Captivate
Communi is nurtured and celebrated.
To learn more about our progress and our process, visit calgaryacademy.com/strategic-plan .
WELCOME TO THE NEWEST EDITION OF CAPTIVATE!
One of the best parts of my role is meeting and interacting with our dedicated staff, enthusiastic students, and supportive families over the course of each school year. Reflecting on the 2023–2024 school year, I’m filled with gratitude and excitement over our collective achievements and the promising developments on the horizon.
I’m proud to highlight the accomplishments of our staff and students at Calgary Academy. From the growing number of students enrolled in our Blended+ program to welcoming the Honourable Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides to our campus, there is plenty to celebrate this year.
In fall 2023, we excitedly broke ground and commenced building the new Southwest Addition. Just over a year later, students fill the rooms and teachers continue the incredible work they do in the classroom. Construction was completed on time and within budget, and we’re happy to announce that we have opened the doors to Calgary Academy’s future. This project is the first step in a larger campus master plan and sets the stage for what is still to come, with support from our generous community.
Shortly, we’ll close a chapter in our history with the completion of our 2021–2025 Strategic Plan and begin working with our incredible community on articulating and defining our next goals and strategic priorities.
As we enter the 2024–2025 school year, I look forward to seeing this school continue to nurture and impact our learners.
With gratitude,
Dr. Greg Bass President & CEO
719 TOTAL STUDENTS ADDED THROUGH THE SW ADDITION
2,042 GRADUATES OF OPERATION YEARS
CULINARY ARTS
Calgary Academy’s Castle Café has had significant renovations this past year to accommodate the popular demand for meals and at long last, the launch of the Foods and Culinary Arts programs.
After receiving a teaching certification since her arrival at the school, Executive Chef Colleen Brown will step into the classroom in the 2024–2025 school year to teach these new Integrated Studies courses.
Starting in September 2024, students will learn essential cooking skills in the school’s new classroom next to the café.
A NEW INTEGRATED STUDIES OPTION
The Foods and Culinary Arts programs will provide students with hands-on learning where they can see the results of their hard work. Program teacher Colleen Brown hopes students leave class with a sense of accomplishment, whether it’s learning knife skills, understanding a recipe, or finding a potential career.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL STUDIES
International Travel Studies (ITS) trips are a highlight for Calgary Academy students. This year, two groups of students and teachers travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam. Supporting a local school by laying bricks, painting, and creating a new garden, participants learned life lessons, gave to the community, and returned with a new appreciation for home.
THE HERITAGE CLASSIC
Hosted for over a decade at Calgary Academy, the Heritage Classic student vs. teacher hockey game brings the community together before spring break. While each team hopes to hoist the winning trophy, a silver-painted hockey skate, the event’s magic is the memories created throughout the school.
This year’s event included four student teams facing off against various staff members, including President & CEO, Greg Bass.
DRAMA UPDATES
Calgary Academy’s Black Box Theatre has helped tell many iconic stories over the years. As these stories have become more intricate, so has the theatre with sound and lighting improvements through donations and the Annual Fund campaign. These new tools have helped support future plays and musicals while offering more technical equipment experience for CA students.
This year, CA students took the spotlight in two major performances: A Sidekick Story and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Debra
Shauna Denney, Philanthropy and Engagement Lead
Calgary Academy’s Philanthropy Team (left to right)
Angela Gerrish, Advancement and Alumni Relations Coordinator
Klippenstein, Director of Philanthropy
AN EXCITING YEAR FOR PHILANTHROPY
The 2023–2024 school year will certainly go down in the Calgary Academy history books as an exciting year of change and progress.
Of course, the biggest news of the year was the construction of Calgary Academy’s new 7,500-squarefoot Southwest Addition to the Senior School, and the advance work our school has undertaken to launch the new Foods and Culinary Arts programs. These programs will be taught by Castle Café’s Red Seal Chef, Colleen Brown, and will also launch in September 2024.
But there is much more to celebrate and recognize. Through donations to the Annual Fund Campaign, we were also able to purchase additional lighting for the theatre, new drum kits for the music program, bold, branded mats in the Main Gym to keep our athletes safe, donations for deserving families through bursaries, and new books and tools for the Reading Centre and our learners, including a school-wide subscription to Google Read & Write.
These impactful purchases, programs, and capital projects would not have been possible without the generosity of the Calgary Academy community, support from our Board of Directors, and the work of our dedicated team.
Thank you to our families who contributed to this year’s Annual and Capital Campaigns. With new and continued donor and partner support next year, we will continue to make great things happen for our students and community.
With gratitude,
Your Philanthropy team
SPEAKER SERIES
With a goal to grow opportunities for the alum community to connect with the school, in February 2024, Calgary Academy launched the Alumni Speaker Series—an initiative where alumni speak to Grade 11 and 12 students about their lives after graduating.
This initiative launched with a visit from Nekesa Afia (’12), who spoke about her journey to becoming a successful author.
CAREER DAY
The 2023–2024 school year saw many Calgary Academy alums step back into the school halls, such as with the largest Career Day held at the school for nearly 400 students in Grades 9–12.
Featuring 40 speakers, including 12 CA alums, parents, and other community members, students explored different career options in 33 industries, including engineering, human resources, food and culinary arts, and entrepreneurship. A keynote speech by Jon Buckingham (‘14) concluded the event.
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS
FAITH DAY
After years at the University of Calgary studying biological sciences, Faith Day (’20) has her sights set on medical school in 2025.
Four years after her Calgary Academy graduation, Faith remembers the school’s impact on her—a time when she grew as a learner and discovered her passion for medicine.
RUSSELL NESBITT
Currently a lawyer, Russell Nesbitt’s (’15) life is much different than he imagined in his Calgary Academy days.
Two years after graduating from university, Russell fondly looks back on his time at CA—a place where he felt empowered to pursue his ideal career despite academic struggles.
BRIAN OAKLEY
Brian Oakley (‘03) has experienced many changes since graduating from Calgary Academy 20 years ago, including fatherhood and a major career shift.
Brian encourages everyone to follow their passion, like he did when he switched careers to mechanics after working 15 years in construction.
THE SOUTHWEST ADDITION
The 2023–2024 school year marked the first significant construction project at Calgary Academy in decades: the Southwest Addition.
This expansion provides the school with 7,500 square feet of potential—five new classrooms, a Senior School science lab, and an Innovation Hub where students can socialize, study, and connect. Built in collaboration with Calgary Academy’s partner organization, Headwater Learning Foundation, this expansion would not have been possible without the support of the CA community.
The doors to the Southwest Addition officially opened in September 2024.
THE WELLNESS GRANT
Starting in the 2023–2024 school year, Calgary Academy was awarded a $200,000 grant from Alberta Education to support mental health in schools—the only independent school to receive this honour.
In the initial year of this pilot, the school implemented two social-emotional wellness programs: MindUP in Kindergarten to Grade 8 and Open Parachute in Grades 9–12—programs designed to promote positive mental health.
In May, the school provided care packages to all classrooms during Mental Health Week and invited Gurdeep Pandher, a Yukon-based Bhangra artist and educator, to speak with students and staff and hold a whole-school dance to recognize joy and positivity.
THE ANNUAL FUND
The Annual Fund is one of the ways Board members, parents, grandparents, alumni, and staff can contribute to the future of Calgary Academy. This fundraising campaign helps support new initiatives and enhance areas of the school not covered by tuition and government grants.
After an important meeting with the “school leadership team,” this year’s Annual Fund helped provide new gym mats, a partition in the Main Gym, musical instruments, and drama equipment for the Black Box Theatre.
