Leadership

Dr. Bass has been an Alberta educator for almost 30 years.  He has served the education community as a teacher, principal, superintendent and as an Alberta Deputy Minister of Education. Most recently, he has worked as a consultant assisting organizations in achieving their educational goals.

Working alongside a team of talented and dedicated professionals, Dr. Bass will focus on achieving Calgary Academy’s mission to help our students realize their full academic and social potential, achieve independence as learners and experience success, and preparing them for their future – not our past, while changing the lives of both students and their families.

An educator for more than 20 years, Tim passionately believes in putting his students’ needs first. As Principal, he leads the school’s daily operations, develops staff, and works to ensure the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan. A long-serving CA staff member, Tim has worked at every leadership level in the school and enjoys connecting with students and families to support the learning of all. Tim earned his Masters in Curriculum, teaching, and learning from the University of Calgary.

As an educator for over 30 years, Susan brings nearly 20 years of leadership experience to Calgary Academy. Most recently, she completed a four-year secondment as Senior Education Manager with Alberta Education where she worked with district and school leadership in developing and supporting student-centred learning environments.

Leading the Learning Supports, Assurance, and Technology departments, Susan will align these departments to hone and refine the implementation of an updated learning model and learning supports at Calgary Academy.

After years of teaching internationally in Abu Dhabi and England, Mike Ross arrived at Calgary Academy, drawn by the unique strengths of the CA program. Mike has taught Grades 9-11 English and Social Studies, across both the Academy and Collegiate programs. As a former Grade Pod lead, the former Chair of the Human Resources Working Committee, Mike is excited to take the role of High School Assistant Principal beginning September 2019, and looks forward to working closely with students and their families.

Originally joining Calgary Academy in 1997, Erin Ellis recently returned to the school after spending several years consulting on curriculum development for the Calgary Police Service and Lethbridge College, and instructing foundational literacy and numeracy courses at Mount Royal University. An experienced teacher and coach, most recently Erin worked as the Gifted and Identified Needs (GAIN) Coordinator at a local private school. In that role, she bridged the gap between psycho-educational assessment, classroom teaching, and child-centred learning. Erin uses this experience to work closely with all team members at Calgary Academy to deliver an exceptional school experience for all families.

Paula has been with Calgary Academy for almost 10 years. First, she worked as an elementary teacher in grades 2 to 6, before undertaking a leadership role as a Pod Leader for grades 2 through 5. She also served on a leadership committee overseeing benchmark assessment and student tracking. In her newest role as Assistant Principal, Paula will work closely with students and parents.

In over 20 years at Calgary Academy, Charles taught humanities in Grades 7-12 and multimedia for Grades 4-9. He’s been a technology and grade leader, as well as an academic dean in junior high. As an instructional designer with Headwater Learning Solutions (link if you can), Charles developed robotics and physical computing courses for CA, and he worked with a learning committee to co-design the CA Learning Model (link). Charles now supports learning and innovation at CA as the Director of Assurance where he works with researchers, learning coaches, instructional designers, teachers, administrators, and a professional learning leader to advance the Calgary Academy Strategic Plan.

Sarah started at Calgary Academy in 1996 and has held several positions in the school. She primarily taught Grades 7-9 during her time as a teacher and has been an administrator in all divisions. Her current work is leading a team of specialists who support students across the school which aligns with her mission to help all students feel cared for, connected, and capable so they may contribute.