2011-2012 School Year

The school also holds a yearly Fund Raising Event for the Alberta Children Hospital in honour of Ahmed Abbas, former student.  This year, ALCA raised recently raised almost $3000.00 for the Ronald McDonald House Charity of Canada, $2302.64 for the Ahmed Abbas Cancer Research Fund, and $2300.00 for the Terry Fox Run.  In response to the recent floods in Pakistan, humanitarian efforts were well underway at Almadina as the student body collectively raised $3159.00 to help flood victims.  This amount was doubled by the government.  Almadina students are determined to help so that every person could have a chance at a good quality of life.  If you would like to make a donation, please contact Almadina School Society Office at (403) 543-5078.

"Calgary Language School Saluted for Educational Excellence" -- Sarah McGinnis

CALGARY - All eyes are on Grade 1 teacher Tanya Pollett as she leads her class through a song focusing on the different parts of the body.  Singing to students with lively hand gestures is hardly unusual in an elementary school, but this tune is meant to reinforce vocabulary for head, shoulders and hands among children who are learning English as a second or even third language.  Language instruction is at the core of every lesson at Almadina Language Charter Academy, a Calgary school dedicated to teaching ESL students.

"Even in math, if you are counting objects, then bring an object that students are familiar with and you can build the language," Pollett explains.  The school's innovative approach to teaching was recognized at the annual Garfield Weston Awards for Excellence in Education on Thursday.

Sixty-six Alberta schools were honoured for their academic achievements at a banquet in Calgary.  The awards are based on the Fraser Institute's annual Alberta elementary and high school report cards.

"These awards are about encouraging excellent educators to keep doing what they're doing to provide students a better education," said Lisa-Diane Fortier, the Fraser Institute's associate director of outreach programs and school performance studies.  "Their commitment to excellence cannot be understated."

Almadina won the $3,000 prize for the elementary school demonstrating the most improvement in academics for the second time in the three years.

"It's phenomenal. It's great knowing the teachers at our school--because we have fantastic teachers at our school -- are being recognized for their hard work in helping improve the academics of all of our Almadina students," said Pollett.

Almadina teachers have brought in artists and writers to guide students in illustrating their own books.  They've also had students perform plays in math class to boost understanding of numerical concepts and the language around them.

"We're going to continue to try our best to give students what they need by looking at where they're struggling and what we can do to help," said vice-principal Ruth-Anne Neely.

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© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

On November 5th, 2009, staff and students at Almadina Language Charter Academy - Mountain View and Franklin campuses were recognized for their hard work.  The school won first place in the category of "Improvement in Academics Elementary".  This award recognized our school team's outstanding dedication to learners.  Out of 795 elementary schools across Alberta, Almadina Language Charter Academy - Mountain View and Franklin campuses took first place in overall improvement.  This award recognized academic achievement across Grades 3 and 6 on the Provincial Achievement Tests.  Over the past five years, the Almadina learning community has worked hard to set academic targets and provide supports to achieve success in meeting those goals. Along with the award, the school received a $3000 cheque and was also featured in a Calgary Herald article.  All of our stakeholders, including board members, staff, parents and students were excited and full of pride at this special recognition of our improvement by the Fraser Institute.  We look forward to continued success in the future.

Almadina Language Charter Academy has been nominated for an award by Garfield Weston to recognize improvement at the elementary level. The school has been ranked in the top thirty across Alberta for this achievement. The awards ceremony will be held in November 2009 and will be attended by staff, administration and board members from the school.

The elementary campus has been awarded a grant of $7,100 by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA). This funding will go to the artistic endeavours of our students at the Mountain View campus.