News Centre

​Early this school year, Children’s Village School was gifted with a donation of $10,000 from Enerplus to support literacy learning for its students. Enerplus has a longstanding tradition of supporting community needs through volunteerism and contributions to non-profit and community-based organizations. This year, they reached to see how they could support Children’s Village in helping students reach their full academic potential. Children’s Village School is a unique setting within the Calgary Board of Education – their students are a diverse group of individuals who all have experienced social, emotional or behavioural challenges that have created obstacles to learning in their community schools. The program addresses the unique emotional regulation needs, social skills development needs, and academic learning needs of each student. By equipping students with the tools and strategies they need to overcome social and emotional challenges, they create opportunities for them to reintegrate into a less-supported school setting. “By working to close the academic achievement gap and build transferable learning skills, we set them up for success in life and future learning,” says Principal Melanie Clark. Improving literacy learning for these students requires a number of different tools and strategies. Having access to learning technologies is one of the ways that staff are able to personalize learning for students. A particular area of need identified in the school’s development plan this year, and a need that arises year over year, is the quality of students’ writing. Many prioritized instructional strategies for writing are enabled through the use of assistive technology. Staff were delighted to be able to use Enerplus’ generous donation to purchase eight new Mac laptops for classroom use. “Overcoming obstacles is at the core of everything we do at the Village,” explains Principal Clark. “With support from Enerplus, we are finding exciting new ways for our students to achieve academic success.”