Congratulations to the Class of 2021 on their tremendous success with post-secondary destinations! This year's class secured post-secondary placements across North America and Europe, while also receiving offers totalling over $1.5 million in scholarships and other funding!

Containing the work of over 35 student writers and artists, the annual In a Grove Integrated Arts Journal features the winners of LCS Writes!, sponsored by The Grove Society and LCS Explores.

With guidance from award-winning musician, songwriter, and producer Rob Wells as well as LCS teachers Geoff Bemrose and Sam Wilson, our students got a real taste of what it’s like to work in the music industry in the Grove Records co-curricular. In May, Grove Records released its first EP!

Read more about this unique cocurricular

Five members of the LEAF Club (Jana Rubel ’22, Caroline Chen ’21, Louise Prindiville-Porto ’22, Shirley Li ’21, and Shenda Fitton ’22) placed second in the Provincial Envirothon challenge!

This May marked an exciting new chapter at LCS as our new ½ acre vegetable garden yielded its first harvest! LCS Farmer, Kohl Kuntz harvested 15 pounds of bok choy, 10 pounds of romaine lettuce, and five pounds of kale.

This year, staff and students participated in the Jack Ride as members of “Brent’s Team”. Brent Dadds, Class of 2020, sadly passed away earlier this year.  He was one of the first students to be part of the Lakefield Jack Chapter, and so it is a privilege for the school community to be involved in the Jack Ride as a way to honour his memory.  

The Audrey Wearn Language Prize seeks to encourage Canadian youth to engage in creative problem solving, encouraging, and strengthening multilingualism among Canadians. Three teams from Lakefield College identify language-based problems in their communities and two of our students were selected as finalists! Congratulations to Rori Ash ’22 and Vincent Cloutier ’22. Vincent Cloutier ’22 impressed our community by winning $10,000 in the Audrey Wearn Language Prize! 

The Passionate Advocates for Gender Equity (PAGE) group hosted a virtual art exhibition called OurStory. Originally intended to be an in-person event, the PAGE group worked with the DEI Club to transition their original event plans into a remote experience for all of our students and staff to enjoy.

At Lakefield College School, our goal is to inspire our students to get outdoors every day in order to deepen their connections with and to nature and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle. When Ashbury College challenged us to a running competition that would require us to spend more time outside, we didn’t hesitate to participate!

In April, we officially launched the LCS online store, allowing LCS students, families, and alumni the opportunity to bring a piece of The Grove home, wherever that may be.

In the fall, a group of LCS students (Halle Lawson ’21, Caroline Chen ’21, Branton Hung ’21, Dylan Clement ’21, Yeseo Kim ’22, and Emilia Volke ’21) applied to be on the LCS Global Ideas Institute (GII) team to tackle a global issue collaboratively. In the spring, the GII team pitched their solution at the GII Virtual Symposium alongside students from across Ontario and Canada. 

In May, alumni and staff representing eight decades gathered (virtually) for an evening in celebration of five extraordinary women – Marilynn Booth P’98, Kate Ramsay P'06, GP'14 '16, Gretchen Ross P'79 '80, GP'17, Nancy Smith P'87 '90 '96, and Vera Wilcox P’03 – who have had a profound impact on The Grove community. These women of Lakefield were awarded the prestigious title of “Honourary Alumna”.

Our school connected, from around the world, to celebrate Earth Day. As part of a Lakefield tradition, we started Earth Day with a remote sunrise yoga class and a (chilly!) sunrise paddle on the lake. Throughout the day, students enjoyed dog walking, dancing in nature, tree planting, and more!

LCS is proud to announce that we will be hosting the OFSAA Nordic Skiing Championships in 2022! After unveiling our new 900m sprint track earlier this year, this announcement comes as added excitement to our Nordic Skiers and the LCS community.

LCS students in all grades participated in math contests to test their knowledge and challenge themselves to grow valuable problem-solving skills. From the Canadian Intermediate Mathematics Contest (organized by the University of Waterloo) to the American Mathematics Contest (organized by the Mathematical Association of America), our students had outstanding performances across North America.

Our Grade 12 students hosted an all-school intersession day, which saw students take part in activities designed to pass along and share stories of connection, tradition, and culture at LCS. And, most important, build the leadership confidence of their younger peers. This event was dubbed The Culture Project by our Co-Head students.

This year, we were thrilled to launch a series of summer programs designed to provide challenging and fun academic and recreational opportunities to learn in and through the outdoors on our beautiful campus.

In September, we launched our Tuition and Affordability Task Force to recommend strategies aimed at making LCS more financially accessible to talented applicants from diverse backgrounds. In March, we launched our DEI webpage to share the programming, policies, and processes we’re implementing as we strive to examine and strengthen our work across the entire organization.

With the approval of our Campus Master Plan, including a series of important Design Principles, we are ready to develop plans for our new Dining Hall and Fitness and Dance Facilities.

LCS unveiled its new 900m sprint course that creates exciting opportunities for both fast downhills and challenging climbs.

The Musical Theatre students put on a hybrid live performance of music, singing, dancing, monologues and more. Students performed for four hours, showing their peers their work six times, back to back. This set-up was uniquely designed to ensure students could perform safely, watch in real-time, and experience all that the Musical Theatre students have learned over the past few months working with Beau Dixon, award-winning Musician, Actor, and Playwright and guest Musical Director.

Read more about the making of Here.Now.This.

Our Grade 10 and 11 Outdoor Education students travelled to Camp Medeba in Haliburton for our annual Adrenaline Day! While following all safety guidelines, our students were able to challenge themselves and push their limits on the 40-foot ice climbing wall, giant swing, and 700-foot zipline.

Lakefield College School held its fourth annual Chinese Food and Culture Festival. This year, the festival overlapped with the Lunar New Year, making for an even more exciting celebration.

LCS held its second annual Seb Jones ’13 Memorial Poetry Slam to celebrate creativity, speak about mental health, and keep Sebastian’s legacy alive.

The School Life Class provides students with leadership opportunities that focus on uplifting community spirit by organizing events – big and small – throughout the year. In February 2021, students organized Friday Night Lights, K-Rod, and Winter Carnival to brighten the spirits of the LCS community.

Entrepreneurial ventures are alive and well at LCS. Earlier this year, some of our Grade 12 students launched LCS Eats (a local version of UberEats) and in the spring, a group of students created a lunchtime specialty coffee business to provide the LCS community with delicious beverages throughout the week.

After two years of research and review, we have developed a schedule that supports student well-being and engagement and permits a well-rounded and personalized program that is grounded in connection with the outdoors.

Read more about our enhanced flex modular schedule

LCS students, staff, and faculty took part in #BellLetsTalk initiatives. Throughout the day, students shared their voice and gave back to the community in recognition of Bell Let’s Talk Day.

Mr. Bird installed some new feeders to attract feathered friends to the school’s back courtyard, which led to the introduction of a dozen bird species to our campus.

James Wu ’21 was nominated as this year’s Peter Dalglish Art Award recipient for 2021. The purpose of the Peter Dalglish Art Award is to inspire, encourage and recognize artistic talent at Lakefield College School by promoting promising young artists and their future contributions to art in Canada and beyond.

Head of School Anne-Marie Kee made a special surprise announcement in Chapel, declaring December 1 as Head’s Holiday - Decorating Day!

LCS students Lily '21 and Catherine '21 introduced a new event to our Movember activities called Movember Spotlights. It was a fantastic event that saw people speak about what the men in their lives mean to them and how ideas of “masculinity” affects how we talk about men’s health among others.

The LCS Musical Theatre Signature Program was thrilled to announce that Award-Winning Musician, Actor, and Playwright Beau Dixon would be our musical director this year!

The Page to Stage integrated Grade 10 English and Drama class performed their version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, a play by the Mischief Theatre Company. As the title implies, it is the story of Peter Pan but whose execution is full of mishaps!

The LCS Sailing Team celebrated the season by hosting the first LCS Halloween Regatta!

Students in the journalism co-curricular group launched The Terrapin Time – a student-led school newspaper that features articles written by students for the LCS community.

The LCS Dance Company performed an outdoor dance showcase for our school community at the waterfront in October. In three short weeks, students choreographed and practiced for the show which blew away attendees as they enjoyed a rare live arts performance.

In September, we launched the Care and Connect Fund as a community response to an unprecedented time. Gifts to the Care and Connect Fund, designated for tuition assistance, help ensure more deserving students can attend LCS despite their family’s financial circumstances brought on by the pandemic or otherwise.

Last fall, Head of School and Foundation Anne-Marie Kee continued her tradition of meeting with every house. Rather than meeting inside her home, Ms. Kee took students on a pontoon boat ride over the dinner hour.

Students and staff gathered to harvest honey from the school's apiary, composed of 12 hives that are used as part of our programming, allowing students to see first hand how these fascinating creatures live and work.

Our grads took part in an important annual tradition: the LCS Grad Leadership Conference. Offered both in-person and to our remote students, this conference took place over the course of three days and provided time for grads to spend time together as a grade and with the staff.

The Class of 2021 welcomed new and returning students to The Grove in September for the 2020/21 year!