Through the feedback we received from the community, and our reflections on emerging concerns and priorities in society, we felt strongly that these three pillars reflect the future of education and a strong foundation on which we can educate the next generation of leaders. 

By placing these pillars at the heart of our strategic direction, we are able to take tangible steps towards change that will greatly and positively impact the education we provide our students.

The school’s leadership team partnered with a well-established Canadian strategic consulting firm called Future Design School. They have worked with a number of CAIS independent schools as well as public schools to help support their strategic development. In addition we worked with Cundari, a Canadian-based marketing and communications firm who helped us to renew our visual identity, branding and our name change.

At the core of the strategic planning process was the information and data we received through one-on-one conversations, community surveys and focus groups. It was the community feedback that formed the basis for many of the discussions and drove the strategic planning process forward.

It is important that the major components of a Strategic Plan are closely aligned, so both the new Mission and Vision reflect some of our central values and key priorities as expressed in the 3 Strategic Goals. The Mission contains the word “inclusive” to signal our strong support for the beliefs underlying our DEI work as a school. The word “connected” speaks to community feedback indicating that a stronger sense of community across our two campuses is needed as we go forward. The Vision refers to “innovation and service” which is one of our Strategic Goals, and the phrase “one student at a time” reflects the phrase “I Am Known” which will continue to be an important touchstone in our community

Comments about our school name, and its limitations, emerged as a strand in the various forms of community feedback. Awareness that the current name does not express the school’s physical location or pedagogical offerings has been an ongoing conversation stretching back several years.

Those involved in this process had a clear vision and purpose for the name change: to add value and clarity to our school’s identity. The aim has been to make it more reflective of the current realities of our geography, pedagogy and age range of our students in order to foster our Strategic Goal of Inclusivity. In creating a name that contains elements of both the Montessori and IB strands, we believe we have accomplished this aim. Factors that were considered in deciding to make this change from TMS (Toronto Montessori Schools) include: (a) we are located in Richmond Hill, not Toronto; (b) we are no longer, since January 2010, exclusively a Montessori school; (c) our brand identity should accurately reflect who we are today: a school that offers a unique dual pedagogy that allows a child to experience our educational offerings from 18 months to 18 years. 

We remain fully committed to the Montessori philosophy and the program will continue to remain a core part of the school. The change of the school’s name is motivated by one aim: to better reflect the totality of our school community and programs, while still ensuring that we continue to promote and celebrate the Montessori program both within the school community and beyond.

We will be officially adopting the new name – Lauremont School – in September 2024. Preparations for the name change will take place in the 2023-2024 school year.

We know the name change for TMS Alumni will feel particularly personal. The Head of School will be setting up opportunities to meet with interested Alumni to further explain the Strategic Plan, the name change and to respond to questions. We hope to continue conversations with our Alumni to ensure they know and understand that they are still very much a part of the school’s family, and will continue to be supported for years to come. 

We will be very intentional on our website and in other outward-facing communications to make it clear that we remain a school with a 60+ year history, one that continues to hold and carry forward its values, ideals and the outstanding quality of education.

Currently, we operate as TMS without any direct reference to Montessori in the name that we use on a daily basis. It is the way in which the school is positioned and the language surrounding the brand that allows individuals to make the connection with Montessori. 

We will continue to position the new name with the same principles, allowing for our new name to show up when someone searches for a Montessori school. 

In addition, we will be working with external partners such as CAIS, CIS, OurKids and many others to ensure our positioning is clearly showcased, allowing parents to easily find us and understand our educational offering. 

We are working with our uniform provider, InSchoolWear to reimagine parts of the school uniform. Some parts of the uniforms will be changed, such as the crest on the blazer and the logo on various pieces. However, the overall look and feel of the uniform will not have major changes. For example, the skirt will stay the same. 

We will also remain the Titans for our Athletics. As such, we will only be making a school name change on our gym wear and team gear.

We will provide more details about new uniforms in the coming months. We acknowledge the investments that families have already made, and we will certainly be flexible for a few months after we have officially adopted our new name. 

No. Our alumni graduated from TMS and the transcripts and diplomas and all other official documents issued prior to the adoption of our new name in September 2024 will remain unchanged. The first graduating class under the new name will be the Class of 2025. 

All public facing channels will say “Lauremont School (formerly TMS)”, helping identify the association. In addition, all domains will be made to redirect to the Lauremont website. This is in particular for all external facing channels and places which will need to be updated to reflect the new brand. Until we can get to all of them, outside shared links will redirect to the new website.