<strong>Meadowridge</strong> <strong>School</strong> Breaking ground 6
Message from the Headmaster Mr. Hugh Burke The school year 2006-<strong>2007</strong> was marked by significant achievement and growth for <strong>Meadowridge</strong> <strong>School</strong>. We moved from candidate status as an International Baccalaureate school to being fully accredited for both the Primary Years Program and the Middle Years Program, and in the process earned the designation as an International Baccalaureate World <strong>School</strong>. This was the culmination of six years of incremental change toward this goal. Great credit goes to the teaching staff and the I.B. coordinators, Kuldeep Thendal and Terry Donaldson,˚for this notable achievement. We have also been accepted as a candidate school by the Canadian Educational Standards Institute, which only accredits about forty of the best schools in Canada, and applies the most stringent of international standards to member schools, not only in terms of educational practice, but also˚with regard to˚the business and governance of the school.˚ The school also returned strong results from our Foundation Skills Assessment tests in grades four and seven, as well as our provincial exams in grades ten, eleven and twelve. In general, our exam scores place us easily within the top ten schools in our province for academic achievement across all school subjects and across all grades. As well, our Arts programs continued to be extremely strong, with numerous plays, displays, and performances, in both English and French, from primary through to graduation. Our Athletics program continued to grow, and was especially strong in track and field. For the first time, also, we had substantial cheering sections for our teams, the result of a˚supported˚campaign to increase school spirit and drive in athletics. Our Athletics program is one that˚we recognize˚to be˚somewhat hampered by our consciously small size; we are proud of our students achievements in this area while˚understanding that we need to focus greater attention in building an ever stronger program. Our community outreach and service was also very well developed and effective, and our students continued to help others in serious and sustained ways. For example, our students won the Community Recycling Award this year, helped at the food bank locally, raised a lot of money for charity, hosted a Harvest Dinner for senior citizens which was exemplary, and provided an excellent level of internal service to our school community. Finally, our field trip, outdoor education, and international travel programs continue to be exemplary in their scope and success. The continued performance of our school is largely due to our teachers, staff,˚and administrators who invariably go far beyond what might normally and reasonably be expected of them. They are professionals with a calling, rather than merely workers with a career.˚They have my˚ongoing admiration and gratitude. Our facilities continued to expand, as we bought an additional two acres of land, and began to build our school addition, which will add new classrooms, laboratories, offices, and common areas, as well as a dining area, a new stage, several patios, and a new terrace. To the great delight of many parents, this will also double our current parking. At this time, the project is slightly under budget, largely due to the diligence of our Board and the continual work of our Business Manager, Don Hincks.˚ The normal chaos associated with a building project in a school was greatly smoothed by the work of Cindy Gallagher, with the support of our other administrative staff, who daily helped to keep traffic and students moving safely and well. Due to the unusual weather conditions of last winter, the opening may be delayed by several months, but our new addition should be open for our second semester. Preparation has also started for a new playing field in the back of the school which will be of international size. Our fundraising program is helping to pay for these enhancements. At this time, we have raised over1.4 million dollars of a required three million, a record year in fundraising for our school. As we open the <strong>2007</strong>-2008 school year, our school will need many families to contribute to the Capital Campaign as we go to the Public Phase and broaden our request for donations. This need for philanthropic contributions has been noted by outside consultants as the central challenge facing our school. If we work together, we can certainly meet this challenge. Continued on page 9 7