Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School


Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School is a private university prep school in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada. It has students in Grades K to 12. Its Grade 12 provincial exam scores are consistently some of the most highly ranked in the province. Strathcona-Tweedsmuir is Southern Alberta's first full IB World School, and Alberta's only independent school authorized to deliver IB Programmes in Grades 1 through 12. Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School ranks well in the annual Fraser Institute surveys. Strathcona is also an active participator in the CESI program, and often volunteers teachers for inter-school evaluatory interaction. STS is also a member of Round Square and CAIS.

History

The school opened in September 1971 as the result of the amalgamation of two of Calgary's oldest independent schools – Strathcona School for Boys and Tweedsmuir: An Academic School for Girls. St. Hilda's School preceded Tweedsmuir School for Girls.
In 2003, seven students from the school were killed in an avalanche in British Columbia while on a skiing trip. The students were on a school ski trip on Mount Cheops near Revelstoke when the avalanche occurred. Out of the seventeen skiers involved in the avalanche, ten were rescued. Despite the incident, Strathcona Tweedsmuir School has not abandoned its outdoor education program, which is mandatory for grades 7-9 students and optional for grade 10 students.
In late 2015, Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School announced a 27 million dollar expansion of the school that began in the summer of 2016 and was completed in 2018. The new facilities include a new elementary wing, renovated cafeteria, new fine arts spaces, and new performing arts spaces. This expansion, co-designed by Fielding Nair International and Group2 Architecture Interior Design Ltd., won a 2019 Association for Learning Environments LEsolutions Renovation / Major Addition Award.
STS welcomed its first Kindergarten class in September 2017.

Educational divisions

At STS, students take mandatory standardized provincial tests in Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12.
For Grades 11 and 12, students have the option between full IB Diploma, a mix of IB and Alberta Diploma or just Alberta Diploma. All students, including full IB students are required to write the standardized Alberta Diploma Exams.
STS is authorized to offer Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and IB Diploma. The IB Diploma courses include Biology HL, Biology SL, Chemistry HL, Chemistry SL, Economics HL, English A1 HL, French Ab. SL, French B SL, History HL, History SL, Mathematics HL, Mathematics SL, Physics SL, Spanish Ab. SL, Spanish B SL, Music SL, Theatre Arts SL and Theory of Knowledge.

Student life

Athletics

Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School places high value on athletics. Students can participate in solo sports like long distance running, short distance running, golf, javelin, shot-put, high jump, and long jump, or team sports like badminton, basketball, field hockey, rugby, and volleyball.

Fine and performing arts

Students in Grades 1-6 are offered a variety of curricular and co-curricular music programs including choir, handbell choir, and musical productions. In the Elementary art program students are introduced to drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and woodworking projects.
Grade 7 fine arts students take one full year of performing arts, exploring equally the disciplines of drama and music.
Grade 8 fine arts students take one semester of visual art and one semester of performing arts.
Grade 9 fine arts students are offered a choice of three arts disciplines which are visual art, drama and music. Choosing their two preferred courses, students pursue each for one semester.
Students in Grades 10-12 are offered instrumental music, visual art, drama, and film studies as well as fine arts co-curricular programs including choir, musical productions, jazz band, jazz combo, and art club.

Speech and debate

STS offers speech and debate clubs to all students from Grades 7-12 and, led by Lennard Fink, has one of the top speech and debate programs in the country. STS also requires that all students Grade 7-12 participate in an event called Speech Day each year in March, where the students perform in various speech events in front of their peers.

Model United Nations

Student delegates in Grades 9-12 join model international organizations and represent their assigned country's position on given global issues.

Round Square

STS is a member of Round Square. The IDEALS of Round Square serve as the framework for STS' curricular and co-curricular programs.

Reach for the Top

STS has a Reach for the Top program available for students at the junior, intermediate, and senior levels. STS regularly places highly in the Alberta Provincial Tournament and has attended the Canadian National Championships twice, finishing as high as 6th overall nationally.

Outdoor education

Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School has an outdoor education program involving various outdoor activities, typically a different activity each year for Grade 4s and up. Grade 10 students can take OE15, a class with several outdoor trips, as an elective.

Educational technology

STS technology immersion program begins in Grade 6. Students in Grades 6 to 9 are required to rent a School prescribed notebook computer for their personal use. Senior School students are required to bring their own device.
The school also provides a BYOD WiFi network that allows all students to connect a maximum of three devices to WiFi.

Foreign Exchange Program

STS offers an exchange program for students in grades 7 and 10. Grade 10 exchanges generally last between six and twelve weeks.

Heads of school