One of the best things about our school is that we are able to host students throughout the entire span of their school careers.  There are quite a few benefits of K – 12 schools; increased retention of skills, decreased anxiety of transitions from elementary to high school, and a feeling of community are just a few of them.

But those are cold and academic facts.  Let’s look at something closer to the heart of why K-12 schooling is important — the relationships that we are able to build between older and younger students.

Here’s what one of our Mums recently wrote on facebook:

When I tell friends in larger centers that my kids go to a K-12 school, they express concern “aren’t you worried about the older kids exposing your kids to bad language/smoking/sex/drugs/etc” THIS is what my kids are exposed to! Older kids who run gym class during their leadership class, reading buddies, mentors and much more! My kids are lucky to be in such a great school! (Ignore the kinda grumpy look on K’s face… She’s really quite lovely and my kids adore her…[My daughter] has plans of making her her sister-in-law!!)

I can’t think of anything that better illustrates the way our older and younger students work together to teach each other important lessons that go beyond the textbook.  Our K-12 students are learning about leadership, mentoring, and social responsibility in authentic and meaningful ways.  And that is an education that’s worth its weight in gold.