Sandy Lake Academy is a

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Boarding Jr.P-12 school that is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is owned and operated by the Maritime Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and is the only Canadian Seventh-day Adventist

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

east of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, and one of three boarding academies operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada. As a part of the Seventh-day Adventist school system, it is a part of the second-largest

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some count ...

system in the world.

History

Sandy Lake Academy initially began in 1927 as a one-teacher elementary school with ten students operating out of the basement of the Halifax Seventh-day Adventist church. In 1962, growing student enrollment led to the school expanding to a two teacher operation offering up to grade 10. By 1968 the school once again needed to expand, adding a third classroom. This growth eventually caused the school to outgrow the church basement, and plans were made to move the school to its own property. In 1971, a property was purchased partway between Halifax and Dartmouth in

Bedford, Nova Scotia Bedford is a community of the Halifax Regional Municipality, in Nova Scotia, Canada. History The area of Bedford has evidence of Indigenous peoples dating back thousands of years. Petroglyphs are found at Bedford Petroglyphs National Historic ...

so that the school could serve both cities; and in 1974, the new school building was complete and classes began that fall. As the property was on the shore of Sandy Lake, the school was renamed Sandy Lake Academy. Initially, the new school offered grades 1-10, taught by four teachers, with an enrollment of 90. The original school building contained a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

nasium and five classrooms, in preparation for future expansion. School was offered four days a week at first in order to accommodate the increased distance students had to travel to get to the new school; some students chose to find a boarding room near the school. In 1981, the school expanded to offer grade 12; around the same time, a science lab,

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

room, and an

industrial arts Industrial arts is an educational program that features the fabrication of objects in wood or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools. Industrial Arts are commonly referred to as Technology Education. It may include small engine re ...

facility were added to the building to support the high school expansion. That same year, an Adventist church was established at Bedford to support the staff and students of the school. In 1988 a dormitory was built, which allowed SLA to accept boarding students from across

the Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of C ...

, as well as internationally. This change led Sandy Lake Academy to become a conference school, supported by the Maritime Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. In 1996, Bedford merged with Dartmouth and Halifax to form the

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, which brought the school back inside the borders of Halifax. Further expansions to the school created a primary program in 1997, and a junior primary program in 2014. Between 1974, when the school moved to the current Sandy Lake site, to the present, enrollment fluctuated between 50 and 90 students.

Academics

Sandy Lake Academy is a full Jr.P-12 academy, accredited by the

North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists The North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in the United States, Canada, French possessions of St. Pierre and Miquelon, the Br ...

. SLA uses the

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Education, and also follows the curriculum guides from the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. The high school diploma issued by Sandy Lake Academy is based on academic coursework done by the student between grades 10-12. Sandy Lake employs 8 teachers, for a student to teacher ratio of 10:1. Courses offered include math, English, science, socials, religious studies, French, physical education, music, and a few electives.

Music

Sandy Lake Academy is known for its

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

program, and music forms its primary

extracurricular activity An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activities is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities ...

. Students are trained in music starting in junior primary, and when students reach secondary school, they have the choice of going on musical tours. Musical activities offered at SLA includes

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

handbell A handbell is a bell designed to be rung by hand. To ring a handbell, a ringer grasps the bell by its slightly flexible handle – traditionally made of leather, but often now made of plastic – and moves the arm to make the hinged cla ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. The high school choir is named the SLA MasterPeace Touring Choir and performs several times per year across

References

External links

Sandy Lake Academy webpage
{{Canadian Adventist Academies, state=expanded Private schools in Nova Scotia Adventist secondary schools in Canada Educational institutions established in 1927 Elementary schools in Nova Scotia Middle schools in Nova Scotia High schools in Halifax, Nova Scotia Boarding schools in Nova Scotia 1927 establishments in Canada

History

Academics

Music

See also

References

External links