Calgary & Area Schools

[Vascilli]

Here's another two questions:

The Private Schools Regulation requires that if a private school expells a student they are responsible for the students education for the rest of the year. Is this simply making sure they're put into a school, or being financially responsible as well?

Question two: If a student is expelled, are they entitled to receive a corresponding part of their tuition refunded?

[evolv]

^ no, i went through private and always had expulsion insurance, you can actually buy it

[Vascilli]

Originally Posted by evolv

^ no, i went through private and always had expulsion insurance, you can actually buy it

Whaaaaa?

Never heard of it. Sounds nice.

Edit: Can someone provide a link? Google shows nothing.

Edit 2: Closest thing I can find is Tuition Refund Insurance, which doesn't cover expulsion.

[Vascilli]

The Fraser Report for elementary schools was in the Herald today, and everyone's favorite school came in first.. (With 0% ESL or special needs and 5 digit tuition, you'd expect that) I'm happy to say my former elementary dropped ten spots. New Horizons came out of nowhere and tied for first with Webber at 9.9/10 overall. Don't bother reading the first two columns of Sarah McGinnis' article, it's pretty much an advertisement. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but most of my friends who've gone there since elementary are not "bilingual and trilingual" despite nearly a decade of Spanish or Mandarin.

I can't wait to see the high school one, that'll be a good one.

PS if you're a registered psychologist, apparently Webber is looking to hire one. (About time..)

[devonb]

Great conversation going on here. I'm a elementary teacher in Calgary so this sort of stuff really interests me. The Fraser Institute is hugely controversial. I taught at the top rated school in Richmond while I lived in Vancouver. It was a private school, more traditional style of learning (so a lot of written tests), and had huge parent support. What this equates to is the students being pushed to do better, trained to do well in testing, and because the parents are paying good money to send them to the school, they got more support at home for their learning.

There are many reasons you can't rate schools based on provincial test scores. Unfortunately, education bases too much on how well you can perform in a written test, which doesn't equate to how well you know something or how smart you are. Most people don't express learning through written tests well. The provincial testing itself is designed as a tool for the school/district to see where they need to improve their education or where they are doing well. The Fraser Institute uses these to grade schools, which is wrong. The school I'm at now is over 50% ESL, and I also have about 15% of my students with a diagnosed learning disorder. All of these students must write the provincial exam this year (grade 3). The school itself does not rank well according to the Fraser Institute. The average parent probably doesn't realize that this ranking has nothing to do with the education their children receive. Many teachers at these schools do amazing things with the students and are great educators.

This is almost always the reason why schools in wealthier areas or private schools rank better. Parents have the time, or money, to support their children in school (and often pressure them to do well).

On the public vs. private debate:

When I was in BC, there was an interesting survey that came out. They took the average abilities of students from a variety of schools and removed students who were from low income families from the overall scores. They found that the average public school had better results then private schools. The argument there is that private has a more traditional learning model (desks in rows, memorization, a lot of testing) where public uses more modern, proven forms of education which uses other forms of assessment other than straight up testing.

[devonb]

I should say the reason why they remove the low income families from the equation. Generally, the parent(s) are unable to support their children the same way that the average family can. So if the child is struggling in school, they are less likely to have a parent help them at home, and are also less likely to get as much pressure on them to do well in school. This is what the statistics say anyways.

[devonb]

Interestingly, I just looked up the two schools I've taught at here in Calgary on the Fraser Institute's website. The current school I'm at is ranked in the bottom 100 in AB with an average family income of $80K. The other school I was at was in the top 15 in AB with an average family income of $715K.

[Vascilli]

Originally Posted by devonb

Interestingly, I just looked up the two schools I've taught at here in Calgary on the Fraser Institute's website. The current school I'm at is ranked in the bottom 100 in AB with an average family income of $80K. The other school I was at was in the top 15 in AB with an average family income of $715K.

What differences in the student's attitudes did you notice? At my old private school the people that weren't my friends never took anything seriously. Life was a big joke, grades didn't matter and money didn't either. If they wanted something, they got it and didn't think twice. I think in my entire grade two people had jobs. Now at my current school I've noticed that most people take things seriously, and they're more involved in extracurricular activities. (To be fair, more are offered.) I couldn't stand the elitist, world-on-a-platter atmosphere at my old school, so I left.

[devonb]

The students at my previous school were great and generally the parents were too. There were, however, some parents that would take their kids on a shopping trip to NY for a week - a fourth grader! Next month they went to Mexico. So from some kids, there was a sense of "what does it matter" and their parents had a similar attitude: school = babysitting service. You also had a lot of stay at home moms that loved to tell you how to do your job better, since they had nothing else to do with their day. Generally, wealthy schools have more difficulty keeping teachers because of the parents.

In saying that, you get students with a similar attitude at my current school and their families aren't well off. So I think it really depends more on personality than anything.

Am I answering your question?

[devonb]

I should mention that in elementary school you get less attitude from the kids. They're young enough that they still like school and think you're cool cause you're their teacher.

There definitely was more of an attitude with some parents that you were their employee since you taught at their local school. Many parents would tell you what they would like you to teach or ask you to provide things for their children in the classroom. I guess they didn't realize that there was a prescribed curriculum and one teacher can only do so much, especially when it goes beyond the usual requirements.

I had one parent ask me to start creating extra worksheets for their child to do for homework each week. I told them no; they probably have no idea how long it takes to create a worksheet from scratch - plus they have more than enough money to purchase a book or hire a tutor.

Parents are definitely more respectful of teachers at my current school. Part of that is probably because of the large immigrant population. Respect for teachers seems to be something that is part of their culture.

[Vascilli]

This is a rather odd question, but when was the last time Western had a shooting team? They had a team that won provincial championships in the early 20's, but there's no mention of if they had a team after that.

I'm thinking about trying to start it again, but I don't know who we'd compete with.. (Anti-gun freaks, I suspect)

[Vascilli]

I'm pulling this thread up, I'd like to know if anyone's taken this program, or more likely, any similar program.
http://conted.mtroyal.ca/smallbusiness/

I don't even think I'd be allowed to attend on account of my age, but my mom thinks it would be better for me to do this than the "Mickey Mouse courses" (her words) that they have in high school. It sure would be funny to have an Entrepreneurship Certificate at my age.

[Vascilli]

Originally Posted by devonb

The students at my previous school were great and generally the parents were too. There were, however, some parents that would take their kids on a shopping trip to NY for a week - a fourth grader! Next month they went to Mexico. So from some kids, there was a sense of "what does it matter" and their parents had a similar attitude: school = babysitting service. You also had a lot of stay at home moms that loved to tell you how to do your job better, since they had nothing else to do with their day. Generally, wealthy schools have more difficulty keeping teachers because of the parents.

In saying that, you get students with a similar attitude at my current school and their families aren't well off. So I think it really depends more on personality than anything.

Am I answering your question?

I never did say you did answer my question.

I can't help but speculate, what would happen if I started a shooting team or club at Western? The PE classes do archery, target shooting is the same thing with different stuff.

[DizzyEdge]

Speaking of schools, does anyone know about a plan for ACAD to eventually move from their current building? I seem to recall ages ago some discussion that SAIT actually owned the building or something and at some point ACAD would be leaving?

[frinkprof]

^I believe we've heard in the past that yes SAIT does own the ACAD campus, and that ACAD is actively looking to relocate. I don't think we'd heard any strong possibilities for location though.

[DizzyEdge]

I'd love to see it move to Inglewood/Ramsay area,.. big art community, future SE BRT and eventually LRT area, lots of underutilized industrial lots, 5+ blocks of walkable retail in the area,etc etc

[Vascilli]

Inglewood sure would be nice. (I never go there, I should visit more)

[Bassic Lab]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

I'd love to see it move to Inglewood/Ramsay area,.. big art community, future SE BRT and eventually LRT area, lots of underutilized industrial lots, 5+ blocks of walkable retail in the area,etc etc

I always thought that the old Molson Brewery would make an excellent site. Essentially just salvage what can be from the site and add some new space. For dorms the best bet would be to build on the empty lots along 9th. The ground floors could be used as gallery space for students.

It would really rejuvenate Inglewood without destroying the character it has now. 9th Ave could turn into a much more lively strip with students living right on it all the time. As it currently stands the street seems to have too much in common with any small prairie town's downtown (see Claresholm, Fort MacLeod, Nanton) in that it is nice how intact it is but it is just too dead.

[DizzyEdge]

^^ Hah yes the brewery site is exactly what I had in mind, old Brewery buildings/gardens etc + the storage areas to the west:



The blue circle is approx location of BRT station this fall.

[Vascilli]

• Video Link
CAD preview of the planned theater expansion to Webber Academy. I have some issues with the design, let alone the school. (A school their size has no need for such an expansion) Estimated cost was at one point $30 million.
• Video Link
CAD rendering of the same extension. Too much brick. (It's like Montana got prematurely capped or something)