We’ll supplement this page with expert insight into the FIT between Venture Academy and YOUR CHILD. Just answer a few short questions. It takes only 5 minutes.
Or, dive right into our insights on Venture Academy:
To customize this school profile (and others), answer a few questions about your child’s needs.
Go to child profileCanada's leading treatment and education program for troubled teens and struggling students. We help turn your child’s life around. Students engage in a clinically comprehensive psychological assessment and testing process to start. Serving youth who may be struggling with ADHD, learning challenges, underachieving, behavioural issues, and a variety of clinical diagnoses. Individualized support and engaging interaction. Earn school credits. Select our 30 day program or a longer stay. Admissions 12 months a year.
Venture Academy was founded in 2000 by Gordon Hay in order to provide support for students who, for a range of reasons, weren’t thriving within traditional academic settings. Hay had worked with teens in outpatient and resident treatment settings, as well as within corrections programs. He is the first to say that so many of the stories he has heard over the years are heartbreaking, and the impact of so many of those stories has been profound. That said, while he perhaps doesn’t use the term, he created Venture as an atmosphere of hope—a place of understanding, including the understanding that positive change can be made. It’s about working with the individual, but it’s also about working with families—communication is open, and support is provided. It’s an impressive model, evident in the success that Venture has had over the years. There are now locations in Kelowna, BC, Red Deer, Alberta, and Barrie, Ontario, though Venture extends well beyond the bricks and mortar, and operates today as an umbrella organization, bringing together expertise, parents, and teens. The goal isn’t to silo teens, but rather to provide the kind of care, support, and understanding needed to help overcome the challenges they face.
Focus | Special needs |
---|---|
Academic | Special needs , Troubled Teens |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Evolution as consensus theory | |
Evolution as one of many equally viable theories | |
Evolution is not taught |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Biology | |
Chemistry | |
Ecology | |
Geology | |
Meteorology | |
Physics | |
Physiology | |
Zoology |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Acting | |
Dance | |
Drama/Theatre | |
Graphic Design | |
Music | |
Visual Arts |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Computer science | |
Robotics | |
Web design |
Flexible pacing style | offered |
---|---|
Subject-streaming (tracking) | |
Multi-age classrooms as standard | |
Ability-grouping (in-class) as common | |
Frequent use of cyber-learning (at-their-own-pace) | |
Regular guided independent study opportunities | |
Differentiated assessment |
Full-time programming is offered for all students which is exclusively focused on one or more special needs.
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Learning strategy and study counselling; habit formation | |
Extra support and minor accommodations for children experiencing subclinical difficulties |
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Accommodations | |
Modifications | |
Extra support |
Read our guide to special needs schools and special education
Program | offered |
---|---|
Full-time gifted program (parallel to rest of school) | |
Part-time gifted program (pull-out; parallel to rest of class) |
Curriculum delivery: Acceleration and enrichment (There is an equal emphasis on acceleration and enrichment.)
Program | offered |
---|---|
Custom subject enrichment (special arrangement) | |
Custom curriculum compacting (special arrangement) | |
Guided independent study (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Cyber-learning opportunities (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Formalized peer coaching opportunities (specifically for gifted learners to coach others) | |
Custom subject acceleration (special arrangement) | |
Career exploration (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Project-based learning (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Mentorships (custom gifted arrangement) |
This information is not currently available.
This information is not currently available.
This information is not currently available.
This information is not currently available.
Grades | Gender | Living Arrangement | Enrolment | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Group 1 | Gr. 7 to Gr. 12 | Coed | Homestay | 1 |
Total enrolment | 1 |
Average class size | Varies |
% of international students (total enrolment) | N/A |
Number of different nationalities within student population | N/A |
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Homestay Enrollment | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Assessment | Required | Grades |
---|---|---|
Interview | ||
SSAT | ||
SSAT (out of province) | ||
Entrance Exam(s) | ||
Entrance Essay |
Application fee: N/A
Registration fee: N/A
Deposit:
N/A
This is the percentage of applicants typically accepted into the school. So if 50 students are admitted out of 100 applicants, the school has an overall acceptance rate of 50%.
Average graduating class size | N/A |
Students accepted into post-secondary studies upon graduation | N/A |
Percentage of students who attend post-secondary institutions outside of Canada | N/A |
Students who attended a Ivy+ school Number of students in the past 5 years that that attended one of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, University of Chicago, Oxford or Cambridge (UK) | N/A |
Venture Academy Troubled Teens Program (AB) Graduates’ Post-Secondary Studies:
This information is not currently available.Aggregate of All Schools’ Post-Secondary Studies:
Career planning | N/A |
Internships | N/A |
Mentorship Program | N/A |
University counseling | N/A |
A Message From Our Founder
Venture Academy Youth Counselling & Treatment Programs
What if…you could get the smiles, the hugs, and the love back…
What if…your family could be the way it was before the problems started…
What if…you could find a place here in Canada that would help your child turn their life around…
Dear Parents,
I ask the questions above because parents just like you tell us that is what they want. Somehow your child has strayed from your family’s core values and beliefs. Your child’s behaviour no longer matches your idea of how a healthy, happy family behaves. The ideals you set for your child are not being achieved and might not be, unless the right path is chosen. We are all too familiar with the pain and stress you are dealing with now.
Throughout my 27 years working with youth and families I have literally spoken with thousands of parents who have told me heartbreaking stories of their child’s behaviours and difficulties and resulting family struggles. I founded Venture Academy for families in need – loving and caring families, families who want to intervene and get help for their child before things get even worse. My goal was to develop the best possible services for troubled teens in Canada – an all encompassing and clinically comprehensive assessment service and treatment program that would actually meet the needs of youth and families.
I started Venture Academy from a deep personal desire to help families. I wanted to create a structure and environment that would produce the greatest possible success for each youth in the program and create the positive behavioural changes that youth need to successfully function in school, in the community, and at home. I wanted to develop a program that made sense to parents who were looking for help, a program that spoke to their beliefs and value systems.
My personal commitment to you:
Venture Academy was established in 2000 and since then, we have served hundreds of families from across Canada. Venture Academy was the first—and maybe the only—successful private residential treatment program and school of its kind for troubled teens in Canada.
I invite you to browse our website in order to gain an initial understanding of Venture Academy (www.ventureacademy.ca). I hope you’ll become familiar with our organization and I trust you will be comfortable with our approach and inspired as you read through our testimonials and information. If you have any questions whatsoever I encourage you to call.
We can help.
Respectfully,
Gordon Hay
Executive Director / Founder
Venture Academy
The Trusted Source for Families since 1998
Interested in Venture Academy Troubled Teens Program (AB)?
Visit WebsiteJoin the Our Kids roundtable discussion about [School Name]. Alumni and current parents are answering questions and sharing their insights—about the school’s culture, strengths, and weaknesses.
Oct
ZOOM MEETING