Mission Statement
We are educating tomorrow's citizens today within a safe learning community by providing a challenging and engaging environment that embraces diversity.
Purpose
In a positive, supportive environment, we provide opportunities for individual growth and change. We consider that our purpose is to:
- Stimulate intellectual curiosity
- Foster a sense of pride in achievement.
- Support and nurture independence and interdependence.
- Develop a foundation for life-long learning.
- Encourage responsible participation in the community.
History of Rosedale School
In 1922, the Calgary Normal School was founded on the campus of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Heritage Hall. A demonstration school was included on campus to provide training for student teachers and that's where Rosedale students attended classes prior to 1955. In 1955, the current Rosedale School was built and continued to provide teacher training in cooperation with the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Calgary Campus. This connection continued until the early 1960s when the faculty moved to the University of Calgary Campus and University Elementary School was built.
In the early 1960's the school expanded to include junior high students from Sunnyside School. In 1968, the school library opened in the current staff room. Two additional classrooms were created from "mudrooms." In 1978 a creative playground and was installed on the school grounds and updated in 1992. In 2010 a new creative playground with rubberized surface was built. Renovations creating a more open, visible off ice occurred in 1994. In 1997, a detached, portable classroom was moved beside the school with a second portable classroom in 1998. In 2017 the existing portables are removed and new modules are attached to the building.
Rosedale school has strong links to the community and to the families who are a part of it. Parents have traditionally played an active and supportive role in the school. The original Home and School Association became the Rosedale Parents Association in 1974, and changed to the Rosedale School Council in 1995. The Rosedale Society was reinstated in 2006, and remains very active.
Rosedale School Development Plan in Action
Our School Development Plan is based on data we have from student learning. Staff look at the data and create a plan of action to improve staff and student knowledge in Wellness, Numeracy and Literacy. Each month we have a Parent Council meeting with parents and share our School Development Progress in Wellness, Literacy and Numeracy. Please read the monthly Principal Report uploaded to our website each month to learn how we take action on our School Development Plan. Below are a few items we regularly monitor for staff and students.
Wellness
All students have a weekly class check in with homeroom teachers where students rate their school week out of 5 and share what could make the week better. The school and staff look at this data to implement changes.
Some of our changes for our 2021-22 year have been:
- Student Voice Club - meets monthly to discuss student areas of concern
- GSA - organized and run by students with a teacher to support students
- Fun lunches for junior high
- Theme Days for students
- Playground zone changes and assistance outside
Literacy
Our main focus in literacy is in writing - developing skills to organize and express information clearly. Each student has worked one-on-one with a teacher to create an individual writing goal. Some of our ongoing work for the 2021-22 year have been:
- Workshops for teachers on writing (CBE Literacy specialists)
- Goal setting with students
- Class and school writing prompts for baseline, mid year and end year data (to see where students are at, what they need and to determine next best steps)
- Rubrics for students to self assess and monitor their work in progress
- Writing templates to help students organize writing
Numeracy
Continue to focus on strategies to increase numeracy skills to develop number sense and apply strategies or computation and estimation.
Some of our ongoing work for the 2021-22 year have been:
- Low floor high ceiling math problems (multi-level problems that challenge students at their own level)
- Math workshops for teachers (Numeracy specialists and Learning Leaders)
- Smaller numeracy groups for students