St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School Leadership & Community Service

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SMLS is situated on a beautiful, 10-acre campus in the heart of Oakville. Our world-class facilities include outdoor classrooms, nature gardens and a courtyard as well as exceptional indoor spaces including two art studios, a theatre, two gymnasiums, a full dining hall and servery and two student lounges. Take a tour of SMLS to explore our full campus.

SMLS girls learn to lead through service and responsibility.

There are numerous formal and informal leadership opportunities for girls in Junior, Middle and Senior School. Equally important, girls participate in community service throughout their years and giving back to our local and global communities is an important hallmark of an SMLS education.

Student Leadership

Leadership Roles Throughout the School

In Grade 5, every SMLS student has the opportunity to serve the Junior School as a House Representative for a full term. Girls participate in organizing events, leading activities and representing their House as a leader and mentor for the younger girls.

Middle School girls have the opportunity to participate in Middle School House Council, contributing their voice and leadership to the activities of the Middle School. MS House Council meets weekly throughout the year and several Middle School committees are formed to organize student-led initiatives.

Every student in Senior School has the opportunity to hold a leadership position and assist in running an event through the Athletics Council, Arts Council, STEM Council and House Council. Girls in their final year can apply to become a Prefect. This group of Millies is responsible for a multitude of duties: they organize activities and events, assist in chapel, and serve as role models for our girls. The Prefects wear burgundy blazers to signify their position. The leader, and ultimately the leader of the student body is the Head Girl.

Big Sister, Little Sister Program

Older girls and younger girls connect at special times throughout the year and develop ongoing relationships. This creates leadership opportunities for our older girls and gives the younger girls someone to look up to. This is one of the strengths of a school that spans Junior Kindergarten to Graduation.

Ronald MacDonald House Drive
Run for Camp Oochigeas

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Special Olympics Event
Serving Dinner at Kerr Street Mission
Junior School House Reps
The Memory Project
Prefect Breakfast with Head of School

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Community Service

SMLS students participate in community service throughout the year in many different ways. Below are some of the many activities and initiatives that our students undertake to give back to their local and global communities.

Junior School girls recently organized a "We Scare Hunger" food drive during Halloween, wrote and illustrated Postcards for Peace for Canadian veterans and collected toiletries, school supplies and toys for children, among other activities.

Each Middle School girl is expected to earn volunteer hours as part of our Middle School Junior Duke Program, unique to SMLS and modeled as a program that will prepare our girls for the Duke of Edinburgh Program in Senior School. Recent activities have included the Salvation Army Teens 4 Teens Drive, holiday visits to Wyndham Manor seniors residence, Earth Day, and support of our Special Olympics Hometown Soccer Tournament.

Senior Students recently donated clothing to organizations such as the Society of Saint Vincent De Paul and visited the Kerr St. Mission to prepare and serve meals, among other initiatives. Annually, students in Grade 10 and 11 organize a Special Olympics Festival at SMLS for intellectually disabled elementary school athletes from the Halton area and girls in the Phys Ed leadership class organize a Special Olympics Hometown Soccer Tournament. Senior girls also take on global service learning, and have recently participated with communities and organization in Peru, Bahamas and the Caribbean, among other international locations.

Art students have participated in important international projects such as Unsung Heroes, where students discover, develop and communicate the stories of unsung heroes who have made a profound and positive impact on the course of history, as well as The Memory Project, in which students create portraits for youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, and extreme poverty.