Our Story
International School of the Kootenays (ISK)
What is now called SelfDesign High began as the International School of the Kootenays (ISK). It was founded in Nelson, BC, in 2005 as a nonprofit, registered charity to offer a peace centered, liberal arts, Waldorf high school curriculum to both local and international learners. Our dream was to open ISK in a well-known building purchased for this purpose, adjacent to the Tenth Street campus of Selkirk College in Nelson.
The school was able to attract the interest of many international learners, yet the ten BC resident learners that we needed to open as a BC independent school did not materialize. When we asked the learners in our community why they were not registering, the answers were always the same:
- learners wanted the larger social context of the local public high school;
- they wanted the school to be able to offer certified high school courses, and a BC Ministry of Education Dogwood Diploma; and
- they wanted to be able to take credit bearing courses with us as part of their high school program.
Distributed Learning (Online) High School
We listened to what the young people said and changed the orientation of the school to a distributed learning (online) high school to meet their needs and to resolve the struggle of the school's first two years; having enough registered learners to move ahead. The building on Tenth Street was sold, providing the school with operating capital in its first years of operation. Creative energy turned towards developing a learner centered, peace oriented, liberal arts curriculum and graduation program that meet the high standards of the BC Ministry of Education. In 2008, the International School of the Kootenays received full accreditation from the Ministry as a Class One, Independent Distributed Learning High School.
At the beginning of the first full school year in fall 2008, we weren't sure how local high school learners would respond to a new educational choice in our region. Slowly the learners started to arrive and we met them with an ever-growing array of both foundation (required) and exciting elective courses. We developed and offered workshop courses that combine online learning with interactive group sessions in the community. The workshop courses proved to be very popular and continue to be so today. To our surprise and delight, we completed the first year with 73 learners, most of whom approached the school through word of mouth recommendations.
It is perhaps a testimony to ISK's unique pedagogy and curriculum that teacher/mentors approached the school seeking to offer their expertise in a variety of fields from fine arts to outdoor education. The school was able to draw on their exceptional talent to design and offer courses to learners and community members, but the enrollment fees kept some learners away. ISK struggled to find a funding model that would enable the school to continue and grow.
SelfDesign High
The answer came in early 2009 with the merger of ISK with SelfDesign Learning Community, a K to 9 Independent Distributed Learning School, also certified by the B.C. Ministry of Education. SelfDesign brought 25 years of experience founded in the Wondertree Learning Centre in Vancouver, BC plus ground breaking online learning experiences since 2002. ISK brought to SelfDesign a passion for working with young adults and a peace focus in our high school graduation program. The economy of scale afforded by the merger has enabled SelfDesign High to continue to grow and evolve. For example, there are now three distinct ways that learners can engage with SelfDesign High's exceptional curriculum (in each instance the learner is supported by a certified mentor):
- Online courses that are independent and self paced
- Online learning groups offered during the school's three annual sessions
- Workshop courses that meet in the community at our Nelson Learning Centre
Perhaps another testimony to the school's growing popularity is the fact that we've outgrown our original office and classroom space on Victoria Street in Nelson! In August of 2009 SelfDesign High moved to its new home just down the street in the Legion Building, offering larger space for offices and classrooms, room to expand even further, plus unique opportunities for intergenerational learning.
The Legion building was built over 100 years ago as a YMCA for Nelson. With the advent of World War I it was decided that the building would be offered to the local Legion in support of the returning soldiers. Over the past 100 years the Legion has offered housing, been a venue for community events and classes, weddings, funerals and gatherings for the members of the Legion. Now it is welcoming youth centred events and is housing our local workshop classes as well as our province wide DL High School Program.
Onward and upward we go!
