New year-long class schedules rile North Vancouver students
CBC
Some North Vancouver parents and students are calling out their school district after it announced a change in the way classes are scheduled, a change they say came without consultation.
When the new school year begins next September, several North Shore high schools will abandon their semester-based course schedule and adopt what's known as a linear schedule.
In a linear schedule, students take eight courses at once that last the entire school year. Under a semester system, the total number of courses are divided into two terms.
The move has some students saying it's a step backwards, and some have started a petition to fight back against the change.
"This completely blindsided us," said 15-year-old Brayden da Roza, who attends Grade 10 at Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver. "We felt our voices weren't heard at all as students.
"As somebody with anxiety myself ... juggling eight courses is not going to help that at all."
His high school is one of four supposed to make the switch in School District 44, which includes both the City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver. Da Roza and two fellow classmates created a petition to keep the current schedule and scrap next year's change.
In the two weeks since they created the online petition, it has gathered nearly 1,400 signatures as of Tuesday evening.
The petition states that most students prefer the current semester system because it offers "an environment conducive to learning and personal growth." It adds that students can build stronger study habits and manage their course load because of its "concentrated focus on fewer subjects at a time ... fostering a deeper understanding of the material."
According to the school district, which has an enrolment of more than 1,500 students, the change will only affect Handsworth and three other high schools: Argyle, Seycove, and Windsor secondary schools.
The district explained that only four high schools were selected because other local schools either had their own alternative educational models or, in one case, staff there "wholly prefer the semester model."
The rationale behind the switch to a linear schedule for the four affected schools was because, the district said, having each course last a full school year "provides consistent learning support all year long to the students who need it most," and because it offers a longer time for teachers to assign projects or novels, for example, as well as more opportunities "for staff and students to build relationships."
School District 44's website states that there were in fact two months of consultations "with educators, who have extensive experience with learners of all ages and abilities."
School district assistant superintendent Chris Atkinson said administrators made the decision after lengthy discussions with a group of teachers, students and parents.
When U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade representative outlined conditions Canada would need to meet with a mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) looming, familiar issues like dairy supply management made the list.
Thousands of people living in Newfoundland and Labrador started the day without electricity, as Newfoundland Power dealt with widespread outages.
More than 700 people have been evacuated from Kashechewan First Nation so far, according to the community’s executive director. But most of the community is still waiting to leave.
A community-based response team being piloted in Dartmouth, N.S., offering an alternative model to police to support people in crisis, is expanding to 24-hour service.
N.B. Power estimated it would need to increase revenue from power rates by almost five per cent to pay for electricity from a new natural gas generating station in Tantramar, according to documents filed with the Energy and Utilities Board.
Local groups for snowmobilers, skiers and snowshoers are working hard to clear trails in and around Flin Flon, Man., but poor snow conditions and damage from last summer's fires — hundreds of downed trees, burned terrain, upturned roots and destroyed buildings and bridges — is making it difficult.
When Jermain McKenzie thinks of Trevor Dubois, he remembers an infectious laugh and a sense of humor that makes you laugh until you’re crying.
This story is a collaboration between CBC Visual Investigations and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF).
Overcrowding at the Niagara Detention Centre (NDC) reached its highest levels since 2019 in the first half of 2025 — with an occupancy rate of 136 per cent, according to data analyzed by CBC News.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's don't-poke-the-bear approach to dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump was on full display Monday as he threaded his way around questions about the possible introduction of European troops in Greenland.
Abhishek Parmar has spent more than six years making Windsor-Essex his new home. But now he is one of the 2.1 million temporary residents who may have to leave Canada this year.
The Thunder Bay International Airport is expanding its security screening area, adding a third screening line in the coming months.
Multiple Durham Region police officers diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) say the service is compromising their recovery by fighting their access to workplace mental health benefits.