We are respectfully asking Shawnigan Lake School to review certain aspects of its boarding-school policies and consider providing students with greater flexibility to maintain meaningful connections with their families, longtime friends, and home communities.

We recognize that Shawnigan Lake School provides students with a unique educational and residential experience. We also understand that a strong boarding-school community depends on students participating in school activities, traditions, academics, athletics, and community life.

However, we believe there should also be room for students to maintain an important part of their lives outside the school campus.

1. More opportunities to return home on weekends
We would like the school to consider allowing students to return to their family homes on weekends when they do not have required academic, athletic, or school-community commitments.

For students whose families live within reasonable travelling distance, such as in West Vancouver and surrounding communities, regular weekend visits could provide valuable opportunities to spend time with parents, siblings, relatives, and close friends.

We are not asking students to miss required school activities. Rather, we are asking for greater flexibility when there are no mandatory commitments.

A boarding-school experience should not necessarily mean that students have to choose between participating in their school community and maintaining a regular connection with their family.

2. Greater flexibility with uniforms
We also respectfully ask the school to consider whether students could have some designated days when they are permitted to wear appropriate regular clothing instead of the school uniform.

We understand why uniforms can be useful. They can create a sense of community, establish a standard of dress, and represent the school.

At the same time, allowing occasional appropriate personal clothing could give students an opportunity for individual expression and comfort while maintaining reasonable expectations for appearance and behaviour.

The request is not to eliminate uniforms, but to consider a balanced approach with some flexibility.

3. Maintaining relationships with family and longtime friends
Students attending boarding school often have established relationships outside the school environment.

Their parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives, childhood friends, sports teammates, neighbours, and other members of their home communities remain important parts of their lives.

For students coming from places such as West Vancouver, being able to return home and maintain those relationships can be especially meaningful.

We believe students should have reasonable opportunities to remain connected to their original communities while also developing new friendships and relationships at school.

4. Finding a reasonable balance
We recognize that the school needs policies and expectations in order to operate a successful residential community. We are not suggesting that students should be able to leave campus whenever they want or disregard school responsibilities.

Instead, we are asking whether there is an opportunity to find a reasonable middle ground.

For example, the school could consider allowing greater weekend flexibility when there are no required activities, establishing designated non-uniform days, and creating clearer opportunities for students to spend time with their families when their schedules permit.

These changes could be discussed with students, parents, guardians, faculty, and school administrators so that everyone's concerns are heard.

Our request
We respectfully ask Shawnigan Lake School to:

Review its current expectations surrounding weekend stays and opportunities to return home.
Consider greater flexibility for students who wish to spend weekends with their families when they have no required school commitments.
Consider designated days or circumstances in which appropriate non-uniform clothing is permitted.
Consider ways for students to maintain regular relationships with their families and longtime friends outside the school community.
Listen directly to students and families about how these policies affect their experience.
Work collaboratively with the school community toward policies that balance the benefits of boarding life with the importance of family and home connections.
A respectful request for dialogue
This petition is intended to encourage conversation, not confrontation.

We appreciate the work of the teachers, staff, administrators, coaches, and other members of the Shawnigan Lake community who support students every day. We also recognize that there may be practical reasons behind existing policies that we may not fully understand.

Our purpose is simply to ask that the perspectives of students and families be considered and that opportunities for greater flexibility be explored.

Students can be proud members of the Shawnigan Lake community while still being connected to their families, friends, and home communities.

We respectfully ask Shawnigan Lake School to listen, consider these concerns, and work with students and families toward a balanced approach that supports both the boarding-school experience and the relationships students have beyond campus.