Our school began when a doorway of opportunity was given in the late 70’s by the Government of Alberta. The Department of Education provided for choices with their support of alternative education through independent and private schools in the province. Later home schooling was approved. We chose to provide an “Independent” school, an alternative to Public and Catholic systems that the School Act endorsed.
We joined the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in the province as an Independent School not as a private, elitist school, and were given jurisdiction to provide approved curriculum with a Christian foundation. We were not secular like the public system nor were we Catholic.
For about 10 years our school expanded, beginning with an individualized program with 43 students, then named People’s Christian Academy. In the late 80’s relocation happened and a multi-facility was built which served over 200 students from ECS to grade 12 then called Word of Life Christian School. As the school grew and educational costs soared, our financial base became stressed. Many schools who started like ours today are either non–existent, have joined public boards through “alternative” programs, or have expanded their financial base with hefty society fees.
We explored the possibilities of being an alternative program with Christian education several times through proposals to the Red Deer Catholic and Chinook Edge Public systems, and but were refused. God had given us a “Wait, I’ve got something better” answer. That “something better” began to come to light when Destiny (Christian) School integrated our MLE – (mediated learning) program, and tried to pursue becoming a charter school. Because of our faith designation it was impossible to become charter. We introduced BRIGHT START (ages 3 to 7) in 2002. We now have the full MLE program implemented throughout every grade. We are one of only two schools in Canada that offer this unique approach to learning. The only other MLE School in Canada is located in Vancouver and their coordinator provides a covering for us.
We began to see growth when we became a government approved Level II School with the Alberta Education system. This enabled us to reduce our society fees significantly. By 2013 we added three portable buildings leaving only 2 split grade home rooms and were able to increase our enrollment to 174 students. Now in 2018 we have increased our students to 207 from K-Grade 9. We also added another portable building to accommodate the growth and make room for more to come. Our ECS building also received complete renovations in 2014.