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 time immemorial.

February is shaping up to be a busy and exciting month in our Home Education community! A quick reminder that Family Day is Monday, February 16, and our office will be closed the week of February 9–13 for Teacher’s Convention Week. While our team will be away from regular office availability during that time, we appreciate your understanding as staff participate in professional learning that strengthens the support we provide to families throughout the year.

We’re also happy to share that applications for returning students are now open! We encourage families to register early to ensure they secure a spot for the 2026–2027 school year. Finally, our Home Education Managers will soon start Spring visits—one of our favourite times of the year. We truly love seeing what students have been working on, hearing their learning stories, and celebrating the growth and successes happening in homes across our community.

Warm regards,

Tracy Gilluley

Principal, ursa

Registration is now open for all returning families. For families planning to enroll in our Shared Responsibility or Distance programs, we are pleased to offer an Early Bird registration rate. Families who complete registration by February 28 will retain the 2025–2026 fee rates. After this date, program fees will increase by 3%.

Please note that registration for new students will open on March 1, 2026.

Thank you for being part of our school community and for your continued support.

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.)

Grade 12 Core subjects (English Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, and Science courses) include writing a provincial diploma exam. In June exams in Social Studies or Science may be written at Third Academy, ursa's sister school in East Calgary.

Please follow these steps.

1. March 17, 2026 - Deadline to tell your Home Education Manager that your student plans to write the exam.

If not writing at Third Academy, you will need to find a location for the student to write the exam.

2. Look on myPass to see which locations are available.

2. Contact the location to confirm whether they have space to accommodate your student.

3. Book the exam on myPass.

4. March 26, 2026 - Deadline to tell your Home Education Manager where you have booked the exam.

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.

Come learn more about the variety of programs offered at ursa, including ursa Parent Directed home education, ursa Shared Responsibility, and ursa Distance. We will include time to answer questions about the programs that would be a good fit for your family. Feel free to invite anyone who is curious about home-based education and wants to learn more about ursa.

Join us to talk about the different options at ursa for achieving high school credits. We will particularly focus on the process for planning, implementing, and evaluating a Parent Directed high school course for Alberta high school credits.

We'll discuss:

-deciding which courses to take,

-researching and planning a course,

-formalizing your plan into a proposal to send to your HEM,

-working through the course with your student

-evaluating your student's work

-preparing a portfolio to submit for approval

All are welcome, whether you have already completed a few courses, are planning courses this year, or just want to become familiar with the process for when your child reaches high school level.

Have a student planning to take a high school science course soon? Join us to learn about how to write a science lab report in high school and beyond.

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

Mark your calendars!

Our awesome teacher & coach, Mr. Ash, is planning to start this year's badminton season in mid-February with practices on Wednesdays from 12:45 to 1:45 pm at the East Calgary Campus (400 Prince of Peace Way NE) for grade 7 to 12 students registered at ursa, LYNX, Third Academy, or BPCS. Some lower grades may be able to attend depending on interest.

Watch the newsletters and Friends of ursa for more information in the upcoming weeks. Contact Jason Ash at jash@thirdschools.ca if you have questions.

In the spring, ursa students have the chance to share some of the things they have been learning and doing at our Celebration of Learning events, held in Calgary and Edmonton. This is a wonderful time to see what other students have been doing, make connections with other ursa families, and share in each student's successes.

Watch future newsletters for more details about dates, times, and locations. Meanwhile, this is a great time to start thinking about what your child would like to share. Photos, posters, displays, dioramas, and all types of creations are welcome!

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.

Eleanor recently completed a portfolio for Art 10 which was extremely diverse and beautifully done. It included pen and pencil pieces, water colour, print making, collages, calligraphy, spray painted street art, two approaches to pottery and much more. She is a very creative student who is also completing Art 20 this year!