The Esposito Family: Discovering the Ability in Every Student
While they’re all under the same academic umbrella, families exclusively at Rundle Academy or at Rundle College don’t always have an understanding of the benefits and experiences of the other. But with two children attending the College and two children attending the Academy, the Esposito family are in the unique position of being a bridge between the two.
Matt and Natalie Esposito initially had their kids in public French immersion, but when their second child, Henry, was in grade 3 during the height of the pandemic and distance learning, they realized he was struggling.
“We were both much more hands-on with our kids’ schooling than we were before, and so we noticed there were some very fundamental things he seemed to be missing,” says Matt.
The family moved him into a traditional English-only track, but it didn’t seem to help.
“It was shocking to see the impact to his self confidence and his self esteem, because he was still struggling with learning in a traditional way,” says Natalie. “He started saying things like, ‘I’m not smart, I’m not good at school.’ And he started to suffer in areas where he’d been strong in the past, like math.”
When Henry was diagnosed with a learning disability in reading and writing, the family started looking for other options.
“I went into full mama-bear mode,” Natalie says with a smile. “And once I started looking to our community, I found quite a few people with kids at Rundle Academy, and they all had the same experience: That it is absolutely life changing!
“Within a matter of weeks of starting at the Academy, Henry’s confidence was back. The teachers empower the students to use accommodations that make it so their learning disability doesn’t hold them back,” she says. “Last year he achieved the Excellence Honour Roll because he has the confidence to strive academically.”
Different Can Be More Than
After seeing the incredible level of support and high level of academic programming Henry experienced, the choice to enrol their other children in the Rundle family was a given. This year their eldest, Charles, will graduate from the College, Henry and Evren are in grades 9 and 7, respectively, at the Academy, and their youngest, Lina, is in grade 3 at the College.
Across both the Academy and College environments, “smaller class sizes, individualized attention, effective remediation, and a culture of care lead to significantly stronger results,” explains Matt.
“One thing I would love College families to know, and the thing I’m always championing, is that the Academy is not a lesser program,” says Natalie. “They teach kids to understand and advocate for their learning needs. I think there are a lot of misconceptions around different being less than, and the Academy shows that different can be more than.” By working with students to accommodate their specific challenges—whether that’s using talk-to-text software, audio books, taking physical body breaks, using noise-cancelling headphones or other tools—“it allows these kids to realize how much ability they really have.”
“The funny thing is, in the professional world, adults use these tools all the time to make our experiences easier or more productive, and no one bats an eye,” she says.
“We’re so grateful that we have this opportunity, and that we were able to get in,” adds Matt. “It’s so competitive, because there’s such a need in the community.”
The Esposito family made the decision to donate $100,000 to the Building Futures campaign, which will open the doors to an additional 175 students with learning disabilities, helping to meet that need.
“For us, the decision to contribute to the school was really around our gratitude for what the school community has been able to do for our kids, and also to create more space for more kids to come,” says Natalie. “Building up their confidence and their belief if their academic ability is just so impactful for our entire community. And the kids know it. They know they’re in a special place where they can shine.”
