OLDS - Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) continues to experience growth in career pathways programming through partnerships and community internship opportunities, says superintendent Kathleen Finnegan.
In the division’s quarterly report presented during last week’s board meeting, Finnegan noted that high school teams are supporting initiatives involving partner educational institutions.
The 10,723-student RDCRS division includes schools in Olds and Innisfail.
The division currently has 142 students enrolled in work experience programs.
RDCRS has students enrolled in various dual credit areas including medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, business management, sports management, horticulture, accounting and animal health, she said.
“After a successful pilot program last year, RDCRS has nine students enrolled in the Veterinary Technical Assistant Certificate program who will graduate from Olds College on June 2, 2024,” she said.
“This semester RDCRS is partnership with Olds College and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in dual credit programming.”
Next semester, courses will be added in law and social science, in partnership with Lethbridge College and Red Deer Polytechnic.
The division is also set to begin a Healthcare Aide Certificate with Red Deer Polytechnic.
“RDCRS has applied for and received a $50,000 dual credit startup grant from Alberta Education for the development of a pre-health sciences certificate with partnership with Red Deer Polytechnic that will begin work on for implementation next year,” she said.
The division has also started to work with the Central Alberta Collegiate Institute model (which includes Olds College) and is “solidifying spring offerings in the areas of skilled trades with our partnership instructional institutes. Work in this area is expected to intensify as the division begins to explore this new and exciting educational partnership,” she said.
The quarterly report also includes an update on international students in the division.
As the start of the 2023-24 school year, there were 84 international students enrolled in RDCRS, with the student coming from Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the Netherlands.
The division has seen an overall 3.12 per cent increase in enrolment in 2023-24 compared with 2022-23. This year the division is piloting Home Education Kindergarten, with 66 students currently enrolled.
