Most people think creativity belongs in the arts.
They’re wrong.
As former Tesla president Jon McNeill put it:
“The core skill entrepreneurs have is problem solving. In problem solving, you use the left side of your brain to analyze and then you use the right side of your brain to create solutions.”
That distinction matters.
Because schools have traditionally done a very good job developing the left side of the brain … analyzing, memorizing, calculating.
But real success in life doesn’t come from analysis alone.
It comes from solving problems.
And problem solving requires creativity.
The ability to look at a situation and ask: “What could this become?”
This is exactly why Riverbend Academy made a deliberate decision to expand the arts curriculum beyond the Ontario standard.
Not as an “extra.”
Not as a break from learning — but as a critical part of it.
When students participate in music, drama, and visual arts, they are not just performing … they are creating, adapting, expressing, and thinking differently.
They are strengthening the very skill that drives innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship.
At Riverbend, we believe that strong academics matter.
But academics alone are not enough.
When you combine analytical thinking with creativity, something powerful happens:
Students don’t just learn what to think.
They learn how to think.
And more importantly…
They learn how to solve problems in a world that is constantly changing.