Parents consider the future of Juno Beach Academy

Only a handful of students remain atCalgary's Juno Beach Academy, a once popular program with a focus on Canadian studiesthat could be shut down.

Parents of the 15 enrolled students discussed the program's future an open house hosted by the Calgary Board of Education on Thursday night.

• Juno Beach Academy options offered to keep program going

"We would love to see the school stay open, but I don't believe that's a viable option for them," said Kathy Galenzoski, whose daughter is in Grade 12.

"It makes me feel very sad that we are losing this great school program."

Enrolment spiked afteropening

The Juno Beach Academy opened in 2003 at Sir William Van HorneHigh School with 112 students in Grades 7 to 9. Three years later it moved to Lord Shaughnessy High School, expanded to Grade 12, and had 182 students.

Enrolment peaked in 2008 at 195 students but has steadily dropped.

Current students five each in Grades 10, 11 and 12 studywith students at Lord BeaverbrookHigh School buttake the program's core courses at Dr. Norman BelthuneSchool: military studies, Canadianhistory and Canadian geography.

Parents approached the CBE three years ago with a plan to boost enrolment, but numbers continued to slump.In December, the board of trustees passed a motion to consider closing the school.

"We had hoped that the program would reestablish itself," said Sydney Smith, the area director with the CBE.

"The parent group that we met with most recently is certainly understanding as to why we're looking to go this way."

Running the Juno Beach Academy costs $425,000 in salaries. There's also the cost of running Dr. NormanBelthuneSchool, which is also used by a "small numberof returning students with complex learning needs," according to a document by the CBE.

However, there doesn't appear to be any immediate plan to close the building, which could be used for administration or as a space to house students when schools are renovated.

If the Juno Beach Academy closes after June graduation,the remainingten students could continue at Lord Beaverbrook High School or return to their community high school.

But Galenzoskisays there may still be a way to keep the Juno Beach Academy alive.

"If we can get the school division at CBE to continue with the programs that the school has specific to Juno if we can get them to continue that, we haven't lost everything."

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