South Alberta Collegiate is housed in a new Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) building on 32 Street SW in the light industrial area of Medicine Hat. Director of Enhanced Programming Darren MacMillan said, “it is really important to Prairie Rose that this facility is as multi-functional as possible, it is a facility for everyone.” 

The South Alberta Flight Academy is the cornerstone of the Collegiate and the building was acquired due to the grant received from Alberta Education when PRPS received collegiate status.  

A collegiate, according to https://www.alberta.ca/collegiate-schools, is a school that works in partnership with post-secondary institutions and industry partners. The purpose of a collegiate is to provide specialized programming and enhanced learning opportunities, which provide clearer pathways for students as they move into post-secondary education or careers.  

South Alberta Collegiate is home to numerous micro-schools, including South Alberta High School, School of Skilled Trades, School of Community Services and Health (fire rescue and health care aide), School of Athletics (South Alberta School of Softball, Badgers Baseball and South Alberta Hockey Academy), South Alberta Flight Academy, along with the School of Business. “The next big one is getting the agriculture school fired up, which we have in some places, particularly at Irvine School, along with more post-secondary partnerships. All the micro-schools funnel into the junior highs where we have CTF programming,” explained MacMillan.   

South Alberta High School (SAHS) is an online high school that MacMillan designed at the end of the pandemic. At the time, the idea was to create SAHS for junior hockey players or other high-end athletes who are out of school much of the time.  

“The school bricks and mortar setting doesn’t always work for them. They live in Calgary and for weeks at a time will go down to the States or to Manitoba and Saskatchewan and miss lots of school. We thought coming off COVID that many of our kids learned to work that way (online) and it made sense,” stated MacMillan. 

Now in its second year, over 2,000 students have accessed a course or program through SAHS since its inception. The school offers more than 30 courses with most of them being in core subjects.  

“Sherry Craven has been doing an amazing job and we are starting to offer dual-credit courses as well, such as Introduction to Veterinary Profession, Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, along with Interpersonal Relationships and Communications have recently been posted,” said MacMillan. “As my role changes, Corey Steeves will be coming in as Principal of South Alberta Collegiate for the next academic year.”  

The facility is quite extensive and along with having offices for Sherry Craven, Corey Steeves, and SAHA coaches, there is also a new area for the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) stream of the Flight Academy, where the students will be building airplanes. The AME has created partnerships with SAIT, enabling students taking part to receive post-secondary credits for their work on the plane build.  

At the rear of the building is a large indoor area that has been covered with artificial turf. This area will be dedicated for baseball with various nets that can drop from the ceiling when required. Additionally, there will be a safe zone around the edge that will be completely netted so people can walk around the outside. On the far side of the baseball area is a sports court along with a hockey area.  

At the front of the facility there will be a lounge/learning area where tables and couches are. The building recently received temporary occupancy for students and AME students had their first sessions in the new facility. The grand opening of the new South Alberta Collegiate building is on June 19^th with the ribbon cutting at 4pm.  

By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer