Whether it's a bilingual version of "O Canada" or a promise for the future in "We are the Children of the World," it's obvious these children love to sing and are encouraged to do so.

Nancy Wallace, the enthusiastic director and founder of the school, is smiling and singing along, as she does at assembly every Friday morning. After the chorus ends she talks about achievements of several students over the past week.

"Children are creative souls and they thrive in an enriched environment," Wallace says, as we walk through the school and look at brightly-coloured art displayed on the walls. "Every child brings something unique to our school. We encourage them to grow and learn in a nonjudgmental atmosphere of acceptance and appreciation."

Bedford Academy provides a safe learning environment for students. The educational climate is one of the key reasons this private Bedford school has generated so much parental interest.

The Academy's mission, "Empowerment Through Knowledge" is based on Wallace's philosophy towards a child's education: Create a learning atmosphere in which pupils feel secure, keep class size to a minimum and challenge the children with an enhanced curriculum, carefully designed to meet each student's distinct learning needs.

Bedford Academy was founded as a result of parental demand. The school offers Grades Primary to 6 programs with an enrollment of 120 students.

"Our commitment is a maximum class size of 18 students," Wallace says. "That size ensures our teachers provide considerable individual attention to each child."

The small school atmosphere enables the teachers to interact with every Academy student. Such a broad base of teacher contact and familiarity creates a tremendous sense of security for the children who attend Bedford Academy.

As a result of such frequent one-on-one interaction, a personal connection is quickly made between student and teacher. The academic strengths and weaknesses of the child are identified and a course of instruction, acknowledging the learning style of the pupil, is quickly put in motion.

Aspects of the grade level curriculum are emphasized to a more concentrated degree, Wallace explains.

"Our students receive immediate recognition for their accomplishments and are constantly provided with incentive to achieve more through their active involvement in class."

The curriculum of Bedford Academy is based on the Education Departments's Learning Outcomes framework.

Each subject has grade specific statements outlining expectations for that portion of the curriculum. Students seeking above grade level challenges are provided with opportunities.

Beyond the prescribed curriculum, Bedford Academy provides a wide base of extra curricular activities for all students.

The art program exposes the students to a wide variety of artistic mediums and themes, which are showcased during the annual Art Gala, a major school community event hosted in the spring.

The Academy music program encompasses choir, band and piano activities with the violin to be introduced this coming fall.

An extremely popular intramural agenda provides soccer, volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, broomball and racquet sports along with club activities such as chess and photography. The interscholastic program with crosscountry running, basketball and track teams offers a more competitive sporting arena for interested students.

© 2002 Halifax Herald. The Chronicle Herald: Empowerment through knowlege (22 April, 2002)



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