Programs and Initiatives

Balanced Literacy is a program which provides a framework for teaching reading and writing from grades one to three. Daily 5 is a similar instructional framework that many teachers use with students in grades 2 through 5. The underlying belief is that students will learn the necessary skills through activities designed to move control from full teacher support to student independence. Students read and write at their instructional level while acquiring skills in language arts to enhance their learning.  

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This program is designed to assist students who have moderate to severe learning challenges by remediating or teaching compensatory strategies. This program has a language arts and/or mathematics focus. 

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FSL is a required subject for students in grades 4, 5 and 6. The French language is taught to help students develop communication skills, language knowledge and cultural awareness and appreciation. 

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The cultural scene at Glen Allan Elementary School is alive and well. Not only do the students have the opportunity to demonstrate their talents, but they also enjoy the opportunity to witness the talents of professional acts such as Alberta Opera and a variety of other performances, including high school drama productions, magicians, singers and dancers. 

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The fine arts are an integral component of the overall education plan for all Glen Allan students. Students from kindergarten to grade 6 enjoy painting, drawing, sculpting and many other art genre in their regular art class. Singing, playing instruments and music appreciation form the core of the regular music program.

Drama, art and music are showcased throughout the year. Christmas concerts provide the opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills and talents.

The art card project provides an opportunity for parents and family to purchase student artwork. The children's art is scanned and then printed on high quality card stock. This art is displayed on the front of the card and the child's name is typed on the back of the cards, to personalize them. The art card project is very popular with the Glen Allan community. 

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Parents or teachers may request a speech/hearing evaluation by a referral to the speech pathologist. When warranted, the pathologist will establish a therapy program after informing the teacher and parents. Because of the potential case load, students requiring therapy may be placed on a waiting list.  

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Parents or teachers may make a referral to our school counsellor. Students may also make an appointment to see the counsellor, either through the office, through the homeroom teacher, or directly with the counsellor. 

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Closely aligned with our Character Education Initiative, each classroom has a Positive Referral Program to recognize and reinforce student behaviours which exemplify good citizenship at school. These classroom based programs provide consistent and timely positive reinforcement for students. 

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The physical education program emphasizes healthy living, physical activity, personal responsibility and positive interactions with others. Students develop personal and interpersonal skills while engaging in a wide variety of athletic pursuits, including dance, games, and gymnastics. 

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Students in Glen Allan participate in FitKids one day each week. The FitKids Program is a component of the students' daily physical activity. FitKids has been established to promote an appreciation of fitness and to expose students to a variety of fitness activities, several of which are not commonly part of a regular Physical Education class. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to outsource some of these activities to experts in our community. Our yearly calendar of activities includes activities such as: Tae Kwon Do, Drumming, Dance, Yoga, Fitness Trail activities, Circuit Training and Speed Stacking. 

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We believe technology is a valuable tool which enhances our curricular goals. To assist our students in becoming more knowledgeable and comfortable accessing the WorldWideWeb and to be familiar with a variety of software applications, we have four wireless mobile labs of Dell laptops, both black/white and colour printers and a new iPad lab. The purpose of our portable labs is to enable students to complete projects and research work in various subject areas within their classroom environment. In addition, a student computer in every classroom is connected to the internet. Each classroom has an FM/Infra-red sound system, ceiling projector, Smartboard and document camera for use with a variety of media resources as well as the internet. Our networked software is continually updated to best meet the needs of our students. Our goal is to connect the students to meaningful, engaging learning opportunities within a much larger classroom - the world. 

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Our library, with over 15 000 story and research books, is a learning hub for Glen Allan. It is used extensively by our students, parents and staff. The library is fully automated and our teaching staff is continually evaluating and updating our collection of print resources to meet the needs of both students and teachers. We have a library technician who manages the day-to-day running of our library to ensure its optimal use and function.

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We value our environment and collectively have the hope of living, playing and working on this land for many years to come. Strathcona County's Green Routine campaign, whose official kick-off was held at Glen Allan School, was implemented to reduce the waste in our landfill.  While the County is working on ways to include schools in this campaign, the students of Glen Allan's grade 3 and 4 classes proposed a 'Garbageless Lunch' program as a project to compliment the science curriculum.  This initiative was such a success, reducing lunch waste from an average of 13 to 15 black garbage bags every lunch hour down to 1 or 2 bags! The students were so proud of their success that they proposed we continue this program. To that end, we ask for your continued support and cooperation in following the 'Glen Allan Garbageless Lunch Initiative'.

The design of our program is simple: whatever comes to school in your child's lunch bag goes home in the lunch bag. At home, those contents are then recycled or disposed of in green routine fashion. To assist with the safe, dry return of drinks, yogurt, etc. in the lunch bag, please remember to include one or two ZipLoc bags on a daily basis.  Please discuss this garbageless lunch initiative with your child. We appreciate your support, thus ensuring a successful long-term program.

The immediate benefits are:

• Students will play an active, responsible and respectful role in creating and maintaining a green and healthy school environment.
• Glen Allan students will directly and positively impact the amount of waste that reaches our landfill.
• Students will be responsible for recycling their lunch/snack food and wrappers at home.
• As parents, you will know what food is being consumed and/or wasted on a day to day basis.

 Our Glen Allan Environmental Club collects and recycles drink and milk containers as part of this program. The monies collected are used to support initiatives selected by the students who are club members.

During the last school year, Glen Allan students saved approximately 1,645 huge garbage bags from ending up in a landfill.  Thank you for helping to develop an environmental conscience in Glen Allan Elementary School.

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