Unfairly accused

Re: “Red flag raised over grades,” April 20.

I would like to set the public straight. With only nine students writing one test, the weaker performance of just one student will ultimately reflect on the group. Larger systems, which have hundreds of students writing, are not as strongly affected by a weaker showing. Our high school staff uses the quantitative and qualitative information provided by Alberta Education to analyze the areas of strength and weakness of our students on each diploma exam. We apply this information to our next round of instruction in an effort to improve standings. We meet regularly with our Alberta Education zone representative to review our three-year plans, which include areas we are working on strengthening. We believe in a proactive approach with our key stakeholders.

Your article fails to realize that the focus of private schools varies. For example, we do not use entrance exams to select only the top performers, as many other private schools do; our philosophy is based on helping all students academically and in building their self-esteem. Ironically, many students come to us from the public or separate systems where they have endured years of bullying and are often struggling academically.

It can take years for students to recover from this trauma. Our teachers work one on one with our students so they are able to achieve the best marks possible, which often includes re-teaching of material after school or early in the morning. By even remotely suggesting that our school-awarded marks have been inflated profoundly diminishes the hard work of our staff and students.

Colleen D. Ryan, Calgary Colleen Ryan is vice-principal, media relations, at Mountain

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