University Admissions

'Tis the season for university and college admissions, and with prom and graduation on the mind of every grade 12 student, I thought I'd take some time to chat about making those critical post-secondary choices...

If your student is anything like many of ours, they are most likely agonizing over a variety of offers and where to go in the fall.  Having worked at the Student Recruitment Office during my undergrad at Queen's, I saw thousands of students anxious about making the right choice for September.  It's a huge responsibility for a young student, and although most are more than capable of making that decision, it sometimes proves paralyzing.  Here are some tips and strategies to help your student through this tough time:

1.  Acknowledge the 'fit' factor: the reputation of a school is not nearly as important as a student's comfort level. Avoid the temptation to choose a school because it is prestigious, hard to get into, or where mom/dad/brother/sister went.  Like private schools, universities/colleges are like shoes - what fits one student really well may not fit another at all.  At the end of the day, the key to academic success will be in finding a fit.

2.  Choose a program that interests the student:  again, don't be tempted by prestige or reputation here.  There are thousands of wonderful careers that can come with a history degree (trust me!) and not everyone on Bay St. went to Ivey or Schulich.  For instance, did you know that David Dennison, the head of the CPP Investment Board, has a B.Ed?  If a student pursues an area of interest they will most likely end up in a career they are interested in as well.

3.  Visit campus!  A shameless plug from a former campus tour guide, but visiting campus is honestly the best way to get a feel for the school.  I honestly chose Queen's because the students looked so happy walking down the streets - silly, but it just felt like I would fit in there.  Many schools are offering extended campus tour hours as deadlines loom.

4.  Begin with the end in mind: help your student to consider different careers that may be of interest to them.  One of my favourite sites is www.jobfutures.ca - it shows the employment trends, education level, average rates of pay, and even gives tips for suggested courses in high school and university.  If a student isn't sure what they want to do, don't stress - there's still time - but if they have a goal in mind this can certainly help them narrow down their field of study.

5.  Consider alternatives: if a student isn't quite ready to go to post-secondary studies in the fall, there are fabulous GAP programs at many schools (some of my favourites are at Neuchatel and Canada College Italy), as well as volunteer abroad programs (Canada World Youth or the Rotary Club's Student Ambassador Program), or even transition programs at universities.  This extra year of life experience is often exactly what the student needs to value and appreciate his/her educational opportunities and not squander first year.

6.  Go with your gut: lastly, most students know what they want, and often just need reassurance to follow their instincts.  Discussion as a family about these decisions is often all they need.

CAADAC Conference

On Saturday I had the privilege of attending the second annual CAADAC Conference on ADD/ADHD.  To say that this  was an eye opening day would be an understatement.  Based on the evidence provided by Drs. Brown and Dietzel, it seems inexcusable to me that Ontario does not recognize ADHD as a legitimate ground for IPRC.  When one considers the affect ADHD has on executive functioning (as Dr. Brown put it, it is as though your Windows isn't working but your MS Office would be fine if you could just access it), it seems to make little sense that parents and students need to jump through so many hoops to get the services they so desperately deserve.


This is why I am so excited to a part of our FOCUS program - this tailored approach to ADHD education will allow middle school boys to learn in a way that is effective and meaningful for them.  Our hope is that our graduates will feel accepted, confident in their skills, and prepared for high school in whatever context they choose (though of course we hope it's us!).  But programs like ours seem to be few and far between, and I just cannot imagine how frustrating this must be as a parent.


What would you like to see in an ADHD classroom?  How can we better service your child with ADD/ADHD?  Feedback is always welcome....

Sights and Sounds

One of the best elements of my job is that I get to work with 'exceptional' learners - those who respond to information and/or the environment differently.  I love working with these students because they challenge me to be better, to read more, and to sleuth out the newest and greatest strategies in our field.  Oftentimes these come from colleagues and professional development courses, but some of the best information I have has come to me by chance.  Today's post is about one of those random, yet revolutionizing, moments, compliments of one of our parents here at NTA...

One of our students recently has begun sporting purple glasses in class, compliments of a new diagnosis from an Irlen Eye Test.  The student had struggled with reading for many years, and manifested symptoms of AD/HD.  Without getting too technical, it turns out that students with Irlen Syndrome perceive the reading environment differently; though the exact cause is unknown, a simple light-filtering lens can completely change the words on the page (hence the coloured glasses).  For our student, it means that words no longer jump around the page when he wears his glasses - and boy, has there been a drastic change to both attention and reading skills!

More and more, we are becoming aware of perceptual issues that are affecting students - whether in their hearing or sight.  It is tough to identify these issues because they often present as learning disabilities - we simply don't see or hear what the student is hearing, so we do not know that it is different.  I would encourage anyone with a struggling student to thoroughly investigate hearing and sight issues - as we have seen firsthand, it can be a liberating experience!

First Post

Hello All,

So... Doug and I were at the Ontario Federation of Independent Schools' Conference last Friday, and apparently this is the thing to do, so we're going to give it a try!  I'm not 100% certain how this blog will evolve; I have maintained edublogs in my time in faculty, and classroom websites when I was teaching, but never anything quite like this before.  So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm open to suggestions - whatever you as my readers would like to hear about, I'm happy to post about.  I'm looking forward to discussing different strategies, books, and educational happenings, and discussing them with you in this new space.

Over the last eight months I have had the distinct privilege of working with some of the most dedicated parents and students in the Greater Toronto Area.  The one thing that struck me about the community at North Toronto Academy is how well everyone works together to the benefit of the students.  It really is a holistic approach to education here - so refreshing in comparison to some of the larger institutions I have encountered in my career.  With that in mind, I hope this blog will become a positive space for building community, making connections with you and amongst yourselves, and a way to keep you in the loop with all things NTA.

Looking forward to our journey together!

Michelle