For more than 115-years Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS) has been a proud member of the Calgary and Foothills community. As we have moved through the highs and lows of the COVID-19 pandemic the predominant feeling we have is gratitude.
Our community is at the centre of all we do. It inspires us, shapes us, and motivates us every single day. We’d like to take this moment to say thank you.
Thank you to our students for your dedication to your studies despite being at home. Thank you for your leadership, engagement, care of one another, and smiles.
Thank you to our families for your patience, flexibility, and unwavering support of your children and their education.
Thank you to our teachers and staff for your tireless dedication to learning, stewardship of our students, and your hard work.
Thank you to our alumni for living a life of purpose and making us so proud − supporting your families, your communities around the world, and your alma mater.
Thank you to all of the front-line workers who have kept us healthy, fed, and safe. Thank you for providing beacons of hope and togetherness.
Thank you to our fellow global citizens for inspiring us each and every day – and for providing teachable moments for our students.
Despite a global crisis, we have come together and powered through, as is the Alberta way. We are inspired by the many examples of kindness, creative-problem solving, leadership, and innovation we see all around us. Because of this, we are confident that this too will pass, and that we will get through it together.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
About STS
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School officially opened on a beautiful country campus in Okotoks, Alberta in September 1971. An amalgamation of Strathcona School for Boys and Tweedsmuir: An Academic School for Girls, the new school came about as a result of the generosity of W.H. Atkinson and the Cross Family.
Today, STS is a co-educational independent school community for Kindergarten to Grade 12 that develops well-balanced students for a life of purpose by inspiring excellence in scholarship, leadership, and character. STS' tradition in educational excellence spans more than 100 years through each of our founding schools: St. Hilda's School for Girls, Strathcona School for Boys, and Tweedsmuir: An Academic School for Girls and can be best summed up by the School's motto: Nil Nisi Optimum - nothing but your best.
On a recent visit to the School, I stopped by the impressive Nil Nisi Optimum sculpture at the front entrance and found the words ‘Place a dream as the goal.’ It resonated immediately with me, particularly with regards to the founders of our predecessor Schools, as well as to those of Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School (STS).
In each case, family initiative, influence, and resilience brought about the desired results. Strathcona School for Boys opened with eight boys in 1929, just six weeks before the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression. Likewise, St. Hilda’s gained Anglican Church patronage that enabled it to open with 40 students in 1905.
Parents and guardians of STS students, you are the reason why the Parents’ Organization of STS has and will continue to flourish. Every contribution you make on a daily basis, whether it is one hour in a classroom, helping with our special events, donating to our fundraising efforts, being on hand to help at a track meet or field day to simply ensuring that an important message or update is shared with the community, creates ripples of generosity that have helped shape our School into the iconic institution it is today.
Over the years my family, the trees, grew taller and my friend the school grew bigger, and bigger over the years. The Aspen Lodge, outdoor buildings, and entire wings popped up like building blocks for young children to play with.
