Bishop Carroll High School (Calgary, Alberta)

Bishop Carroll High School; part of the Calgary Catholic School District in Alberta, Canada; offers a unique program that allows students to work at their own pace in an individual environment. Students receive module packages from certain resource rooms and start to work on these packages. The students have a teacher advisor or a TA (teacher advisor) to look after them and keep them on track in weekly individual meetings. This program is available for students who are in Grade 10, 11 or 12. Bishop Carroll is home to the Bishop Carroll Cardinals. The school is named after a Bishop of Calgary in the mid 1950s. The school welcomes people who are not Roman Catholic, but they must have a specific reason for attending.

Music Department

Bishop Carroll is well known for its music program. The Bishop Carroll Music Society (BCMS) is an independently-run organization directed by parent volunteers and faculty of the department of music at the school; it funds, promotes, and supports the music program and all its members. Parents of the musicians are responsible for 15 hours of volunteering with the society each school year through fundraisers, off-campus activities, and in-school activities such as the popular "All That Jazz" event featuring the audition ensembles.

The music program consists of a choral ensemble directed by Joe Slabe, a concert band ensemble directed by Chris Herard, and a string ensemble directed by Kirll Kalmykov. These 3 ensembles make the "core" music options offered at the school.

There is also a student-directed jazz combo ensemble which includes a variety of jazz instruments, playing at all school concerts (in which students practice on their own time and select their own music), and a jazz oriented stage band, which is a classic stage ensemble by audition only, directed by Chris Herard and Pat Belliveau.

All band students are expected to practice on their own time as well as attend regularly scheduled rehearsals throughout the week.

Further assistance

Despite the self-directed nature of the school, some optional programs exist to provide a more traditional environment. Some courses (such as English 30-2) have been offered in a more or less traditional environment. Also, students in the mainstream courses may queue for personal assistance from a teacher, or attend optional seminars (usually stand-alone lectures) on each topic of study.

In mathematics, during the school year of 2005-2006 the math department offered a program called "Pilot" or "S Cubed: Structured Seminar Series", in which students attended a constant flow of seminars and scheduled tests. These seminars, unlike others in the school, were always be directed by the same teacher, and attended by the same student body. This eliminates the need for doing math individually, which some students find difficult.

The School of Alberta Ballet

Bishop Carroll is one of just two Calgary schools with a special relationship to The School of Alberta Ballet. Ballet students at Bishop Carroll and Queen Elizabeth High (in the public system) may receive credit toward their high school diploma for the instruction they receive at ballet school, even though the instruction is done outside the school. Bishop Carroll, in addition to its normal flexibility, specifically ensures these students will be free to attend their regular ballet classes; this is facilitated by the school's lack of a rigid schedule.

Notable alumni

• Amanda Billings - One of the top Canadian figure skaters.
• Erin Chan and Shayna Nackoney - synchronized swimmers won a bronze medal at the team event at the 2001 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
• Warren Kinsella - Lawyer, author, and political consultant; who advised former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
• John Kucera - Currently on the Canadian National Ski Team. Member of the 2006 Canadian Olympic Team. 2005/2006 National Super G Champion. 2005 National Downhill Champion. 2006 National GS Champion
• Nattie Neidhart - Professional wrestler
• Chris Renaud - Medal winning swimmer in the 1994 and 1998 Commonwealth Games. He also competed in the 2000 Olympics. As well he has won multiple Canadian championships.
• Tyler Seitz - Competed in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics in luge.
• Hayley Wickenheiser - Olympic gold medalist with the Canadian Women's National Hockey Team at the 2002 and 2006 Winter games.
• Ryan Yip - Plays on Kent State Golf Team. Quarter-finalist in the 2005 U.S. Amateur. Semi-finalist in the 2006 U.S. Amateur

References

External links

• Bishop Carroll High School Website
• The Canadian Coalition for Self-Directed Learning - A Canadian organization of high schools based in part on similar principals.
• Coalition of Essential Schools - Bishop Carroll (as of 2005) is the only Canadian member of the U.S. based organization.