our BLOG

Our approach to acceptance at Walden - Everyone is welcome here.

The commitment is not just a pretty sign we hang on our doors and in our classrooms. It’s a daily reminder that we must always respect and show support to all students, staff and their families. We teach our students and remind ourselves that we acknowledge each other's differences, and acknowledge the humanity of someone raised to think differently from us.

That we do not agree to disagree but accept that differences exist, which is what makes us all unique.

Imagine what our society could become if each of us actively took our principles to the street, if we each contributed in some small way to making our neighbourhood a better place to live for every one of us, if we took action that would improve the lives of those around us - near and far.

The world is full of young people who, with the right mix of determination and willpower, can effect change at the local level. They begin with one issue they’re passionate about, then find small, local ways to organize and find solutions to the problem.

Proactive in fostering student achievement, we recognize wellness as an essential pillar of education. Students take part daily in mindfulness activities, which is a mandate of our program. Evidence suggests that introducing mindful meditation into the classroom is an effective means of improving attention and emotional regulation. We recognize the importance of encouraging and modelling a healthy lifestyle that includes mindfulness, which will prepare students for success.

Watching our students unplug made me realize with even greater clarity that unplugging helps our kids develop social skills. It helps them (and us!) focus on human-to-human relationships that make life meaningful.

Our world is complex, noisy and ‌very confusing, but the nature of life is not.

This summer, make some ‘me time’ and enjoy the view.

The best of your life is happening right in front of you.

I won’t claim to be prescient, however, when we founded Walden we knew we had to offer programmes and an environment that would enable our young students to find their places in this world and build capabilities that would allow them to adapt and excel in a new world order.

It should come as no surprise then that we pursued International Baccalaureate accreditation for our Primary Years Programme (PYP) and that we have also sought qualification to deliver the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).

Faced with the overwhelming problems with which modern society is confronted, it’s too easy to think that our voice is irrelevant in the larger scheme and our efforts will be sucked up in a black hole of indifference.

However, when we look into history, we find ‌the opposite is true.

Let’s throw out a few names here, and you consider how they affected real and lasting global change by exerting influence that none of them could have planned when they began their journey.

An intimate awareness of the world we share is fundamental to our entire philosophy. It underpins our curriculum, our pedagogy and even our name. We’re often asked why we chose the name Walden. Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, our school is committed to fostering independent, self-reliant learners in a nature-centric environment.

Our mandate is to model for our students the merits of subscribing to an unadorned approach to living while developing a…

If we are collectively going to have success in creating a broader community of understanding it will require each of us to take a role in ensuring that the errors of the past serve as points of learning and provide points of light in moving forward.

I recently read an observation by Marie Wilson who was a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner. Here’s what she related, “We have been investing in our collective ignorance, and we have to stop.”

At Walden we always try to provide a broad outlook on how we look at the issues we all face from a communal perspective. Put as simply as possible we instil in our students the understanding that for one of us to move forward does not suggest that someone else must be held back. It’s confirming the belief that aspects of history are hard to understand within the context of today’s world and that there are issues that require us to heal.

The central purpose of the entire Walden community was and is to ensure that our students and your children, beyond benefitting from a complete and purposeful IB programme, discover that out of goodness arises greatness.

It means teaching children that the world is about much more than the achievement of high marks and the accomplishment of standardized goals.

It means recognizing each child as an individual with their own needs, interests, talents and abilities.

One of the fundamental principles we embrace at Walden International School is this: to help yourself, start by helping others.

It’s a profoundly simple concept and yet it’s one that we all struggle with from time to time. At this time of year when we pile on extra stress while preparing for holidays and various celebrations it’s easy to get wrapped up in the hurly burly. When that happens, whether we’re a kid or a grown up, some of our best basic instincts (generosity, compassion, patience) can vanish and some of our…

If I ask our youngest students these questions I can safely predict that every one of them will answer - yes!

If I ask a selection of adults I can also safely predict that most of them will respond - not really but I’d like to.

It’s one of the real misfortunes of the traditional education system that most of us have our creative spirit dampened in favour of achieving subjective standards of …

We care deeply about making a better world and if we have the inspiration and ability to influence even a few families to take action we will move forward. We all - parents, teachers, staff, students - have an obligation to give back. We all have a responsibility to make small, incremental change at a grassroots level to explore the realities of our history, to learn and to continuously explore methods to implement forward movement even if just in our neighbourhoods.

In preparing this post I spent some time getting up to date on the latest literature on initiatives and innovations in the education sector. I read materials from Harvard, University of California at Berkeley and Northeastern University in Boston. There’s no shortage of perspectives and approaches and what really stood out to me was where most of these studies coalesce.

I am a sports fan. I support and cheer mightily for our local team (including the Leafs). But my most spirited enthusiasm is reserved for my son and daughter who are both exceptional athletes.

And, while we suspended varsity sports at Walden due to COVID restrictions, we do ensure that our Walden Wolves have every opportunity to engage in a variety of sporting activities as part of their formative education.

In the old days, for example the summer of 2018, we would approach the end of school and the summer holiday as a time to hit the road, travel to the cottage, visit friends and relatives in far-flung locations, accompany our kids to baseball tournaments and similar activities.

Now, we’re looking at staycations and the most exciting travel we might enjoy is from the front door to the backyard!

We envision a future where we can all focus on what really matters and as we emerge from the pandemic making a commitment that we won’t return to what we previously defined as ‘normal’.
Together, we can absolutely influence change for good that will infuse our friends, our family and co-workers with a commitment to goodness…