Welcome from the Head of School

Transformation: A Necessity in Our Commitment to Excellence

HTS transforms lives.

HTS is a world-class learning ecosystem that inspires individuals to live their best self. By providing an inclusive environment where learners experience selfdiscovery and connection, HTS allows individuals to ignite, explore and fulfill their curiosity. HTS knows that transforming lives transforms the world — this is both our purpose and promise.

Learning is a journey not a destination. HTS’s strategic aspirations offer a vision and tools to design learning experiences that foster intellectually agile problem-solvers with a strong ethical foundation ready to make an impact on the world. These competencies enable learners to thrive in all aspects of their life. We prepare our students for more than the next milestone; we prepare them to embrace all the moments that await them. As we modernize learning experiences for our learners, we ensure that they flourish. When human flourishing is the priority of our learning ecosystems, students journey towards becoming the best version of themselves making the world a better place for all.

As an educational leader, HTS continues to be bold in its quest to transform learning. To truly transform systems, one needs to take a multifaceted approach transforming experiences, spaces, pedagogy and practice. So, as we look to the future, HTS will build relevant, personalized, accessible and impactful learning environments for learners and leaders, both young and adult. HTS’s global learning community will not only transform learning at our Richmond Hill campus, its impact will break through borders and boundaries, giving access to more learners.

This year, we launched the HTS Learning Network, which consists of three key pillars that function separately but are deeply interconnected in vision, purpose and organizational values: Holy Trinity School Richmond Hill, HTS Global Online Campus and the Centre for Transformative Learning and Leadership. With this innovation, we are transforming both in-person and online learning, and through our Centre for Transformative Learning and Leadership, we will support the modernization and development of educators and leaders across industries and the globe.

The sentiment “That’s the way we’ve always done it” brings comfort and safety sometimes the easiest path forward. However, the past two years have tested our resilience, forcing all of us, worldwide, to change and be more flexible and adaptable. At HTS, we have never gone backwards or been satisfied with what was. We have always moved forward towards where we aspire to go forward in our commitment to transform the lives of those we serve in the most impactful ways. HTS has been on a transformational journey to redefine learning for over ten years and, as with all change, it takes time, commitment and cohesion to be realized. Change is a process, not a single event or moment. As leaders from classroom leaders right up to myself as a system leader our role is to manage the transition from the current state to the future state. We have been building towards the school we are today one at the convergence of leaping into the future, while honouring our history and traditions of academic excellence and character development. practices’ lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried.” Our call to action is to stop simply tweaking around the edges and begin charting new paths to explore, to are charting new pathways and leading the learning every step of the way.

Enjoy the collection of articles in this edition of Corridors highlighting the ways HTS is a leader, how we’re illuminating paths not yet taken and setting the course to impact learning and the lives of learners here at HTS and soon across the world, as we launch our online campus in 2023.

Yours in learning,

We aspire to an educational experience that is rooted in deep, healthy and joyful relationships with our learners, while breaking all the barriers of where, what, how and when we learn. Students need to believe in and be committed to their learning, while educators and support staff act as coaches encouraging students and providing them with opportunities to learn knowledge, competencies and mindset that will support them in achieving their goals.

Here is what we know: learning cannot take an “either/or” stance or single modality; it is not a dichotomy. No person learns the same way, so no single approach to learning will be impactful for every learner. We need robust, dynamic and differentiated approaches that honour the diversity of the incredible humans whom schools are privileged to serve. Peter Thiel wrote, “Today’s ‘best try, reflect and iterate, until these paths are right for the learners we serve. A world-class learning ecosystem grows and nurtures impactful systems and programs that, in turn, foster impactful citizens who make this world a better place.

Our students are ready and they are flourishing! They want to engage with the world in authentic and meaningful ways they want to be the changemakers of tomorrow. They also want to make the world a better place now. HTS is on a strategic pathway to empower them in this learning journey, showcasing all of their potential to the world.

Our staff are also ready and they are leading the way! They continue to evolve their instructional design, and assessment and evaluation practices, while leveraging technology to make learning more adaptable, flexible and connected across all boundaries. HTS staff

Helen Pereira-Raso Head of School