The Skill Centre Moves to Three High Schools

The Edmonton Public Skill Centre has evolved from a single site to multiple sites within three high schools.  Following that evolution, information about each program is available on the host school's website.

• Foundations of Health Sciences at Ross Sheppard High School (Share Site)
  
• Engineering Tech at J Percy Page High School
• Culinary Arts at Harry Ainlay High School

General Information

The Edmonton Public Schools Skill Centre lets you gain real world experience with hands-on courses that you won’t find at other high schools. Whether you’re interested in health care, culinary arts, manufacturing or aircraft maintenance, the Skill Centre can provide you with the skills you need to begin building your future. It all starts here.

The Skill Centre is a five-year pilot currently involving Edmonton Public Schools and NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology). It pulls together teachers, advanced education instructors, content experts, curriculum specialists, administrators, and leaders from business, industry, and community support services. Using information gathered from these key stakeholders, and linking current K-12 CTS course content to current industry-approved programs offered at NAIT, The Skill Centre offers a unique opportunity for Edmonton Public Schools to establish a program founded on authentic career and life experiences for high school students.

Using authentic workplace context students will be able to evaluate more effectively whether or not a specific career is of interest to them. After taking courses related to a specific career pathway in high school, students will either decide to pursue post-secondary studies related to the career area or learn that their interests lie elsewhere. Either way, the courses will have been successful in helping students discover their talents and determine a career direction.

The Skill Centre provides a link between the student’s present course offerings and present and future career aspirations. Students are motivated to graduate from grade 12 and then move on to advanced education in order to pursue careers of interest. Students entering the post-secondary programs are already familiar with what a program offers and have determined that this is a career they want, resulting in increased program retention rates.

The Skill Centre is based on research related to program delivery, industry expectations, post-secondary opportunities, curriculum and instruction. Programming will continue to evolve and be enhanced through ongoing program evaluation. Research will continue as success stories and challenges will be gathered, analyzed and reported in a longitudinal study focused on student engagement and transitions.

Finally, The Skill Centre is successful when students can enjoy a more seamless learning environment between K-12 and advanced education. Such collaboration opens additional possibilities for career choices leading to post-secondary education. Fulfilling careers for students becomes part of the transition plan from high school.

To enrol in The Skill Centre or for additional information, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it