Mount St Agnes Academy (MSA) is now in the final stages of adopting a new curriculum, according to school principal Susan Moench.She told Hamilton Rotary Club that the widely-accepted Alberta curriculum suited a school where the majority of students seek their post-secondary education overseas.“Our board and our parents were concerned: are our kids going to be able to get into the universities that we want them to get into?” she said.While parents and teachers have had to come to grips with changes, she said: “The students are very resilient, and they were hungry for something different. It’s been change, change and more change.”Bermuda-born and schooled at MSA, Mrs Moench taught in Alberta for several years. She returned to Bermuda in 2007 on the same day that the school advertised for a new principal.“The rest was history,” she said.The school examined curricula offered in other countries and, after reviewing schemes from the UK, Canada and the US, settled upon Alberta. Mrs Moench said it ranks as one of the world’s more successful teaching systems.With assistant principal Margaret DiGiacomo, curriculum coordinator Sheryl Hawkins and director of development Lisa Stevens, Mrs Moench outlined some of the strengths of Alberta’s curriculum, which the school is now in its fourth year of implementing.“Students graduate from MSA with the Alberta school diploma, registered in Alberta, and can apply to any university in the world as an Alberta student,” Mrs Moench said.“This curriculum really draws on smaller class sizes and smaller teaching situations.”She added that smaller kindergarten and grade one classes groups of eight to ten students were planned for the school.The most significant changes seen at MSA have been in maths, arts and languages, the principal added.The move has resulted in a modernised and more “hands-on” teaching technique.“We have kept our arrangement as elementary school, middle school and high school, but we have taken on the new curriculum in all areas. It has taken three years so far, and next year will be the final.”Students are encouraged to manage their own learning, and there is a greater emphasis on writing and spelling skills across the curriculum.“The other thing we see is more collaboration children talking to each other, more dialogue and more of a team approach,” she said.Students currently go through a career planning programme. In grade eight they develop plans for their future studies in tandem with parents.By grade 12 students are able to take on work experience, and are encouraged to learn about their parents’ jobs.The Alberta curriculum also mandates a half-hour of physical activity for grades K through nine.“And then, of course, what we are most noted for is our school spirit,” Mrs Moench said.Noting that MSA is a Roman Catholic school, she said: “We are not there to convert everybody. We teach our children to share themselves.”Useful website: www.education.alberta.ca, www.msa.bm