This fall, many schools are incorporating online and remote learning into their offerings, and many families are seeking to support their school-aged children in the new learning environment. To help both navigate this new reality, SelfDesign_® has collaborated with Cognia, the world’s largest education improvement organization, to share our expertise in building meaningful relationships with learners online.

SelfDesign_® Family Services provides resources and supports to help learners and families when events or situations interfere with learning. Within Family Services, members of the Contact Assistance Team – referred to as CAT – are experienced in working with learners in kindergarten to grade 12, including learners who receive Support Education services.

As part of its commitment to furthering reconciliation and intercultural understanding and respect, SelfDesign_® became a member of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack foundation’s Legacy School network in 2019, joining a community of more than 1,600 legacy schools across Canada and linking to funding, educational resources and opportunities that advance reconciliation.

Providing support for learners and their families enrolled in SelfDesign_® Learning Community is essential to ensuring their learning journeys are successful. Discover how the SelfDesign's Family Services team are committed to offering integrated and holistic support for learners and their families as they engage in their educational programs.

SelfDesign_® Learning Foundation has spent the last several years strategically consolidating and strengthening its foundations. Together our leadership team have optimized the organization’s structural and operational efficiencies while supporting SelfDesign’s long-standing culture of community and collaboration.

When the BC Ministry of Education completed its inspection of SelfDesign_® Learning Community’s programs and processes last fall, our Learning Experiences Library, our in-person camps and gatherings, and how we provide learners with opportunities to design their own learning received particularly high praise.

The SelfDesign_® Learning Experience Library is just one of many resources offered to our learners and families at SelfDesign. From in-person and virtual camps to online workshops, from support services for extracurricular activities like dance lessons, horseback riding and martial arts, to online assistance through our diverse learning resource centre, SelfDesign supports learners on their lifelong learning journey.

Michael Maser, former SelfDesign_® educator shares his experience of emergent learning in SelfDesign. He explains that we’re biologically primed to learn every moment we’re awake. And with some nudging or tacit support, this emergent learning can be impressive at both the individual and societal level.

Art Intensive Camp brings SelfDesign_® learners in grades 9–12 together for one week to connect, collaborate and share while they immerse themselves in art. When the B.C. government suspended in-person learning in B.C. schools in mid-March to protect students and slow the spread of COVID-19, SelfDesign decided to take the camp online and opened it up to all interested SelfDesign learners.