Innovations Crew

• Crew Vision and Values
• Crew Student Profile
• Crew Program Information
• Crew Program Withdrawal Policy
• Crew Schedule 2025-2026
• Crew Teaching Team
• Crew: Year at a Glance
• Crew Schedule 2026-2027

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

• Students will be supported from a place of flexibility that is responsive to their individual needs and interests as they navigate physical, emotional, and cultural changes. 

Engaging: opportunities to be courageous

• Students will be part of informative, supportive, and inviting environments where they can learn by taking risks and trying new things. 

Empowering: building independence 

• Students will receive opportunities to become advocates for themselves and others by taking ownership and becoming lifelong learners.

Supportive: collaborative approach 

• Students will be encouraged to explore their faith and learn in a safe community where the whole student is considered. They will join a cohort that is committed to supporting their needs, achievements, and passions.

Crew Student Profile

Crew Program Information

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:

• Have a team of teachers and an Academic Advisor who will deliver all their courses

  • This team will work collaboratively with students to plan, teach, assess, advise and support them throughout the year

• Learn to work with multiple teachers over the course of the year

  • Students will begin to take responsibility for communicating with more than one person, connecting with course specialist teachers for help, and learning how to advocate for themselves. 

• Be able to choose between individualized or online courses for all of the core subject areas (Science, Math, English and Social Studies)

  • Students can still learn using a student learning plan and traditional paper-based resources to meet BC learning standards OR enrol in online courses for Math, Science, Social Studies and English. 

  • Students will complete non-core courses based on the student learning plan created collaboratively between teachers and students. This will include learning activities and assessment provided by Crew teachers. 

• Have the support of a case manager if they are part of the Inclusive Education department

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: 

• Commit to the Crew program for the whole school year

• Attend scheduled weekly zoom classes with cameras on

• Communicate respectfully and in a timely manner with their teachers and advisor as needed

• Regularly log in to Brightspace to access resources, assignments, hand in boxes and feedback

• Complete and submit work regularly, responding to feedback provided by teachers. 

• Interact with peers respectfully and willingly

• Are willing to ask for help when needed

• Are welcome to connect with EA’s in the Student Success Center

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 select Crew as their program of choice for grade 8 or 9 when they re-enrol for the next school year. Please note that current Grade 8 Crew students moving into Grade 9 will also need to select Crew during re-enrolment to continue in the program.

When completing the re-enrolment process in Encom, families will be asked to choose the Crew program. This option will remain available during enrolment until we reach program capacity. At that time, families who select Crew will be put on a waitlist and contacted if room becomes available.

If a family or student decides that Crew may be a good fit after they have already re-enrolled, they should directly contact their support teacher or Academic Advisor to request to change into Crew.

Families can expect to receive a Crew welcome email around mid-May.

Other Important Information

Crew is a full school year commitment.  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. 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

• Have primary responsibility for the child’s well-being, growth, and development.

• Indicate their student’s choice for participation in Crew during enrolment or re-enrolment

• Recognize that teachers have professional training and expertise in their subject areas

• Respond to communication from the teaching team and advisor in a timely manner

• Work with course teachers and their student to develop student learning plans as needed

• Support their student at home by:

• Checking regularly on course progress and performance in Brightspace

• Encouraging student communication with teachers for help, clarification, questions, etc

• Scheduling activities around Crew class times so students can attend Zoom classes

February 2026 Parent Information Session

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. 

Crew Schedule 2025-2026

Teaching Team

• Mrs. Crystal Torgerson – Science, Math, PHE, Christian Studies

• Mrs. Teanna Jeske – English, Social Studies, ADST, Art

• Mme. Christine Clarke – French

• Sra. Stephanie Martens – Spanish

• Innovations Academic Advising Team – Careers

Combined Online Classes

This year, Grades 8 & 9 will learn together in combined CREW classes to support connection, collaboration, and high-quality instruction. CREW students are expected to attend both Tuesday and Thursday CREW classes and are highly encouraged to drop in for office hours.

Online classes begin the week of Sept 22-26 and end the week of June 8-12. There are no classes scheduled during the following weeks: 

• Nov 3-7: HCOS staff meetings

• Dec 24-Jan 2: Christmas break

• Jan 19-23: Report card writing for teachers

• Mar 16-27: Spring break

• April 27-May 1: HCOS Connect

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-9:00
9:00-10:00	Mrs. Jeske's Office Hours		French 8 sync class 9:45-10:15am
10:00-11:00		Spanish 8 & French 9 sync classes 10:30-11am	Spanish 9 sync class 10:30-11:00am
11:00-12:00		Crew  8/9 Class  with Mrs. Torgerson & Mrs. Jeske  (Zoom link)		Crew  8/9 Class  with Mrs. Torgerson & Mrs. Jeske  (Zoom link)	Mrs. Torgerson's Office Hours
12:00-1:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:00-2:00		Mrs. Torgerson's Office Hours	Careers (every 3rd week of month starting in Oct)	Mrs. Jeske's Office Hours
3:00-4:00

Academic Advisors are available by appointment.

Crew Teaching Team

Contact Information:

Mrs. Crystal Torgerson – Science, Math, PHE, Christian Studies

email: crystal.torgerson@onlineschool.ca  

Need to meet? Click Here

Ms. Teanna Jeske – English, Social Studies, ADST, Art

email: teanna.jeske@onlineschool.ca 

Mrs. Christine Clarke – French

email: christine.clarke@onlineschool.ca 

Mrs. Stephanie Martens – Spanish

email: stephanie.martens@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Innovations Academic Advising Team – Careers

Allison Miles

Inclusive Education Academic Advisor

email: amiles@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Anthony Kuchma

Academic Advisor (Interior)

Zoom: akuchma@onlineschool.ca

Need to meet? Click Here

Brad Lemon

IE Academic Advisor

email: brad.lemon@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Kristen Matthews

Academic Advisor (Lower Mainland A-H)

email: kristen.matthews@onlineschool.ca 

 

Laura Nelson

Academic Advisor (Lower Mainland I-Z)

email: laura.nelson@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Nola Morgan

Inclusive Education Academic Advisor

email: nmorgan@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Ryan Titley

Academic Advisor (Island)

email: rtitley@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Tara Klukas

Academic Advisor (Northern)

email: tara.klukas@onlineschool.ca 

Need to meet? Click Here

Crew: Year at a Glance

In our Crew program, community is at the heart of everything we do. Whether your student is enrolled in our Online Courses, following an Individualized program, or a combination of those, our goal is for every student to navigate the same key topics at the same time as they learn together.

By staying "in sync," our students can fully engage in our weekly Crew classes, benefit from shared instruction, and grow alongside their peers in a collaborative environment.

How We Stay Together: Zoom classes & Class GoogleDoc

Our weekly Zoom classes are the "heartbeat" of the Crew experience. These sessions tackle specific content and provide the direct instruction needed to move students through the online course.

For our Individualized Families: To help you align your chosen curriculum with these live sessions, Crew teachers provide a weekly update in a Class Google Doc. This document acts as your roadmap, highlighting the specific content being addressed in the online course each week.

Even if you are using a different textbook or program at home, you can use the Class GoogleDoc to identify the matching sections in your own resources. By following this weekly guide, your student will be prepared to dive into the activities and discussions during our Crew classes, ensuring they feel confident and connected to the cohort’s progress.

How to Use This Page

• For Online Students: Simply follow your course schedule—you are already aligned!

• For Individualized Families: Review the "Year at a Glance" timelines below. Work with your student to identify the units in your chosen curriculum that match these topics. Aim to cover these subjects during the months indicated to ensure your student is ready for the weekly Crew discussions.

Please note- novel studies will vary year to year.

Parental Support in the Individualized Path

Parents, your role is vital in the Individualized program as the facilitators of this curriculum alignment. Because you are selecting the specific resources for your child, we ask that you take the lead in mapping your home curriculum to the Crew timelines.

By checking the Class Google Doc provided by the teachers each week, you can help your student identify the corresponding chapters or modules in your chosen books that align with what the class is addressing. This ensures that when they log into Zoom, they are ready for the instruction—to learn and engage with the content. Helping your student prepare this way ensures they won't feel "lost" during our weekly Crew instructions. Whether the class is discussing the Industrial Revolution or the properties of light, your student will have the background knowledge to contribute to the conversation, benefit from the shared learning experience, and truly shine!

We are better together. Let's make this a year of synchronized growth and discovery!

Crew Schedule 2026-2027

Teaching Team

• Mrs. Crystal Torgerson – Science, Math, PHE, Christian Studies

• Mrs. Teanna Jeske – English, Social Studies, ADST, Art

• Mme. Christine Clarke – French

• Sra. Stephanie Martens – Spanish

• Innovations Academic Advising Team – Careers

Synchronous classes begin the week of Sept 22-26 and end the week of June 8-12. There are no classes scheduled during the following weeks: 

• Nov 2-6: HCOS staff meetings

• Dec 21-Jan 1: Christmas break

• Jan 18-22: Report card writing for teachers

• Mar 15-26: Spring break

• April 26-30: HCOS Connect

Please note that the final submission deadline for June report cards is Friday, June 11th, 2027 at 9:00am. 

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8:30-9:00
9:00-10:00	Mrs. Jeske's Office Hours	French 8 9:00-9:30am	Mrs. Torgerson's Office Hours
10:00-11:00		Crew  8A Eng/SS  Mrs. Jeske  ___________   Crew  8B Math/Sci Mrs. Torgerson	Careers 8A&B (every 3rd week of month starting in Oct) ____________   Spanish 9 10:30-11am ____________   French 9 10:30-11am	Crew  8B Eng/SS  Mrs. Jeske  ___________   Crew  8A Math/Sci Mrs. Torgerson
11:15-12:15		Crew  9A Eng/SS  Mrs. Jeske  ___________   Crew  9B Math/Sci Mrs. Torgerson	Careers 9A&B (every 3rd week of month starting in Oct)	Crew  9B Eng/SS  Mrs. Jeske  ___________   Crew  9A Math/Sci Mrs. Torgerson
12:15-1:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:00-2:00		Mrs. Jeske's Office Hours	Spanish 8 1:45-2:15pm	Mrs. Torgerson's Office Hours
2:00-3:00

Academic Advisors are available by appointment.

There will be a required monthly Conversation Club for students taking Individualized Spanish 8 or 9 and French 8 or 9. This will be added to the schedule by June 15th, 2026.