Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

Donate

Location, Location, Location

Part Two: Education

This is a topic more important to those who have children, or who plan to have children. A custom-built home is likely a long-term home, where you and your children will share great memories as they grow up. Outside this, your children will build their memories in their home away from home: their school. Here are three questions to consider when thinking about the educational facilities around your future home.

At what stage is your family in?

As Alberta schools are usually split into elementary, junior high, and high schools, you should look at your children’s immediate and mid to long-term education needs. Also, while it can be common to send children to schools far from one’s home due to the school’s reputation, having convenient access to said schools makes life (and the morning commute) much less stressful.

What is your current/planned family make-up? Do you have children just about to enter preschool, or are they about to graduate junior high? McCauley itself does not currently have public elementary schools, with McCauley School closing a few years back, but is close to the Catholic Mother Teresa Elementary School and the Victoria School of the Arts which goes from K-12.

Location needs also extend to higher education, where proximity to local universities or trade colleges keeps young adults happier. McCauley is quite close to MacEwan University and NorQuest College, and is a 12 minute LRT ride from the University of Alberta. It is also not far from NAIT via public transit, bicycle, or even on foot.

What do you want for your children?

After you know what level of education is needed, it’s time to look at the method of education. Edmonton enjoys access to both public and private schools, and to find your way around the systems it is good to take measure of what you are going in with.

What system is your child most familiar with? Have they already gone through a particular system, and if so do you want them to continue? There are multiple web pages devoted to the public/private school debate, so this post will only touch on it. Reputation and grades are always top of mind, so here are some other factors to think about: 1. Do you want more attention for your child, or for them to develop more independence? Private schools tend to have lower student-to-teacher ratios, which mean more attention is given to your child’s efforts. This, however, can also result in the child having to depend on teachers more, as opposed to larger public schools where the child has capacity to build independence and make their mark. If your child is moving from say elementary to junior high, you may also want to consider where their current friends are moving to.

McCauley is close to a Catholic elementary school, and also close to the Edmonton Public schools like Norwood. Families wanting Catholic junior high or high may want to look at other neighbourhoods.

For more senior children, things to consider include degree vs. diplomas: which is your child pursuing? McCauley allows access to both through NorQuest College, MacEwan, and NAIT.

What about your own education needs?

That’s right, the last question makes you think about yourself! Learning never stops, and you may want to take on further education, whether it’s an advanced degree related to your profession, or a diploma to help you transition to a new career. McCauley again offers both of these.

Conclusion

By considering the educational needs of your current and future family (yourself included!) and seeing what’s available, you can start cutting down on the neighbourhood options which you found to have desirable transport. McCauley here gets a medium rating of three out of five as the neighbourhood provides some but not all options. McCauley does however make up for it for late teenagers, with convenient access to secondary education.

Evelina lives in McCauley and is the owner of Evelina Developments, which builds custom, luxury homes in Edmonton.

Subscribe to our newsletter

News from the neighbourhood delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up and stay in touch!