St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School
| St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
1080 Linbrook Road Oakville, Ontario, L6J 2L1 Canada | |
| Coordinates | 43°27′53″N 79°40′06″W / 43.46475°N 79.66829°WCoordinates: 43°27′53″N 79°40′06″W / 43.46475°N 79.66829°W |
| Information | |
| School type | Independent |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Anglican |
| Founded | 1891 |
| Principal | Nancy Richards, M.Ed |
| Grades | Pre K-12 |
| Language | English |
| Colour(s) | Navy, Red, and White |
| Mascot | Spartans |
| Website |
www |
| Last updated: April 14, 2009 | |
St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School (commonly referred to as just St. Mildred's and abbreviated to SMLS) is an independent all-girls school in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The Junior School, with about 300 students, includes girls from Pre-School to grade five. The new Middle Level with 100 student includes grade 6, 7, and 8. The Senior school also has 300 students and goes from grade 9 to grade 12.
History
St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School was founded by a community of Sisters, who had traveled to Canada from various parts of England. It was first opened in Toronto as St. Mildred's College, in September 1908. In 1923, Appleby College Headmaster, John Guest, requested for Ruth Lightbourn, who was staying at her parents' house, to teach his two daughters. Parents continued to ask for Miss Lightbourn's help with their children, and soon enough there was no space left for her to do her job. She continued teaching young children from well-to-do families, in an expanded area, for thirty-seven years later.
In 1964, the Lightbourn School Board of Governors asked the Sisters of the Church to manage their school, and five years later Lightbourn School was expanded, and united as St. Mildred's Lightbourn School. The School was turned over by the Sisters to the Board of Governors in 1986.
Fun Facts
Given its age and history, St. Mildred's - Lightbourn has a very rich cultural environment with students divided into different houses upon arrival. The houses are Brant Massey, Grenfell Alexander and Cartier Vanier, whose symbols are a red and black beaver, a blue green flying moose and a green and black frog respectively. The senior school mascot is currently a spartan after a movement to change the mascot from a pink bowed alligator wearing the school kilt called "Millie the Milligator." While Millie might have been banished from the senior school, she is still used frequently with the junior school students. There are many school songs associated with SMLS, the most well known and popular of which are Jubilate Deo and Blessed are the Pure in Heart.
Junior School
Preschool to Grade 5 (JS5)
The Junior School program, which spans pre-school to Grade 5, is designed to suit the individual learning styles and developmental stages of girls during these critical, early years. Junior School students are on an educational journey of self-discovery that inspires their intellectual curiosity, promotes their personal growth, guides their social development and supports their emotional well-being. Led by dedicated, caring, and knowledgeable teachers and staff who focus on creating exciting, innovative and girl-centric programming, the Junior School develops in our students a life-long love of learning."
Academics: Junior school students are taught literacy, mathematics, science, social science, French, and religion
Arts: The Junior School arts program consists of music classes, visual arts classes, and several performance opportunities for students to showcase their musical, dramatic, and artistic talents.
Athletics: At St. Mildred's, all Junior School students participate in a physical education class. There are also several extra-curricular teams for students to join, such as hockey, soccer, swimming, frisbee, basketball, cross-country, and track and field.
Community Service: The Junior School is involved in a variety of school-wide community events including:
United Way Week (October) - Throughout this week of fundraising a variety of events culminates in a lip sync contest at the end of the week. Money raised is donated to United Way of Oakville.
UNICEF (October) - On October 31 Junior School students earn the privilege of wearing orange and black 'grub' clothes by donating money to UNICEF.
KidsFest Canada (May) - Students collect new school supplies for the KidsFest Canada organization. KidsFest provides backpacks full of school supplies to kids in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), who can't afford to buy their own.
FIRST LEGO League: St. Mildred's Lightbourn School offers FIRST LEGO League (FLL), the "little league" of robotics - in Grade 6. With the help of LEGO robotics technology, they work as a team to build a robot and compete in a friendly, FIRST robotics event.
Global Studies Program: The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Program The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Program is an essential feature of Global Studies that encourages perseverance, self-reliance, and community service. SMLS students must complete the requirements for the Bronze level, and are encouraged to continue on to the Silver and Gold levels. This award program encourages and motivates youth in a variety of personal development activities - including community service, physical recreation, skill and adventurous journey - all designed to advance the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the whole person. Visit www.dukeofed.org for more information.
Round Square Program: St. Mildred's Lightbourn School's regional membership in the international Round Square Program has also been integrated into Global Studies. As a Round Square school, SMLS teaches and develops the IDEALS (internationalism, democracy, environmental awareness and action, adventure, leadership, service), through activities, workshops, speakers and curriculum integration. Young Round Square Program (Grade 6-S2) is not offered to students in the Junior School. Visit www.roundsquare.org for more information.
Middle School
Grade 6 (MS6) - Grade 8 (MS8)
The Middle School program was designed based on research and best practices to engage girls intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually during the pivotal years bridging Junior and Senior School.
The Middle School program balances traditional core concept teaching with inquiry-based and project learning that integrates themes across multiple subject areas. Throughout the year, girls have the opportunity to participate in a variety of opportunities to test their academic abilities which, depending on the year, include challenges such as math contests, bridge building, the Spelling Bee of Canada, the CIS Junior Speech Competition, Kids Lit Quiz, music festivals, dance festivals, and more. There are also opportunities to reach ahead and take Grade 9 courses, for further challenge.
Opportunities for adventure within Ontario, as well as outside the province and internationally, are offered across all three years of Middle School through the Global Studies Department.
Senior School
Grades 9 (SS9) – Grade 12 (SS12/Grad Year)
Throughout the Senior School years, girls are supported by a teacher advisor, academically challenged by subject-specialist teachers, and invited to explore a wide range of co-curricular opportunities. They are engaged through real-world learning experiences in the classroom, the local community and across the globe.
Senior School Courses
In SS9 and SS10, two types of courses are offered: academic and open courses. Academic courses emphasize theory and abstract problems. Open courses are designed to prepare students for further study in certain subjects and to enrich their education generally.
In SS11 to Grad Year, courses are offered to prepare students for their post-secondary destinations, and include: university preparation courses, developed in close collaboration with universities; university/college preparation courses, developed in close collaboration with both universities and colleges; college preparation courses, developed in close collaboration with colleges, and open courses.
Technology is integrated throughout curriculum in all subjects. Skills that were acquired in the Junior and Middle Schools are further developed and new skills are integrated as appropriate following the IT continuum, as outlined by subjects on our curriculum map.
All Senior School students have their own personal laptop equipped with an SMLS suite of installed software. Updates are completed as necessary by the IT Department. Our use of technology, including a collection of web-based applications, is not limited to computers. Student’s curricular use of technology includes the following, among others: video and digital cameras, tablets, interactive projectors, sound recording, TI-83+ calculators, scientific probes, and GPS units. Technology use is guided by the Acceptable Use Policy signed by parents and students.
Major Senior School Social Events
Semi Formal - a dinner/dance in February where girls are allowed to bring dates; Grade 7 and 8 Dances - first is a February Grade 8/9 Valentine's Day Dance; Father Daughter - a November dinner/dance for students and their Fathers; Mother Daughter - ;
Global Studies
St. Mildred's offers a variety of opportunities for students to participate in exchanges and travel to other areas on the globe. Students are required to complete the bronze level of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Program is an essential feature of Global Studies that encourages perseverance, self-reliance, and community service. SMLS students must complete the requirements for the Bronze level before graduation, and are encouraged to continue on to the Silver and Gold levels, which a record number of girls are choosing to achieve.
This innovative Award program motivates young people in a variety of personal development activities, including community service, physical recreation, skills development and adventurous journey, all designed to advance the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the whole person.
All Middle School students work toward the Junior Duke Award, focusing on many of the skills of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program. Girls in JS3 - JS55 begin their Global Studies journey through participation in the "Millie 100" Program. As early as JS4, students experience their first overnight trip with the school. Then in JS4 and beyond, girls are challenged on near and far adventures which include overnight camping, high ropes courses, winter survival skills, and learning to paddle a variety of water craft.
All Middle School students take part in a 4-day outdoor integrated educational experience with A.L.I.V.E. Outdoors. This organization blends the benefits of working outdoors in a natural "unplugged" environment with intentionally planned, character-building workshops.
Sports
St. Mildred's Lightbourn School's Athletics Program offers opportunities for students, whether they compete at an elite level or just like to play for fun. At SMLS, they encourage all girls to participate in sports and physical activity to promote important life skills and healthy living. Some sports offered at SMLS are:
- Soccer
- Floor Hockey
- Volleyball
- Swimming
- Field Hockey
- Basketball
- Track & Field
- Badminton
- Golf
- Softball
- Tennis
Extracurricular activities
- Arts Council
- Athletic Council
- Drawing Club
- Graphic Design Club
- House Council
- Improv Club
- ISDF (Independent School Drama Festival)
- Japan Club
- Jazz Band
- Junior Band
- Math Club
- Math Olympics Club
- Mock Trial Team
- Panda Club
- Photography Club
- Red Maple Reading Club
- Round Square Club
- Robotics (FIRST)
- Senior School Musical (Bi-Annual)
- Senior School Dramatic Production (Bi-Annual)
- Senior Band
- Senior Book Club
- Senior Ensemble
- Senior Vocal Ensemble
- Sewing Club
- Social Council
- Social Justice Documentary Day (SOC-DOC) Committee
- Spanish Club
- Science Technology Engineering Mathematics and Robotics (STEMR) Council
- Theatre Sound and Lighting
- White Pine Reading Club