Alberta charter schools

Calgary Girls' School was granted a charter in 2003
Connect Charter School, a science oriented charter school
Westmount Charter School, a charter school focussed on gifted students

Alberta charter schools are a special type of public schools[1] which have a greater degree of autonomy than a normal public school, to allow them to offer programs that are significantly different from regular public schools operated by district school boards. Charter schools report directly to the province, bypassing their local district school board, may not exceed their assigned quota of students without provincial permission, and are currently limited to fifteen schools.[2] Alberta, which passed enabling legislation in 1994, is the only province in Canada to have them. They are similar in many ways to charter schools in the United States.

Charter schools

Current charters

The following is from an official list of charter schools in Alberta (current as of 2008). As charter schools tend to be new and small, the exact grade range is more likely to change than with older and larger schools. Schools late in completing required reports to the provincial government may be excluded from the list.

Location School Grades Unique features focused on (only small sample mentioned)
Calgary
Almadina Language Charter Academy K-9 English as a Second Language. Two campuses.
Calgary Arts Academy K-9 Students learn Alberta Curriculum through Arts Immersion. Two locations; Glen Meadows Campus (K-4) & Knob Hill Campus (5-9)
Calgary Girls' School 4-9 All female school which follows the Alberta curriculum, with a focus on developing a strong sense of self and understanding historical and contemporary gender issues.
Connect Charter School 4-9 More instruction time on mathematics, science, and technology employing a problem based approach to learning.
Foundations for the Future Charter Academy K-12 Structure and standards oriented.[3] It is unique in having several campuses (locations) throughout the city (normally charter schools have just one or two).
Westmount Charter School K-12 Gifted students. Two campuses as of September 2011.
Edmonton Aurora School K-9 Directed instruction
Boyle Street Education Centre up to 12
(special)		 Helps mainly native students aged 14–19 whose education has been interrupted.
Suzuki Charter School K-6 Teaches music using the Suzuki method of learning. The philosophy behind the methodology, originally developed by Shin'ichi Suzuki, extends into other areas of study as well.
Valhalla Centre Valhalla Community School K-8 Rural students
Stony Plain Mother Earth's Children's Charter School K-9 Traditional Indigenous Teachings based on the concept of the Medicine Wheel.
Medicine Hat CAPE - Centre for Academic and Personal Excellence Institute 1-8 Academic focus
Ardrossan New Horizons Charter School K-9 Designed for gifted children, it was the first public charter school to open in Canada.

Former charters

The Global Learning Academy, in Calgary, was once the largest charter school in the province, with 480 students. However, mismanagement and financial problems caused it to fail in 1998. It went in trusteeship before finally having the province shut it down.[4] Also, Moberly Hall Charter School operated for a number of years in Fort McMurray before closing because of low enrollment.[5]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Alberta charter school handbook (pdf). Executive Council of Alberta. 2002. ISBN 0-7785-2550-3.
  2. ↑ Provincial government information about charter schools
  3. ↑ McLean, C (2003-02-03). "Foundations for the future". Alberta Report 30 (3): 8–10. ISSN 1488-8084.
  4. ↑ Sheppard, R (1998-07-06). "A school failure". Maclean's 111 (27). ISSN 0024-9262.
  5. ↑ http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1827933

External links