GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL
ABOUT US
Established in 1983 to enhance & share the rich Greek culture with the community.
ADULTS
We also offer adult Greek classes from beginners to advanced.
ACCREDITED
Our school is accredited by Alberta Education.
CERTIFICATION
Students are offered the chance to earn Greek Language certificates.
CLASSES
We offer classes from preschool to grade 12 (w/ high school credits).
CELEBRATIONS
Students participate in a wide range of Greek cultural activities.
WHY GREEK SCHOOL?
(as told by our students & their family members)
"To enrich and educate yourself about your cultural roots and to enhance your unique sense of identity."
"To understand better the English language (about 25% of the English vocabulary is of Greek origin)."
"To socialize, to make new friends and to become part of a community "
"To communicate better with Greek relatives, friends and spouses."
ABOUT OUR SCHOOL
PHILOSOPHY
We are constantly motivated to strive for the best in order to bring out the best in our students. We feel that an enjoyable experience at our school will provide our students with the tools to embrace the Greek culture with confidence and a positive attitude.“Greek School” does not have to be the dry 6th day of school. It can be an enjoyable academic extracurricular activity that students look forward to.
Why not fill the school with the aroma of Greek baking? Why not learn grammar through games? Why not have the students create various cultural crafts? With these questions we started challenging the limits of Greek educational creativity with great success.
CLASSROOMS
We are proud to offer a facility that ranks among the best Greek cultural centres in Canada.Our school is located on the upper level of our community building in its own dedicated learning space.
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Featuring:
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Bright, spacious classrooms
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Hand painted murals
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Dedicated stage and performance space for student theatre, dance and music.
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A full service commercial kitchen (for those special Greek food days!), and
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So much, much more!
TEACHERS
We strive to feature teaching staff from a wide and vibrant mix of backgrounds. Our staff includes: PhD graduate students, professional (English) teachers, social workers, speech therapists, first generation Greek immigrants, and others. All our teachers undergo extensive training tailored to teaching Greek as a second language and we hold multiple workshops throughout the year provided by experts in this field.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Our experience has shown us that dance and music enhance the cultural appreciation and learning of language. These components are vital to the success of our mandate as a “heritage" school. We strive to foster an excitement and willingness to participate in Greek music and dance – both traditional, and modern. Since increasing the music component, parents now find that their children are humming or singing Greek songs at home, long after we have taught them!
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We also include theatrical performances for our cultural holidays, where students perform in front of the community.
OUR CURRICULUM
PRESCHOOL/
KINDERGARTEN
This pre literacy program is perhaps the most vital aspect of our school. Setting strong foundations of sound and letter recognition, vocabulary and a love for the Greek language are key to success in the later years.
Children may attend as early as 3 years of age if they are of suitable maturity and toilet trained. They will remain in this program until age 6.
ADULT CLASSES
It is never too late to learn a second language!
We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced classes so, whether you went to Greek school as a child and would like to refresh your knowledge, or you have zero background in the Greek language, our adult program is designed to suit all levels and backgrounds!
LEVELS 1-9
As an accredited heritage language school, we follow an approved curriculum by Alberta Education. In parallel, we also loosely follow the approach laid out by the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” (CEFR) for attaining a second language. This approach breaks down language learning in to 4 main competencies: Listening and Reading Comprehension, Spoken and Written Interaction.
We also offer streamed programming- where more proficient students are challenged differently than students with no previous knowledge of the language. All students however must meet the objectives in the curriculum.When we divide students, we take both their background proficiency and age into consideration. We have now found that using the term “levels” is more appropriate than “grade”.
A child may not be in the same grade in Greek school as in their regular full time school and using “levels” emphasizes more for reaching curriculum objectives.
REGISTRATION
To register for the upcoming school term Heritage Language School of Edmonton, please visit our registration page.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, as well. We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you!
HIGH SCHOOL CREDITS
We also offer an opportunity to receive Alberta Education high school credits through Greek 15, 25, and 35.
Students that excel in these levels not only receive their credits but can put a strong average toward a scholarship or university application.
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This is a great way to learn Greek and pave the way to a bright new academic future, at the same time.
