Alberta charter schools
Alberta charter schools are a special type of public schools which have a greater degree of autonomy than a normal public school, to allow them to offer programs that are significantly different from regular public schools operated by district school boards. Charter schools report directly to the province, bypassing their local district school board, may not exceed their assigned quota of students without provincial permission, and are currently limited to fifteen schools.
Alberta charter schools are publicly funded and the school associations must be non-profit societies. The charter schools cannot have a religious affiliation, cannot charge tuition, and cannot operate on a for-profit basis. The teachers must be certified, and the curriculum must follow the approved provincial curriculum. Alberta, which passed enabling legislation in 1994, is the only province in Canada to have charter schools.
Charter schools
Current charters
There are 13 charter schools in Alberta, with 23 campuses. The number of charter schools is limited to a maximum of 15.| Location | School | Chartered | Grades | Notes |
| Calgary | - | - | - | - |
| Calgary | Almadina Language Charter Academy | 1996 | K–9 | English as a Second Language. Two campuses: Mountain View Elementary, Ogden Middle School. |
| Calgary | Calgary Arts Academy | 2003 | K–9 | Students learn Alberta Curriculum through Arts Immersion. Two locations: Glenmeadows Elementary School, Knob Hill Middle School. |
| Calgary | Calgary Girls' School | 2003 | 4–9 | All-female school which follows the Alberta curriculum, with a focus on developing a strong sense of self and understanding historical and contemporary gender issues. Two campuses: Lakeview School, Bel-Aire Campus. |
| Calgary | Connect Charter School | 1999 | 4–9 | More instruction time on mathematics, science, and technology, employing a problem-based approach to learning. |
| Calgary | Foundations for the Future Charter Academy | 1997 | K–12 | Focus on academic excellence, leadership, and character development. It is the only charter school with more than two campuses, with four K–4 elementary schools: Northeast Elementary Campus, Northwest Elementary Campus, Southeast Elementary Campus, and Southwest Elementary Campus; two 5–9 middle schools: North Middle School Campus and North Middle School Campus; and one 9–12 high school: the High School Campus. |
| Calgary | Westmount Charter School | 1996 | K–12 | Gifted students. Two campuses: Parkdale Elementary Campus, Sir Willian Van Horne Mid-High Campus. |
| Edmonton | Aurora Academic Charter School | 1996 | K–9 | Directed academically-oriented instruction |
| Edmonton | Boyle Street Education Centre | 1995 | basic literacy–12 | Helps mainly native students aged 14–19 whose education had been interrupted. |
| Edmonton | Suzuki Charter School | 1995 | K–6 | Teaches music using the Suzuki method of learning. The philosophy behind the methodology, originally developed by Shin'ichi Suzuki, extends into other areas of study. |
| Medicine Hat | CAPE – Centre for Academic and Personal Excellence Institute | 1995 | K–9 | Individualized, integrated programs for intellectually capable underachieving students. |
| Sherwood Park | New Horizons Charter School | 1995 | K–9 | Gifted students. |
| Stony Plain | Mother Earth's Children's Charter School | 2003 | K–9 | Traditional Indigenous Teachings based on the concept of the Medicine Wheel. |
| Valhalla Centre | Valhalla Community School | 2008 | K–9 | Rural leadership, second language, cultural literacy, etiquette. |
Former charters
Three charter school have closed:- The Global Learning Academy, in Calgary, was granted a charter in 1996, and with 480 students was the largest charter school in the province. However, mismanagement and financial problems resulted in the suspension of its founding principal in December 1997, the replacement of its board of directors with a trustee in January 1998, and the revocation of the school's charter before the start of the 1998–1999 school year.
- The Moberly Hall Charter School, the only charter school hosted by a Roman Catholic school board, operated in Fort McMurray from 1997 to 2007 before voluntarily closing because of declining enrollment and rising costs.
- The Mundare Charter School was established in Mundare by parents in 1997 when the town's elementary/junior high school closed, but operated for only one year. It was absorbed into the local public school board as an alternative elementary school after low enrollment resulted in financial difficulty.