A new independent elementary school is opening up in September.
Hillcrest Montessori Academy will be offering classes for children in early learning programs up to grade 6.
Hillcrest Principal Patricia Maraire tells Mix News the school will offer a more hands-on learning experience.
“Consider it as a school that has a preparation of life… a school that satisfies all the needs of life a child needs for later stages.”
Many of the independent schools in Alberta, a lot of which are around Calgary, use the Montessori learning system.
When students first arrive at school, they take part in usual class routines. At Hillcrest, each student will have their own learning plan.
“The afternoons develop into more stimulating, hands on to reinforce the concepts that were learned in the morning,” added Maraire.
The Fort McMurray Montessori Group of School has been in Fort McMurray for the past five years, however, they only taught up to kindergarten.
Right now, their enrollment is around 60 students.
“We found that more and more families needed this type of instruction to go further because we were just doing it up to kindergarten and the children would go back into the regular school system.”
The school is planning to open in September if allowed by the government of Alberta.
If not, they have plans in place to offer online courses to their students.
LISTEN: On this edition of Fort McMurray Matters, we chat with @SOS_YMM about a $150K grant they received from the province and we talk with the Principal of Hillcrest Montessori Academy, a new school for students in Grades 1 to 6 #ymm #rmwb https://t.co/Wb7UVASzko
– MIX 103.7 News (@Mix1037FMNews) July 6, 2020
