Students in our LAP program have been tested and demonstrate a mild
to moderate learning disability. Most possess normal to superior
intellectual potential, but have experienced chronic failure in one or
more of the basic academic skills due to the learning disability. For
example, some have experienced inordinate difficulty acquiring reading
and written language skills, while others have had significant problems
learning computation or mathematics concepts.
The goals of the program are to maximize student's success: raising
achievement, self-esteem, personal responsibility, and social awareness
to levels fully consistent with each student's scholastic, athletic,
social and emotional potential.
Students in this program work on the Alberta Curriculum appropriate
for our age level but their output will be individualized based on their
level of abilities. In this sense the courses in this program are
highly individualized. Students are placed on an Individualized Support
Plan (ISP). The ISP is reviewed by the teacher with the parent over the
course of a school year in addition to the four issued report cards and
two parent-student-teacher conferences. As a result of the
individualization, the class sizes are significantly reduced (12 to 18
students) and whenever possible an instructional aide is assigned to the
class. To the casual observer the only difference between an LAP class
and a regular class is class size as the students follow the same
curriculum (and learning activities such as dissecting cow eyes) and the
same type of time table as the other classes.
Following one of the tenants of Middle School Philosophy, the
students are taught in core groupings which mean the teacher for
Language Arts is also the Social Studies teacher and the teacher for
Mathematics and Science is also the same teacher. When we can, we
arrange the timetable so that all four core courses are with the same
teacher. Given our 6 period day, 4 of the periods are core classes,
taught by the students' core teachers (same teachers) with the other 2
periods scheduled as Phys. Ed. and the complementary courses.
Students in this program are advanced to the next grade level based
on age and maturity as opposed to mastery of the curriculum. Each year
the student is taken from where they stand academically, socially,
emotionally and physically and provided opportunities to grow as much as
possible in all four areas. We focus on
improving the students own abilities and enhancing coping mechanisms for
success in the real world. For many students our program is the first
positive experience they have had in school in a long time. As a result
they become much happier with themselves, are more excited to come to
school and exhibit increased self-esteem.
In order to qualify for placement in our LAP program a student has to
have assessments that would meet the criteria for entrance into the
program. If you do not currently attend a school in our District and are
interested in having your child attend our program you are required to
contact the Director of Student Services at Central Office
(403-528-6742).