Hi, anyone living in Calgary area know if any of the High Schools lean towards science at all? My son wants to study science and math.

Thanks

Louis Riel School in Oakridge is a public school that has been designated as a "Science School." However, it only goes up to grade nine.

Calgary Science School is a charter school. You don't have to pay to send your child there. But your child would have to apply to attend the school, and acceptance is not guaranteed (not that it's guaranteed at Louis Riel either). This school also only goes up to grade nine.

Senior high school (usually just called high school) is from grade ten to grade twelve. There is no high school in Calgary that specializes in science. However, the regular science and math curriculum is of a high standard. Even the regular curriculum offers an advanced course in math(s).

Another option is the Advanced Placement program, which is offered at nine public high schools in Calgary. In this program, a high school student can take a course that's the equivalent of first year university.

Still another option is the International Baccalaureate, which is offered at five public high schools. In Calgary it has a reputation for being a very "academic" program, with lots of homework. It's not suited to all students, but it may be suited to your son.
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High schools here have both science and math as core subjects. Within that context, students can choose to study biology, chemistry and/or physics (10/20/30 etc ) rather than "science" as a subject if they want to study in more depth.

This resource might be helpful to you:

http://education.alberta.ca/parents.aspx

as it shows in fair detail what is studied at each level for each subject.

Following from the previous post, all high schools do the sciences to 30 level. My son also is a scientist he is in a standard catholic High school but is able to do and will do physics, chemistry, biology, pure math to level 30. He also plans to do Calculus 31 which is even higher math. These are the equvalent of doing all the above subjects to A level, plus he has to do English (which he hates) and social to the same level if he wants to get to university of his own choice to study physics or math.

Thanks you all for that information, I've taken a look at the links and they are very helpful, I wouldn't have had a clue where to find that out. It's a shame though that they don't have "science schools" above grade 9. I think I had stumbled across the one in Oakridge and found that out, also I saw there was a huge waiting list!

So, please tell me, I know that kids have to achieve 100 credits to graduate, but what do the numbers mean next to the courses as they dont equate to credits, ie the 10, 20 or 30. Is it the difficulty of the course? and how does the credit system equate to the 10, 20 or 30??? I'm confused

Discourage him. There's no money in it.

I can't remember how many credits each counts for off hand, but they usually do xxxxx 10 in grade 10, then 20 in grade 11, and 30 in grade 12 for most subjects. They have to do the core subjects and then have a flexible choice for each other subject. They start accummulating credits from tenth grade up.....

They do each "course" for one semestre, so it's possible, say, to do chem 20 and chem 30 in the same year. My eldest did this for entry to University of Calgary to study Engineering when we got here. He already had A levels in "Maths with Mechanics" and "Electronics" from the UK.

They can do level 31 in various subjects, which is more to A level standard, (30 being more like AO level). As Helen said though, there are different types of math courses and higher calculus is always included in science biased university courses .....

The school teachers and guidance tutors are always happy to advise on which course is most suitable at any stage.

Thank you for your feedback...

However everything in life is not always about money. My son is autistic and increadibly intelligent with an IQ of 140, he is not phased by material things and since a small boy all he has wanted to be is a scientist... who am I to stand in the way of his dream

Suggest you look at the Calgary Board of Education's web pages on Special Education. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) addresses Autism Spectrum Disorders, and also has a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program.

Bring with you every scrap of paper you can get hold of from you son's present school, his doctor, and any other professional person who interacts with him. Do not send the papers in your sea shipment. Take them on the plane with you. The information may come in usefully when CBE is identifying the most appropriate program for your son.

After he has been placed in a school, stay in close touch with his teacher and principal, and monitor what's going on. There's a fine line. Some parents are such pests and take up so much of the principal's and teachers' time that they detract from school staff members' ability to serve all their students. You do need to be reasonable and polite. But at the same time, you do need to hold the principal's and teachers' feet to the fire up to a point. Don't let your son slip through the cracks. It sounds as if you care about him a lot, and wouldn't deliberately abandon him. But what I'm trying to say is that this is no time to be shy.

Hope that helps.
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Judy, thanks for that info. I knew about the special programmes for children with ASD's but I never knew about GATE. It looks very interesting.

My son is 11 and has Aspergers Syndrome and has been supported really well in his current school. He's currently doing work that is 3 years above his year group for Science. Must admit I'm not looking forward to learning a completely new school system but I've been in touch with the lady that heads up CBE Autism department in the past and they've been helpful but it's always the case that we'll have to physically be in Calgary before anything can go forward.

It would be interesting to hear if anyone else on BE has a child with special needs to get some advice/support on the topic.

The numbers behind each subject is the level and difficulty. There is math 10-1 or math 10-2 ( 10-2 is apparently easier for students and is applied math rather than pure math) There is even math 31 which is the calculus and is above Math 30.

The credit points of over 120 is very easy to get. My son in his first year has already done 50 credits and he has only completed what he had to do. In some optional subjects like drama you can do them for 3 credits for half the semester or for 5 for the full semester.

If your son is achedemic he will naturally get all the credits he needs. For those people who are not, they can get the credits by work experience and taking the optional subjects like drama, art, food technologies, car maintenance etc.

I have a Canadian friend in Calgary whose son has Aspergers Syndrome. He had a terribly difficult time when he switched from elementary school to junior high school, that is, from grade six to grade seven. He would have been about twelve or thirteen years old at that time. He was familiar with everything at his old school, and he was extremely uncomfortable going to a new school. However, he had an excellent doctor and a very understanding junior high school that bent over backwards to accomodate him.

He eventually settled into junior high school and, by the time he was in senior high school, which goes from grade ten to grade twelve, he was coming out of himself more and more. He now has completed two years of university.

I saw him at a social function just recently. He chatted with me easily, and told me how much he was loving his subjects at university. I could not believe that he was the same person as the terrified kid whom I had known some years ago. I mean it was not only me he was chatting with. He was circulating amongst the people in the room, conversing fluidly and indeed charmingly.

By the way, he received his schooling in the Catholic school system rather than the public school system. But that does not make much of a difference, as the two systems are fairly similar.
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