Our school houses several programs: English, French Immersion, Academic Challenge, Learning Assistance, Opportunity, Knowledge and Employability, and Behaviour Improvement. While all students receive instruction in their program of choice, all of them experience the opportunity to learn from each other in Options, Physical education, and other school wide activities.

English
The Regular English Program is the program of choice for more than 200 students at SGS. This program follows the Alberta Education’s Curriculum and the language of instruction is English. You can find additional details on the Alberta curriculum of instruction at www.education.gov.ab.ca.

French Immersion
The success of students graduating from our French Immersion Program can also be gauged by the high number of post secondary education placements, and by the number of graduates who follow career paths that are fulfilling and rewarding.
The lives of French Immersion students are truly enriched by bilingual abilities and cross-cultural experiences. They thrive in a program that is supported by meaningful "partnerships in learning" between teachers and parents, and a host of supporters from within the community.
It's one thing to learn a language. It's another to embrace an opportunity to learn a language through an immersion process that assimilates the historical, cultural and social perspectives of a blended heritage along the way. That rich experience is the very essence of learning. It is the gift that parents give to their children when they enrol them in our French Immersion Program.
The majority of the parents in our French Immersion Program do not speak French themselves, and English is the language spoken at home. In fact, the French Immersion program is designed for Anglophone children. Previous knowledge of French is not a prerequisite for enrolment. No child should be denied the satisfaction and pride derived from becoming bilingual in the French language, and all children are welcome.

Late French Immersion
Sir George Simpson is the only school in St. Albert offering a Late French Immersion program. While most of our French Immersion students started in Kindergarten, a growing number of students feel ready for the challenge and join the Late Immersion program in Grade 7.

Academic Challenge Program
Academic challenge classes at Sir George Simpson are intended for gifted students. To be eligible for an academic challenge class, a student must be gifted as defined by educational literature to be an intelligence quotient of 130 ± 6 as measured through an individual cognitive assessment (WISC III).

Behavior Improvement Program
Behavior improvement classes are designed for students who demonstrate behavior which is chronic and pervasive in a school setting. Students in this category require a significantly modified staffing ratio (either small group or teacher aide assistance for part of the day) to provide regular monitoring of behavior and close supervision in both structured and unstructured settings. Students require adjustment to pace and content of curriculum, modified assignments and examination procedures as well as counselling and instruction in self-control and anger management.

Knowledge and Employability Program
The Knowledge and Employability Program is a program of instruction for students having difficulty coping with the regular program. The program's academic courses are to be directed toward improving students' competencies in communication, computation and social relationships. The employability courses are directed toward developing or providing opportunities for students to apply these competencies. In addition, the courses are designed to prepare students for direct entry into employment. This program provides multiple entry and exit points for students with the necessary prerequisites to cross over into regular programs.

Learning Assistance Program
The Learning Assistance Program is designed to accommodate the needs of elementary and junior high school students who have severe learning difficulties. These pupils manifest a highly significant discrepancy between estimated learning potential and actual performance. Some also have social and/or emotional problems. These students usually require a small group setting and a great deal of assistance on a one-to-one basis. These students would normally stay in the elementary learning assistance classes until age 12 when they are referred to the Intermediate Learning Assistance class or an appropriate special education program at the junior high school level.

Opportunity Room Program
The Opportunity Room Programs are intended to serve students who develop at a slower rate cognitively, physically and socially when compared to their peer group. An Alberta Learning Curriculum is used to determine appropriate programs. Instruction is individualized and in small groups. Integration is made available wherever appropriate.