Indirect Support:
For over 40 years, Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School have helped kids build skills and develop tools to be successful throughout their lives. We empower students by unlocking and removing obstacles to learning so that each child can experience personal growth and academic achievement. Our school specializes in educating and growing the confidence of students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities in Grades K - 12 and our approach is designed to develop the whole child.
When Anne Rushforth’s son, Kenneth Gordon, was in grade 5, she overheard his teacher introducing him to another parent as "one of her slow students.” Rushforth bristled, knowing that “he just needed a school to teach him in the way that he learned.” She said, “I decided that there needs to be a school for these children, where they’re understood.” So, in 1973, she built it, naming it after her son, and parents have been thankful to her ever since. She had been a tutor, and noted that, in that setting, often struggling students bloomed. Rushforth then applied the tutorial model to the entire breadth of the curriculum. It included multi-sensory instruction, later the Orton-Gillingham approach, and as digital tools became available, it used those, too. Students would arrive with a poor self concept, having struggled in other settings, and proceed to grow into a new sense of themselves and their capabilities. That’s what the school continues to offer today.
From the review: KGMS is unique, something that the students and families who attend are grateful for. Instruction is empathic, as is the entire environment of the school. The students who enrol enter a community of peers, one comprising students and staff who get them, who share their struggles, and who can relate to their perspectives on the world. “I have friends who like me for who I am,” said Theresa MacIntyre when she was a student in 2014. Her voice breaking, she added: “I feel like I’m wanted here.”
Read The Our Kids Review of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School
Gallery showcasing specific locations and facilities found at Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School.
| Focus | Special needs |
|---|---|
| Academic | Special needs |
DIBELS Testing: This school does not use DIBELS testing to assess reading progress.
| Subject | offered |
|---|---|
| Biology | |
| Chemistry | |
| Ecology | |
| Geology | |
| Meteorology | |
| Physics | |
| Physiology | |
| Zoology |
| Subject | offered |
|---|---|
| Evolution as consensus theory | |
| Evolution as one of many equally viable theories | |
| Evolution is not taught |
| Subject | offered |
|---|---|
| Acting | |
| Dance | |
| Drama/Theatre | |
| Graphic Design | |
| Music | |
| Visual Arts |
| Subject | offered |
|---|---|
| Computer science | |
| Robotics | |
| Web design |
| Flexible pacing style | offered |
|---|---|
| Subject-streaming (tracking) | |
| Multi-age classrooms as standard | |
| Ability-grouping (in-class) as common | |
| Frequent use of cyber-learning (at-their-own-pace) | |
| Regular guided independent study opportunities | |
| Differentiated assessment |
Full-time programming is offered for all students which is exclusively focused on one or more special needs.
| Subject Type | offered |
|---|---|
| Learning strategy and study counselling; habit formation | |
| Extra support and minor accommodations for children experiencing subclinical difficulties |
| Subject Type | offered |
|---|---|
| Accommodations | |
| Modifications | |
| Extra support |
Read our guide to special needs schools and special education
| Program | offered |
|---|---|
| Full-time gifted program (parallel to rest of school) | |
| Part-time gifted program (pull-out; parallel to rest of class) |
Curriculum delivery: Enrichment (The main focus is on enrichment. This means that while students may work at a marginally quicker pace than public school peers, the primary aim is to study subject in broader and deeper ways.)
| Program | offered |
|---|---|
| Custom subject enrichment (special arrangement) | |
| Custom curriculum compacting (special arrangement) | |
| Guided independent study (custom gifted arrangement) | |
| Cyber-learning opportunities (custom gifted arrangement) | |
| Formalized peer coaching opportunities (specifically for gifted learners to coach others) | |
| Custom subject acceleration (special arrangement) | |
| Career exploration (custom gifted arrangement) | |
| Project-based learning (custom gifted arrangement) | |
| Mentorships (custom gifted arrangement) |
| Sports Offered | Competitive | Recreational |
|---|---|---|
| Badminton | ||
| Baseball | ||
| Basketball | ||
| Downhill skiing | ||
| Football | ||
| Ice Hockey | ||
| Lacrosse | ||
| Rowing | ||
| Rugby | ||
| Soccer | ||
| Softball | ||
| Swimming | ||
| Tennis | ||
| Track & Field | ||
| Volleyball |
| Clubs Offered |
|---|
| Robotics club |
| Science Club |
| Student Council |
| Animation |
| Chess Club |
| Computer Club |
| Environmental Club |
This information is not currently available.
This information is not currently available.
| Grades | Gender | Living Arrangement | Enrollment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | K to Gr. 12 | Coed | Day | 206 |
| Total enrollment | 206 |
| Average enrollment per grade | 16 |
| Average class size | 5 to 18 |
| Gender (grades) | K to Gr. 12 (Coed) |
| Boarding offered | No |
| Percentage of students are international students | |
| Number of different nationalities within student population | 0 |
| Five-day boarding programs offfered |
| Services | Offered |
|---|---|
| Career planning | |
| Internships | |
| Mentorship Program | |
| University counseling |
| Key Numbers | |
|---|---|
| Average graduating class size | N/A |
| *Canadian "Big 6" placements | N/A |
| **Ivy+ placements | N/A |
*Number of students in the past year who attended one of McGill, U of T, UBC, Queen's University, University of Alberta, or Dalhousie University.
**Number of students in the past 5 years that that attended one of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, University of Chicago, Oxford or Cambridge (UK)
Below, find stories and testimonials about Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School.
Kenneth Gordon School has an excellent reputation for being able to teach children with a variety of learning disabilities. One of the reasons for our teaching success is our staff. They are competent, dedicated professionals who work collaboratively to adapt instruction to the learning style of the individual student in whole class, small group and one to one groupings. . Our students, ranging from grades 1 to 7, are from throughout the Lower Mainland. Some families have moved from other areas in BC so that their children can attend the school. In addition, the parents of the Kenneth Gordon School children are dedicated, caring and committed. They volunteer for service on the Board and in many other capacities, supporting the needs of all. Our buildings are well utilized and provide the key elements of a positive school environment for children. ...
Mission: To provide an effective academic and emotionally supportive environment for the education of the child with specific learning disabilities. ...
Dr. Jim Christopher is the Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.
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