Blog Posts

SD8 students from kindergarten to grade 12 as well as families and staff are one month into the school year and settling into the rhythm of a new season, new classrooms, new and returning classmates and so much energy and enthusiasm as thousands of learning journeys are underway.

The first week of school always brings the best energy of the year. There’s an undeniable excitement and enthusiasm in the air as we step into a fresh academic year, filled with possibility. It’s a time for meeting new and returning staff, watching students reconnect with peers, and seeing friendships form.

A warm welcome to the 2024-2025 school year. 

On September 3, about 4,700 children will leave home in the morning excited to see their friends, full of anticipation and maybe even some apprehension about beginning a new year, a new classroom, or a new school. 

Dear Mount Sentinel and Sequoia Families and Students,

The school year is coming to a close in a few weeks and hundreds of high school graduates across our district will reach out their hands to accept their Certificate of Graduation or B.C. “Dogwood diploma.”  

Mount Sentinel Secondary School’s (MSSS) Aboriginal Education Program has been facilitating a number of initiatives this year. Some of the highlights include our Orange Shirt Day (OSD) assembly in September.

It feels like the school year speeds up this time of year!  May is when 2024 grads who have applied for scholarships are going through adjudication for their awards, while others are preparing to embark on their first steps in a career, apprenticeship, job search, gap year or post-secondary educational journey. 

Spring has finally sprung! There is no surer sign that the seasons have changed than the beginning of eight weeks of training for our annual Reconciliation Run Walk Wheel taking place in all SD8 schools in June.

This past month has been a flurry of physical, intellectual, social and emotional learning in our six families of schools as students engaged in activities that stretched their skills, and exercised their understanding, leading us toward our upcoming spring break from March 18 to April 1.

On February 6th-9th, Mount Sentinel held its first ever in-house chess tournament, bringing the skills and strategies of many players to our library for some friendly competition. Organized by the school's own Chess Club, the tournament saw students from grades 7-12 competing for prizes in the beginner, intermediate, and expert levels.