REVIEW OF Niagara Christian Collegiate BY student, Keegan Metcalfe

(4) Student Experience

Niagara Christian Collegiate provides a great environment for learning as well as socializing. There is a strong focus on improving in all areas of life as the weekly Advisory classes will try to ensure. Many fun events are provided and encouraged, such as great events to celebrate both the beginning and the end of the school years, and a creative celebration known as The Arts Cafe. All staff members at Niagara Christian Collegiate are very friendly and obviously care about your success. The teachers very much want you to succeed and will help you in any way that they can. You will be exposed to many different worldviews and perspectives due to the great diverse school population. Overall, there are many opportunities to have a great learning experience and also an enjoyable high school experience.

(4) School Leadership

The school leaders at Niagara Christian Collegiate seem to be very professional and obviously desire very much to see their students succeed. Teachers are very willing to help you in any way academically, and the guidance counsellors do an excellent job of preparing students for their future plans, no matter what they may be. You can ask them anything and you will be sure to get great answers. Every year a student council is formed and they always come up with many memorable events.

(4.5) Teaching

The teachers at Niagara Christian Collegiate are very kind and obviously care about the success of their students. Their teaching techniques often rely on experiences, which makes for more fun and memorable times in each class. The workload given by each teacher is usually very attainable, and they are very willing to help you if you go to them with questions. Teachers want you to be able to learn important lessons for yourself and encourage participation. They are all very friendly people and are often quite flexible with assignments if you ask them early enough. The teachers will try their very best to make each class entertaining as well as informative. Final projects and the ways to express learning are often made to be very creatively free and fun to do.

(4) Academics

The majority of the work at Niagara Christian Collegiate is very bearable and the skills that are learned can be very beneficial for the future. A variety of different courses are offered at NCC and you are guaranteed to enjoy many of them. By the time you get to your final year, you have a lot of freedom to choose where you want to spend your time and what classes you want to choose, if any at all. Even if you won't use some skills in the specifically chosen courses, you certainly will gain some skills that will be useful in whatever area you choose to work. There is great potential to learn great skills in many classes, even if you will not specifically use the surface-level knowledge.

(3.5) Extracurriculars

Niagara Christian Collegiate offers a very wide range of extracurricular opportunities in many subjects, from arts and music to sports. These extracurriculars come highly recommended, especially for those students who will live on campus. Many clubs, sports, jobs, and creative opportunities are offered at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the year. Overall, there are very many things to do at NCC.

(3.5) Students

The majority of students at Niagara Christian Collegiate are very friendly and willing to speak to new students. The extremely diverse community of people from many different cultures and nations allows for many great conversations and perspectives to be shared. I believe that many, if not all students will feel welcome at this school in one way or another. The diverse representations at Niagara Christian Collegiate are often celebrated with events like the Celebration of Nations and students having the ability to cook for their nations every month. This school environment is a great place for outgoing people to meet others who are like-minded, and potentially a great place for more introverted types as well. Overall, this community at NCC is something many are very thankful for.

(3.5) School Life

School life at Niagara Christian Collegiate is filled with many very entertaining and informative events as mentioned previously. There is always something going on that you can be a part of. I think specifically of Advisory, which is a designated period for improving oneself in areas such as time management, procrastination, and other important skills. Events that are more fun include the Arts Cafe, where creative pieces created by art students are displayed and live music is played by our talented music students. In other words, school life is always interesting. There are many things to do and many ways to get involved, especially for the dorm students who live on the campus. A student could become quite busy if he or she wanted to be.

(3) Community

I very much feel included in the Niagara Christian Collegiate community. After four years of being here, I have made good friends and know the names of many students. Everyone is very friendly and will be sure to greet you as you pass by them. This may be a more difficult thing to do for the quieter or introverted person, but someone is sure to say hi to you and help you around if you ask. Many opportunities exist for every student to be involved in very fun school activities. I think that the majority of people at NCC feel as included and appreciated as I do. I have heard many past positive feelings toward the people in this community. They feel very welcome and happy here.

(4) School Location

Niagara Christian Collegiate has an extremely beautiful campus on a very large property. This creates many opportunities to be outside, even if you are simply walking to your next class. The weather can vary enjoyable during most months, although winters can be challenging sometimes due to the large campus size. Once summer arrives, the many pathways and plant life will get you outside very quickly.

(4.5) Admissions

The helpful guidance and enrollment staff at Niagara Christian Collegiate make the admissions process to be a very fun and exciting one. I would highly recommend that courses be picked as soon as possible, especially in the higher grades as they can fill up quickly. I also suggest that you try as many courses as possible without spares, so long as your overall average will not fall too drastically. It is more beneficial, I find, to try many different things and step a little bit out of your comfort zone. High school is supposed to be a very fun experience in your life, and I very much believe that Niagara Christian Collegiate will be a great fit for most students. I do not regret applying here.