COVID-19 has changed the way we look at many things, including education in Alberta.
So far, the road’s been a bumpy one; there are a lot of things yet to be ironed out when it comes to schooling for next year.
Parents are going to be faced with difficult questions come September.
How will my child learn in this new environment that hasn’t yet been established?
More parents will be looking for choices in their education; they’ll be looking at school’s like the Phoenix Foundation – a fully-accredited, provincially-funded, non-profit independent school in Calgary that has years of experience in successfully educating K-9 kids in this environment.
They call it Blend-Ed: A flexible mix of online, homeschool and in-class work that’s geared toward each student and the areas where they excel. They’ve already been doing what education may look like this fall – they’ve been perfecting it since 2004.
That experience matters for your child.
“We have our own distinct way of educating students. The unique model is part online, part in print, part at school and part in the community,” said Diana Stinn, Co-Founder of Phoenix.
“It’s kind of a blend of a whole bunch of different models. When we started, there were 180 families who all contributed. We asked, what was what’s the best of school, homeschooling, online and we came up with the best practices in these models.”
Flexible learning a cornerstone at Phoenix Foundation
Phoenix identifies the areas where kids excel and puts them in a position to continue that success – at their speed. Then, they shore up the areas where they need extra help.
“Kids don’t pop out being generalists. They have immediate gifts and challenges,”
“And so, our job is to address those gifts and challenges to work with the gifts and to assist them and understanding their challenges.”
Teachers at Phoenix get a one-hour teaching to one-hour prep ratio, because they’re creating fresh lessons tailored to where your child is at in their schooling. There’s very little “turn to page 47 of your textbook” learning, said Stinn.
That flexibility in content and delivery is ideal for all types of students and can be particularly effective for students that are challenged with sitting still in class for the day, to student athletes or artists, that need the flexibility to learn and focus on their chosen specialty.
Base learning at Phoenix comes at no additional cost
The BlendEd program includes material, instruction, a number of on site classes and opportunities as well as field trips. Families can register for additional activities, classes and field trips at a small cost to enhance their program.
Parent participation in the child’s education is also required. And they keep costs down by avoiding the challenge of providing transportation to and from the school. That fee just increased at Calgary’s public schools.
“We need parents who are equal partners in the education process. So, there is a cost. But it’s a parenting cost,” Stinn said.
“It lets us focus on actually doing our job, which is educating kids.”
For more information on Phoenix Education Foundation’s unique learning opportunities, visit their website or give them a call at 403-265-7701 and arrange a private tour of their unique space and see the latest theme.
