is Jan. 18, 2023. There will be no late application process.

From January 25-27, schools will contact families to confirm conditional acceptance for students applying to the program—based on a student’s marks as of January 18. Students must maintain their honours standing on the year-end report card in June to receive final acceptance in the Honours program for the upcoming year.

Yes. If your child currently attends school within EIPS and is returning next year, you’ll still complete the online Returning Student Registration Form, available February 1-28. On the form, you’ll confirm the school your child will attend next year. Once registration closes, all decisions are final for the next school year. In terms of the Junior High Honours program, the anticipated school you’ll see listed on your child’s Returning Student Registration Form will align with the school they’ve been directed to for Junior High Honours next year.

Yes, but there is a deadline. When schools contact families January 25-27, they’ll advise of the finalized 2023-24 Junior High Honours Program locations, and you can confirm or decline if you’d like your child to attend the particular school they’re directed to. You’ll then reconfirm this school during the returning student registration process, February 1-28. Once returning student registration closes, all decisions are final for the next school year.

Junior High Honours Program locations won’t be finalized until after the application process closes and EIPS determines the number of students conditionally accepted. Grade 9 Junior High Honours is anticipated to be available at F.R. Haythorne Junior High and Sherwood Heights Junior High; other Grade 9 sites may be added. Grade 8 Junior High Honours may also be at the same locations if numbers warrant; other Grade 8 sites may be added.

Program locations are unknown until EIPS reviews the applications. Finalized program locations will be confirmed in late January. For example, if enough qualified applications are received in Fort Saskatchewan, a Junior High Honours site may be added in the community.

Your child doesn’t have to move schools unless they do specifically want the Junior High Honours Program. When schools contact families to advise of conditional acceptance in the program, staff will let you know the finalized program locations and you can make the decision that best suits your family. You’ll confirm the school your child will attend during the returning student registration process, February 1-28. Once registration closes, all decisions are final for the next school year.

Note: Transportation and boundary considerations may impact whether a student can attend another school. For example, EIPS doesn’t have a bus that runs from Vegreville to Sherwood Park.

When the Junior High Honours Program applications close, EIPS staff will review the number of applicants and information about current schools. Division staff will then connect with applicable principals to determine where the finalized program locations will be. If the number of applications for Junior High Honours exceeds the number of available spaces at one or more schools or in one or more grades, a random selection draw may take place. Those not selected in the random selection process for one school may have the option to attend the Junior High Honours Program at another school if there is space available at another site.

Transportation routes and fees depend on where you’re located in relation to the school your child attends. If your child resides within Elk Island Public Schools, you’ll be assessed either an eligible fee or an ineligible fee. Eligible fees are applicable to students who attend their designated school and reside greater than 2.39 kilometres from the school. Ineligible fees are applicable to students who attend a non-designated school or students who reside less than 2.40 kilometres from their designated school. Depending on final Junior High Honours Program locations chosen, students may be directed to a non-designated school for the program and therefore, an ineligible fee would apply. Additionally, bus routes may or may not be available from your location to the school. For more information, see the EIPS Transportation web page.

EIPS’ first goal is for these students to remain at their school. Overall, if a school has students apply from their school, they’ll be accommodated first. Only if students cannot be accommodated at their current school would the Division conduct a random draw and provide the option to register in the Junior High Honours program at another site.  At. F.R. Haythorne Junior High, there are currently 36 students each in grades 8 and 9 enrolled in the Junior High Honours Program. At Sherwood Height Junior High, there are currently 18 students in Grade 8 and 37 students in Grade 9 enrolled in the program.

Junior High Honours students follow the same Alberta Education grades 8 and 9 curriculums as regular program students. Junior High Honours students will form their own class for core subjects. Junior High Honours students are also expected to complete 25 hours of community service in an area of passion and will automatically be enrolled in the “CTF: Enterprise and Innovation” option course. Students will still be able to choose other options offered at the school they attend. For more information, see the EIPS Junior High Honours Program web page.

An 80% in Junior High Honours is the same as an 80% in the regular program, as it's the same curriculum and expectations for students. There’s no bell curve and you’re not graded against your peers—you’re still graded per the curriculum and receive a similar amount of homework. The CTF course allots students time to work on projects, rather than taking time away from core courses.

No. During the year, their marks will ebb and flow. Once a student has received final acceptance in the Junior High Honours Program for the start of next school year, they’ll remain in the program for the full school year. Students are only required to have an 80% in each of the four core subjects at the time of conditional acceptance and at the time of final acceptance if they’d like to register in the program again for the following year.

Passion areas don’t need to be in a school-related subject—they can be any areas a student is interested in and wants to explore.

The placement can be in school, outside of school or a combination of both, depending on the passion areas a student wants to explore. Several schools have volunteer programs that’d meet the community service requirement.

Yes. EIPS will work with the school, teacher and family to find a suitable volunteer activity. The Division will also look at community partners. Several schools already have volunteer programs that’d meet the community service requirement.

EIPS is currently developing the CTF course. It’s mandatory and will involve projects surrounding STEM and the Humanities.

No. Junior High Honours is a standalone program, the same as French Immersion, Logos and Alternative Christian. Student must choose if they want to enrol in French Immersion, Logos, Alternative Christian or Junior High Honours, but they can’t do more than one.

There’s no cost for enrolling in the program; however, there may be a small fee for the CTF course.

Yes. They’ll still have access to extracurricular opportunities at their school.

Yes. The Junior High Honours program follows the Division calendar.

No. Grade 9 marks aren’t taken into consideration for post-secondary admission. The program also isn’t a prerequisite for IB or AP—Junior High Honours is about enriching the regular curriculum.

The Junior High Honours Program class size cap is based on the space constraints of the school in which it’s offered. For the current school year, Junior High Honours classes at F.R. Haythorne are capped at 36 and Sherwood Heights classes are capped at 37. Other schools may have different class size caps, and the caps at any school may change from year to year.

Yes, but the request must be made during the applicable returning student registration process. If your child chooses not to continue the Junior High Honours program in Grade 9, you’ll identify on their subsequent returning student registration form which school they’d like to attend. If it’s their designated school, there’ll be no issue for them to return to that school. If the request will be for a non-designated school, acceptance is based on open or closed boundaries and available spaces at that school.