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By rdnewsNOW Staff

Central Alberta Collegiate Institute

First phase complete for collegiate school status between seven central Alberta institutions

Apr 7, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Seven central Alberta institutions have successfully completed the first phase of a partnership application to form a collegiate school status.

The partnership, which would operate under the name Central Alberta Collegiate Institute (CACI), involves Red Deer Regional Catholic Schools (RDCRS), Red Deer Public Schools, Chinooks Edge School Division, Wolf Creek Public Schools, Olds College, Red Deer Polytechnic, and CAREERS.

According to the Alberta government, collegiate schools are intended to provide specialized programming in a particular subject area and clearer pathways into post-secondary education and careers in their chosen field.

RDCRS Superintendent Kathleen Finnigan made the announcement to the Board of Trustees at their March 24 meeting.

The Board says the initial proof of concept proposal, handed in on January 15, received approval on February 27. As a result, RDCRS was invited to continue to phase two of the application, which is a detailed business plan.

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The Board says the CACI is the evolution of a decade-long collaboration of four partnering school divisions, two post-secondaries, and CAREERS, which has led to several successful dual credit opportunities both individually and for collective students.

They claim establishing CACI as a collegiate region will allow them to further grow their collaborative practice of creating and implementing unique programming for students.

While the first phase will focus on three cluster areas of skilled trades, RDCRS says they have plans to further develop pathways in the areas of healthcare as well as technology and agriculture.

They say CACI will follow a three to four year pathway, centered around student apprenticeship-ready, dual credit learning and career readiness experiences. RDCRS says they will be adding in a fourth possible year to support students who may need an extended amount of learning time to accomplish both high school graduation requirements and career readiness learning.

(Superintendent Report March 24 Board Meeting p. 4)

The Board says CACI partners are currently developing a Scope & Sequence Plan for career education pathway readiness experiences for Grades 7 – 9, which will involve the development of Career and Technology Foundations career pathway content that leads directly into the collegiate pathways of CACI. As CACI grows in these next few years, they say the intent is to have a robust Scope & Sequence of career education and collegiate programming across Grades 7 – 13, that creates high levels of student graduation and transition into chosen career training areas.