At River Valley School, we believe that education extends beyond the classroom. It’s about inspiring curiosity, fostering compassion, and empowering students to make a difference in the world. This winter, our community came together to create meaningful change through two powerful outreach initiatives: Winter Warm-Up and 12 Days of Giving for Seniors Secret Service.

Winter Warm-Up: Spreading Warmth Across Calgary

Over several weeks, the River Valley School community of students, families, and staff came together to make a meaningful contribution to the Winter Warm-Up drive. Their efforts helped add to an impressive total of nearly 2,200 jackets at the Jacket Racket donation centre.

These jackets were distributed to staff members from 63 schools and 10 community agencies, directly benefiting individuals and families across Calgary. By providing warmth and comfort during the cold winter months, this initiative highlights the power of collective action and the profound impact we can have when we come together to support those in need.

For our students, the drive was about more than just collecting jackets. They learned how their actions, no matter how small, can have a ripple effect on the lives of others. Sorting and organizing the donations gave them a sense of pride, while seeing the overwhelming generosity of their community taught them the power of collaboration. This hands-on experience brought our values to life, instilling lessons of empathy and responsibility that will guide them for years to come.

12 Days of Giving: Bringing Joy to Seniors

Through our 12 Days of Giving for Seniors Secret Service, students turned their creativity and compassion into heartfelt gifts for Calgary’s seniors. From cozy socks and tea samplers to beautiful handmade crafts, each gift was thoughtfully prepared with care and kindness. Last week, Mr. Moore and Ms. Towill delivered these items, spreading warmth and joy to seniors who may otherwise feel isolated during the holiday season.

This initiative created a meaningful connection between generations. By crafting gifts and sharing their time, students experienced the profound impact of giving. They learned that kindness is a universal language, and even the smallest gesture can brighten someone’s day.

Why These Efforts Matter

Outreach initiatives like these aren’t just about what we give— for our students, these projects are an opportunity to build character, develop a sense of social responsibility, and understand their ability to make a difference. By participating in efforts that directly benefit their local community, they grow into compassionate, capable leaders ready to shape a better future.

We’re incredibly proud of the dedication and generosity shown by our students, families, and staff. Together, we’ve made a lasting impact, proving that when we work together, we can bring light and warmth to those who need it most.

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By Carolyn Breland, Head of School

At River Valley School (RVS), academic excellence and student well-being are not competing priorities—they are deeply interconnected. We believe that how children learn matters just as much as what they learn. By designing learning environments that support the whole child—intellectually, emotionally, and socially—we create the conditions for sustained, meaningful achievement.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

1. Well-Being as the Foundation for High Achievement

At RVS, student well-being is foundational to academic success.

Neuroscience tells us that students learn best when they feel emotionally safe, regulated, and connected. By prioritizing these conditions, we support deep engagement, critical thinking, and knowledge transfer—skills that go far beyond memorization.

This approach delivers strong academic outcomes. Last year, our students scored above the provincial average in all Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) subject areas. These results are achieved not through pressure or test-focused instruction, but through confidence-building, conceptual understanding, and thoughtful teaching that prepares students to apply learning under real-world conditions.

2. Inclusion That Raises the Bar for Everyone

Excellence at RVS is inclusive by design.

Our learning community is intentionally neurodiverse, and we view this diversity as a strength. When students learn alongside peers with varied ways of thinking, they develop adaptability, empathy, and greater  problem-solving skills—while maintaining high academic expectations.

Our 2024–25 graduating cohort illustrates this clearly:

• Above-Provincial Performance: Students exceeded provincial averages across all PAT subject areas.
• Excellence at Twice the Provincial Rate: While approximately 15% of students provincially achieved the Standard of Excellence, 30% of RVS students reached this benchmark.

These outcomes demonstrate that when learners are supported through a holistic framework, academic excellence expands rather than contracts.

3. Integrity-Centered Decision Making

Our commitment is always to the long-term success of each child.

At times, this means making thoughtful, individualized decisions about assessment pathways in collaboration with families. When a standardized test is not in a student’s best interest, we prioritize well-being, growth, and readiness over uniformity.

This integrity is central to who we are. We believe education should serve the learner—not the metric—and we are proud to stand by decisions that reflect care, professionalism, and trust.

4. Learning for Today—and Tomorrow

While standardized measures capture a moment in time, our focus is on developing competencies that endure.

Our holistic approach emphasizes:

• Inquiry-Based Learning: Encouraging curiosity, questioning, and deeper understanding.
  
• Cross-Curricular Connections: Integrating learning across disciplines to reflect how knowledge is applied in the real world.
  
• Character and Capability Development: Nurturing perseverance, ethical thinking, collaboration, and empathy—qualities strongly linked to long-term academic and life success.
  

These skills prepare students not only for assessments, but for post-secondary learning, careers, and meaningful contribution.

Where Rankings Fit In

Public rankings, such as those published by the Fraser Institute, offer a limited snapshot of student performance based primarily on standardized testing. While they may provide one data point, they cannot fully reflect the depth, diversity, and integrity of a holistic educational model.

At RVS, we choose to focus on what we can stand behind with confidence: strong academic outcomes, thoughtful inclusion, and graduates who are equipped for the world they are stepping into.

The RVS Bottom Line

At River Valley School, wonder lives here—and so does measurable achievement.

We are proud of our results, proud of our philosophy, and proud of the students who leave our community as curious thinkers, capable learners, and compassionate humans.

Excellence, to us, is not a number. It is a lived experience—and it shows in our graduates every day.

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At River Valley School, we celebrate a diverse community of passionate and engaged students, teachers, families, and staff who share a commitment to nurturing each child’s unique potential. Unlike many independent schools in Calgary, we do not require academic testing as part of the admissions process. This approach allows us to welcome students with a wide variety of strengths, interests, and learning styles—contributing to a vibrant and dynamic learning environment.

Through various endowment and subsidy options, such as our ‘Bowwestner Scholarship’, we have been able to provide independent school education to local low-income families who are driven by their values for exceptional and inclusive education.  As an inclusive school, our goal is to expand our current financial aid offering, allowing us to extend our reach to more students who could benefit from the extraordinary River Valley School experience.

At River Valley School one of our core values is citizenship. We pledge to be good neighbours because we know that good neighbours build stronger communities. As a school, we have taken on meaningful partnerships with organizations such as:

• Veterans’ Food Bank
• Calgary Food Bank
• CTV Toy Mountain
  Women in Need (WINS)
• Sikh Youth Calgary
• Brown Bagging for Kids
• Calgary Humane Society
• Alberta Children’s Hospital
• Terry Fox Foundation

Our students are involved in a variety of co-curricular clubs including the option to participate in STU-GO (Student Government). This club allows students to develop strong leadership skills, and inspires them to use their voice to make a difference both within the school, as well as in our broader community. In past years, STU-GO has organized events such as Remembrance Day Veteran luncheons and food drives, Bow River clean-ups, clothing drives for Calgary’s homeless, and more.

Even in the context of a pandemic, River Valley School continued to serve the community through various outreach efforts. In the spring of 2021, several Grade 6 students initiated a school-wide toonie drive to raise money to donate two new Apple iPads to children in need at the Alberta Children’s Hospital so that they could continue to learn and communicate with their loved ones.

Being part of the Bowness community specifically, we have also had the opportunity to develop strong relationships with long-term and senior care centres in the area. In past years, our students have written ‘kindness cards/drawings’ for local seniors to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Through our choir program, students have performed at the Bow-Crest Nursing Home and Colonel Belcher Retirement Residences, bringing spirit and joy to the residents during the holidays. 

Looking to the near future, we will continue to nurture the important relationships in our immediate and greater communities, including our neighbouring residents, businesses and charities, to ensure the school’s “footprint” remains a positive and impactful one for many years to come.

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