Alexander First Nation’s director of education says the band would like to expand the terms of a decades-old agreement between it and the Greater St. Albert Catholic school board that sees students from the reserve attend schools in Morinville.
Jody Kootenay said the band is in talks with the board to modify the agreement, which expires at the end of the year, beyond just sending kids to school in Morinville and tracking their progress.
“It’s nurturing that relationship and being open to ideas and open to opportunities for them and for us, not only for students and for staff,” Kootenay said earlier this month.
She said both organizations could share professional development (PD) opportunities.
“For example, if we have a professional development regarding cultural sensitivity for teachers, then they would be interested in attending our PD. Or if they have something in their school division maybe regarding children with high needs, then they would invite us to attend,” Kootenay said.
Currently, the agreement sees 15 Alexander students attend regular classes in Morinville.
Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division (GSACRD) superintendent David Keohane said the agreement, which has been in place for more than two decades, is one worthy of note.
“I think it’s a model that the rest of the province and the Ministry of Education could be looking at,” Keohane said last month.
He said band members, including parents, have been very proactive when it comes to understanding the needs of kids and wanting to work directly with schools.
“The fact they have structured visitations with our school principals, inquiring how they can be of further assistance in working with the students is a great gesture,” Keohane said.
Alberta Education has recently put a greater emphasis on its First Nations, MĂ©tis and Inuit (FNMI) learners.
In its Education Sector Workforce Planning Framework released last March, the province said it wants to increase the number of educators with the knowledge and skills necessary to support FNMI student success.
According to Statistics Canada, Alberta’s aboriginal population is growing significantly faster than its non-aboriginal population, climbing 29.6 per cent between 1996 and 2001.
In 2001, the last year for which data is available, the median age of Canada’s aboriginal population was 23.4 years compared to 35.4 years for the non-aboriginal population.
One year ago this month, the governments of Alberta and Canada signed a memorandum of understanding with the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs in Alberta to bring forward a common vision for strengthening learning and educational success for First Nations learners.
Alexander First Nation has one school — the Kipohtakaw Education Centre — which offers kindergarten to Grade 12.
Although she said she couldn’t speak for parents, Kootenay said those who send their children off reserve likely want more options for their kids.
Kootenay said the band limits the number of students under the agreement.
“We limit the numbers because we have our own school here as well and we still have to offer programs and services to the kids who attend here too,” she said.
To cover base tuition, the band pays approximately $6,500 per student, said Kootenay, adding the rising cost of education is also a factor.
“We just can’t keep up with those increases so we just try to limit the number that we send off because we’d like to support the kids here,” she said.
Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools made the success of aboriginal students a priority in its 2010 to 2013 three-year education plan. Specifically, it aims to reduce the dropout rate of students in grades 9 through 12, which in the past, has been significantly higher than the non-Aboriginal population.
St. Albert Protestant Schools has also put more of an emphasis on aboriginal student success. With the help of the FNMI Services Branch of Alberta Education, the district is infusing aboriginal perspectives in all subject areas and is finding innovative ways to address challenges facing its FNMI students.
Keohane said the band has worked hard to make the agreement work.
“I’m just amazed at the work that their director is doing in actually visiting our schools, asking how they can be of support in enabling their students to be successful while attending our schools,” he said.
“There is truly a strong, vested interest in their community working with ours to pursue success for students while they attend our schools.”
