REVIEW OF The Bishop Strachan School BY Alum, Joanne A.

(4) Overall Experience

My 6 years at BSS were filled with incredible opportunities both academically and personally. I launched headfirst into playing in the band, a sports team every term, debate club, contest writing, and leadership roles, built lifelong friendships, and developed great skills that have helped me to succeed in academia and beyond. I was lucky enough to be taught by incredible teachers (Mr. Stewart, Ms. Woolley, Mrs. Pfaff, Ms. Fleming, Mr. Moffatt, Ms. Drover, and Ms. Jameson) who were dedicated to their student's successes. The camaraderie of the BSS soccer team is unparalleled - and the sacrifices made by coaches to travel with us to tournaments near and far were incredible. I felt like I got to try and experience many different subjects and explore what I enjoyed most as well as what subjects I excelled in. I was always encouraged to continue to challenge myself and expand my horizons. Most importantly, I developed my love of Canadian history under the guidance of Mr. Stewart, which has been the anchor of my career. I owe him so much. I like to think I make him proud by the work I do now, and remain grateful for his mentorship.

(3.5) School Leadership

School leadership changed hands a few times during my BSS experience. Deryn Lavell stands out as an exceptional leader who treats students with compassion and understanding. Kim Gordon as well was very well-liked and even played along with various grad pranks and misdeeds - she also owned up to a mistake she made in the chapel, which I thought spoke to her character. Jan Sullivan was a polarizing figure, but I always felt like she was largely fair and handled all issues with the appropriate level of care. Overall I feel like the heads of school were respected by students. I respected the desire to maintain the uniform (including a no-nail polish policy) - which I know has changed of late - and most of us valued the lesson in learning to dress and treat clothes with respect.

(4.5) Teaching

The teaching was exceptional. Mr. Stewart remains the best teacher I've ever encountered throughout all my levels of education. His passion for Canadian history was electric and he deeply cared for his students. He encouraged us to challenge ourselves, taught multiple interesting courses, and took extra time out of his work to help me write the competitive Begbie Canadian history contest which I won medals of merit for both times I wrote it. Ms. Woolley is an incredible educator, with the ability to inspire her students in world issues and European history. Mr. Moffatt took pity on my inability to understand logarithms or algebra and helped me attempt to wrap my brain around them at an OFSAA swim meet where I was the only swimmer there representing BSS. He was game to sit on the floor of the Etobicoke Olympia pool to help me understand the problems I was struggling with. I always felt I understood math much better when he taught it. Ms. Drover and Ms. Jameson were outstanding gym teachers - incorporating a variety of sports into our classes and helping us to develop a strong sense of fitness goals and a love of exercise. Of course, not all teachers were that good - but on balance, the vast majority were wonderful people who wanted to see their students succeed.

(4) Academics

I felt I got an exceptional education at BSS. I learned key skills across all disciplines that have helped me significantly in my career as a graduate student as well as as a historian. I was challenged to improve and grow as a student - one memorable example is Ms. Mozarowski challenged me to completely re-write a final English paper on relatively short notice. She knew I could do better. I was definitely not happy about it at the time, as I had a soccer tournament to attend, but in the end, the paper I turned in was significantly better than the old one. This taught me that I should never be afraid to start over if something wasn't working - and that to truly improve my writing, sometimes the best thing to do is scrap everything and begin again, even if you are tight on time. My complaint would be that now there seems to be a shift towards universal design learning - which on paper seems like a wise idea - but in practice, I feel actually does not adequately teach students to manage deadlines, handle competing priorities, or get comfortable with a little bit of anxiety/stress around busy periods. If I had been given an extension on the English paper I described above, I think the result would have been much less rewarding and I wouldn't have learned as valuable a lesson.

(5) Extracurriculars

10/10. I thrived in the extracurricular world at BSS. I played sports - which included multiple OFSAA trips both for soccer and swimming, I played French Horn in the senior band where I met one of my best friends, I was co-head of the Speakers Union club where I learned the art of debating and public speaking and qualified to attend competitions across Canada and in the United Kingdom, I was elected as a sports coordinator for Dupont house in grades 10 and 11 and served as Games Captain Prefect in grade 12 - a leadership position that has sadly and for reasons unknown to me - been eliminated. Of all the things BSS offers - the extracurriculars are the best.

(3.5) Students

The student body at any high school is an interesting challenge. My class at BSS was largely very inclusive, but like at any all-girls school, there was no shortage of drama and hurt feelings as we were all growing into adults. This happens at any high school and is not unique to BSS. That said, there was lots of camaraderie on display as well - through sports teams, and the nativity cast, through your TAG group and your house, it was largely a positive social experience for me, despite some challenging moments. The spirit of the school is exciting - this is helped by the house system and the grade-organized spirit week. These were such fun experiences and really bonded people together. The prefect leadership team always went above and beyond to try to inject school spirit into any opportunity they got and this was appreciated by the student body as a whole.

(4) School Life

I loved going to school at BSS. The best part about BSS was the ability to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities that challenged me to explore my diverse interests. In each of these areas, I made friends with girls who were passionate about the activities and enjoyed being a part of a wider team environment. There was a healthy amount of stress - it is good to be a bit stressed some time! - and I felt the majority of my friends were really engaged not only in school but in the wider BSS community and school life. I specifically enjoyed starting most mornings with attending chapel - and while it was based in the Anglican faith - it was very inclusive to all faiths and to none. It was a great space to celebrate achievements of students, be together to start the day with singing and being with your own thoughts, and to listen to really excellent homilies delivered by students, staff, and visiting individuals. I loved this part of my BSS experience!

(4) Community

I think that the BSS alumni community has only improved. The school does a great job engaging its alumni network - and I think it is so wonderful that alumni volunteer their time to speak to students about their career choices and university experiences. My parents were invested in the school and often attended my athletic games and my drama class performances. I have kept up with many friends from BSS, and a few teachers who have been excellent mentors to me. I am grateful for this network as it feels both inclusive and wide-reaching. When I was a Master's student at the LSE in England, BSS organized an alumni event there. It was so nice to reconnect and see other BSSers in the UK and I felt very lucky to be a part of a community that had such big international reach!

(3.5) School Location

The location of the school worked well for me and my family. The surrounding neighbourhood made the school feel much more local, and the proximity of the Forest Hill village provided a nice little escape for us as older students. The connectivity to the subway was adequate, but the fact that UCC was just down the street was a plus!

(3.5) Admissions

This was a long time ago for me - 2003 - so my memories are cloudy on what it was like. I do remember enjoying my tour of BSS, enjoying meeting with an administrator, and choosing BSS because of its athletic strengths. At the time I was a competitive, nationally ranked swimmer, and BSS really recognized that and wanted to help me ensure I could continue to compete at an elite level while also succeeding academically. Lastly, the school is quite beautiful - especially the front entrance with the heritage panels, and the chapel, with its lovely stained glass windows, really spoke to the younger me who was already interested in history.

(2.5) University placement and counselling

I didn't make too much use of the BSS university counselling - it was not overly helpful to me as I knew where I wanted to attend university. The system is fairly easy to figure out and I didn't feel as if I needed any extra support to manage the application process. I did appreciate the university tours the school organized, which I took advantage of - visiting Western and Queen's in grades 11 and 12 respectively. This really allowed me to see the campuses, get a feel for student life, and envision myself going to school there. It was an easy choice for me - Queen's not only has the most beautiful campus in Ontario, but the history and global development programs there were very strong.