Girl Centered Learning, Grades 4-9 | Calgary Girls Charter School (CGCS) is a public charter for girls and young women. Our vision is to help develop confidence in young women at an age where research supports the strongest impact. Our mission is to deliver exceptional learning in a safe environment. CGCS aspires to support these young women and girls to go after their goals and help eliminate any obstacles along the way.
Creating generations of strong, confident, empowered women
Delivering exceptional learning in a safe environment
Achievement I Courage I Integrity I Respect I Community
Calgary Girls Charter School (CGCS) was founded in 2003 empowered by the knowledge that when every aspect of school is designed to build self awareness, confidence, and advocacy skills in students, opportunities for their academic and social emotional growth will be endless in an all girls learning environment. Over the span of two decades, CGCS staff have remained committed to delivering engaging and meaningful educational experiences to our students.
Our continued objective is to help students develop leadership and problem solving skills and support them as they learn to amplify their voice and speak on issues that impact them personally, across their communities, and on a global scale.
At Calgary Girls Charter School students learn the Alberta Education curriculum and our locally developed Go Girls curriculum.
Go Girls, our locally designed and developed curriculum, provides Calgary Girls’ Charter School’s students with engaging learning experiences that support the development of skills and dispositions necessary to become caring, knowledgeable and responsible citizens. Go Girls provides the foundation for students to analyze and deconstruct cultural and societal norms, messages and values. While learning to apply critical thinking and questioning to their world, students are empowered to actively decide who they are and make choices to grow into the person they want to become.
Go Girls is the study of culture and its impact on *gender in relation to the interaction of individuals and groups. It is an interdisciplinary subject that includes history and social studies, holistic health and well-being (inclusive of physical, social, intellectual, emotional, occupational, environmental, financial and spiritual wellness) human sexuality, philosophy and social science. Through an exploration of issues, case studies, current and historical events, Go Girls is intended to be approached through an inquiry-based stance that is relevant and reflective of the experiences and challenges faced by today’s youth. Content is uncovered whilst collaboratively modeling and developing competencies such as critical thinking, empathy and decision making with the goal of making the world a more equitable, inclusive and safe place for all.
Rationale
We believe that understanding historically and culturally constructed gender norms and the subsequent societal implications of past, present and future structures is essential to inform students’ development and reflections as they develop their own values, beliefs and personal identity. We believe that a holistic approach to wellness must be interwoven into the social act of learning about gender and self-identity. Go Girls curriculum is designed specifically to strengthen students’ social development, confidence, self-esteem and leadership skills.
Go Girls provides learning experiences that immerse students in contexts that encourage value for diversity among all human beings. The concepts of equality, equity and inclusion are central to the learning, demonstrating avenues for compassion, empathy, fairness and justice. By exploring and respecting multiple perspectives, students will come to understand one’s reality and worldview, and how personal identity is informed by experiences within and beyond one’s community. The development of consciousness of social issues, ethics and environment is essential for students and their future.
Philosophy
We believe that attitudes, values and understandings about the world are created through and informed by our learning experiences. The Go Girls curriculum is designed to help students:
Competencies, including those outlined by Alberta Education (2016), critical thinking, communication, problem solving, collaboration, managing information, cultural and global citizenship, creativity and innovation, and personal growth and well-being, are explicitly integrated to support students to feel empowered as they explore their own identity and choose to demonstrate their values and beliefs within an ever-changing, complex and diverse world.
Inquiry based learning involves the study of a question, issue, problem, or idea and is an approach that is guided by the teacher and aims to engage students fully in the learning process while deeply triggering their curiosity. Through their participation in relevant and engaging learning tasks, students develop critical thinking skills, build and test their knowledge, enhance their ability to analyze multiple sources of information, and engage in self reflection.