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Westmount Charter School

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Coordinates: 51°04′17″N 114°07′59″W / 51.071268°N 114.133165°W / 51.071268; -114.133165
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Westmount Charter School
Westmount Charter School's current location at the Sir William Van Horne High School
Address
Map
728 - 32 Street N.W. (Elementary) 2215 Uxbridge Drive N.W. (Mid-High/Highschool)

Calgary
,
Alberta

Canada
Coordinates51°04′17″N 114°07′59″W / 51.071268°N 114.133165°W / 51.071268; -114.133165
Information
School typePublicly funded Charter
Founded1996
School boardWestmount Charter Board
SuperintendentJoe Frank
PrincipalHal Curties (Elementary) Janneke Frank (Mid-High)
GradesK-12
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Purple, Gold
Team nameWild
Websitewww.westmountcharter.com

Westmount Charter School is a charter school based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; which educates gifted students from kindergarten to grade 12. It was founded in 1996 as ABC (Action for Bright Children) Charter Public School, a school for gifted children. The school started with 116 students, from grades one to three, and is now hosting a gifted student body of over 1,000 in grades Kindergarten through 12.[1][failed verification] The name was officially changed from ABC Charter Public School to Westmount Charter School in 2002, though the school remains publicly funded. Westmount's first graduation occurred in June 2006.[2]

Demographics

As of 2017, 21.5% of students at the elementary campus are ESL and 12.3% have special needs.[3] 19.9% of students at the mid-high campus are ESL and 13.4% have special needs. [4] As of 2015–2016, Westmount is ranked the 8th best school in Alberta by the Fraser Institute. [5]

Teams

Facilities

Westmount Charter School started out in 1996 with a small building in Bridgeland as their home. They have since progressed through a building in the old CFB Currie, and for ten years shared the Viscount Bennett Centre with Chinook Learning Services. In September 2011, Westmount moved to two buildings: Parkdale Elementary, which houses Kindergarten to grade 4, and Sir William Van Horne High School in University Heights, which houses grades 5 to 12.[7] These buildings are leased from the Calgary Board of Education, the public school board in the area.

In July 2013, during summer holidays the retractable roof located over the school's atrium was partially dislodged during a thunderstorm. After a year long renovation, it was transformed into the Learning Commons.

Band Program

Westmount's band program encompasses many styles and levels. Within concert band there are Beginner or Grade 5 level. The Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels all vary in grade level. It also offers numerous other music programs, those being String Orchestra, Choir, and three levels of Jazz Band. Unlike most other schools in the province, Westmount starts its Beginner band in Grade 5.[8]

Giftedness

The mandate of Westmount Charter School is to provide educational programming for gifted students.[9] The school is a member of the Action for Bright Children (Calgary) Society.[10] Giftedness is profiled by the school as "not a single, simple phenomenon."

2008 Indecent Exposure and Sexual Assault Incidents

On October 29, 2008 at the Viscount Bennett Centre, an unknown adult male entered the mid-high area of the school and exposed himself to 2 students at roughly 3:30 PM, after classes had ended. No physical contact was made, and the two students immediately went to the school office. The school immediately went into lockdown, and the police were contacted. The police searched the school, and at around 5:20 PM the lockdown was slowly lifted.[11]

On October 30, just a day after the first act of indecent exposure, a man entered the school who has been described as Middle Eastern with spiky black hair and approximately 6 feet tall (185 cm). At around 10:15 AM he reportedly inappropriately touched an eighth-grade male student in the school cafeteria. The school was again put into lockdown, and the police were contacted. Over a dozen police vehicles and one of Calgary Police Service's HAWC helicopters arrived at the scene, but the suspect was nowhere to be found. The lockdown was lifted at 2:00 PM.[12]

Principals

  • The founding Principal, Jo-Anne Koch, served from 1996-2002. She died due to cancer. The school library was then dedicated to her memory until the redevelopment of the learning commons in 2014-2016.
  • Magy Butterfield was acting Principal during the 2001-2002 school year.
  • Dr. Elaine McDougall was Principal from 2002-2005.
  • Martha Faulkner was Principal from 2005-2011, retiring in June 2011.
  • Dr. Shelley Robinson was Principal in the 2011-2012 school year.
  • Commenced from the 2012 school year and on, each campus has its own Principal. Hal Curties is Principal of the Elementary Campus, while Dr. Janneke Frank is the Principal of the Mid-High Campus.

Superintendent

  • Joe Frank

Previous Superintendents include:

  • Gerald Porter
  • Mervyn Kurtz

See also

References

  1. ^ Welcome page information - http://www.westmountcharter.com
  2. ^ "Westmount Charter School Alumni page". www.westmountcharter.com. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  3. ^ "Westmount Charter School Calgary Alberta Academic school ranking". alberta.compareschoolrankings.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. ^ "Westmount Charter School, Mid-High Campus Calgary Alberta Academic school ranking". alberta.compareschoolrankings.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. ^ "Compare academic rankings and ratings of Alberta schools". alberta.compareschoolrankings.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  6. ^ "2016-17 Extra Curricular Clubs at WCS" (PDF). Westmount Charter School. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  7. ^ http://www.westmountcharter.com/program/locations.html
  8. ^ "Westmount Music Association". Westmount Charter School Society. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  9. ^ "About Westmount". Westmount Charter School. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Schools in Calgary". Action for Bright Children (Calgary) Society. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  11. ^ http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081029/CGY_Expose_Wesmount_081029/20081029/?hub=CalgaryHome
  12. ^ "Report of stranger touching student prompts Calgary school lockdown". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-02-08.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Westmount Charter School.
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