CAIS in Point

Quality and Mission Statements Mission statements for independent schools – what they are, are not; should be, can be, “three – word mantras” (Gary Kawasaki), or “sticky messages” (Dan Heath), shorter or longer, are intriguingly discussed in Peter Gow’s instructive article in the Fall 2009 edition of Independent School (NAIS). Gow describes well the difficulty for a schools’ mission statements to encompass what the institution strives for, and who it serves and of the mission statement’s being at all memorable, let alone inspirational. My own experience, as both a participant and leader of mission statement development processes, were clearly brought back to me reading Mr. Gow’s piece and made me realize that much work needs to be done before schools get the mission statement thing right. One memory I have of each time we were formulating or re-formulating mission statements and the exercise included a participant new to the process, I would be asked by that person, “so what’s a mission statement, anyway?” Often, I found myself answering by giving an example, albeit from the auto industry, as a way to explain – “Quality is Job One”. I recommend Mr. Gow’s article to all school personnel involved in the next round of mission statement development. William Mitchell, Interim Executive Director

Ontario Advanced Placement (AP) Conferences

1) Ontario Advanced Placement (AP) Coordinators' and Administrators’ Conference. 
Saturday, October 24, 2009
St. Clement’s School, Toronto

Highlights of this conference include:
• an update of changes in AP programs for the 2009/10 and following school years
• separate sessions for new and experienced AP Coordinators to discuss the smooth running of the AP year
• a panel of representatives from leading Ontario universities to discuss admission policies with regard to AP students

For a detailed agenda and registration information see: http://www.ap.ca/pages/pdf/Toronto_AP_Admin_Conf_2009.pdf

2) Ontario Pre-AP Conference.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
St. Clement’s School, Toronto

Highlights of this conference include:
• subject sessions for grade 6 to 12 teachers that emphasize strategies to prepare students for higher level learning, as well as guidance in creating an articulated, enriched curriculum
• a panel of Middle and High School Administrators from schools that offer an extensive Pre-AP program

For the agenda, a detailed outline of the sessions, and registration information:
http://www.ap.ca/pages/pdf/Toronto_Pre-AP_Conf_Nov_2009.pdf

3) Annual Ontario AP Conference.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Royal York Hotel, Toronto

Details and registration will be available shortly.

This information may also be found on the CAIS website at: http://www.cais.ca/non-cais_conferences

ReThink IT, ReFresh IT Conference

On November 12-13, Selwyn House School and Lower Canada College (LCC) in Montreal, Quebec are hosting the  “ReThink IT, ReFresh IT" conference. This event welcomes administrators, teachers, librarians, and IT personnel.

Join LCC and Selwyn House in welcoming special guest speaker Alan November, and for the chance to collaborate on ideas, innovations, best practices, and inspiration on emerging technologies for teaching and learning.

A Panel Session:”Learning Beyond Technology” will be held on November 12 @ 6:30 pm.

Please see the attached agenda for conference details and visit www.lcc.ca/it to register.

Agenda__Final.pdf

Continuity and Change Mark 160th Anniversary at Sacred Heart School of Halifax

October, 2009, Press Release

Over the last two centuries Sacred Heart educators have developed a world wide network of schools in which meaningful faith coincides with academic excellence. Founded by Mother Mary Peacock in 1849, Sacred Heart School of Halifax ranks among the oldest of these schools in North America. This year marks the 160th Anniversary of Sacred Heart School of Halifax and the entire community is celebrating its rich history of continuity and change.

As in most Sacred Heart communities around the world, several generations of Halifax Alumnae cherish fond memories of classrooms caringly devoted to the education of girls. But timely transformations have also marked Sacred Heart’s development; as in the late 1970s when boys were invited to enroll in the elementary division.

The School’s 160th birthday has coincided with another new development, the completion and official opening of Fountain Academy of the Sacred Heart, the only all boys’ high school in Atlantic Canada. The construction of Fountain Academy has improved access to athletic and educational facilities for students at all levels. Now, all families have the choice of a unique Sacred Heart experience from junior primary through grade twelve.

Reflecting on the School’s decision to open a boys’ high school in its 160th year of operation, Sacred Heart parent, Margaret Fountain said: “For me … it was not a debate of single sex education; girls versus boys; it was my personal belief in family and community.” She said: “It is here that our children will receive the spiritual and academic guidance that we cherish for them and that will prepare them for the world.” Margaret and David Fountain were leading patrons of Sacred Heart’s recent Family Campus Campaign.

Sacred Heart School of Halifax has served families from the golden years of Victorian prosperity, through the hardships of depression, the trauma of war and the immense challenges of twentieth century social change. At the School’s fall 160th Anniversary Reception, Headmistress, Patricia Donnelly, reminded everyone of the words of Mother Janet Erskine Stuart, one of the great Sacred Heart educators at the turn of the last century, who wrote: “Epochs of transition must keep us on the alert. They ask us to keep our eyes open upon the distant horizons. Immobility, arrested development, bring decadence; a beauty, fully unfolded is ready to perish. So let us not rest on our beautiful past.”

Headmistress Donnelly closed the celebration with a toast to “all the Sacred Heart community and to 160 more years of education in Halifax.”

For further information, please contact:
Patricia Donnelly, Headmistress
e-mail: pdonnelly@shsh.ca

Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School (ECS) Centennial

ECS celebrates 100 years!

ECS envisions its Centennial as a celebration of 100 years of existence, which will also serve as a springboard to launch its next 100 years.  While the school’s community members wish to reflect on their achievements and longevity, their main objective is to look forward towards an exciting future in which ECS students will become even more connected to the dynamic city that has long been identified as a cultural and economic crossroads. 

To read more, view the ECS Centennial Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 Event Planner, and see a photo from the Centennial "Edwardian Breakast", please see the attachments below.

ECScentennialCAIS.pdf

ECScentennialInvite.pdf

ECScentennialBreakfast.jpg

Celebrating 100 years at Lower Canada College (LCC)

Celebrating 100 years at LCC: The Lions are roaring with pride!

The LCC community is celebrating one hundred years of education, achievement and commitment. Dr. Charles Fosbery first opened the doors of LCC on September 20, 1909. The School has evolved tremendously from its inception as a small, all-boys boarding and day school situated among former farmland and apple orchards to a thriving co-educational day school nestled in the hub of urban Montreal.

LCC has transformed as a school and community to reflect the profound changes in our society and the world around us. As educators we believe it is our responsibility to prepare young people to thrive in a world where international travel, foreign languages and diverse cultures are an ever increasing element of our contemporary psyche.

We look forward to the next century where we will continue to nurture the minds, bodies and hearts of our students while living by the motto of our founders Non Nobis Solum/ Not for Ourselves Alone.

We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our congratulations to Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's who are also celebrating 100 years of education.

100onField_original_auclair.jpg

Rundle College Society Celebrates 25 years

Nestled in the foothills of the majestic Rocky Mountains in beautiful Calgary, Alberta, excitement is building at Rundle College as they prepare for their 25th anniversary celebration.

2010 marks a pivotal point in the history of Rundle College that is the result of the vision, passion and tireless efforts of the school founders, Dr. W.J. Collett and Dr. Rodney Conklin. Rundle College was founded in 1985 and provides an outstanding university preparatory experience for approximately 980 students in pre-school through Grade 12 in a day-school setting. To complement the regular program, Rundle Academy was created to provide specialized education for students with diagnosed learning disabilities. These academic curriculums are enhanced via a multitude of programs in second language courses, fine arts, athletics as well as numerous clubs. The programs emphasize character development, leadership training and good citizenship. Small classes and dedicated teachers who are committed to making a difference in the lives of individual children are just a few of the many attributes that define Rundle’s uniqueness.

The Rundle College community extends far beyond the walls of the school and strives to maintain relationships with alumni and their families. Our Family Legacy Program was created to welcome a second generation of future Rundle students. 

While celebrating the achievements of the school and looking forward to the future, Rundle wishes to recognize the alumni that have brought distinction to themselves, the faculty, and the community through their numerous and varied accomplishments and honors. On May 14 and 15, 2010, Rundle College will be hosting a weekend event for all Alumni and their families. 

The Rundle mission aims to help students discover their potential; challenge them to attain their best and celebrate with them when they do. For 25 years Rundle College has helped nurture and shape the minds of many of their global citizens and will proudly continue to prepare students for their lives in the 21st century.    

Volunteer teaching opportunities in Uganda

An experience of a lifetime!  
 
The Jane Goodall Institute is looking for several highly motivated teachers to work with them, to help deliver an environmental education workshop for primary teachers in Uganda in March and July 2010 (dates to be determined). The program will focus on the use of learner-centred teaching methods, as well as the integration of Environmental Education into the Uganda Primary School Curriculum (UPSC).

These workshops are organized by the Jane Goodall Institute of Uganda, with support from the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada. 
For more information and application details, visit: Volunteering.
For more information about the program please check the Jane Goodall Institute website.

Submitted by Emma Roche, Royal St. George's College

How Curriculum Mapping Can Carry Your School into the 21st Century

See the article below, submitted by Andrea Fanjoy, Assistant Head, Academics, Kingsway College School to learn more about Curriculum Mapping.

Some of the benefits discussed include: 1) whole-school thinking and learning 2) teacher empowerment 3) the professional learning community 4) teacher leadership, 5) an atmosphere of trust, openness and professional judgment 6) community satisfaction.

Curriculum_Mapping.pdf

Free the Children and Me to We

Dear Educational Leaders,

It is with great sincerity that we thank the Canadian Association of Independent Schools for your support and involvement with Free The Children and Me to We. We are very proud of this friendship, which has grown out of a common goal to create some of today’s most globally aware and engaged students—students who will play a leading role in solving local and global problems.

Founded in 1995, Free The Children is the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, with more than one million youth involved in its innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Free The Children has a remarkable track record of achievement, initiating community-based development projects around the world and inspiring young people to develop as socially conscious global citizens by building over 500 schools and providing education to more than 50,000 children every day.

Me to We is a new kind of social enterprise for people who want to help change the world with their daily choices. Through its volunteer trips, media and leadership experiences, it supports Free The Children’s work with youth creating global change. Every trip, T-shirt, song, book, speech, thought, smile and choice adds up to a lifestyle that’s part of the worldwide movement of we.

We understand just how important your global outreach programs are to you. Free The Children and Me to We‘s holistic programming—developed over years of hands-on education and research—helps you take your curriculum and global outreach to the next level, supporting you in the development of leading thinkers who are at the forefront of global change.  With more than a decade of work for human rights and youth empowerment, we’ve been joined by hundreds of thousands of young people who have explored their capacity to lead social change. Among those young people are many of your students, and with your support it has been a great privilege to help them bring forth new opportunities that meet their needs.

This year, 32,000 students attended our third annual We Days in Toronto and Vancouver. The largest one-day event of its kind, We Day is a celebration of the power of young people to change the world. We were honoured that so many of CAIS schools attended this event and watched the We Day CTV special. We look forward to extending the spirit of We Day with you all year long!

To learn how to bring Free The Children and Me to We programs into your school, please contact our youth programming coordinator for independent schools, Laurel Shapton, at laurel@freethechildren.com or 416-925-5894 ext. 128

Be the change,

Craig Kielburger
Founder, Free The Children 
Co-Founder, Me to We

Marc Kielburger
Chief Executive Director, Free The Children
Co-Founder, Me to We

Homes-Club International

International Home Exchange Club - A great opportunity!

• Club Members exchange homes with fellow members around the world and save money on holidays
• Exclusively for those with current or past connections with Independent Schools worldwide:

-Fee-payers
-Alumni
-Teachers
-Staff
-Governors

To learn more, please see the flyer below

Homes-Club_Brochure.pdf

School Health Knowledge Network October Update and Fall Webinar Schedule

Dear Colleagues:

This month’s update on activities of the Canadian School Health Knowledge Network brings some good news, as well as some continuing concern about the influenza outbreak in several schools and communities. To learn more about these and other items, go to our wiki-based version of our monthly SH report, Knowledge Matters.

When you visit that page, don’t forget to sign up with the wiki platform (www.wetpaint.com) and then join the wiki that is based at that site www.canadianschoolhealth.ca using the controls found at the upper right hand side of that page. Once you join, create a profile on the wiki and then you can select the pages that you want to “watch”. Using the settings in your profile, you can choose to receive e-mail updates when we post our new monthly report. In the coming months, this update will be changed so that it is sent regularly through that wiki-based mechanism rather than individual e-mails.

Also this month, see the start of our annual series of over 30 webinars. Our first list of scheduled sessions includes three sessions on implementation issues in substance abuse prevention while learning about three excellent programs. For more details please see the attachment below.

Submitted by: Doug McCall, Canadian School Health Knowledge Network. For more information e-mail dmccall@cash-aces.ca

School_Health_Knowledge_Network_Update.htm