Calmar Secondary School

780-985-3515

Contact Us
Loading...

CSS is now closed for summer break!!! We will be back in the office August 21st. We hope everyone has an amazing summer!

Calmar Collegiate Secondary School

Opening

Fall 2025

What is a Collegiate Education?

Collegiate education provides specialized career pathway programming in a particular career area or field with increased student success into post-secondary education and careers in a chosen field.

  • Trades Apprenticeship and Vocational Education Committee (TAVE) 2024

Critical Components of a Collegiate

  • A specific career pathway of focus within a multi-year experience
  • Delivery of purposeful career pathway programming through;
    • The use of CTF/CTS and other course delivery models
    • Dual credit programming with a post-secondary partner
    • Experiential learning opportunities and work experience within the industry
  • Design of student supervision and coaching models that provide frequent, ongoing support for student success across their career pathway learning.

Calmar Secondary Collegiate Focus

  • The initial focus will be on exposing students to the following three trades:
    • Electrical
    • Plumbing, Gasfitting, and Steamfitting (First Year Common)
    • Carpentry
  • Note that these trades are based on what will be in demand in the Edmonton area as per the Alberta Occupational Outlook 2021 – 2030 created by the Alberta Government
  • Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) placements in addition to in-school learning
  • Focuses on other areas to be explored in the future

How Will We Get There?

First, We Need To Build

  • To offer a trades-based program, we will be building an addition to the school as seen here
  • Our facility will break ground in Spring 2024 and be completed around the same time the following year
  • The program will open Fall of 2025

We Will Create Partnerships

  • Part of the Collegiate model is the fostering of partnerships to support career pathways.
  • These partnerships will be focused on several areas:
    • Post Secondary Institutions
    • Trades Organizations
    • Community organizations
    • Industry
  • Through these partnerships we will be able to provide industry-standard instruction, Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) placements for Collegiate participants, and Pre-employment training within a trade of choice.

We Will Create Pathways For Students

  • It is imperative for both students and industry that students can achieve both a trade certification and strong academic programming.
  • To this end, we will be creating a program that will allow students to access the Collegiate while achieving an Alberta High School Diploma at the same time.
  • In some career pathways, this will mean accessing alternative programming/summer school courses.
  • On the next slide, you can see an example pathway. That said, everyone’s personal pathway will be different.

We Will Support Students Across Black Gold

  • Calmar will have a unique facility and at times students from other centers will be interested in attending. In this instance, Black Gold’s policy surrounding the School of Choice will be adhered to.
  • We would like to recognize the importance of the home community to these students as well.
  • To this end, we will create a pathway that can be followed at other schools leading to students only needing to attend Calmar for their pre-employment term (12 weeks) in their grade 12 year.

We Will Set Standards For The Program

  • This will be a unique program and will require students to be prepared academically and personally to enter into a fast-paced learning environment.
  • Academically, students must be able to be successful in courses that support their success in their pre-employment phase (1st-year apprenticeship training)  as well as the requirements of future employment and training.
  • Personally, students will be expected to be students in good standing both at school and on RAP sites supported by their Collegiate placement.

What Will My Students Get Out Of This Program?

Students Will Receive

  • An opportunity to complete first-year apprenticeship training in one of the aforementioned trades.
  • Numerous micro-credentials related to industry. H2S, Confined Spaces, Fall Protection etc.
  • RAP placement in preferred trade.
  • Access to an indoor facility where larger builds can be completed throughout the school year. (Calmar site)
  • Instruction by journeypeople. (Calmar site)

Questions

Feel free to contact:

  • Justin Klaassen – Calmar Secondary School Principal