Founded 1988 Principal Karen Flello Grades K-8 Number of students 4,000 (10 August 2016) | Superintendent Dr. Keven Elder Staff 60 Phone +1 250-479-7125 | |
School type Public, Distributed Learning Address 4828 W Saanich Rd, Victoria, BC V8Z 3H5, Canada District School District 63 Saanich School board School District 63 Saanich Profiles | ||
South Island Distance Education School (abbreviated as SIDES) is a public, full-service, K-through-12 school, offering distributed learning courses to all students in BC and is a member of School District 63 Saanich.
SIDES has over 4,000 students currently enrolled, from ages five to eighteen. About 20% of these students call SIDES their "school of record," meaning that they take most or all of their courses through the Distributed Learning program. SIDES's Kindergarten to Grade 9 programs include the parents as an important part of the students' educational experience. Parents, or other designated adults, serve as "home facilitators" and partner with the SIDES teachers to deliver and support the students' learning. SIDES's secondary program (Grades 10 - 12) is fully recognized as the equivalent of programs offered in neighborhood schools, with graduates attending post-secondary institutions throughout North America. Adults who are residents of British Columbia and who have not yet graduated are eligible to complete their graduation requirements at SIDES (or any BC public school) free of tuition charges. Adults who are residents of British Columbia and who have already graduated from secondary school may take courses at SIDES to upgrade, however they are required to pay tuition fees if they choose to attend public secondary schools for this upgrading.
History
The South Island Distance Education School, SIDES was established in 1988 as one of nine regional public "distance education" schools in British Columbia, Canada. At the time, the SIDES program was a paper-based program in which students worked in paper workbooks, sending assignments to the school via mail to be evaluated by teachers (known as "markers"). The program served students from grades K - 12 and worked with students only from the southern half of Vancouver Island and the nearby Gulf Islands. Today, the program is almost entirely online (with some print resources), and students may join the school from anywhere in the province. If students are ordinary residents of British Columbia but are traveling or living abroad temporarily, (with their families, as elite athletes, on an exchange, etc.) they may take courses from anywhere in the world.