Division Profile
Northern Gateway Public Schools spans nearly 375 kilometres from end to end. Its schools are located in Alberta Beach, Onoway, Rich Valley, Darwell, Sangudo, Mayerthorpe, Whitecourt, Fox Creek and Valleyview, with two colony schools located at Twilight Colony and Valleyview Ranch Colony.
The schools range in size from an 11-student, one-room Hutterite Colony School to close to 700 students in a Grade 7 to 12 junior/senior high school. In addition to regular programs, Outreach school programming for high school students is provided in Fox Creek, Mayerthorpe, Onoway, Whitecourt and Valleyview.
Located on the Highway 43 corridor, Northern Gateway is primarily a rural area composed of municipalities that range in population from very small farming communities to over 9,000 people in an urban centre. The east end of the Division (Alberta Beach, Onoway, Rich Valley, Darwell, Sangudo and Mayerthorpe) is largely agricultural, while the economy of the Whitecourt, Fox Creek and Valleyview area is dependent on oil, gas, agriculture and forestry.
The student population is approximately 5,300 in Kindergarten to Grade 12. While student populations in some areas of Northern Gateway are expected to decline in the near future, the larger urban centre of Whitecourt is expected to recover in student population in the next 10 years. A full range of regular programs is offered to all students; in order to accomplish this, some of the smaller schools offer some programs on a cyclical basis. However, even small schools have been able to extend their program offerings beyond the mandated Program of Studies which helps provide outstanding educational opportunities for all students. |
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Foundation Statements
