Located on Vancouver Island,
on what has been described as “the most beautiful campus in Canada,” is Shawnigan Lake School, a university
preparatory school offering students from Grades 8 to 12 a unique approach to boarding and education.
“There are so many teachable moments that come from the whole range of what we offer as a modern boarding
school,” explains headmaster David Robertson. “Boarding creates so many more available time slots and
situations. It’s not uncommon for students to be in a music building practicing from 9 to 10 o’clock at
night.”
Three hundred and ninety-three boarding students share their campus with 50 day students, although there is
little distinction between the two. Day students stay on campus until 10 at night, when curfew requires that
boarders return to their dormitories.
They take part in what Robertson refers to as “the life of the school,” and are always present on Saturdays —
and often on Sundays.
Boarders are mostly Canadian, with 21% being international, ranging from backgrounds as diverse as Russia,
Germany, Saudi Arabia and the United States. “They aren’t just exchange students,” says Robertson. “They’re
coming to graduate.”
Shawnigan students are
offered a uniquely personal approach to learning. They are each paired with an advisor who tracks their
progress. Students and advisors meet daily, and formally each week. Advisors communicate marks and effort
ratings to students and parents. Every six weeks, all advisors and staff meet to discuss every
student’s progress. “It enhances that sense of the individual,” Robertson explains. “When I highlight a name,
a picture goes up on the screen. It’s important to know who everybody is.”
This individualized
approach ensures that all students are actively prepared for university life by tracking their progress and
ensuring that they are immediately aware of areas that need improvement.
The Shawnigan campus itself also prepares students for university by placing different courses in different
buildings across the school’s beautiful property. This mimics the standard format of university grounds, with
the added bonus of spectacular surroundings.
The natural campus sets
Shawnigan apart; students enjoy a broad range of educational and community programs that are unique to their
300-acre “schoolyard.” For example, students are involved in creating nature trails throughout the property.
These trails are peppered with educational signs about the surrounding vegetation. The Grade 9 science
curriculum includes a forest management component; the school hosts its own composting facility, students
take part in a salmon hatchery and, recently, students planted 21,000 trees.
In the heart of the
Shawnigan campus is a chapel, where students meet bi-weekly. “I want students to go out of the chapel
actually feeling something. There’s a joy, a sense of unity,” says Robertson. “We sing. We sing loudly. The
kids go away from here and they never forget the singing.”
Prayers, readings from diverse religious texts, and speeches from teachers and students make the chapel a
gathering place that welcomes all faiths. On one occasion, a boarding student from Alberta presented his
peers with his story about a horrific skiing accident that left him in a coma. His miraculous recovery made a
meaningful impression on fellow students and faculty in the chapel that morning.
“He told us his story,”
says Robertson. “And then we sang ‘Amazing Grace’… loudly.” •
Photos courtesy of Shawnigan Lake
School
