The Sik-ooh-kotoki Friendship partnered up with the Kainai Board of education to host a forum for a new school in Lethbridge. The school is set to open for the school year 2016.
The urban Aboriginal community has come together to find out more about a new charter school that will be offering a First Nations curriculum.
Like all others in the province The School its self will be accredited through the province of Alberta. But the focus will be on promoting Blackfoot culture including language.
Right now any families that want the Blackfoot emersion program have to bus their children out to Standoff.
As an added feature The new school will be providing evening language classes, extra-curricular and sporting activities.
Currently the KEB is partnered with Opo-kaasin and is running a private school with approved Alberta Education programs for preschool- grade 1.
“It shows just how far advanced we have been able to take ourselves and who has taken us to this point. It’s our own people, It’s the resilience of our mothers and grandmothers our grandfathers that have taken control of their own destiny. And have provided what I believe is the key word choice of our young people of where they should be. ”
“For any child to know their identity and where they come from I think its important and that my children have role models from their culture and going to a school where some of those values and traditions and ceremonies and things like that where they are able to observe them and participate.”
With the community support Kainai Board of education is now finalizing their plans to open a new charter school within Lethbridge city limits.
