Calgary Science School
Encyclopedia
The Calgary Science School (CSS) is a Canadian
public charter school
in Calgary, Alberta
; which teaches grades four through nine, with classes of four of each.
Over the 2009 summer break the drama/dance room was moved into the old computer lab. In the 2010 school year the school built an Indoor Activity Centre where some dance and gym classes are held.
Ten buses, owned and operated by Southland Bussing of Calgary
service CSS, taking the majority of the kids to and from school every school day. They operate from the far north of Calgary
to the far south. Some morning stop times are as early as 7:00 AM, and school starts at 8:45. One of the drivers is a World War 2 veteran, he retired in late 2006.
Currently, CSS has over 40 staff members, including janitorial staff, technical staff, office attendants, and those in charge of publications.
Calgary Science School has a large ethnic and racial diversity throughout all 6 grades that it houses. The graduating class of 2004/2005 became the first group of students to move from grade 4-9 in CSS.
to a Mac
base in the beginning of the 2006-2007 schoolyear. Due to an Emerging Technologies grant from Alberta
Education, in the 2006-2007 as well as the current 2007-2008 school year, each student will receive their own Apple MacBook
. The laptop is theirs until grade 9 and they will then pay a $75, and keep the laptop until it is rendered useless, it breaks, or they get a new one. The laptops are complete with built in video camera, 1280x800 widescreen 13.3 inch glossy LCD screen, Apple's AirPort Extreme, and up to 3 hours of battery life. Every student receives a laptop to research on subjects in school, allowing a inquiry based education to flourish.
Many CSS classes are equipped with SMART
board technology, and every classroom has a NEC
projector and a screen. Those classes with SMART
boards, use them for creative math and science debates/discussions. Recently, some more classrooms, as well as the music room were outfitted with the most recent smart board version. CSS also houses a lab of 26 Apple G5 desktops, another lab of 26 Apple eMac
desktops, and 100 Apple iBook G4s on carts of 25 around the school. All teachers have been given Macintosh laptops when they started working at CSS, and depending on when they came, some teachers have Apple PowerBook G4
s, and some, those who joined in the 2006-2007 school year, have Apple MacBook Pro
s.
For electives (options) there is a choice between Rocketry
, Robotics (FIRST Lego Robotics)See Lego League above, Digital Film Making, Photography, 3-D Design and Modeling, Claymation, Film study, Book club, Outdoor Pursuits, French, Spanish, Dance and many others.
Students in some classes have the option to do "Explorer Projects". They are able to pick any topic of their liking, and explore the question until answered. Students often have very wide ranges of subjects.
Recently, the plant room was turned into a woodworking shop, and now for grades 6 through 9, there is an elective started by Mr. Scott Petronech called C02
-powered Cars. Students carve and sand wooden cars, load them with C02 canisters, and race them.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
public charter school
Alberta charter schools
Alberta charter schools are a special type of public schools which have a greater degree of autonomy than a normal public school, to allow them to offer programs that are significantly different from regular public schools operated by district school boards. Charter schools report directly to the...
in Calgary, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
; which teaches grades four through nine, with classes of four of each.
Today
During the 2006 summer break, the school's storage was emptied, and turned into the art room, and the old art room was turned into a classroom. The drama room was also moved, into the old board room. At the time of writing, there are 100 students each in grades 4-9.Over the 2009 summer break the drama/dance room was moved into the old computer lab. In the 2010 school year the school built an Indoor Activity Centre where some dance and gym classes are held.
Ten buses, owned and operated by Southland Bussing of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
service CSS, taking the majority of the kids to and from school every school day. They operate from the far north of Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
to the far south. Some morning stop times are as early as 7:00 AM, and school starts at 8:45. One of the drivers is a World War 2 veteran, he retired in late 2006.
Currently, CSS has over 40 staff members, including janitorial staff, technical staff, office attendants, and those in charge of publications.
Calgary Science School has a large ethnic and racial diversity throughout all 6 grades that it houses. The graduating class of 2004/2005 became the first group of students to move from grade 4-9 in CSS.
Technology
CSS maintains a 1-to-1 student to computer ratio, and it finished the transition from a WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
to a Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
base in the beginning of the 2006-2007 schoolyear. Due to an Emerging Technologies grant from Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
Education, in the 2006-2007 as well as the current 2007-2008 school year, each student will receive their own Apple MacBook
MacBook
The MacBook was a brand of Macintosh notebook computers built by Apple Inc. First introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook and 12-inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple–Intel transition. Positioned as the low end of the MacBook family, the Apple MacBook was aimed at the...
. The laptop is theirs until grade 9 and they will then pay a $75, and keep the laptop until it is rendered useless, it breaks, or they get a new one. The laptops are complete with built in video camera, 1280x800 widescreen 13.3 inch glossy LCD screen, Apple's AirPort Extreme, and up to 3 hours of battery life. Every student receives a laptop to research on subjects in school, allowing a inquiry based education to flourish.
Many CSS classes are equipped with SMART
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
board technology, and every classroom has a NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
projector and a screen. Those classes with SMART
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
boards, use them for creative math and science debates/discussions. Recently, some more classrooms, as well as the music room were outfitted with the most recent smart board version. CSS also houses a lab of 26 Apple G5 desktops, another lab of 26 Apple eMac
EMac
The eMac, short for education Mac, was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass market alternative to Apple's second-generation LCD display iMac....
desktops, and 100 Apple iBook G4s on carts of 25 around the school. All teachers have been given Macintosh laptops when they started working at CSS, and depending on when they came, some teachers have Apple PowerBook G4
PowerBook G4
The PowerBook G4 are a series of notebook computers that were manufactured, marketed, and sold by Apple, Inc. between 2001 and 2006 as part of its PowerBook line. It uses the PowerPC G4 processor, initially produced by Motorola and later by Freescale, after Motorola spun off its semiconductor...
s, and some, those who joined in the 2006-2007 school year, have Apple MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Macintosh portable computers introduced in January 2006 by Apple. It replaced the PowerBook G4 and was the second model, after the iMac, to be announced in the Apple–Intel transition...
s.
School events
- Lasers got Talent: Groups of students or single students will audition with pieces of music they make, sing and dance to a song or just show off their talents. The best ones perform in front of the whole school. The latest show was on October 30 2009 when Chase Hadden showed of his yoyo skills and Swish Goswami became MJ and performed on Smooth Criminal.
- Laser Idol: Students use their stunning voices to sing just like in Canadian Idol, but the age requirement is between Grades 4 and 9, rather than between 16 and 28, just like on the show. Just like Laserband, the best singers are picked from the pack and put up on stage to perform for the school.
- Peace Festival: Students enter the gym and circle to many different stations that have different meaning. Since CSS has many different races and religions within the walls, most of the stations represent just that. There are stations where you pinpoint on a world map where you're from, there is a station where you get your face painted, and one station in the 2006–2007 peace festival included fictional stories written by grade 8 students, that were designed to be realistic and show some of the problems street children in favelaFavelaA favela is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 18th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos . This was the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in...
s in BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
face every day.
- Lego League: The Calgary Science School periodically participates in FIRST Lego LeagueFIRST Lego LeagueThe FIRST® LEGO® League is an international competition organized by FIRST for elementary and middle school students ....
, as they have since the 2003 edition, Mission Mars. Students are invited to participate either at lunch times or in electives.
Courses
From its first creation in 1999, Science Alberta School enforced a compulsory course known as SAS Quest. When the school was renamed as Calgary Science School, the program became Quest. The objective of this course was to familiarize students with everyday problems in the world and how to solve them. This program was removed in the 2004 school year.For electives (options) there is a choice between Rocketry
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
, Robotics (FIRST Lego Robotics)See Lego League above, Digital Film Making, Photography, 3-D Design and Modeling, Claymation, Film study, Book club, Outdoor Pursuits, French, Spanish, Dance and many others.
Students in some classes have the option to do "Explorer Projects". They are able to pick any topic of their liking, and explore the question until answered. Students often have very wide ranges of subjects.
Recently, the plant room was turned into a woodworking shop, and now for grades 6 through 9, there is an elective started by Mr. Scott Petronech called C02
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
-powered Cars. Students carve and sand wooden cars, load them with C02 canisters, and race them.