Dear Rundle Community:
If your home is anything like mine, the Santa-themed books are out, the songs on the speaker are beginning to sound a lot like Christmas, the decorations are starting to emerge and we are well into our planning for the upcoming winter festivities.
As we enter a season of celebration, I’d like to wish our entire community many days filled with warmth, family, friendship, and love. I look forward to seeing many of our community at the events that are coming up this December.
In this chapter of ‘The Narrative,’ we will be exploring the value of kindness and a few of the wonderful stories we have heard recently in our community.
I hope these publications give insight into the fabric that is Rundle.
Together,
Jason B. Rogers |
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| Table of Contents:
I. The Narrative – Part III – The Head’s Address at the Annual General Meeting
II. Strategic Plan Highlight – Rundle 365
III. Moving Walls at the Academy - What’s Next?
IV. In the News - Private School Funding
V. Good News Notes
VI. On The Shelf
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I. The Narrative Part III - The Head's Address at the Annual General Meeting
Early in the new year, you will be receiving our 2017-2018 Annual Report in the mail. I hope our community takes a moment and enjoys reading about our students’ accomplishments last year.
Below is an excerpt from the Annual Report:
“At Rundle, we often hear our teachers and leaders say to our students:
“When you graduate Rundle, your grades will be impressive;
however, they will be the least impressive thing about you.”
We are proud to announce that in 2017-18, this vision was, once again, being achieved. Our students were striving to reach their potential, inside and outside the classroom, and we are pleased to join with them, their families and their teachers to celebrate their impressive accomplishments once more.
The Rundle story is best told through our pursuit of this vision, and it is worthwhile to take a moment and consider the school’s narrative from this past year. The chapters that encapsulate the past 12 months at Rundle College Society (Rundle) could be titled introspection, refinement, and growth.
Introspection
With the support of our entire community, Rundle underwent our first Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) accreditation review. The CAIS review saw 14 independent school experts from across Canada come to Rundle to evaluate our programs, policies and procedures. We earned numerous commendations from the committee and were left with several suggestions and recommendations that will help us continue to improve. I am thankful to everybody in our community who took part in this important process. The work has created a foundation for a bright future at Rundle.
Refinement
With the recent completion of the W.J. Collett School, we have now turned our attention to refining the Rundle Academy campus. With the support of our partners from IDEO, CANA, M2i, JC Interior Design and DIALOG, we have seen the start of a transformative process at the Academy campus. In a few short months, we were able to raise over $200,000 to kick start the ‘”Moving Walls” projects. These funds have allowed us to completely redesign the Junior High lunchroom and create a spectacular social and learning space. In the coming years, we look forward to seeing how the Academy staff, students and parents continue to transform these spaces into a world-class learning environment.
Growth
All programs at Rundle are finding ways to innovate and provide excellence in programming. These innovations can be seen in events such as the annual Calgary STEM competition at the W.J. Collett School, in the Robotics Team at the R.C. Conklin School or in the Junior Cobras program. The Junior Cobras program is particularly noteworthy as it brings students from K-12 and our alumni together in the pursuit of a lifetime of wellness through sport. This past summer also saw us run summer Mind & Body camps for elementary-age students. In our summer camp program, we saw students taking part in STEM activities (coding, robotics, design thinking and engineering) for part of the day and then taking part in a sporting pursuit (basketball, volleyball, soccer and rugby) for the remainder of the day.
It is very clear that, when looking back on the past year, I can say with confidence:
‘Rundle’s grades were impressive;
however, they were the least impressive thing about the 2017-18 school year.”
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II. Strategic Plan Highlight – Rundle 365
One of the more innovative pillars of our current strategic plan is Rundle 365. Rundle 365’s strategic objective is: “Rundle will expand its offerings of impactful learning experiences in and out of the classroom. The school will fully leverage our facilities on both campuses throughout the entire calendar year.”
We are starting to see this take shape in several ways. Some examples are:
- Facility Rentals: Rundle has recently hired Mr. Mike Duncalfe to oversee our site rentals. Mr. Duncalfe is looking to expand our rentals to include special events, gym rentals and field rentals. If anybody in our community has questions or inquiries about space rentals (birthday parties, meetings, special events, athletics, etc.), please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Duncalfe directly at duncalfe@rundle.ab.ca.
- c.Lab: We are seeing the continued growth of our c.Lab through innovative offerings in STEAM learning and Jr. Cobra camps. Our Spring and Summer Camp offerings will be coming out soon. Be sure to register early to secure your child’s spot.
- Global Online Academy: We are very excited to be offering a huge selection of option courses to our College High School students through Global Online Academy! Rundle College is one of two private schools in Canada to be accepted to this inspiring program.
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III. Moving Walls at the Academy - What’s Next?
There are exciting days ahead for the staff and students at Rundle Academy! The completion of the Junior High Lunch Room has inspired our whole community to come behind the next phases of this redesign project. In the near future, we will be sharing more information on the next steps. For now, I am happy to share that we are engaging with a design team to consider ways to further enhance the experience the students enjoy while being at the Academy!
Stay tuned…. |
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IV. In the News - Private School Funding
As we move into a spring provincial election, I encourage our community to stay on top of the political scene. From our side, we will do our very best to keep you posted as we become informed. For now, it is worthwhile to give this article a read and this podcast a listen. I believe they give a good overview of some of the perspectives and talking points that are out there. |
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V. Good News Notes
If you want a smile, and want to see why our schools are such special spaces, spend a few minutes enjoying this Academy Elementary production!
Finally, I would like to congratulate our Graduating Class of 2019! We had an incredible 97% of our Academy and College future graduates support the bursary fund. |
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