The Early Years

In the early 1950s, parents of handicapped children in the Grande Prairie area were faced with the prospect of raising their children in isolation, with very little information and virtually no support in terms of education and community resources.

A group of dedicated parents, who shared a desire to improve the situation, organized for the first time in 1954. They created the Grande Prairie Association for Retarded Children and began the work of gathering the information, resources and facilities they required in order to provide an education for their children.

Sadie Edgar and Bill Campbell were the original founders of the Association and the first to take the steps that would lead to the successful creation of a school for the handicapped. They traveled to Edmonton to visit with Winnifred Stewart, who had pioneered her own school for the handicapped in the Edmonton area. On her advice, Mrs. Edgar and Mr. Campbell returned to Grande Prairie and undertook a mission to make such a school a reality in Grande Prairie.