Those looking to establish the Coast Mountain School (CMS) have some lofty goals and they shared those goals and their vision of the future at an information night at Quest University on Tuesday (June 14).
Approximately 60 people packed the second floor of the Quest library building, where founder Geoff Park, founding board member Toran Savjord and Quest University president Dr. David Helfand presented the concepts and particulars behind the school, which has a prospective start date of fall 2012.
"Coast Mountain School was a dream of mine ever since I moved to Squamish," Park said, noting that he's the father of two daughters. "The concept behind the school is to provide an opportunity to graduate the whole student, not only to get kids into postsecondary education but to help them succeed in it and beyond."
Park said working at summer camps and outdoor education centres as he was growing up, he developed a passion for working with youth, which was why he started up Camp Summit 12 years ago. He said by working with several schools, he has been able to see the different programs offered to kids and some of those ideas became a catalyst for the Coast Mountain School concept.
Savjord and Helfand then explained their reasoning behind getting on board with the project. Helfand told a story about the stagnant nature of the American postsecondary education system, saying a student told him "he's paying for a degree, not an education."
"We view education as just jumping over hurdles," Helfand said. "We have commoditized it and we have high-priced versions and low-priced versions and none of it has anything to do with education."
Helfand said the Quest model has produced noteworthy results and that there is no reason it can't work in high school or middle school.
"I think this new school offers us a chance to do something unique and gives us a chance to break out of the conformities that the public system finds itself in," he added.
Park and Savjord then explained the "four key stepping stones" that make up the goals of the school. They included engaging, integrating, enriching and connecting.
The duo defined engaging as having passionate teachers, smaller class sizes and classes taught in a seminar format. Integrating was described as experiential education. Students will have access to Camp Summit and also the most up-to-date classroom technology. Enriching was providing an emphasis on the arts, which Savjord said is missing in public schools. Connecting was defined as creating students who are global citizens.
Helfand then shared more about the relationship between CMS and Quest and why it's beneficial for the university.
"We have facilities here for a campus that can easily hold 650 students on campus and we're building to that goal over a five-year period," he said. "That means we have facilities sitting here completely unused right now."
Helfand also pointed out that with a school like CMS in place, it will be easier for Quest to recruit faculty with families. The new school will also provide Quest students who want to go into the teaching field with the chance to do experiential learning as teacher's aides. Savjord said it could help Quest recruit students.
Park said the official website launch will take place next month, registration will be launched in October and the school will open in September 2012.
The eventual plan for CMS will be to build its own, separate school when Quest reaches capacity. Details still need to be worked out but Helfand speculated the land behind the recreation building would make a suitable site.
The school's curriculum will be a hybrid model of the block program at Quest. Exactly which grades will be offered at the school during the first year is still to be determined, but will depend on demand, officials said. The school also plans to run buses from Whistler, Vancouver and throughout Squamish to get students to the school.
Tuition per student has been tentatively set at $14,000 per year but is subject to change.
For more information on the school, send inquiries via e-mail to [email protected].
