Teacher Collaboration
Collaboration is one of the core values at Eastgate Academy. One of the ways that it is evident in the life of the school is the way that teachers collaborate with each other to support students students’ social, emotional and intellectual growth.
How are we doing?
Monitoring students’ progress is an essential part of teaching and learning. Teachers continuously monitor students’ knowledge and skills so that they can design learning experiences that will help them to refine their skills and extend their knowledge. Likewise, teachers monitor the impact of those learning experiences to determine which approaches are most effective for their […]
Safe, fair and fun
As I write, students are outside playing as part of our co-curricular program. They have made a basketball hoop by climbing into the tree to tie a hula hoop to a tree branch using a skipping rope. While this particular game is a new creation, this is just one of many examples of students using […]
Balancing the Risks and Rewards
The idea of balancing risks and rewards has been on my mind constantly since New Year’s Eve. That’s when the government of New Brunswick announced that public school students would be learning online for at least the first two weeks of the winter term. I was in British Columbia at the time, where the approach […]
Just in case learning vs. just in time learning
One of the ways that I think about curriculum design is the balance of just-in-case learning and just-in-time learning. Just-in-case learning is what I was accustomed to when I was in school: subject-matter experts had compiled a list of topics in their field that students should learn, just in case they needed it in their […]
Finding the right balance
During my masters program, my classmates and I did an exercise in which we each identified 3 strengths we had as a leader. I think I chose qualities like being analytical, reflective and reliable…. but that was only the beginning of the exercise. The next step – which I found much more challenging – was […]
Investing in education
If you’re wondering whether the cost of private school tuition is worth it, you’re not alone. Having worked in private schools for over 15 years, I am often asked that question. It’s a hard one to answer because each family’s situation is unique, as are their goals for their child’s education; however, over the course […]
Universal Design for Learning
A common misconception about private schools and International Baccalaureate (IB) schools is that they are only for talented students. While that may be the case for some private schools, at Eastgate Academy we believe that all students are capable of succeeding academically. Rather than designing our admissions process to filter out all but the most […]
Making the most of mixed-age groups
One of the most frequently asked questions from prospective Eastgate parents is how we meet the needs of all our students in mixed-age classes. How do we make sure that grade 6 students are doing work that is suitably challenging, while also making sure that the work is accessible to grade 4 students? It is, […]
Reflections from the first milestone
This morning, the students and I were remembering something we had discussed in the first week of school… and we all had a hard time believing it has been less than six weeks since the school year – and the school itself – started. In some ways, the daily life of the school feels so […]
Autonomy, mastery and purpose
It’s been over 10 years since Daniel Pink’s book Drive got us all thinking about the role of autonomy, mastery and purpose in fostering intrinsic motivation. Though the buzz around his book has died down, the importance of autonomy, mastery and purpose continue to resonate with me, both in the classroom and beyond. While the […]
Teaching for understanding
One of the primary goals of teaching and learning at Eastgate Academy is to help students develop a deep understanding of the topics and disciplines that they study. In addition to learning relevant facts and skills, students will learn to connect facts and topics to broader themes and concepts. For example, students may study body […]
Inquiry-based Learning
Teaching and learning at Eastgate Academy will be based on inquiry. This means that students’ curiosity is central to teaching and learning and is intentionally cultivated. Students develop the ability to observe the world around them, ask questions about what they notice, and pursue answers by gathering, evaluating and synthesizing information. Inquiry-based teaching helps children […]
The Benefits of Bilingualism
Eastgate Academy is committed to helping students to become bilingual in English and French as a way to reflect the heritage and cultures of New Brunswick, and so that students can enjoy the benefits of bilingualism. There are many obvious benefits to bilingualism. When you are fluent in more than one language, you have more […]
Our Admissions Process
Our admissions process is a chance for students, families and teachers to determine if Eastgate Academy is the right fit. It is a two-way process: we want to make sure that your child can flourish in our school with the kinds support that we provide, but we also want to help you to understand what […]
Why private school?
One of the things that surprised me when I first started teaching in a private school was how often people would ask me whether private school is worth it… worth the effort and worth the expense. It’s not an easy question to answer since every child’s situation is unique both in terms of what they […]
Why MYP?
I have been teaching the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) for most of my teaching career and I can’t imagine teaching any other way. There are some many things that I love about the design of the programme: The programme is well-suited to the age and stage of adolescents. Adolescence is a time of major […]
Why I’m coming to Eastgate
There are so many things that excite me about joining the Eastgate community. First and foremost, I am inspired by the founders’ vision. They saw an opportunity to enrich their community with an exciting new school and have already invested a huge amount of their time and energy to bring their vision to life. The […]
Why use the BC curriculum in New Brunswick?
As an independent school in New Brunswick, Eastgate Academy can set its own curriculum. While the board of directors has committed to establishing the IB programmes at all grade levels, only the IB Diploma Programme (DP) includes a prescribed curriculum. The Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) are both curriculum frameworks through […]