Story appeared in the 2020 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.

BY HAYLEY PICARD, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING

Canadian author, Louise Penny, has said, “Life is change. If you aren’t growing and evolving, you’re standing still and the rest of the world is surging ahead.”

Natalia Stewart, QMS Director of Admissions

It was this premise that brought the QMS leadership team and Board of Governors to a strategic cross roads in 2018. Their work resulted in setting the School on a path that has shown tremendous success, ensuring we are not standing still—instead, positioning QMS at the forefront of the crowd as the world surges forward.

As we enter our second year with a whole-school all gender population, QMS Director of Admissions, Natalia Stewart, acknowledges that continual recruitment growth is a direct result of this strategic shift.

“Along with opening our doors to all genders, we have been provided with the opportunity to enhance our evolution in academics, athletics, the arts, experiential learning, clubs and sports teams,” she outlines. “In the future, we will expand our athletics program to hopefully include mountain biking, golf, tennis, racquet ball, men’s volleyball, wrestling, Senior School field hockey and skiing. It will be exciting!”

This growth mindset inspired Natalia during her recruitment meetings with families around the world, where she saw a relatively untapped market niche—language and cultural exploration. In collaboration with Head of School, David Robertson, and her Admissions team, they have created the QMS Prep Program. This program is designed to prepare mission appropriate students in Grades 8–10 who normally would not have the opportunity to study in Canada due to language barriers. “It will be outstanding for non-English speaking students to have a Canadian experience at a high level academic institution where they can engage in education and learn our culture through excursions and activities outside of the school,” explains Natalia. “They will develop meaningful friendships with our students and be streamlined into the regular school year once their language skills have been developed to a level that will set them up for success.”

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The first cohort of six to eight students for this one-year pilot program is marked to open in February 2021, with the second intake scheduled for September 2021. “I’m excited about giving families and students the opportunity to experience Canada and our community,” she adds. “Our ability to work with families on such a personal level makes us stand out. Helping them achieve their dream of post-secondary education in North America is one of our goals.”

Along with the QMS Prep Program, came the launch of a new Boarding Program model. The updated program allows for school faculty to be embedded in the residential life of our young boarders as teachers and on-site house parents, providing more dedicated pastoral care. “This model is a departure for QMS, but a timely one,” clarifies Natalia. “We constantly see the deeper benefits to an all-around holistic care model. It will better prepare them for university, provide them with life skills to be self-sufficient and become engaged members of the community. With a smaller boarding population re-starting in September this year due to COVID-19, international study permit challenges and boarder restrictions, it provides us with a unique opportunity. We now have time to transition smoothly with a new team into a newly built supportive framework and new model that is guided by unprecedented health restrictions.”

The growth in the number of students wanting to attend QMS has also meant the need for additional campus facilities. When visitors step onto our campus, the largest visual change is the ongoing construction of Phase II of The Learning Centre. This building features over 18,000 square feet of additional open concept educational classrooms, expanded areas for the arts, innovative design and learning spaces and community gathering areas. All welcome changes at a time when physical distancing is of utmost importance for our community’s ongoing health and safety.

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Though the global pandemic delayed the completion of this building to the spring of 2021, QMS pivoted to ensure the installation of several new state-of-the-art portable classrooms. They will provide more room for both our Junior and Senior School classes.

Many of these bright, airy units have their own washrooms and sinks, and large windows that face towards our enchanted forest and Equestrian Centre.

Another exciting project this summer was the completion of a brand new Early Childhood Education Centre for our Preschool and Junior Kindergarten programs, complete with a new playground. “This building opening this fall will be a positive way for us to begin a new school year after a strange end to the previous one,” admits Natalia.
For our Equestrian Program coaches and teachers, the dream of a round pen will also be realized this fall. Located behind the Equestrian Office, this open air round pen will provide athletes and trainers the ability to lunge horses in a sheltered area, and the design allows for a safe environment for our Equine Facilitated Leadership Development (EFLD) Program to execute learning opportunities for all QMS students.

As our world continues to change every day, we will persist in assessing additional exciting changes to QMS’s educational and physical landscape, in our effort to successfully evolve and grow. in assessing additional exciting changes to QMS’s educational and physical landscape, in our effort to successfully evolve and grow.

Where Do We Grow From Here?

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