We're moving to Calgary in August with our 6 year old daughter. Both myself and my wife will be working fulltime in the downtown region. We're lucky that the company will be picking up the bill on accommodation and schooling, so where would people recommend to live - keys to us being good quality education with after school care and a nice house to live in with as short a commute for us as possible, preferably via public transport.
Advice gratefully accepted.

Mount Royal is Calgary's "snob district." It's very expensive, it has older (by Calgary's standards), gracious houses, and it's close to downtown.

But Elbow Park, Rideau Park and Roxboro also are close to Mount Royal (and also pretty close to downtown), and they would qualify too.

If you want to go north of the Bow River, but still stay close in, you could think in terms of Hillhurst, West Hillhurst and Crescent Heights.

You could supplement this information by reading the BE Wiki article on Residential Areas of Calgary.

I suggest you also read the Wiki on Calgary Schooling.

The article on Canadian Schooling will give you some overview material about aspects of schooling that are common across the country and that are not mentioned in the Wiki on Calgary schooling.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Judy. We had read your Wiki articles - v. useful thanks.
Your comments on the snob vs. less so, are v. useful also. A community atmosphere is for us far more preferable.....

We're conscious of our living location going hand in hand with schooling, so will look at the areas you mention v-a-v schooling.

Don't suppose you or others know how difficult or otherwise it is to get kids into schools at such short notice - public or private??
Any comments on schools in these areas would be gratefully received.

Cheers

OK

SO I don't live in Calgary so I can't really provide a sensible answer- BUT I have looked at the schools. I'm not sure from your post exactly what price bracket you are in and whether or not you are looking at private schools. If you are looking at private schools- I can send you a useful guide that Judy kindly sent me. Most private schools are not close in though - they are newish as Clagary doesn't have aheritage of private schools and so they sit on the fringes and for a 6 yr old I would think a lot would be full up already.

We visited a friend's house in Elbow park whilst we were there and it was lovely (but unfortuantly not in our price range)

I was also looking for state schools with after school club, if you want to be close in you could try Briar Hill, West Hillhurst, Sunalta, Earl Grey. Look on the website and find a close fit with what you are looking for.

I have been round Jennie Elliot and really liked it- they offer after school care etc but it may be further out than you would want. Dr E.W.Coffin may also be a choice and Alexander ferguson may be too.

We are moving to Calgary in August, but due to work will most likely be in far NW
Best wishes

Gryphea

I haven't tried getting my kids into private schools in Calgary, so I don't know how easy or difficult it is. My guess is that, at your daughter's age, it would be easy. Some private schools that are very ambitious from an academic point of view have stringent entry criteria in the later grades. I've heard of kids having to write tests to be admitted, and stuff like that. However, since your daughter would only be starting school now, I couldn't see how that would apply to her.

It's easy to get into government-funded schools, as long as you live in the catchment area for the relevant school. However, BE members have reported having to wait a couple of weeks to get an appointment with the Reception Centre that handles admissions of newly arrived children.

After having moved countries a few times, my opinion is that asking people's opinions can be an ineffective way of gathering useful information. In fact during one of our international moves, we made a mistake about the area in which we should live for the very reason that we relied on the advice of a handful of friends who had preceded us to a destination. I've noticed that there is a common tendency amongst people to claim that the area that they live in is best, the school that their children attend is best, etc., etc.

I'm not sure why they do that. I suspect they would experience cognitive dissonance if they entertained the thought that there just might be neighbourhoods that are better than the one in which they live, there just might be schools that are better than the one their children attend, and so on.

Another factor is that most lay people don't understand how important individual differences are and that what worked for them might not work for someone else. If someone is a competent professional in their field (relocation consultant, travel agent, or whatever), they usually have a better understanding of people's differences. They usually are good listeners, and they ASK QUESTIONS and LISTEN before they give advice.

But, even if people don't have the flaws that I've just mentioned, asking questions in the way that you have done will elicit responses from the people who just happen to see your questions. That, in turn, will be determined by whoever happens to visit the forum during a given time window and various other factors. There might be other forum regulars who know good information, but who just happen to be away at the time of your enquiry, or whatever.

In my opinion, if you care about the outcome, you have to be systematic about the way in which you go about gathering and evaluating information. One way to do that is to hire a really competent relocation consultant, one who has an encyclopedic knowledge of schools, neighbourhoods, etc. Since your employers are lashing out for accommodation and schooling, perhaps they will lash out for a relocation consultant too.

If you are not given the services of a relocation consultant and don't want to pay for one yourself, the next best thing to do is to draw up a matrix of school performance as evaluated by some outfit like the Fraser Institute and neighbourhood safety as reported in Community Crime Statistics.

When it comes to crime statistics, ignore property crimes and concentrate on person crimes. Sometimes the presence of a shopping centre whose parking lot attracts petty car crimes skews the statistics of an otherwise nice community. When I've looked at those crime statistics, I've found that the person crime statistics have been more accurate reflections of what I know about neighbourhoods from personal experience.

I once did that exercise for Calgary's high schools. I found that, in instances in which I knew specific neighbourhoods and schools, there was a high correlation amongst what I knew about them, the Fraser Institute's assessments of those schools, and the crime statistics for those neighbourhoods.

I'm not about to repeat that exercise for Calgary's elementary schools. The exercise I did regarding high schools was time consuming, and I don't get paid for posting on the BE forum.

However, as a starting point, you may want to look at my post about Calgary High Schools (see post #3 in that thread). The reason my post may be of some use to you is that a given high school draws it students from several junior high schools, and a given junior high school draws its students from several elementary schools. So, in a very, very general way, there is some correlation amongst a high school and the junior high schools and ultimately the elementary schools that feed into it.

Anyway, the only poster on this forum who has done a really thorough analysis of Calgary elementary schools, of whom I am aware, is Gryphea. Through her research prior to her recce trip to Calgary, she narrowed the schools down to a short list.

Then, when she did her recce trip, she visited the schools on her short list. During those personal visits she liked some of the schools and disliked others.

So that illustrates another point, which is that research from a distance can only accomplish so much. It certainly can provide you with a short list. But, at the end of the day, you won't know how you feel about a school until you walk around it, while the children are in attendance, and pick up the vibe of the place.

If commuting time and public transportation are important to you, those are factors that you have to include in your matrix as well.

Hope that helps.

Heh heh. When I was about to click the Submit Reply button, I received a warning that someone else had replied in the interim. Lo and behold, it was Gryphea herself.

I agree with everything Judy has said - things like schools are quite personal and we all look for different things and its the same with areas. I would listen to all your advice let it wash over you and then cherry pick, interpret and make your own opinions. I have found this in the UK, that what on the surface appear to be very similar people to us, and we get on fabulously with them etc, we make very different choices for our children.

Elbow park, where we visited, whilst it was gorgeous, didn't appear to have a great community feel. The friend said most people have holiday places in either Banff or Windermere and pop off there at weekends- so I got the impression it was a slightly aloof community.

I have, and yes I know some people will think this is awful, done a spreadsheet of schools in NW and SW and considered things like fraser card performance , but other things (size was important to us), after school clubs etc, other points to come up with shortlists. You will get into most state schools if you live in catchment. We concentrated in the areas around Mont royal college as OH's work was going to move there or to Crowfoot mall areas - so not the same as you who want to be close in. I visited 4 state schools, one private. We also drove past a few to look at facilities etc, one school we looked at , I really liked but it had no windows and to me phisicality of learning space plays a role. I would say that not all state schools are in frasercard as they are only K-3.

If you are going state you need to book an appointment at Riverside reception centre. These , as Judy says, get booked up. I have booked myself an appointment there already for end august and the lady said they get very booked up over the summer. So book now - you can always cancel.

I am on holiday in 2 hours so if I don't reply thats why- try again in a week!
Gryphea

PS can't beleive Judy is still up!!!!!

Do you have to book an appointment there just for schools in Calgary or other areas as well? We went into the school my boys will go to Okotoks and were given various pre-registration forms to fill in for them, which we did there and then, but there was no mention of having to go anywhere else to register them before they start. So is it just Calgary-specific to have to go to Riverside?

Have a good holiday Gryphea!

Lisa

Its just Calgary specific- Otokoks is a different board. Our basement has just flooded EEEK

Gryph

Oh no, that is the last thing you need if you are just off on hols. I take it you are having the same amount of rain as us here? We were meant to be going to Bolton Abbey with a group of friends tomorrow so the kids can play in the river then we were going to have a barbeque - somehow I think they would be likely to get washed away in flood waters and the barbeques would be too soggy to light, so it might have to be postponed!

Hope you are off to sunnier climes and not somewhere else where it is raining as much as this!!

Good luck sorting the basement!

Lisa

We have had bucket loads. We are going up the road to Northumbria!!!!

Think it will be very wet at Bolton Abbey tomorrow. Might be better on sunday though!

Gryph!

PS

Know you have two boys and roughly know there ages and think they may be too old, But hesketh farm park very near bolton abbey is very good as load of the stuff is indoors

Gryph

Many thanks for your comments and links.
I think we're narrowing it down a bit now.
Would anyone be able to comment on whether if we found a place to live in a certain area we'd be just about guaranteed a spot at the local public school? Also, how flexible are the public schools on the year the kids go into -We're coming from Malaysia and my 5 year old daughter has been at school for 3 years already (she was born at the end of August so just made the cut in the British school she's in in Kuala Lumpur).

I'm hoping to come for a recce in a couple of weeks time but won't be able to bring my wife and daughter along. Hopefully I can visit the reception centre you mention then. Do they need to see the child as well as the jet lagged parents?

Thanks,

Hi there
As far as I have been told if you live in the catchment area then the school must take you....

As far as Public (state) schools go if I could choose I would live in the catchment area for Sunalta (SW Calgary)- wonderful school and wonderful Principal who I have spoken to a number of times...OR West Hillhurst - If money is no object you could then live in Kensington and pretty much walk to work!! Other very good schools include West Dalhousie in the NW - nice area too....

YOu probably know but if there is a chance of you moving a bit with your job you might want to check out the Calgary International School as well.....That way your daughter could keep a continuity of education....

Hth a bit
Good luck
Lisa

Yes.

As the Wiki article on Calgary schooling stated, they are flexible.

They will not decide on the child's grade placement until they have interviewed the child herself. If you show them your child's curricula in English and math(s) and show them a couple of her workbooks to give them and idea of what she has been doing in school, they MAY be willing to give you a preliminary opinion as to which grade they PROBABLY would be willing to place her.

If you want to know the vibe of a given school, it won't help you to visit the Reception Centre. The only way to pick up on that kind of thing is to visit the school(s) in which you are interested, while school is in session and students are present. The school year finishes at the end of June, so I don't know if your recce trip to Calgary will be in time for you to see schools with kids in them.