The history behind the group working to establish Christian education in Cochrane is really “His-Story”, the story of how God worked in the lives of His people to prompt them and give them the divine strength needed to persevere to bring about a publicly-funded Christian education option for the children of Cochrane. Proverbs 22:6, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, and Isaiah 55:11 inspired and sustained God’s servants through the lengthy process.
In order that all the praise and glory be given to God no specific names will be mentioned. Suffice it to say that God began speaking to the hearts of Christians from several Protestant denominations in a variety of ways in a variety of settings about the importance of Christian education. Of the seventeen people who attended a meeting held at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in early April 2005, the majority favoured pursuing a publicly funded Christian alternative program within the local school division. The group pursuing that goal became known as the Cochrane Christian Academy Initiative Committee (CCAIC).
The initiative committee established credibility within the Christian community, researched Christian education, networked with Christian education societies across Alberta, contacted and visited both private and publicly-funded Christian education programs, contacted provincial and local government officials to obtain information on procedural matters, and diligently worked on a proposal to present to the Rocky View School Division throughout the summer and fall of 2005. The completed proposal presented to the Rocky View School Division on November 10, 2005 wasn’t accepted for several reasons. The school division stated it didn’t have an alternative education policy in place to accommodate alternative programs. The school division didn’t support certain distinguishing characteristics of the proposed program such as its traditional/ classical aspect, its multi-lingual emphasis, and having the children wear uniforms. The proposed name of Cochrane Christian Academy was also not embraced by the RVSD for the word “academy” was perceived to pertain more to a school and had an elitist connotation to it. The proposal was then presented to the Golden Hills School Division and they accepted it in April 2006. On April 28, 2006 the initiative committee became an incorporated society known as the Cochrane Christian Academy Society (CCAS). As a result of a couple of school divisions across Alberta opposing other school division’s running programs within their physical jurisdictions and there being a court case in session involving the Palliser School Division and Calgary Public Schools lease funding from Alberta Education was put on hold. Golden Hills School Division’s administrative staff advised the initiative committee to consider re-applying to the local school division, the Rocky View School Division, since they had recently approved their first alternative program, were finalizing their alternative program policy, and could possibly free up some space in an existing school for the program.
The Society with the help of the Rocky View School Division’s administrative team revised the proposal and presented it at the November 23, 2006 Board of Trustees meeting. The school trustees voted unanimously to accept the proposal for further study. On January 25, 2007, the Board voted to start a two year pilot alternative Christian education program in Cochrane for kindergarten to grade four students if there was a minimum of 45 students enrolled in the program by April 2007. Three classrooms at Mitford Middle School would house the program consisting of a kindergarten class, a grade one/two class and a grade three/four class. An assistant principal with teaching responsibilities would be hired to administrate the program and two other teachers would be hired to teach in the program. The program would be known as the Cochrane Christian Program (CCP).
A Parent Information/Registration meeting was held on March 14, 2007 at Mitford School. The required minimum enrollment number was met for the program to proceed. The Society continued to meet with the Board’s administrative team to provide hiring guidelines, and submit names of possible candidates for the program. The hiring of the appropriate Christian program administrator(s) and teachers will always be crucial to maintaining the Christian intent of the program.
In March 2007 the Cochrane Christian Academy Society (CCAS) decided to change its name to the Christ-Centred Education Society (CCES) to better reflect its mission and objectives. The Corporate Registries reply on May 1st stated that the name had to be more specific, so the Society decided to re-apply with the name Cochrane Christ-Centred Education Society (CCCES). A Society Open House was arranged for May 14, 2007 to update parents and recruit more Society members.
By the end of June 2007, a policy regarding the role of societies in alternative programs was to have been developed and presented to the Board of Trustees for their approval. To date (October 1, 2008) the policy hasn’t been developed. The Society has submitted documentation to the RVSD outlining what it deems should be the role of the Society. Of paramount importance is the maintenance of the evangelical, Bible-believing Christian aspect of the program. To ensure the maintenance of the Christian aspect of the program, the Society wants to be part of the interview process, at least for the selection of the program’s administrator. The administrator (s) selected must be mutually agreeable to both the Society (CCCES) and RVSD. The Society doesn’t feel this is unreasonable since Prince of Peace Lutheran School in Chestermere which became Rocky View School Division’s first alternative program has a signed contract with the Board that states the principal chosen for the school will be mutually agreed upon by the Lutheran Church’s society and the RVSD. Edmonton Public Schools allows societies input into hiring alternative program staff. Their Logos alternative Christian programs had a similar beginning to the CCP (School Board response to parent society initiative). The Logos Society which initiated the program is part of the interview process for selecting not only the administrators for the various Logos programs but the teachers as well.
Most public school divisions with alternative Christian programs allow the societies associated with them to be part of the interview process for at least the selection of the program’s administrator. Mr. Bass, the superintendent of the RVSD, stated that the Rocky View School Division would work towards having a parent representative from the school council involved in the interview process for the selection of the school principal. Mr. Bass assured the Society that its recommendations for the Cochrane Christian Program’s first administrator would be seriously considered and that the person chosen to administrate the program would be mutually agreeable to both the RVSD and the Society. Mr. Elkin who was hired by the RVSD as the program’s first administrator was one of the candidates the Society had highly recommended.
Since the inception of the Cochrane Christian Program in the fall of 2007, the Society has continued its parent advocate role and school division advisory role. The Society met with the RVSD central office administrative team in October 2007 for the expansion of the Cochrane Christian Program (CCP) to include grade five for the 2008/2009 school year to accommodate the students completing grade four in June 2007. The Society helped advertise the program to increase enrollment numbers. In April 2008 the Board of Trustees approved the expansion to grade five. Increased parent interest in the program and the willingness of parents to pre-register their children especially for grade five was a major factor in the Board’s decision to expand the program to include grade five. Enrollment in the first year (2007/2008) just met the minimum forty-five student enrollment criteria set by the Board. The enrollment numbers for the second year of operation (2008/2009) have almost doubled.
In the program’s first year of operation the Society helped advertise the program, host social events, plan open houses for the program, conduct program tours, fulfill volunteer roles within the classrooms and library, and provide learning resources. The Society donated sixty-five Bibles to the program in its first year of operation (2007/2008) and fifty more Bibles for its second year (2008/2009) of operation. Individual Society members also donated and continue to donate age-appropriate reading material to CCP classroom libraries as well as the centralized school library collection.
The Society is committed to fulfilling its mandate which includes initiating Christian education opportunities for the children of Cochrane, maintaining the Christian integrity of the programs it initiates and providing Christian learning resources. Its vision is to have Christian education available from the pre-school years to the end of high school.
In an attempt to solve the ongoing challenge of facility space for the future expansion of the Cochrane Christian Program, members of the Society executive met with Rocky View Schools (formerly RVSD) central office administrative staff on July 4, 2008 to discuss the matter. The Society presented a couple of plausible options. One of the options the Society’s executive proposed was for the Society to undertake a major capital fundraising project to build a facility. This option wasn’t well-received by the Rocky View Schools central office administrators present at the meeting. They indicated they would provide the needed facility space to accommodate future expansion of the Cochrane Christian Program. They stated that two portables had been requested from the province for the Christian program for the next school year 2009/2010. They couldn’t guarantee that the portables would be forthcoming from the province. They also stated that if the province did provide them they wouldn’t necessarily be used for the CCP if there were more pressing needs within the system.
Another option the Society suggested at this July 4, 2008 meeting was a partnership arrangement whereby the facility would be built using private and school division funds (such partnership arrangements are known as P3 schools). The Rocky View Schools central office administrators present at the meeting expressed reluctance to enter into such an arrangement. They weren’t aware of any P3 schools under consideration in the province to date.
Obtaining the necessary facility space to house the Christian program will continue to be a major challenge as enrollment increases each year and the lead class moves into the next grade.
In October 2008 the Society will begin to lobby the school division to have the pilot label removed and the program expanded to include grade six for the 2009/2010 school year. A policy for the role of the societies within Rocky View Schools is also needed.