Although I have not attended the school personally, my brother did and had a wonderful experience. He really thrived and blossomed there. Small class sizes, individual attention, instructors who care, all that was missing from my public school experience. Do your child a favor by not only considering DeltaWest, but enrolling them. read more

This is our second year at Delta West Academy (DWA) and I couldn't be more happy with our choice. We researched many private schools before deciding to attend DWA. What appealed to us was the small class size, the sense of community that the school has and the fact my son could attend pre-K to grade 12 at the same campus. When talking to parents whose children do not attend DWA they are always surprised at the activities that my son partakes in. What other school has swimming 2 times a school year, skiing at the elementary level, Cooking class, Bring your parent to school day just to name a few. DWA is a fantastic school and I can not find the words to express how truly amazing the administration and teaching staff are. I would recommend this school to anyone who is interested in offering their children a superior education and school experience. read more

My young daughter just started at DWA and I couldn't be happier. She has been very happy with her class, classmates and teachers. Even though she has only attend the school for 8 weeks, the other students, even the High School students, know her name. I was pleasantly surprised to hear older students saying good morning to her by name. What really shocked me was that she knew most of their names too. The small class sizes and overall small school population allows for a very close knit school community. I have emailed my daughters teachers a few times over the last 4 weeks and have always received a response in less than 24 hours. This is what the education system should look like. Kudos to the DWA Administration team for getting it right! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Delta West Academy to any of my friends, colleagues or family. read more

Wow - I am pretty surprised at the reviews I am reading here.... I have 2 children (girls) who attend this school, and who have for the entirety of their school experience. The teachers and administrators on so many occasions showed not only great teaching but also so much compassion and that they truly care about our family. One of our daughters had a very intense surgery while in grade 8 - the school was amazing both during her home recovery and as she slowly made her way back to school. Our other daughter has some specialized learning challenges and the school worked hard on identifying it, working with her emotions / confidence around it, and being really supportive. Teachers are available EVERY day for after school instruction and answering of questions - when there are quizzes / tests results are emailed to the parents so we can discuss with both the kids and teachers - what went wrong, strategies for improvement.... The school is not perfect - nothing is. There is a small gym and no library - we felt if we were going to send our kids there then we needed to make sure they had other opportunities for physical exercise / teamwork. Dance class, kickboxing, yoga - these are some of the things we have done outside of school. Even so, when the kids were interested, teachers stepped up and there have been soccer, badminton and volleyball teams that our girls have participated in and played in tournaments against other schools. Our kids were also involved in Cadets for a while to have chances to meet other kids (downside of small classes). So parents - if you choose to send your kids to a small school with small classes you may have to do some work in helping them foster friendships outside of school..... Bottom line - this is a great school with a location close to downtown that is really convenient for anyone commuting into downtown every day. There is a real community here. There are a core group of teachers / administrators who have been with the school a long time - has every teacher been perfect - no - but the administration has been quick to make changes when necessary. As a family we feel cared for, safe and supported - our kids have as much help as they ask for (teenagers you know) and we know if there are any emotional / social issues they are brought to our attention right away. We are very happy with our choice to send our girls to DWA and know we have given them a leg up for their future. read more

I chose delta west academy for my child for the small class sizes 7 years ago. Although it was very good initially, the last few years have gone down hill dramatically as the teachers who made the school successful have all left as they are underpaid and very unappreciated. There is a very high turnover rate it seems to me as each year there are familiar faces gone and new faces coming in. The head of school, Denise, speaks to people with appalling disrespect and emails sent home to myself as well as fellow parents are rude and down right unprofessional. To make matters worse, we waisted a lot of money in this school and they have to move locations next year without an actual spot. Parents should meet the head of school before making your final decision as it may change entirely. Also, considering they have no location for 2016 but fail to let people know during open houses is dishonest and misleading. Save your money! Go to a school that values education more than tuition and status of family income. read more

The experience that Charles wrote about appears to be common practice for this administration. My daughter went to this school for 8 YEARS and as the grades progress the attendance drops due to the insufficient programs (social and athletic) and due to the small size of the school. AFTER learning that her coming grade 7 year would only have 3 other kids and that they would have to share some class time with the grade 8 students (who had about the same amount of students) she became very anxious. She cried and pleaded daily to NOT have to go back to the school. When I advised the personnel at the school of this they were MORE concerned about getting next years tuition from us than the well being of our child. AND THIS IS AFTER 8 YEARS WITH HER!! We walked away from that meeting feeling disgusted and extemely disappointed that the conversation was steered more about our obligation to pay next years tuition than about the social and emotional well being of our daughter. We decided to leave the school and have NEVER looked back. She is now at West Island College which is far superior in our opinion on all levels. She has a large base of friends, great outlets for developing her social intellect, amazing travel opportunities and most importantly she is exceling academically with a 91% average. If I could go back in time I would have pulled her out after grade 3..... read more

My niece has attended Delta West Academy since first grade, and is now 16 years old. During this time, I have watched her blossom into an intelligent, poised, and confident young woman. Having met some of the teachers and administrators at Delta, I am absolutely convinced that they have played a major role in my niece's development, as they care so much about each student, and they make sure each student knows this. If we lived in Calgary, I would not hesitate to send my own children to Delta West Academy. read more

Parents Beware!! We were originally taken in by the ambience of the school, it reminded me of my grade 11 and 12 years at bible school. Everything was great the first year pre-k,the teachers were awesome.Kindergarden was in the same class as pre-k so our daughter ended up doing exactly the same thing as the first year, a waste of $7000. They promised class sizes of ten students and when they accepted more than ten Denise said oh no that was the average class size not per class. Every year it was a revolving door for teachers, a sign of poor upper management skills. After two years we had almost had our fill and I see it with most new parents, they're all excited for the first couple of years and then most start looking for a new school. The problem is when the kids are tested at other private schools they don't make the cut, this is what some of the parents told us. Our daughter for the last couple of years had been bullied by another student whose parents were top fund raisers and it seemed odd that none of the teachers ever saw anything, from verbal abuse to hair pulling to pushing a chair from behind and a cut-lip. Our daughters attitude about school got progressively worse. In September this year the school conducted earth color personality test for the students. Everyone would wear a wrist band according to their color so students could identify what each other's personality was and could learn how react to different situations (these are grade three to twelve we are talking about).Most of the students were blue green and the child who was bullying my daughter was red.What this did was reaffirm to the kids(in their minds) that she was in fact a bully. The school had always told the students you need to stand up for yourself and days after three girls who had been tormented by this bully got together and verbally assaulted her. This the school actually saw this time so they pulled the girls into the office and gave them all heck and called them all bullies. I agree what the kids did was not right but these girls are all very nice, mild mannered children. We sent an email to the principal stating that we wanted to be present with all disciplinary action against our daughter. Delta west sent us an email that stated we obviously don't trust them to do their job and recommended we leave immediately, if that is not the case let us know and we can meet and discuss. We immediately removed our daughter and put her in Catholic school. I had concerns because when I looked at the Alberta Standardized testing the school we were going to enrol only scored a 67% with places like Rundle and Weber at 90%plus,I couldn't find Delta's. It turns out our daughter was behind in math and science at this school but scored above average and exceptional at delta. Our Daughter is now like a new child extremely happy all of the time. Lost $16,000 on school fee and $2500 membership fee they said was refundable when we enrolled, still worth it to get away from that kook Denise. read more

Do NOT go to this school. The school is in very poor condition. They offer no athletic programs, no bus service. The enrolment is VERY VERY low. So low that they actually have combined some junior high classes!! How can a grade 6 student get their moneys worth when half the class is actually grade 5! NOT worth the money and once they get you in, they NEVER let you leave peacefully. read more

horrible experience. We recently went to the open house and my family was the only there! yes! incredible how bad this school is. we quickly left because the people or their representatives as you can call them were horrible, I mean the least they could do is smile to make us feel welcome. but this was not the case. I guess I should have come here to before I wasted my time at their open house. no wonder lots of people leave the school. when I first pulled up you could not find parking which is one of the reasons we were exciting to go in. I guess they pay people to park their cars there. read more

My child went to DWA for 5 years. In the last two years the environment at the school has gone extremely downhill. We decided then to move our child. We had been having a lot of issues with the administration team not following through on action items regarding our child's safety at the school, their attitude and treatment of other parents and friends of ours was appalling. There came a point when we could no longer allow our child to be educated by people who treated their families/customers in this manner. Once we let the school know we would not be returning things got worse, not only for us but others as well. None of my child's friends were coming back, why would we stay? The past year was a very stressful and awful year and so many times we spoke about how we couldn't believe we actually gave these people a lot of money to treat us this way. Before committing to this school, know what you are getting into. Take these reviews seriously even though admin tries to dispute them. During open houses they are lying to people saying the school isn't moving when it's for sale, they're telling people the mass exodus of students from the school is a result of the economy which is a lie. Ask them the enrollment number last year and what it is this year. Try getting into any other private school - you can't - they are all full. Why is DWA the only school accepting students right now? Why are their classes sizes so small when other private schools are running 3 and 4 classrooms of the same grades. Why are a lot of older kids struggling with diploma exams when there's only 5 kids in the class? This school has been a magical place for my son, for the first 3 years. The last two were pure hell not only for us but for him. He was questioned on more than one occasion regarding where he was going to school this upcoming year - he had to lie to the head of school and say he didn't know because there was no reason for them to be asking and he knew that. They grilled him when he missed school for the various assessments he was writing at other private schools, asking him where he had been and what he had been doing. That is completely inappropriate behavior by his teachers and admin staff who were abusing their power. We, as well as many other families are going to other private schools across the city - hoping other businesses do not treat their paying customers in this manner. Do your research - try to find someone who knows of the school or been to the school and ask for their experience. We committed to being at the school for 12 years - it was not an easy decision to move for him or for us - and their reaction to the news was frightening. No one pulls their children out of a school without a lot of thought going into it - my son's friendships are deep, mine are deep as well but we were left with no other option to pull out due to the treatment he and we as a family received. How could we entrust them to contribute to him growing into the person we want him to be when the admin team at this school is so far in the opposite direction? read more

This is the worst school in the city of Calgary. People need to complete an intense research before wasting their money at Delta West Academy. They have so many lawsuits from former parents,teachers and even builders. They lie to parents and when families leave they find out their kids have not been receiving the best education. The reason why classes are small is not because they promote small class sizes. Its because they cant keep families at the school. Families prefer to attend private school that even though they are difficult to get into they will at least offer an excellent Education to their children and will not treat parents like garbage. Save your money! There is a reason why they are the only private school that has continuous enrollment and many incentives. Once you are in they will make your life a living hell when you finally realize how horrible they are and you try to move your kids. read more