SMLS's Senior School: A Catalyst for Success

For students, already this year, we have seen remarkable achievements across various domains, both inside and outside the classroom. Noteworthy accomplishments include successes in Public Speech and Debate (including qualifying wins that will take students to the National Championships), several winners of INCITE writing competitions, and taking on leadership roles at the International Round Square Conference in Columbia to name a few. Presently, our SWAT 771 Robotics team is gearing up for competitions beginning in March, and our graduating students are securing university acceptances, reflecting their growing future-ready skills and ability to apply them in diverse contexts.

 

Equally significant is the success of our Senior School faculty. Ever committed to our girls-first approach to teaching and learning, SMLS has been accepted to participate in Lean In Girls, a leadership program aimed at helping girls see themselves as leaders in a world that often limits their potential. The program will run post-March break for students in Grades 9 and 10, and will be led by SMLS’s Director of University Guidance, Ms. Nicole Bryant.

 

Further strengthening SMLS commitment to promoting all-girls education, Science and HPE teacher, Mr. Alex Stevens, has been accepted to participate in the ICGS Global Action Research Collaborative (GARC) as a research fellow. Mr. Steven’s research on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on student learning and teaching practices will enhance SMLS’s pedagogical approach and contribute to the broader collective knowledge of the ICGS community.

 

In so many ways, the Senior School sets the positive tone for mentorship and role modeling at SMLS. Considering the many initiatives our Senior School student leaders undertake, such as Big Sister Little Sister craft events, Girls Nights-In hosted by our Grade 11 Camp Timberlane cabin leaders for Middle School students, collaborative Wellness Wednesday activities between the Senior and Middle Schools, and an introduction to debate processes and techniques that the Senior School students hosted for the Middle school students as they prepare for their introduction to debating, we see almost daily examples of the positive, supportive environment that a girls’ school can foster. 

 

SMLS is unique in that students from across age ranges are able to interact and gain valuable experiences as they empathize, lead, learn, and support each other's educational experiences at the school.  In addition to regular programming between the schools, this Winter, our Senior students’ SWAT 771 Robotics team will visit Grade 2 classes to read and share a children's book written and illustrated by the team. They will also visit with Grade 5s to demo the team's robot, as well as coordinate a learning activity that will help students to learn about the functions and parts of the robot. All of these interactive activities help provide leadership opportunities for our Senior students, while simultaneously modeling leadership skills to our younger students.

 

As we often say here at SMLS, you need to belong to a community before you can lead one. The interactions between students across the grades helps to make our students realize that they can have an impact on each other's learning, sense of belonging, and that they are each contributing to part of a larger community bigger than any one individual. 

 

With this sense of community behind them, and the opportunities to take risks within a safe and nurturing environment, SMLS students leave Senior School and their SMLS career with a strong sense of self, purpose, confidence, and these are the skills that serve as the foundation for a happy, successful life beyond their grade school years.