David Feist
Vice Principal
St. Gabriel Cyber School

Recent Internet advancements have given public schools the opportunity to create virtual school environments in a student’s home. Students who cannot or choose not to attend a public school can now attend school without physically going to the school building. Students who are in a home schooled environment now have access to qualified teaching staffs. Physically challenged students now have an opportunity to continue their studies in a school with classmates. Students whose parents are transferred outside of Alberta can still continue to proceed through an Alberta curriculum. When these students return to Alberta they are able to continue with their schooling at the appropriate grade level. Students who are involved in activities such as competitive sports that require some flexibility in their education can continue their studies with less disruption. Students who are in attendance at a traditional school can also access the Internet delivered courses when an inflexible timetable does not allow for the student to attend a traditionally delivered time and space course.

In the 1995-96 school year Greater St. Albert Catholic Region Division No. 29 approved a pilot distance education program for grades seven to nine to be operated out of a junior high school located in St. Albert. In 1997 the development of a high school program began at St. Albert Catholic High School. During this year the junior high school program moved out of the pilot phase and was established as a stand alone school under the school name; St. Gabriel Cyber School. In partnership with the St. Albert School division, the Red Deer Catholic Regional Division also established a junior high school program. In 1999 the high school program was consolidated with the junior high program and moved over to St. Gabriel Cyber School. Currently the school offers programming for students from grades 5 to 12 with plans to add a grade 4 program in the 2000 school year.

St. Gabriel Cyber School is a publicly funded school receiving the same student grants as other public schools in Alberta. The teaching staff are Alberta teacher certified and are members of the Alberta Teachers Association. The teachers at St. Gabriel Cyber School have similar job descriptions to teachers teaching in traditional classrooms. In general, public school teachers are responsible for course development, course delivery, and student evaluation.

St. Gabriel Cyber School operates using an organizational structure more consistent with a traditional face-to-face school then that of a traditional distance education institute. Students proceed through course material as a group in a paced learning environment. Teachers develop lessons that are delivered to the students on a weekly basis. These lessons are not developed to the same textual detail as found in most traditional distance education lessons. Teachers compliment their lessons with simple multimedia components when appropriate. After the weekly lesson has been delivered to the class, students and the course teacher converse in a course specific discussion forum. Much of the didactic writing style found in traditional distance education lessons is replaced with these weekly discussion forums. At the end of each week students return completed course work to the course teacher for evaluation and feedback. Depending on the nature of the assignment, students may receive computer generated instant feedback or individualized feedback supplied by the teacher.

The parents of students attending St. Gabriel Cyber School assume a major role in their child’s academic success. It is the responsibility of the parent to monitor the student’s attentiveness to their studies. Parents are required to act as school proctors helping the student form appropriate study skills. When required, the parents also administer and supervise certain assessment tools such as quizzes and unit exams.

Students attending St. Gabriel Cyber School attend formal face-to-face exam writing sessions four times a year. St. Gabriel Cyber School has established writing centers located throughout the province of Alberta. Exam proctors are used for students outside of Alberta and follow the guidelines as established by Alberta Learning. Results are reported to the students and their parents through an online reporting system. Students and parents of St. Gabriel Cyber School are also invited to attend callback sessions. The primary purpose of the callback sessions is to create an opportunity for the students and parents to meet the course teachers and discuss student progress. These callbacks occur in November and March of each school year and take place in several locations throughout the province. Other interactive and hands on group activities are incorporated into these callback sessions. St. Gabriel Cyber School also organizes other student/family activities such as gym nights, family dances and student ski trips. These activities occur throughout the school year and currently take place around the province. The callback sessions and student activities all help to facilitate the creation of a community of learners.

St. Gabriel Cyber School provides the student body access to a counselor. The school counselor offers students advice in areas such as course selection, time manage, preparing for exams, post secondary requirements, and scholarship application. Students and parents also have access to the services of a technology support group. This support group helps students with both software and hardware issues that may occur.