Dear Centennial High School Community,

 I hope you had a great weekend.  As you are likely aware due to media releases that took place on Friday evening, the provincial government has indeed decided to cancel January Diploma Exams.  I would like to provide a number of updates that relate to this decision, and others made by the province, the Calgary Board of Education, and the Calgary Senior High School Athletics Association.

1. The provincial government has announced that November Diploma Exams will be optional, and January Diploma Exams have been cancelled.  For students in Diploma Exam courses, their school-awarded mark will be their final course mark.  This will not impact students’ candidacy for post-secondary programs.  Students who wish to write a Diploma Exam for their Semester 1 course(s) may opt to write the exam(s) in April or June – this is voluntary.
2. The Calgary Board of Education has determined that no high school will run a formal Final Exam Schedule for Grade 10 or Grade 11 Final Exams, though teachers may choose to conduct formalized assessments during regular class time.  Any Grade 10 or 11 Final Exams written by Centennial students will be completed during regular class time.  There will be more information to come regarding how exactly that will look for applicable classes.
3. The Calgary Board of Education has directed that high schools will likely run full classes for Semester 1 through January 26, 2026.  As those of you who are familiar with high school know, the last two weeks of January are typically set aside for the scheduling of formalized Final Exams.  The intent of the CBE decision to run regular classes through to late January is to maximize learning time for students, before moving into Semester 2.
4. The CBE has also shifted the dates for the conclusion of Term 1 and start of Term 2.  Term 1 will now end on November 21, with Term 2 beginning November 24.  This will almost perfectly balance the number of instructional days between the two terms, for 3 credit courses such as CALM 20 and other Options.
5. Regarding Fall Sports seasons, on Friday afternoon the Calgary Senior High School Athletics Association provided updates to high schools about finishing the current athletics seasons.  We will share this information with our coaches and student athletes asap.
6. Fall Break (November 10 – 12) will proceed as scheduled.  There are no classes on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday next week.

 In addition to these updates, I want to share that about 50 Centennial High School students did leave class at 11:00 on Friday, joining students from various neighbouring schools as part of a demonstration adjacent to our school.  The students involved returned to classes for the afternoon.  This walkout was not a CBE or school-sanctioned event.  We do not prevent students from leaving class to participate in events such as this, but those who do leave are marked absent.

 Sincerely,
Joe Sturgeon

Principal, Centennial High School