First charter high school in rural Alberta offers hands-on learning

Two years after the Battle River School District voted to close Holden Elementary School due to declining enrolment, the building is buzzing with students again.

Holden Rural Academy opened in the former elementary school building in September, drawing 61 students to the new charter school about an hour southeast of Edmonton. It is the first charter high school in rural Alberta.

Like those in the Calmar, Alta. area, parents in and around the village of Holden, Alta. turned to the charter model after losing their school. 

Karla Janzen, one of the school's founding members and a mother to three boys who attend, said sending students outside of the community for school severs community connections and accelerates population decline in rural communities.

"Even though we're small, we're real, we matter and our kids matter," she said.

Charter schools are fully funded by the provincial government but, unlike most public schools, they are not run by publicly elected school boards.

Per provincial rules, charters must offer programming that is innovative and "significantly different" than options already available.

Holden's founders came up with a vision that revolved around what educators call "place-based education" — a learning approach that immerses students in their surrounding environments. 

Instead of sitting at desks all day, Holden students learn core courses in the morning and choose from a variety of largely off-campus activities in the afternoon.

"We are deliberately making a connection between our students, their ambitions and the community," said superintendent Wes Oginski.

Board member Gail Alger said getting the school approved by the province took longer than everyone expected. She said rather than postpone the opening, parents were determined to open this fall.

The society received its approval letter from the government in July and received the key to the school building on the long weekend before the first day of school. 

Volunteers from across the county arrived to clean the old school and set up chairs and tables borrowed from the community hall. 

Grade 11 student Rayanne Ligard used to ride the bus for 90 minutes to attend high school in Viking, Alta.