A new option for Kindergarten to Grade 7 education in the territory will open its doors Aug. 29.
Yukon WILD School announced Aug. 3 it had achieved accreditation to operate in the territory and will open this coming school year.
The school is part of a larger network of not-for-profit schools called Canadian WILD Schools, which make it a mission to “reconnect students with the natural world and themselves.”
The school’s website notes WILD stands for Wilderness Integrated Leadership Development.
“We strive to create a model of education that focuses on outdoor and experiential learning,” officials with the school said in a statement. “We seek to create experiences and opportunities that ignite curiosity and a passion for learning while developing confidence, and resilience. Our students learn to work with their peers and their communities to make the world a better place. We believe that nature is both a teacher and a healer. Children need immersive experiences in nature now more than ever before as the walls literally and figuratively close in around them with increasing amounts of digital technology and sedentary lifestyles.”
The school is based out of the 10-hectare Vista Outdoor Learning Centre off the North Klondike Highway on Vista Road, about 25 minutes from downtown Whitehorse, with programming that follows the British Columbia/Yukon curriculum. All teachers are certified Yukon teachers with the school stating it offers small class sizes with a student and strength-based approach to learning.
The school offers both a full-time program that will run Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. or a WILD Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. one-day-a-week program that is aimed at complimenting other education programs students attended from Monday to Thursday. Bus service to and from Whitehorse will be available for full-time students.
Tuition costs vary with the full-time program ranging from $1,233 to $1,531 each month depending on the grade.
The WILD Fridays program ranges $650 to $975 per semester, with three semesters — fall, winter, and spring — offered.
After-school care is also available at an additional charge.
WILD summer camps have also been underway each week since June 27 and will continue until Aug. 12.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com