The Horizon

We acknowledge that we are on traditional territories in Alberta

of the many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit whose footsteps

have marked these lands for centuries.

As we begin a new year, I would like to wish all of our home education families a very happy and healthy New Year. We hope the holiday season provided time for rest, connection, and reflection as you prepare for the months ahead.

Winter offers many wonderful learning opportunities for home education families—from outdoor exploration and seasonal activities to community programs, sports, and enrichment experiences. We encourage families to take advantage of these moments to extend learning while enjoying the unique flexibility that home education provides during this season.

Looking ahead, registration for the 2026–2027 school year will open for returning families in the coming weeks. This early registration window allows our current families the opportunity to secure a spot before registration opens to new families. With increased interest in home education, we strongly encourage families to register early once the window opens.

Please watch for upcoming announcements on our website and social media channels as registration details are released. We look forward to another year of partnership, growth, and learning together.

Warm regards,

Tracy Gilluley

Principal, ursa

Run Santa Run! 2025 was a tremendous success!

We raised vital funds for bursaries for Third Academy, LYNX, and ursa students and everyone had a wonderful time doing it. With fresh snow, frosty trees, and the sun peeking through the clouds, it was the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit.

A massive thank you to our sponsors, volunteers, participants, and especially our Third Academy PACs.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the annual Gingerbread contest. We had some amazing entries, including a stained glass greenhouse, a huge, masted boat, a Harry Potter Triwizard tournament maze, an F1 crash, the Burrow from Harry Potter, houses from the House with Chicken Legs and the Land of Stories, a cuckoo clock from Shrek, a nature scene, an Aikido dojo, an advent calendar, a gingerbread man with a tiny gingerbread house, and a pun on gingerbread.

Fall Resource Claims were deposited at the end of December. The deposit came from Third Academy. Please email CAP@thirdschools.ca if you did not receive your reimbursement.

If your student is completing a Parent Directed course for credit this semester, please send your portfolio to you HEM before January 7, 2026. For portfolios submitted after this date, grades will be submitted to Alberta Education in June.

Alberta Education has cancelled the January 2026 Diploma Exams. If all of the following are true, your student will be exempt from writing a diploma exam this semester.

1. Your course proposal for a 30 level core subject was submitted to your HEM before October 15, 2025

2. You informed your HEM before October 15, 2025 that your student would be writing the diploma in January.

3. The student completes the ursa final exam and you submit the completed portfolio by January 7, 2026.

If your student would like to complete a Parent Directed high school course for credit in the second semester, proposals for 5 credit courses are due March 15, 2026 and proposals for 1-3 credit courses are due April 15, 2026. This is to ensure that your student has sufficient time to complete each course.

All course portfolios are due by May 30, 2026. Any portfolios received after the deadline will be held for submission in Fall 2026 (Students must be registered with ursa for the 2026-2027 school year for us to grant credits next year.)

Parent Directed High School Students may choose to take 3-5 credits through ursa's Teacher Directed courses. Online classes in Social Studies or any of the Sciences will start February 2, 2026. Contact your HEM for an application form to register.

Applications must be received by January 16, 2026 so that we can prepare for the semester.

We are pleased to share that Summer School will be offered this year for students who wish to earn high school credits with the support of a teacher. Summer School provides a structured learning environment where students can focus on a single course while receiving guidance and instruction throughout the term.

Courses available from July 2–29 include English Language Arts 30-1, Mathematics 30-1, Mathematics 31, AP Math, Social Studies 30-1, Biology 30, Physics 30, and Chemistry 30.

Applications for Summer School will open in February. Additional details regarding course delivery, schedules, and expectations will be shared closer to the application date. We encourage families to consider this option for students looking to complete or upgrade high school credits over the summer months.

More information will be shared soon—please watch for upcoming announcements.

Teen Hub offers an interactive online space, within a Kumospace platform, for grade 7-12 ursa students to meet for conversations, to share experiences, and make friends while supported and supervised by some of your HEMs. This is a nice opportunity for our students to meet and socialize with their peers from the ursa community.

Teen Hub meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 1-2:30pm. Contact Alisha abrignall@thirdschools.ca for more information.

Join Tracy Gilluley, principal ursa, for a discussion about graduation requirements, course selection and the academic streams available for students entering the high school years.

We are excited for our annual ursa Short Story collection. Every year we collect stories written by ursa students from Kindergarten to Grade 12!

Submissions will be collected until February 15, 2026, so you still have plenty of time to get your creative juices flowing!

Rules - Pictures:

1) ‎Appropriate for all ages

2) Scanned as a PDF

3) Signed with the student's name (or nickname)

Rules - Stories:

1) The content should be suitable for all audiences.

2) No minimum word count - we want ALL ages and skill levels to participate.

3) Maximum word count: 5000 words

4) Please submit the story as a word/google doc

What to include:

1) Story name

2) Author name(s) - can be a nickname

3) Age(s)

4) Brief bio (OPTIONAL)

5) Story

6) Up to 2 accompanying pictures

Deadlines:

- Your story MUST be submitted before February 15th, 2026.

Other details:

- For younger students, a parent may be the scribe for dictated stories.

- Students can also work together to create collaborative stories.

- Any questions can be directed to your HEM or to Jackie Michaels jmichaels@thirdschools.ca

- When compiled, the finished collection will be emailed in PDF form to all families

We are excited about our new ursa Summer Study Camp, welcoming students from around the world.

Our student spotlight is a place where our students can share what they have been doing and what they are passionate about learning. If you would like to include art, poetry, short stories, video, articles, etc., in a future newsletter, please contact your HEM to let us know what you would like to submit.

Grade 3 Aurora's artwork was inspired by the film, KPop Demon Hunters' girl group, the Huntr/x, which is comprised of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. Amazing Work!

Aurora also enjoys following the Art for Kids Hub art and anime tutorials every morning with her sister.