Year: 2012

Last week was the American Presidential election. While the evening itself produced a race that wasn’t very close when all was said and done, the notion of an election is an intriguing one. We “elect” many things in our lives. We choose acts and omissions.

Every family at our school has elected be a part of our community and to entrust us with the care and education of their child. On a smaller scale, that’s as daunting as a population electing someone to serve in an office, such as President. It’s a trust that we take very, very seriously.

When we elect to do something, we also elect not to do something else. When schools in Ontario elect not to give parents of students with suspected learning disabilities the timely testing and Individualized Education Plan that they are legally entitled to receive, they are electing not to serve the needs of Ontario families.

Throughout our history at The Academy, we have elected the opposite. We have always served our populations quickly, thoroughly, passionately. From where we sit, it’s the only thing we can elect to do, given that these are families and teenagers often in dire straits. To elect to do anything less would be to elect not to serve our school’s mission, and that’s an election day you will never see at The Academy.

Perhaps you should elect to give us a call and see the school. You’re always welcome.

Don Adams, Head of School

On Sunday morning at 02.00, those of us who were awake set our clocks back an hour at just the right moment. We do that every fall and to remember whether to move ahead or behind, we learned “Spring Ahead, Fall Back” in school.

I don’t like the idea of ever falling back – I think that we should always endeavour to Spring Ahead. It’s a good thing that I’m not responsible for setting our clocks or for teaching students to remember that phrase.

Daylight Savings Time is actually observed in around 70 countries, though it was and remains something US-driven. The idea behind the concept was that it saved electricity. More recent US studies show that Daylight Savings Time may actually increase the amount of electricity used, though this may be state-specific.

Maybe Daylight Savings Time is akin to what we all-too-often do in schools. We look at the information available to us at a given moment and make a decision. We rarely take a fresh look at that decision (say, the idea of putting school desks in neatly-ordered rows), electing instead to just move forward and let the status quo congeal.

I’m wondering aloud how many of the historical decisions we have made in and about schools are ripe for re-examination. Not necessarily a major overhaul (though, of course, many are) but a reasonably gentle tweaking, like moving a clock back or forward by an hour.

What things would you suggest?

Don Adams, Head of School