About Prairie Rose School Division
Prairie Rose encompasses a large geographical area (approximately 29,117 sq. kilometers) in southeastern Alberta. It borders Saskatchewan to the East and the United States to the South.
Our Goals: Learning, Leadership, Relationships (LLR)
Prairie Rose School Division aims to carry out its day-to-day operations with three goals in mind.
1. To improve instruction and learning opportunities for students and adults
2. To increase leadership capacity
3. To build positive relationships
Our Population
The Division serves a predominantly rural population of approximately 3380 students in grades Junior Kindergarten through 12. A Board of 7 trustees operates 18 Public Schools, 1 Outreach School and 15 Hutterite Colony Schools.
Our Communities and Regions
- Cypress County
- County of 40 Mile
- MD of Acadia Valley
- Special Areas
- Town of Redcliff
- Town of Oyen
- Town of Bow Island
- Village of Foremost
- Village of Cereal
- Village of Empress
Challenges Being Met
Distance and sparseness are the major obstacles that have to be dealt with on a daily basis. The jurisdiction operates five public schools with populations of under 70 students. Multi-aged instruction has been implemented in an effort to keep the schools viable. Major resources have been provided in the area of staffing to ensure quality education for all our students. As a result, we have one of the lowest pupil/teacher ratios in the province.
A Diverse Culture
Prairie Rose is a unique blend of many different cultures. The Ralston School is made up of approximately 70% students who are of British descent and whose parents are members of the British Military. Each year, one of our teachers is involved in an exchange with a teacher from Germany. With 15 Hutterite Colonies, Prairie Rose has approximately 10% of all Colony children in the Province. In addition, we also have a high concentration of students whose parents are German speaking and come from Mexico.
Site-Based Decision Making
The Division operates on a site-based decision making model. Budgets and purchasing for instruction have been decentralized and all financial decisions occur at the school level where they will have the most impact. All schools have active school councils comprised of parents, teachers, community reps, administration and students at the high school level. School councils are charged with providing meaningful input into many of the decisions that affect the schools. This may include budgets, student achievement, school policies and school goals. The majority of our facilities have been recently renovated and are in excellent shape.
Maximize Student Learning
The major thrust of the division continues to be the maximization of student learning. This has resulted in consistently high performance on both the Diploma and Achievement tests. The number of students achieving at both the Acceptable and Excellence levels is consistently in the top percentiles across the Province.
Technology
An exciting development in technology for rural education is the installation of the SuperNet across the province. This has enabled Prairie Rose to establish eLINC (eLearn Innovatively Networking Communities). This technology project links Prairie Rose's rural schools through the SuperNet by videoconferencing. eLINC enhances programming in all Prairie Rose schools by providing access to expertise and courses not otherwise available.
School Councils
The Board continues to build cohesive partnerships with parents. General meetings are held each year with representatives from all school councils getting together to share ideas and initiatives. Additionally, most school council meetings are attended by the local trustees in an effort to maintain communication lines. The Board also meets once per year with the Hutterite Brethern, including the Minister and German teacher. A result of these meetings, has been an agreement whereby all Colony funds are pooled, which eliminates the need for any additional requisitioning of funds.
Special Education
Prairie Rose provides a nurturing educational environment for children with special needs. Schools offer a wide variety of programming for special needs students. These include individualized programs, resource room instruction and in-class modification to regular programs. Our special needs students consistently achieve goals outlined in their IPP's and achieve exceptionally well on Alberta Learning Achievement tests.