Van Tech has joined the digital age! Report cards are now available online. For this second term, and all those after, the grades will be available on March 30th. Families can still save their PDF to a desktop and print the file, if they would like a hard copy. Van Tech has sent home a letter, which hopefully you all have with the details, but we've also put a lot of information on the school website. I'd encourage you to check it out here: http://go.vsb.bc.ca/schools/blogs/vantech/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=75

Here are some things to remember/tips:
1. Remember to set up the account with a password that both parents and child can use.
2. You can also use this new student portal to see your student's schedule and their attendance record.
3. If you get a message that says the account is disabled you can visit Wendy (our super records clerk) during school hours to have it reset.

I think by this point, many of Van Tech families have become aware of our VT app. Our staff are getting up on using it, as well. A couple parents were asking me how to adjust the push notifications that come in, so I made a quick PDF to show you. If you're finding you want less of certain things, this is definitely what to use. If you've got other feedback on the app, please do let me know (nvaniersel@vsb.bc.ca) as I work on the team directing it, with Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Wyper.

Thanks! Document below.

Over spring break I had a resource shared by Liz (our Aboriginal Enhancement Teacher) that she found in the Vancouver Sun. his is an app that works inside Facebook Messenger and then sends the student message reminders at set times (based on how they set up their schedule through the app) and at evening in encouraging ways to get students to finish homework and reflect later. I've played with it a bit and I like it so far, although it's not built to work perfectly with our day 1 and day 2 schedule.

This might be a great thing to try along side using an agenda (school or otherwise).

Start here: ​https://botlist.co/bots/2207-christopher-bot
Sun Article: http://vancouversun.com/storyline/victoria-teens-facebook-tool-to-plan-homework-gains-popularity-overseas