Innovations Crew

Vision and Values

Vision

To create a fun, safe, and inviting environment for middle school students to grow in their faith and independence as they prepare for their high school years and beyond. Students will learn and try new things with a community of friends and a team of teachers who know them and are invested in their success. 

Values

Dynamic: responsive to needs

Engaging: opportunities to be courageous

Empowering: building independence 

Supportive: collaborative approach 

Crew Student Profile

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Crew Program Information

The Innovations Crew program will be launching for Grades 8 and 9 students in the 2025/2026 school year.  Innovations Crew is one option for students to enrol in to complete their grade 8 or 9 courses in preparation for high school.

Read more about the Crew Vision and Values here.

Students will be placed in cohorts with a team of teachers and an Academic Advisor who will work together to ensure they are well supported in all aspects of their Grade 8 or 9 school year. 

Crew Students will:

Is Crew the right choice for me? 

The Crew program is a good fit for students who want to explore their faith and learn in a community where they can be courageous, take risks with their learning, and become advocates for themselves and others. The program is designed for students who want to learn together in community.

Crew Students: 


What will my week look like? 

Crew cohorts will meet on Zoom regularly throughout the week with the teaching team and advisor. Students can expect 2-3 regularly scheduled classes during the week as well as additional times that they can connect with teachers for help as needed. 

Students will use Brightspace daily to access course resources and other materials provided by teachers, submit their work and monitor their progress. Teachers will provide helpful material and instructions, written feedback and assessment in Brightspace. 


How do I sign up? 

Families and students will have the opportunity to express their interest in being a part of the Crew program in grade 8 or 9 when they re-enrol for the next school year (beginning with 2025/26 re-enrolment). When completing the re-enrolment process in Encom, families will be asked to indicate their interest in the Crew program. This option will remain available at enrolment until we reach program capacity. At that time, families who indicate their interest in Crew will be put on the waitlist and contacted if room becomes available. 

If a family or student decides that Crew may be a good fit for their student after they have  re-enrolled, they should directly contact an Assistant Director of Innovations. 

Students will receive a confirmation email to let them know if they have been accepted into the Crew program prior to course selection opening in May.

Other Important Information

For the pilot year (2025/26), students who choose Crew will commit to the program for the full school year. This allows us to plan for and ensure both Crew teacher and K-9 support teacher loads remain stable and sustainable. 

Students in other HCOS programs, such as CC+, TechLAB, or Seed, will not be able to participate in Crew for the pilot year. Students must choose between Crew OR CC+, TechLAB and Seed.

The cost to students to participate in the program is $300. This will be taken from their resource budget upon acceptance to Crew. If families have opted for the no tuition option, they may still need to order curriculum resources to complete non-core coursework. It may be advantageous for families to opt for the $200 tuition option when possible to allow for money to be available for curriculum purchases. 

What is my role as a Crew Parent? 

Crew Parents



Crew Program Withdrawal Policy

Crew is a complete school year of programming, which begins in September and finishes in June. 

Students enrolled in the Crew programming are connected with an academic advisor who will assist with course planning. Once courses are selected, students and parents will communicate with cohort teachers about their courses to create SLP’s as needed. Students will complete all of their grade 8 or 9 courses with Crew teachers. 

Enrolling in the Crew program moves your student from a support teacher to an academic advisor. Support teachers will be given additional students on their rosters to replace students who have moved to Crew. Because K-9 support teacher loads will be full, crew students will not be able to move back to the K-9 Foundations program mid-year. They are expected to complete the 1-year program. 

Students will not be able to change programming mid-year. Enrolment in Crew is a commitment to the full school year of programming. 

If the student is in grade 8, students will have the choice in grade 9  to remain in Crew or to move back to the K-9 Foundations program. If students move back to the Foundations program in grade 9, they may or may not be placed with their previous support teacher. 

If a Crew student is struggling, please reach out to their academic advisor. The advisor is well equipped to support students who are facing a variety of challenges. The advisor will work together with the crew teaching team and other school support staff to ensure each crew student has access to the appropriate options available to support students.