Vision. Direction. Focus.

Strategic Direction for Lakefield College School 2019 | 2024
Lakefield College School stands at a pivotal point in its history. As we approach our 140th year, we believe that success can be attributed to our strong history, our community and continued belief in our core mission and values—deemed more relevant today than ever. For generations, graduates of The Grove have earned admission to some of the most prestigious post- secondary institutions in Canada and the world, and have gone on to successfully pursue their passions in a wide variety of fields. They have made contributions on the local, national and international stage—good caring people equipped to do important work. Their achievements fortify us with the confidence to build on the solid foundation of the school’s greatest strengths.

However, the world is rapidly changing, and we must have the courage to make bold choices. We must articulate a clear direction and focus that differentiates and strengthens our position in the landscape of independent schools and ensures we understand how best to meet the needs of our students (now and in the future).

Vision. Direction. Focus. represents a comprehensive process of research, consultation, reflection, assessment and exploration of challenges and opportunities, including the voices of over 1,200 individuals from within our LCS community—parents, alumni, staff and students. It outlines Lakefield’s vision and aspirations for the coming years, and the direction in which we are headed.

Now is the time for rebuilding and bold thinking. Lakefield’s success over the years has been supported by a very large community who have been extraordinarily generous with their time, wisdom and support. Engagement with The Grove is strong again. Today the school has the highest endowment per student among peer schools and the highest alumni giving participation rate among peer schools. We are incredibly proud of our community—our staff and students in particular!—and we are excited about our momentum moving forward.

Sincerely,

Anne-Marie Kee
Head of School and Foundation

Our Mission

To challenge and enable students to reach their individual potential in mind, body and spirit.

At Lakefield College School,

our commitment to, and respect for, our natural environment and the outdoors (we have one of the largest waterfront campuses of independent schools in Canada), our strong values- based community and our program which focusses on a balanced education of the whole student have long differentiated us from the other independent schools in Canada. The Grove experience holds a special place in the hearts and minds of generations of graduates who consistently reference our kind, caring community, spectacular natural surroundings and passionate optimism in the value and potential of each individual as some of the school’s greatest strengths. Exceptional relationships exist among students, their teachers and advisors, within a safe, secure and rich learning environment that provides an opportunity to live and thrive in an atmosphere of trust. These are foundational to the Grove experience, have a lasting impact on our graduates, and will not change.
The question is not what will we need to change. The real question is, what will we need to preserve?

As we look to the future,

our research reminds us that graduates will also need to be innovative, adaptable, resilient and passionate with a desire to continually learn and develop the attributes and skills needed for a rapidly changing world. The majority will forge their own unique career paths, which will change direction multiple times throughout their lifetime. They must be prepared. They must be able to communicate well, have the ability to collaborate, analyse and synthesize new ideas and share them in a meaningful way. These, in addition to the development of other core character competencies will ensure future graduates remain relevant, resilient and brave.

As we consider our historic roots, our differentiating strengths and the challenges we face, our path forward is clear.

Vision. Direction. Focus.

outlines our commitment to delivering an experience that will support our mission: to challenge and enable students to reach their individual potential in mind, body and spirit. We will leverage our unique strengths: our focus on each individual and their potential, our unique and powerful natural environment, and our amazing community, to craft transformative experiences that will help students to discover their best true selves—preparing them for university and life.
After careful consideration we realized our mission and values were timeless and foundational, as relevant today as they ever were.

Our Values

Lakefield College School’s progressive and caring community is committed to a process of learning and growth in an environment that embraces and instills the following seven values:

List of 7 items.

  • Education of the Whole Person

    A commitment to the broad development of the intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual and physical qualities needed to lead a fulfilling life

  • Trust

    A shared belief in the moral strength, character and reliability of each member of our community that results in feelings of mutual confidence and mutual respect

  • Healthy, Caring Community

    The belief in the dignity and worth of all individuals. We embrace diversity; we encourage empathy, acceptance and a balanced lifestyle

  • Individuality

    By celebrating the unique gifts and qualities brought by the individual to the community, we encourage the development of personal values in the context of responsibility to the community and to oneself

  • Learning

    By engaging in a variety of meaningful learning experiences, LCS encourages curiosity, promotes collaborative problem solving, and instills an enduring passion for life-long learning

  • Citizenship

    Through service to others and the development of leadership skills, we encourage our students to become thoughtful, constructive and contributing members of the local and global community

  • Environmental Stewardship

    Through our unique campus and programs, our students are inspired to become leaders with a commitment to global environmental stewardship

Our Vision

Our vision is to inspire teenagers to become leaders who care, connect and contribute.
We aspire to be internationally recognized for crafting transformative experiences that deliver on our commitment to Authentic Learning, Community First and Outdoors Every Day.
We believe transformative experiences are essential for personal growth and occur when our students’ ways of thinking and being are positively challenged through new experiences, the acquisition of knowledge and the time to reflect individually and as a community.

We know, better than anyone else, the specific needs of our students because we are one of the only boarding schools in Canada to specialize exclusively in educating teenagers.

LCS leaders confidently pursue their passions with meaning and purpose. They are reflective, ethical and caring individuals who openly share their strengths and talents with others.
LCS leaders are encouraged, through a process of self-discovery, to embrace their individuality and discover their passions—to care for themselves and their world.

LCS leaders learn to connect by developing meaningful relationships with each other, their teachers and their community, and by having a personal connection to their learning—fueled by open communication, an appreciation of diverse ideas and perspectives and the ability to work together to solve any problem.

LCS leaders acquire the habits and practices necessary to thrive. They are optimistic and energized individuals who contribute to their communities, build great ideas, and inspire teams, no matter where they find themselves.

Our Direction

Four goals will guide us:
Authentic Learning
Outdoors Every Day
Community First
Strength and Permanence

Authentic Learning

—to deliver an experiential program of self-discovery that will equip students for life
We are committed to delivering unique learning experiences which purposefully engage our students in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop our students’ capacity to contribute to their communities in a meaningful way. Caring and committed faculty and staff work together to help students discover their strengths and shape their own personal path, preparing them for university and life. Through personal challenge and support, students discover their own best self. A balanced experiential program of academics, co-curriculars and student life, coupled with incredible opportunities, stretches LCS students to develop their full potential.

Desired Outcomes:

List of 4 items.

  • 1.

    We will be known for strength and innovation in our programs founded on university-style interdisciplinary and experiential learning methods such as Harkness and Advanced Placement

  • 2.

    A balanced co-curricular program of arts, athletics and meaningful service learning will be intentionally designed to inspire student engagement and align with our overall learning goals

  • 3.

    The student experience will be guided by leadership structures designed to support progressive independence, student voice and responsibility and feature unique “exploration” experiences by grade

  • 4.

    Students will have the opportunity to discover and explore their unique learning passions while charting their own path through a personalized learning program

Outdoors Every Day

—to deepen our connections with, and responsibility to, nature and the outdoors
Lakefield College School has one of the largest waterfront campuses among Canadian boarding schools providing our students with unique  access to an incredible natural environment. By embracing the challenges and learning opportunities that interacting with the natural world offers, our students benefit mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. With programs that leverage our outstanding surroundings, LCS students are naturally inspired to reflect, to share, to innovate, to lead—to be their best—all while deepening their connections with, and responsibility to, nature and the outdoors.

Desired Outcomes

List of 4 items.

  • 1.

    Environmental stewardship will be integrated into all of our programs including our academic, THRIVE and Leadership, Character and Values programs

  • 2.

    As a community we will be more aware of our impact on the
    environment and will be actively reducing our ecological footprint

  • 3.

    We will provide a range of unique curricular and co-curricular experiences that leverage the strengths of our two campuses and ensure our students will be outdoors every day in all four seasons

  • 4.

    We will become known as Canada’s leading outdoor experiential school

Community First

—to strengthen the relationship with our local and global community
LCS is strengthened by the breadth and depth of perspectives brought by its community. Relationships are cornerstones of the Lakefield experience and students have an amazing global community from which to draw. Students develop deep and meaningful connections with teachers and advisors, mentors and classmates, helping them learn from every new challenge while strengthening their understanding and commitment to building a better world through their local and global communities. Students and alumni see our emphasis on community as an important benefit— developing lifelong friendships and connections  around the world. We believe our alumni, current parents and alumni parents are all a vital and engaged part of this community.

Desired Outcomes

List of 4 items.

  • 1.

    We will be known for our healthy, caring, community and
    strong connections between all of our students – day and boarding, Canadian and international. We will reenvision our House Model with integrated day and boarding students,
    as well as faculty and staff

  • 2.

    We will be known for our commitment to inclusivity and will
    have places and spaces on our campus that foster inclusion and the gathering of our full community

  • 3.

    We will be seen as a meaningful contributor within the local and global community

  • 4.

    We will have greater connections with outside experts (alumni, parents,community)

Strength & Permanence

—to support the strength and permanence of our school
To support our goals, we must pay attention to a number of fundamentals. In a fast-changing world and increasingly competitive marketplace we want to attract the best students in the world, regardless of their socio-economic status, and we cannot take anything for granted. We recognize that to support the strength and permanence of our school for future generations we need to build on the legacy of generosity from the past, and address a number of areas for the future.

Desired Outcomes

List of 6 items.

  • 1.

    We will make a Lakefield education more accessible to deserving students who can benefit from and contribute to our mission

  • 2.

    We will build greater awareness, locally and globally, of our unique strengths

  • 3.

    The size and shape of our school will be structured so that we can attract day and boarding students by offering the right balance between breadth and depth of programs and sustaining our sense of community

  • 4.

    Our facilities will be upgraded to respond to changing student needs and to ensure we are competitive (particular priorities include our houses, learning spaces and dining hall)

  • 5.

    We will have a diverse group of talented employees who have the skills and mindset to support a transformative student experience and meet the challenges we entrust to them

  • 6.

    There will be evidence of great leadership, governance and partnership among the volunteer and staff leaders of our school and foundation

Implementation

—key elements to explore to fulfill desired outcomes
As we consider further the strategic choices that lie ahead of us, we have already begun undertaking a number of steps to assess and understand  what is required to achieve these directions:

List of 5 items.

  • 1. Financial Modeling:

    with a focus on serving the needs of our students, exploring ideal size and composition of our student body, and growing our financial assistance program

  • 2. Academic and Co-curricular Programs:

    we are developing the best models in the world that offer support, flexibility and enrichment. We want to be known for challenging and enabling our diverse student body, in and out of the classroom

  • 3. Intentional Focus on Relationships and Community:

    strengthening our House Model; developing opportunities for a transformative parent experience and investing in our teachers, while ensuring our caring culture remains strong

  • 4. Campus Master Planning:

    addressing our facilities gap (houses, dining hall, inspirational learning and meeting spaces); shifting to “one campus” model—meaning we will leverage Northcote

  • 5. LCS Foundation Strategic Plan:

    aligning the school’s strategic directions and the development of the LCS Foundation Strategic Plan.

School Information

4391 County Road 29, Lakefield Ontario K0L 2H0   705.652.3324   admissions@lcs.on.ca

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Lakefield College School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12, located in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.

We respectfully acknowledge that Lakefield College School is located on the Treaty 20 Michi Saagiig territory and in the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig and Chippewa Nations, collectively known as the Williams Treaties First Nations, which include: Curve Lake, Hiawatha, Alderville, Scugog Island, Rama, Beausoleil, and Georgina Island First Nations. Lakefield College School respectfully acknowledges that the Williams Treaties First Nations are the stewards and caretakers of these lands and waters in perpetuity and that they continue to maintain this responsibility to ensure their health and integrity for generations to come.


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