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The Rosedale Day School School Leadership
The Rosedale Day School’s leadership emphasizes fostering innovative learning environments and forming strong teacher-student relationships. Families value the community and support intrinsic to the school’s ethos, fostering student growth by guiding them to adapt confidently and engage responsibly with integrity, diligence, respect, and involvement.
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Facts and analysis
MESSAGE FROM THE LEADERSHIP
We invited John Reid, Head of School at The Rosedale Day School, to share a message.
The overview highlights the vision, values, and guiding principles that shape leadership and the student experience at The Rosedale Day School.
John Reid, Head of School
Since its founding in 1995, The Rosedale Day School has grown into a thriving educational community with over 170 students and 30 dedicated, creative teachers and staff. Our classrooms foster student engagement through innovative pedagogical practices and creative, authentic units of learning. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, RDS enriches each student’s learning experience by making use of our surrounding community with access to world-class facilities such as The Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the University of Toronto athletic facilities.
Recognition of and striving towards the authentic character and potential of each student has always been at the centre of the RDS ethos; teachers and students work together to strive for their individual best, looking ahead to the future beyond grade 8 and an ever-changing, evolving world. The RDS Vision, Mission and Values drive us to help shape future-ready students with the skills needed to adapt confidently and engage responsibly in their world. The four school values of integrity, diligence, respect and involvement guide student relationships and are integral to shaping the learning environment at RDS.
At the core of RDS is the warm sense of community and support that surrounds each student as they grow. Powerful teacher-student relationships form the backbone of learning and development, and a strong partnership between the school and parent community ensures that every RDS student builds the confidence and independence that is critical for success in high school and beyond.
I invite you to explore our website, read our 2021 - 2026 Strategic Plan and reach out to our Admissions Department to learn more about the RDS community and the potential for learning and growth that awaits.
John Reid
Head of School
INTERVIEW WITH THE LEADERSHIP
We interviewed John Reid, Head of School at The Rosedale Day School.
In conversation with school leadership, the discussion centred on the school’s mission, educational approach, and the vision shaping key decisions.
John Reid, Head of School at The Rosedale Day School, shared his perspective on the school's individualized approach, research-informed practice, strong relationships, and close-knit community. He reflected on the importance of meaningful partnerships between students, teachers, and families, the school's diverse community and focus on student well-being, and the value of creating an environment where both students and parents feel a genuine sense of belonging.
Video Contents
- 1:02 - Please describe your professional journey leading up to your current role at Rosedale Day School.
- 5:08 - What have been some of the major influences on you and how you approach your work?
- 9:24 - What resonates most strongly with you about the history and mission of Rosedale Day School?
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Highlights from the interview
When the opportunity at the Rosedale Day School presented itself, it aligned really beautifully with my own philosophy about the attention to the individual child… And really looking to continue the great work that had been done prior to my arrival and build off of that.
The opportunity to integrate research into our practice has always been something that's important to me… That kind of research is really important as we steer these organizations towards the future, to make sure that we're doing the right thing in preparing our students for an ever-increasingly uncertain world.
I think you learn every day from the people that are around you. You're part of a learning community when you're part of a school community. In my mind, that's what we're trying to foster.
I think teaching and learning is an inherently relational sport. You can't do it right if you don't have great relationships between students and their teachers, between colleagues, and also between school and home.
- Everyone's known, and not in a peripheral way, but in a really deep way. And I think that familiarity and that rapport that exists means that there's a sense of community.
Everyone's known, and not in a peripheral way, but in a really deep way. And I think that familiarity and that rapport that exists means that there's a sense of community.
There is an extension of the community beyond the school that members of our community enjoy. It continues on into former members of our community who are now alumni parents, or alumni of the school themselves.
We've adopted, in partnership with the Future Design School, a profile of the Rosedale School graduate that really addresses many of the types of skills and competencies that are inherent in well-being.
It's interesting because we're all caretakers in our roles. We're here for a time with the objective of trying to help the organization grow and develop and leave it ultimately in a better place than we found it.
We try and approach that partnership between school and home with empathy, humility and authenticity, recognizing that I believe raising children is some of the most important and challenging work that exists.
We are a reflection of the city of Toronto and, as such, a reflection of the broader world. We have more than 20 different countries represented on campus at any given time. And that's what you would expect from an urban school in downtown Toronto, in a city as big and diverse as Toronto is.
I would say to parents, "No one knows your child better than you do." And so, it's important that you take your time and that you feel comfortable with the environment and with the people that you're meeting.
I would encourage you to have a higher standard than feeling comfortable. I would encourage you to use a higher bar around a feeling of belonging. Not just a feeling of community, but a feeling of belonging within that parent community as adults because, certainly in a Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8 circumstance, parent involvement in their children's school day is significant.
