Advisory Each student is placed in a class group called an Advisory. Students have an Advisory teacher who is their primary care giving adult in the school. Advisory teachers are also the main contact with a student’s home.

Students meet their Advisory teacher at the start of every day for approximately 15 minutes and part of the academic program is taught by the same teacher. Advisory sessions develop the emotional and social intelligence skills of our students. It is a how we build community and is very much the soul of our program at Arbutus Global.

Interdisciplinary Teaming, Planning and Teaching Students are organized into ‘teams’ of two or three advisories creating a ‘school within a school.’ Each group of students shares a schedule and is taught by the team of teachers. Team teachers plan together, sometimes teach together, and sometimes share subjects and the design of interdisciplinary units together.

Flexible Block Scheduling Most of the timetable for each advisory is flexible. Teachers have the freedom to decide when each discipline is taught as long as the outcomes for each course are addressed and mastered. Each team receives allotted times to access the gymnasium. Band and Exploratory classes are also scheduled for them.

Exploratories All students in a team receive the same exploratory classes. Each student participates in five or six, six week long exploratories which may include Woodwork, Foods and Fashion, Drama, Music, Art, Outdoor Education and Global Action. Exploratory classes add opportunities for creativity, provide a focus on life and develop leisure or vocational skills.

Language Instruction Arbutus Global is a dual track school offering both English and French Immersion programs. Students in both programs benefit from the four areas described above. Students in French Immersion receive a minimum of seventy percent of instruction in French. Students in English programs receive FSL (French as a Second Language) instruction. At the grade 6 and 7 levels, French as a Second Language occurs at least twice a week. At the grade 8 level FSL occurs at least three times a week.

At Arbutus Global Middle School we celebrate diversity and seek sustainability in everything that we do. We are proud to offer a number of supports to all of our students and families in the areas of personal development and counselling and learning support. –