Bring Your Class!

Are you a teacher? Do you teach students in grades 3-9? Are you at a school served by U School? If you answered yes, then you should apply to attend the program! U School is a year-long program and free to attend. We provide journals for every student, ETS tickets for city schools, bussing support for schools outside of Edmonton, pizza lunch on Fridays, and all materials required.
Rock Climbing
The U School team will work with you to determine areas of the curriculum you would like to cover, topics that resonate most with your students, and a theme that can weave into the programming for your class. We work with diverse classes of students and will do everything we can to design a week on campus that will be engaging and suited to your students.

Inquiring, Learning and Exploring!

The week-long experience is linked to Inquiring Minds learning—an innovative and informal approach to learning that began in Calgary in the 1990s. At U School, this model of learning sees teachers move their classes to campus for a week of hands-on, multi-sensory learning, and meaningful curricular connections to the real world. Students participate in a variety of sessions and activities that are led by University of Alberta professors, graduate students, staff, and student groups who volunteer their time to share their enthusiasm about their field of study.

Highlights of the U School experience include:

  • Exploring the University of Alberta with a campus tour
  • Getting active at the rock climbing wall, swimming pool, or playing a sport with trained instructors
  • Interviewing university students and alumni about the university experience
  • Photographing the campus with a digital camera and editing those photos in a computer lab
  • Learning about different areas of study through hands-on activities
  • Journaling and reflecting on sessions throughout the week

Click here to take a look at a sample U School week at the University of Alberta North Campus. Overall, students do what children do best—learn by doing!

U School participants engaging in a session using a water table

Year-Long Connection to the University

The U School program does not just stop at your week on campus, it is a year-long connection to post-secondary education. What this looks like is:

  • Teacher Development Day: A teacher training to learn about U School in August and prepare for the year
  • School Pre-visit: Before your class trip, your Classroom Facilitator will visit your class for a 1 hour visit to introduce the program
  • Your class’ week at the University of Alberta North Campus
  • School Post-visit: After your class trip, your Classroom Facilitator will visit your class for an hour to recap the year
  • U School Convocation: Celebrate the school year with all of the other U School classes in June for U School Convocation at the University of Alberta North Campus!

Each student will receive a U School journal at the beginning of the school year. We encourage you to use journals throughout the school year to encourage literacy skills and connect to classroom content.

Interested? How to Apply:

First, complete the application. The teacher who will be attending the Site must complete the application; another individual or group may not complete it on the attending teacher’s behalf. If there are multiple teachers interested in coming from a single school, a separate application must be filled in for each teacher and class applying and each application must be unique. The deadline to submit an application can be found on the application page.

Final acceptance is based upon application quality. An outstanding application is one that demonstrates that the applying teacher is a committed, thoughtful educator who is curious and creative-and understands what U School is all about.

If you have questions or would like to verify your eligibility, email uschool@ualberta.ca.

U School participants journalling about their experiences