Paying Tribute to our Founders

Today we celebrated the founders of St. John’s-Kilmarnock School. Forty-seven years ago a visionary group in Elora had a dream—to create a school that would have a rigorous curriculum in a supportive learning environment. They had the courage and the tenacity to do something different. They took risks, they made bold decisions and the school we have today is the result of their determination. There isn’t a single aspect of today’s school that we don’t owe to our founders. Today we had the opportunity to pay tribute to their vision and to give our thanks for all that they have done.

Sadly, we lost three significant members of the SJK community over the past year — Isobel Chalmers, Malcolm Rombach and John Thompson. Isobel Chalmers was the wife of Jim Chalmers, the first Head of School. Together they were the driving force of the school’s creation. If it were not for Isobel’s and Jim’s vision, SJK would not exist. Malcolm Rombach was one of the first teachers at St. John’s (Elora) as it was known then. He is remembered for his understanding of the needs of boys as they are coming of age. He commanded a great deal of respect from his students. John Thompson began teaching physics at the school in 1983 and spent 24 years at the school, retiring as Head of Operations in 2007. He is remembered for being a wonderful teacher and a great sport. We thank them all for their service to the school and feel grateful to be members of the school they created.

Today we also had the opportunity to award the Order of St. John’s-Kilmarnock School to Joe Matell who served on our Board of Governors for 13 years, six of those as Chair. His tenure coincided with a transformational period for the school—he was involved with the decision to strengthen our commitment to IB to make SJK a full IB Continuum school; he served on not one but two Head of School Selection Committees—Mr. Norman Southward and Dr. Jeff Aitken; and was the Chair when the plans to build Newton House went from being an idea to a shovel in the ground and then a full reality. We recognized that his thoughtful leadership at key junctions in our school’s recent history has made a tremendous impact on the school we enjoy today.

Schools are more than simply places where students come to learn, they are communities made up of people who share the same values. They are bound together by mutuality, camaraderie and trust. Communities grow in strength when we have committed and tangible leadership. We are fortunate to be members of this community and it is important to have the opportunity to reflect on what we enjoy today and the people whose leadership gave us this wonderful school.

Happy Founders’ Day,

Ms. Cheryl Boughton
Head of School