Briar Hill School - Calgary Board of Education

Briar Hill November 2013our schoolBriar Hill School is a dynamic, community oriented elementary school located in the NWCalgary area of Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill. Students living in these communities aredesignated to Briar Hill School and students who reside in St. Andrews Heights have theoption to attend the school as well. Approximately 1/3 of the students currently enrolled atBriar Hill live outside of the residential boundaries and are attracted to the school by theclose-knit community atmosphere, high standards for learning, the various programsoffered within the school by the CBE and a number of lease groups that have beenoperating successfully within the school for many years.The school was built in 1954 and is situated on 3.6 acres. It has been well maintained andupgrades continue. The transition from library to a learning commons model continues aswell.Program and Extracurricular Highlights8 classes in grades 1-6Dynamic music program with music specialistArtist in Residence, Sarah Murdoch, Professional Photographer worked with all our classesto develop skill in this area.Numerous clubs for students such as SOE (environment club), handbells, choir, skipping,tech club, games club, art studio, running club, etc.Class SizeFor a detailed report on the school and CBE average class sizes go to:http://www.cbe.ab.ca/aboutus/documents/ClassSizeSurveyReport.pdfSchool FeesFor a detailed report of school fees and expenditures visit our school website at:http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b205/ or contact the school directly.School Council InvolvementThe Briar Hill School Council and Foundation play an active role supporting the work andcommunity at Briar Hill School. This group coordinates and runs a number of “fun”draisingevents each year. Some of the most popular events are Halloween Hey Day (fall), FamilyDance (winter) and the Used Book Sale (spring). The Foundation also runs a casinoapproximately every 18 months and participates in other fundraisers such as magazinesales and Pizza Lunches. These funds have been used to support learning in a variety ofareas around the school. During 2011-12 some of the council’s most significantcontributions included supporting the second annual Welcome Back Bar-B-Que, artist inresidence, photographer Sarah Murdoch, author Carol McTavish presentation during theLove of Reading Week, Dare to Care program for teachers, students and families, supportCalgary Read’s parent information evening on reading, furniture for the library and frontfoyer, ongoing acquisition of literacy materials, bus fare to the ATP production “You’re aGood Man Charlie Brown”, and support of the Young Writer’s Conference.Lease GroupsA number of rooms within Briar Hill School are leased to three groups who operatePage 4 | 5