About Westmount
Specialized, Gifted Education
Westmount is the only K-12 congregated setting in Alberta for students who are gifted. The school serves approximately 1200 students who represent a broad range of diversity including race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, English as an Additional Language (EAL), special education needs (twice exceptional), under-achievement and high-achievement.
At Westmount, we look at giftedness “from the inside out.” What does this mean for us? It means we strive to first know and honour who our students are before we can help them become the best they can be.
Westmount embraces asynchronous development – uneven intellectual, physical, and emotional development. In average children, these three aspects of development progress at about the same rate. That is, the development is in “sync.” An average 3-year-old has the intellectual and physical abilities as well as the emotional maturity as most other 3-year-olds. However, in gifted children development of those areas can be out of “sync.” The gifted child’s intellectual development can be more advanced than her physical and emotional development, which progress at a different rate.
Westmount’s content and curriculum delivery are modified to account for this asynchrony, thus affecting the way the school implements instructional methods in particular circumstances.
Our Staff
Westmount staff are trained to work with gifted students. Our team includes a variety of support staff, certificated teachers and specialists who can provide unique support and guidance to meet each students’s needs.
Charter School Status
Westmount was granted a 15-year charter by the Minister of Education, effective September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2031. Westmount is one of 13 charter schools in Alberta, each with a separate programming mandate and a common requirement to engage in research-based innovative practices. We continually explore new ways to enhance student learning and engage them in a culture that is a safe, secure environment where opportunities for enhanced development are recognized, time for research and professional development are provided and where risk-taking, failure and success are integral parts of the learning process.
Learn More About Charter Schools in Alberta
“What are Public Charter Schools?” VideosHistory
Meet Our Administrative Teams
School Administration
Elementary Campus
Principal, Elementary Campus
Ms. Adriana Klassen
Assistant Principal, Elementary Campus
Ms. Colleen Thomas Groot
Mid-High Campus
Principal, Mid-High Campus
Mr. Graeme Finlay
Assistant Principal, Mid-High Campus
Dr. Laurie Alisat
Assistant Principal, Mid-High Campus
Ms. Julie Jansen