Advanced
Placement
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools is working toward introducing Advanced
Placement
courses in Grade 10 English and Mathematics at several of our high
schools beginning in the
2008/2009 school year. Currently, we plan to offer it at Notre Dame Collegiate in
High River and
St. Anthony’s School in Drumheller. In the
next three years, we also hope to see the program
accessed by students at Our Lady of the Snows in Canmore and Holy
Cross in Strathmore. We
plan to do this using videoconferencing. By using
videoconferencing, we can connect some of
our most capable learners who are located in high schools all
around our Division. In addition,
our online school, St. Paul’s Academy (under the umbrella of
the Centre For Learning @
Home),
will be offering the Advanced Placement program in grade 12
English next year. Students from any
of our traditional schools will have access to this course as
well. AP gives students an opportunity
to take college-level courses and exams while still in high
school. There are 33 courses in 19
subject areas, offered by 13,000 secondary schools around the
world. In 2000, 1.2 million exams
were taken by 750,000 students. Students enjoy the challenge of
taking AP courses with enthusiastic classmates and teachers; high school
faculty find that AP courses enhance their students' confidence
and academic interest as well as their school's reputation;
and university faculty report that AP
students are far better prepared for serious academic work. AP
provides highly motivated students the opportunity to try university-level work
in high school, and to gain valuable skills and study habits for university.
For students receiving a qualifying grade on the AP Exam, there are thousands
of colleges
and universities worldwide that will give credit or advanced
placement for their efforts including the
three major universities in Alberta. Most of the major
universities across Canada also give credit
or advanced placement for AP. The hard work really does pay
off in the form of AP awards, time
and money saved in college, the chance to challenge students
by studying a subject in depth, and
more. For more information on the Advanced Placement Program,
visit AP Central. Detailed i
nformation on AP in Canada can be accessed at AP Canada.
Drug
Resistance Integrated Virtues Education
This program for Grade 5 students, developed by
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, uses
the metaphor of driving as the common thread throughout the
fourteen (14) lessons. This program
meets 10 of the outcomes for the Alberta Learning Health and
Life Skills Curriculum. There are
also curricular links to religion and language arts.
Students learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to make good
decisions about substance use and to become responsible drivers on the
road of life.
Emphasizing that good character is essential to making sound moral judgments, t
he cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and
fortitude are an integral part of the program. Thirteen (13) of the
lessons are delivered by the teacher and a law enforcement officer is invited
as a guest speaker for one lesson. Respecting the role
of parents as the primary educators of
their children there is a parent workshop on drug awareness and
a booklet connecting home and
school called “Driving
it Home” with content summaries of the school lessons and
conversation
starters and activity ideas for parents and child to share
together.
Knowledge
and Employability
Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools currently offer Knowledge and
Employability courses at
Our Lady of the Snows Catholic
Academy in Canmore and St. Anthony’s School in Drumheller. The Knowledge and Employability courses are designed for
students who meet the criteria and learn
best through experiences that integrate essential and
employability skills in occupational contexts.
The courses provide students opportunities to
enter into employment or continue their education.
Early
Intervention
Each school in our Division has an Early Intervention
Program supervised by a qualified teacher.
The goal of this program is to identify and assist
students with lower than acceptable literacy skills.
This program is available to our grades 1 and 2
students who are experiencing difficulty in reading.
Students are identified through teacher
recommendation and observation.
Information for Parents:
Most young children come to school eager and ready to learn.This
means they catch on quickly,
learn to read and steadily build their skills. These children become
confident learners, ready to take
on new challenges and learn new skills and ideas. But for
some children, learning to read does not
come easily. Some may not have successful early experiences
with reading .Others may have learning difficulties that make learning to read
a challenge. This program provides the support so that your
child can achieve success.
French
Immersion
Christ the Redeemer School Division offers Late
French Immersion, beginning in grade 7, in the
Okotoks community at both St.
Mary's and Good Shepherd Schools. The
Late French Immersion
program will be offered initially from grades 7 - 9. In the
future, should numbers warrant, the French Immersion program will be offered at
the senior high school level.
French is the language of instruction in the four
core subject areas: Francais, Math, Social Studies,
and Science. Religion, Physical Education, Music and options
will be taught in English. Immersion
students will remain with their own class for the core subjects,
but will mix with English stream s
tudents for the option courses. All students are still required to
take Language Arts in grades 7,8,
and 9.
This program is designed for students of
non-French speaking families who wish to become
functionally bilingual by the time they graduate from high school.
Besides helping students gain
a better understanding of a new culture and its traditions,
Late French Immersion will give students
the ability to communicate when traveling in French-speaking
countries as well as an advantage i
n pursuing various post-secondary and career opportunities.
Students who are motivated to learn
French and who enjoy a challenge will benefit from
this opportunity for personal growth and
enrichment!