Research consistently finds that small schools are more successful schools. Students in smaller schools achieve better academic outcomes on average, are more likely to be engaged in extracurricular activities, feel greater pride in their schools and a keener sense of community, and they enjoy deeper and more meaningful interactions with their teachers, administrators, and peers. Smaller schools tend to have smaller classes and greater comradery among faculty, which leads to greater cooperation, innovation and adaptability in curriculum and program for individual students and their classes.

At Rockway, all these results are true to our experience. Our size makes it possible for keen students to excel academically while they play on multiple sports teams, assume student leadership roles, sing in choirs and act in school drama productions. For those students who may require some additional academic support or mentoring, our size makes it possible to receive the teacher attention and encouragement that they need to thrive. In most public schools it is virtually impossible to replicate the range of opportunities we can offer our students.

Rockway was founded by Ontario Mennonite churches in 1945, on the site of one of the first Mennonite farms in Waterloo County. Our founders imagined a school that would prepare their children for a rapidly changing world, while conserving their community’s values, traditions, and faith.

The orchards and fields that once surrounded the school were absorbed by the City of Kitchener long ago.  But Rockway continues to integrate excellent academics with the Mennonite community’s faith tradition.

Rockway offers Religious Studies (RS) courses at all grade levels, which provide grounding in Christian values, beliefs and history from a Mennonite perspective. We equip students to seek values that will guide them as they participate and lead in their communities, churches, and global society.

Supplementing our RS curriculum, students attend our Chapel program twice a week, which is led by teachers, fellow students and guest speakers from around the world. Within a diverse and open school community, we desire to enlarge the world view for our students as they engage issues such as fair trade, the environment, militarism, health, poverty, peacemaking, and many other needs in our local and global community.

Faith education at Rockway is animated by asking, “Who is my neighbour?” When we try to answer that question, we develop appreciation and respect for perspectives that are different from our own.

Grounded in a Mennonite faith perspective, our program nevertheless seeks to connect with other world religions, many of which are represented within our student body.  Our curriculum has included an exchange with a local Muslim school, visits with Jewish rabbis, and interaction with members of the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim communities. These connections are deepened by Rockway’s strong student exchange program.

Our Religious Studies courses:

• Grade 7: God Calls a People
• Grade 8: God’s People Walk in Faith
• Grade 9: An Upside-Down Kingdom
• Grade 10: History of the Christian Church
• Grade 11: World Religions
• Grade 12: Philosophy

“Teaching the Grade 12 Religious Studies course was an exhilarating experience for me. I expected it to be both interesting and challenging. What I did not anticipate was the degree to which the students would be open to thinking deeply and creatively about faith questions in the context of their lives, their community, and their world. In retrospect, I should not have been surprised; this is exactly the kind of engaged thinking that Rockway encourages in its students.”

– Lynn Bergsma Friesen

“In this class I have been pushed to hear new ideas and understand new concepts… I have enjoyed this class so much that I have decided to take a similar religion class in University and I hope that my spirituality will continue to grow there as well.”

– Student Course Evaluation Comment

At Rockway, we open the world to our students through our teaching, and that often takes our learning outside of the classroom. An Ecology lesson can find students wading into the Grand River to take water samples. Biology students travel further afield to study ocean life in Costa Rica’s rain forests. Physics students enjoy a private tour of the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing where they visit cutting edge research laboratories and develop their independent study projects under the guidance of UW’s Physics professors. Physical Education teachers take students beyond the soccer field, and challenge them to rope course initiatives, canoeing, rock climbing, and kayaking.

But the full Rockway experience includes its diverse and outstanding extracurricular programs as well.

Music

• Grade 7&8 Choir
• Grade 9 Choir
• Grade 10 Choir
• Senior Choir
• Concert Combo (vocal)
• Ichtus (wind ensemble)
• Chamber Orchestra (string ensemble)
• Stage Band/Jazz combo
• Informal performance opportunities for students at Chapels and Music Mondays

Drama

• Grade 7&8 Play
• Grade 9-12 Play or All-school Musical

Visual Arts

• Grade 10 Art Trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO – in Toronto)
• Grade 11 Art Trip to McMaster Museum, Vaults and Paper Centre, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton
• Grade 12 four-day Art Trip to AGO, Museum of Civilization, National Art Gallery, Montreal Museum of Fine Art
• Grade 7-12 Art Exhibition
• Expressions Exhibition at KW Art Gallery
• Stage-play set painting

Athletics

•     Cross-country running
•     Volleyball
•     Basketball
•     Badminton
•     Ultimate Frisbee
•     Track & Field
•     Wrestling

Note: Rockway offers a full program of athletics, both on the intramural and inter-school levels. The inter-school level includes membership and participation in the Waterloo Catholic Schools District 8 League, Central Western Ontario Secondary School Athletics (C.W.O.S.S.A.) region, and the Ontario Federation of Secondary School Athletics Association (O.F.S.A.A.), in Cross-Country Running, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Ultimate Frisbee, Wrestling and Track & Field.

Grades 7&8 Our younger students participate in a schoolwide intra-mural program, as well as on 7/8 inter-school athletic teams.

Students are encouraged to become involved in the athletics program and are free to use the athletic facilities when appropriate opportunities permit.

Clubs and Committees

• Environmental Concerns Committee
• Social Concerns Committee
• Robotics Club
• Student Newspaper
• Year Book
• Math & Computer Programming Competitions
• Music Council
• Visual Arts Committee
• International Students Club
• Athletics Committee
• Faith and Worship Committee
• Technology Committee
• Student Council

Collectively, our students accomplish great things, both inside and outside our school.  Every fall, students devote a day to tackling environmental and service projects in the wider community. Every Christmas, our students raise a record amount of canned goods for the House of Friendship’s Food Drive. These projects embody the Rockway spirit and the values we seek to instill.

Rockway offers a significant cross-cultural experience for students at each grade level.  Cross-cultural learning and friendship enriches our curriculum and creates important bridges to the broader world.

• Grade 7: Fall Retreat, Silver Lake Mennonite Camp Outdoor Education Trip, Fort George History Trip
• Grade 8: Fall Retreat, Silver Lake Mennonite Camp Outdoor Education Trip, Ottawa Trip
• Grade 9: Expedition (Arts Extravaganza, Haliburton Moutain-Biking and Walk in the Clouds, Canoeing the Grand River, Culinary Arts)
• Grade 10: Quebec Immersion
• Grade 11: MCC TOOLS, France and Germany Exchange
• Grade 12: Costa Rica Adventure

There is true value in this real world experience.  Through immersion, action, and reflection, our students graduate ready to make the real world a better world.

Click here to view our faculty list.

Rockway offers its students the opportunity to schedule private music instruction in guitar, strings, voice, percussion, and piano at the school and during the school day.

The school facilities are available between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Lesson times are arranged between the teacher and the student. Students are permitted to leave scheduled classes for private lessons if they do not have spares and no other time is suitable. Lessons are given in the practice rooms upstairs.

Contact the main office for more information about our teachers and when they are offering instruction.

• In Rockway’s cafeteria one can purchase an item or two to supplement a lunch brought from home, or a complete meal. Each day we offer a hot meal.
• We have a four-week rotating menu so the students have variety, and yet their favourite meals repeat.
• The current week’s menu can always be found online, as well as posted outside and inside the servery.
• In addition to the hot meal, we offer raw vegetable plates, and an assortment of sandwiches. For those with a sweet tooth, we have an assortment of baked desserts and ice cream novelties. For the health conscious, we have yogurt, raw fruit by the piece or a plate of fresh cut fruit. On days when there is not a vegetarian entree offered, there is vegetarian soup, green salad, and vegetable wraps.

Meal Tickets

Frequent buyers have the option of buying meal tickets. This not only speeds up the exit at the cash register, but also saves money. The meal ticket is good for the hot meal of the day, and a choice of beverage. When a student wants to choose food items other than the hot meal of the day, he or she will need to pay cash.  Meal tickets can be purchased at the office.

Food from Home

We have four microwave ovens in the cafeteria available to students. Students are expected to bring from home whatever is needed to open and eat their food. Please note that we do not supply plates, bowls, mugs or cutlery for food brought from home.

Dietary Restrictions

From time to time there are students with special dietary needs or preferences. Feel free to contact Cyndi Pugh, Food Services Coordinator, about any concerns or requests. We try to accommodate when feasible. Our frequency and choice of vegetarian and vegan items varies from year to year, based on student interest. Students who have nut allergies should know we do not restrict our students from bringing in nut products from home. Although we strive to buy and and sell nut free products, the kitchen is not nut free. If nuts are used in a recipe the items are clearly labelled.

Feedback

Our sales tell us which offered items are a hit with many of our students. However, our sales can’t tell us what we are not offering that could be popular. That’s where we ask for input. If your son or daughter has an idea of a food item they want to buy, and believe many of their friends would too, please let us know. Cyndi and her staff want to hear from you!

Bon Appetit!

In Rockway’s Learning Resource Centre, students build learning strategies designed to support their academic progress through high school and beyond. We work collaboratively with students, teachers, parents and professionals to meet individual learning needs.

Students connected with the Learning Resource Centre can expect to build their literacy, math, and organizational skills, as well as receive subject-specific help. We know that learning is a complex process, and we are committed to finding ways to support a diversity of learning styles. We accept students for who they are, and challenge them to grow towards their full potential.

Acceptance and Challenge: There are many diverse factors that affect how and what students learn. In the Resource Centre, all students are accepted for who they are, and challenged to grow toward their full potential.

Resource Centre Team:

Lynn Bergsma Friesen & Andrew Snider