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high schools in Calgary

high schools in Calgary

Old Feb 3rd 2012, 9:08 pm
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Default high schools in Calgary

Hoping to move to calgary this summer with our daughters who will be 12 and 13 yrs, I believe this will be towrds the end of junior high. We have been looking at potential high schools and they are all so big!! Here a comprehensive is considered big with 7 year groups with 1500 pupils, you get that and more with 3 grades in high school! Anyone have experiance of high schools in calgary good or bad, we are also looking at Cochrane where they do seem smaller.
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Old Feb 3rd 2012, 10:11 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

What area of the city are you looking at? Are you looking at the public system or the catholic?

The grades can vary in different schools. For example, a school can be grade 5-9 or 7-12 or 10-12.

It will also depend on when the girls birthdays are - that will probably determine what grade they should go into.

My son turned 14 in November and is in grade 9 of k-9 school. In September, he will go to a high school that is grades 10-12.
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Old Feb 3rd 2012, 10:30 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Looking at the public schools, most seem to be up to grade 9 then high school? Older daughter was 13 last november and youngest will be 12 in june this year.
We have been looking at the NW or SW of Calgary or Cochrane.
Thanks
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Old Feb 3rd 2012, 10:34 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Originally Posted by merylbaz
Looking at the public schools, most seem to be up to grade 9 then high school? Older daughter was 13 last november and youngest will be 12 in june this year.
We have been looking at the NW or SW of Calgary or Cochrane.
Thanks
The local high school will be fine.
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Old Feb 3rd 2012, 11:38 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

You may want to put your daughter (13) into grade 9 in September. It may give her some time to get used to things and make friends in the neighbourhood. It will be smaller and more relaxed in junior high and will give her time to get used to the Canadian ways before the pressure of high school starts.
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Old Feb 4th 2012, 4:16 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Hi. I see you also mention Cochrane. There are two public high schools here; Cochrane High and Bow Valley High. Both schools are for grades 9-12. Which schools kids in town go to very much depends on which part of town they live. My kids are younger than yours so have not reached high school yet. However, I have friends with kids in both schools and I've only heard positive remarks. Also, where one school offers something that the other doesn't (mechanics is one subject that springs to mind), there is a bus shuttle between the schools so that students can partake in that subject too and don't therefore miss out. I do in fact drive a school bus for one of the high schools and even drive the shuttle bus between the two schools one day a week and all the kids are great!
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Old Feb 4th 2012, 5:15 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Originally Posted by Almost Canadian
The local high school will be fine.
Thank-you, although of course I wonder about whether they will settle, I was amazed at the size of the year groups and was wondering if people thought this worked and some ideas about class sizes, if the children managed to be seen as individuals.
Thanks for your input TheThornes and justkidding
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Old Feb 4th 2012, 6:15 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Cochrane High has a very good academic reputation, though I've heard nothing bad about Bow Valley High School either. Bow Valley seems stronger on the arts - language/music/drama I would say, and their head of music is wonderful. My two will go to Cochrane High just because of where we live. I have no worries about the (High) schools here.

Go to the local school - most seem pretty good. Usual high school issues and the only one I'd be wary of if you are thinking of the NW quadrant of the city is Bowness.
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Old Feb 5th 2012, 2:01 am
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Originally Posted by ann m
Go to the local school - most seem pretty good. Usual high school issues and the only one I'd be wary of if you are thinking of the NW quadrant of the city is Bowness.
A lot of the kids that currently go to Bowness in the NW will soon be able to go to the new one they are building at Arbour Lake, although you'd need to check when it opens.

(Psst what have you heard about Bowness? Its our designated High School for where we live - should I be hoping it will change by the time the littl'un is ready for high school!)
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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 9:48 am
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

I will be moving back to Canada with my two girls, one of which will be 14 at the time. She will be entering Grade 9, though she would have been entering Year 10 in the UK. Based on the city/town you live in, she will either be in her last year of Junior High or her first year of High School. We don't have such a varying degree of schools in Canada - everyone just goes to their "local" high school, one is not necessarily very different to the next.

Good luck - let me know where you end up - my daughter would probably be keen to meet up with someone in the same situation as her!

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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 6:37 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

The high schools in Calgary are, indeed, large. They also differ from UK schools in culture. There are no uniforms, so some of the kids try to push the envelope regarding dress code. The students are generally friendly, and perhaps more ethnically diverse than you would find in the UK. Academically, I don't think they are they are really any different from the schools in Britain: some offer the IB instead of the usual High School Diploma. There are also high schools with specialist programs, such as Performance and Visual Arts (also offered as an elective), the National Sports Academy, and others. Don't forget, too, that the high schools are taking students from much larger catchment areas than perhaps they do in the UK, so bus transportation (city transit, not the yellow school buses) will probably be a big of your child's day. And when they reach 16, they will want to learn to drive (they can actually learn at 15, but they cannot take a driver's test until they turn 16). Also, you do not have to attend your designated high school (my daughter attends a high school well outside our area). If they have room, or a particular program that you want your child to attend, then they will admit them.
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Old Feb 23rd 2012, 9:45 pm
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Thanks for the replies, are you going to Calgary too CanuckColeen? It would be great if the girls could get together. When do you hope to go out?
YoshiPal thanks, that was very informative, I have been on the school boards websites till my head is spinning, We would like to visit a couple of schools when we go out at Easter, but when you don't know where you are going to end up, it is hard to know where to go
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Old Feb 24th 2012, 6:29 am
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

If I may, I would like to suggest of couple of high schools that might be of interest to you. In the NW, Sir Winston Churchill would be my first choice. It generally places well in the provincial performance tables -- fifth best high school in Alberta. of memory serves -- and in the south west, Centennial High School, since a lot of newcomers seem to end up in the new subdivisions to the south of the city -- Cranston, Mackenzie Towne, Lake Chapparel -- and these are in that school's catchment area. There are, of course, other schools in Calgary, although I would avoid Forest Lawn High School.
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Old Feb 24th 2012, 7:46 am
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Default Re: high schools in Calgary

Merylbaz - I'm moving back to Calgary after living in the UK for the past 8 years. My eldest was 6 when we moved here so doesn't have a big memory about Calgary or Canada in general! We're moving to the South part of the city - looking at around Evergreen/Shaunessy area, where my sister and parents live, and also where I lived before coming to the UK.

Would definitely be great to get together - when are you heading there? I'm moving back in May, but my kids are finishing the school year and are being brought out by their dad in August.

Message me and we can swap details!
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