‘On the Shoulders of Giants’: This Alberta Charter School Provides Classical Education With an Emphasis on Virtue

‘On the Shoulders of Giants’: This Alberta Charter School Provides Classical Education With an Emphasis on Virtue
Students at the Alberta Classical Academy in an undated photo. Alberta Classical Academy
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CALGARY—When Caylan Ford entered one of the classrooms of the Alberta Classical Academy at its Currie campus in Calgary one afternoon, the students were just finishing up a Latin exam. One of them came up with the idea of reciting Latin verb conjugations for her, and everyone joined in, eager to show the school founder what they have learned during their rigorous language lessons.

Students begin to learn Latin at the school in Grade 5. The academy offers the only public, non-sectarian classical program in Canada, with a curriculum guided by the wish to preserve the wisdom of past generations, drawing on the insights of influential thinkers from the Eastern and Western traditions.