Programs

Grade 6 students have Art and Band as their complementary courses. 

Grades 7 & 8 students have more diversity in complementary courses. While Alberta Learning prescribes the core courses students must take, there is some flexibility in Division III (aka junior high).

Core courses are Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Health & Phys. Education. Complementary courses at Pioneer include Band, Construction, Food Studies, Media Studies, Art, Drama, Environmental & Outdoor Education (aka Outdoor Ed.), Robotics, Wildlife, Hunter Education, Computers, Spanish, and Photography. Options vary between grade 7 & 8. 

Pioneer runs three terms each year. Core courses and Band run all three terms (all year). The remaining complementary courses change each term.

Each grade 7 or 8 student has two complementary course sections in their timetable one on Monday/Wednesday and a second on Tuesday/Thursday. In those sections, the complementary courses change each term.  If a student chooses to take Band, one of their sections would be filled by Band all year. Leaving them with three other complementary courses in the other section. Therefore, a Band student takes four complementary courses a year and a non-band student takes six.

Regular attendance is very important to us at Pioneer School. Recent research out of the United States indicates that for every day of school a child misses, their achievement on standardized tests drops 1%. For a student who misses 10 days in a year (once per month), that’s a drop of 10%. That 10% compounds year after year and students quickly find themselves struggling with course content. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing more than 2 days of school per month. By grade 6, chronic absenteeism is a leading indicator that a student will drop out before graduation. In order to improve opportunities for your child’s success, we ask you ensure they are in school everyday unless they are sick or in bereavement.