MSA receives accreditation

Mount Saint Agnes Academy (MSA) is pleased to announce our accreditation from Alberta Education and that we are now recognized as an Alberta Accredited International School.  This means MSA has:

• Implemented a world class curriculum that will serve our students well as they progress through the school and on to post-secondary education.
• Embraced a continuous curriculum to serve our students as they progress from Elementary, Middle and through High School.
• Adopted a curriculum that is committed to serving Catholic education which is the foundation of our school.

Alberta’s education system is recognized internationally as one of the best learning systems in the world.  Alberta students have placed among the top academic performers in all four cycles of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student assessment (PISA) held since 2000.   Alberta students have outscored other Canadian provinces in Reading and Science and second in Mathematics.  At the international level, Alberta scores in Reading and Science literacy were the second highest in the world and eighth in Mathematical literacy out of 65 countries.

In order to be an accredited school, MSA had to meet the standards of the Alberta Education Accreditation requirements.  The school was assessed annually to ensure we are delivering the academic program to the specifications of Alberta Education.

With the new curriculum, MSA offers a high quality academic program which is student-centered, inquiry-based, and fosters critical thinking and problem solving.  The small class sizes promote interactive learning as teachers focus on meeting the diverse learning needs of all students. 

Mr. Garry Madeiros, Chairman of the MSA Board of Governors, commented, “Receiving the Alberta accreditation is a tremendous achievement for the school. The process started in 2008 after an independent review of our curriculum highlighted our need for change. We wanted a consistent, standardized, sustainable, evolving curriculum that was well documented and could be tied into outside assessment. In addition to meeting these criteria, Alberta Education also provided extensive online educational tools, course curriculums and other information that catered to the needs of teachers, parents and students.

This total curriculum change was a major undertaking and not an easy task for an institution that was in existence for 118 years. It is a testament to the fortitude and commitment by the Board, Administration and Faculty & Staff to whom I extend my deepest gratitude. Our thanks and appreciation also goes out to our parents and students who have lived this transition with the anticipation of greater things ahead. This recognition by Alberta is major and we celebrate it.  It has been a milestone on our journey for excellence.”