4620 Finch Ave East, Scarborough, Ontario, M1S 4G2, Canada
#200 - 1490 W Broadway, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 4E8, Canada
4620 Finch Ave East, Scarborough, Ontario, M1S 4G2, Canada
#200 - 1490 W Broadway, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 4E8, Canada
2005
2022
300
40
7 to 12
8 to 12
Coed
Coed
Boarding, Day
Day
English
English
Academic
Science and technology
Progressive
Progressive
10 to 15
15 to 20
In-class adaptations
In-class adaptations
$22,800
$1 to $23,400
Yes
Yes
0%
70%
7 to 12
8 to 12
$0
$8,000
50
8
33%
0%
0%
0%
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
9, 10, 11, 12
Rolling
Rolling
Rolling
Not available
Yes: grades 7 - 12
Yes: grades 8 - 12
No
No
“There’s an awareness that success can mean many different things to different people, but that for everyone, success is personal and about reaching personal goals, not institutional ones.”
“In some senses it is within a second generation of international schools in Canada, at least as we typically think of them today. The concept was crafted in the 1970s in response to Canada’s growing desirability as an educational destination.”
“There is so much diversity in the ranks—you’re as likely to meet a basketball prodigy as you are a competitive mathematician—it can be hard to know what the students share. One, though, is an overt orientation toward academic achievement.”
Read The Our Kids Review of Royal Crown School
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Royal Crown is an international school, as reflected both in its programs as well as the student population. Students arriving from overseas can choose to stay within the Royal Crown residence, or homestay with a local family. Supports, such as ESL instruction and levelling are available to those who need it, as well as counselling around visa and travel requirements. There are also extracurricular programs developed with the overseas student very much in mind. Likewise, class sizes are kept small in order to provide opportunities to build instruction around the students’ specific strengths. The ideal student is one looking for a supportive, vibrant international educational experience.
View full reportVancouver Independent School for Science and Technology (VISST) is a tech-heavy high school where all teachers are PhDs and UBC professors. Learning is project-based and follows the B.C. curriculum at an accelerated rate in which both the sciences and humanities are taught at a challenging pace. Currently, the school is admitting Grade 8 and 9 students, with more grades, and computer science is taught from Grade 8. Fun is deeply woven into the programming, creating an environment where students are excited to learn. and learning new things is not the only metric for success—creating a learning environment where students are excited to learn is key. The school respects students’ capabilities and time, and it clearly communicates goals to each student and for each project. VISST has a flexible tuition model that accounts for each family’s financial situation and resources.
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"The school gave me a feeling of acceptance and being included."
Ziqi Liu - Student (Jan 23, 2023)
Royal Crown School is a beautiful place with high-quality constructions, teaching systems, and meals...
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"The diversity of Royal Crown's students is absolutely incredible!"
Godson Okokoh - Student (Oct 18, 2023)
I enjoy it for the most part. Your school experience at Royal Crown is absolutely fantastic! It's li...
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"I love being here: the environment, the people, the basketball programs all make it worthwhile."
Favour Nkemka - Student (Oct 18, 2023)
I greatly enjoy going to Royal Crown. I love being here, the environment, the people, the basketball...
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"Royal Crown School's purpose is to unleash the potential in each student and set them on a path for a successful life. On our modern campus, we provide rigorous, progressive academics with individual attention and small class sizes to ensure success for all our students. Our Nike sponsored basketball program sends graduates to NCAA schools and even the NBA. Our diverse school community, with students from over 20 countries, provides an energizing, caring environment, which opens minds and doors to the world."
"Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology (VISST) is Vancouver's first & only dedicated STEM high school, offering the full BC curriculum with accelerated/enriched STEM taught via a mix of traditional methods and project based learning. VISST isn't just for the "math whiz" type -- you will find all sorts of students at our school, united by a shared curiosity and passion for learning. We believe science and technology fundamentals are important for any path our students might take after high school."
"1. Individual Attention & Care to ensure Academic Success: Small class sizes, free tutoring. extra guidance staff. 2. Elite Basketball Program: Coaches with college, national & professional experience, fully integrated schedule allowing for daily training while prioritizing academics, development approach, graduates in NCAA, NBA and Canada National teams. 3. Diverse Student Body: Students come from many countries, learning about different cultures, caring community where everyone belongs."
"VISST is a reimagining of high school and differs from other schools in several ways. We ar a STEM school with enriched and accelerated STEM offerings, delivered by experts in our respective fields. VISST deeply values student buy-in and ownership. We include students in important decisions such as which teachers to hire. VISST staff are open and transparent with students, and avoid reinforcing power dynamics. Teachers and students are all just people, on a journey of self-improvement together."
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"Royal Crown School's mission is to unleash student potential through a series of uniqueness (small class sizes - 10/15 students per class, personalized individual attention with extra guidance support) and activities (Elite Basketball Program, After-class C.A.S.E. activities - Creativity, Activity, Service and Enrichment: visual arts, movie, newspaper, cooking, music...). The objective is to enable students to learn and demonstrate leadership skills that empower themselves for success."
"Families are drawn to VISST for different reasons: the STEM curriculum, the way students are treated and respected, the project-based learning, the like-minded peers. One of VISST's key competitive advantages is our teachers. In BC, it is not required that a teacher have a degree in a subject in order to teach it. In contrast, VISST teachers are highly trained experts who buy into VISST's philosophy and values. We give our teachers the time and resources to shine and do their life's best work."
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"Families will experience diversity and inclusion as 50% of of our students are coming from Canada and 50% from international countries. This is a huge opportunity to learn new cultures, new habits between each other, and to make friends forever."
"VISST's culture is sometimes underrated. In a word, we are a STEM school -- this features in our school's name, even. But in sentence, we are a STEM school with an utterly different school culture. At VISST students are first class citizens. Students call teachers by their first names, share social spaces with teachers, interview teacher candidates during hiring, and participate in school governance. Students truly feel a part of VISST, and in doing so they build justified self-confidence."
"Families will discover how Royal Crown School is integrated in various aspects: all facilities (classrooms, gym, cafeteria, swimming pool) under one roof, Academics and Athletics students attend the same classes, the Elite Basketball Program includes a strong academic component in the basketball program."
"Some families think of VISST as a school for "math genius" types. While we do provide an excellent environment for students who excel in STEM subjects, VISST was created for a broader audience. We measure success by how much a student grows in 5 years, not by where they start or end up. All students at VISST enjoy STEM, are curious about it, and are capable of succeeding, but math doesn't have to be your strongest suit for you to attend and thrive at VISST. We also welcome "artsy" types!"
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Royal Crown School is a very special place. I love seeing our students every day and working to provide them with the best possible experience. Our teachers and staff all believe strongly that every young person has powerful potential and in the right environment, they will thrive. We are all dedicated to creating this energizing environment and unleashing the potential in each student to set them on a path to a successful life.
Here at our school, we take extra care of our students and ensure each and every one is given individual attention and guidance to achieve academic success. We welcome students from all over the world. Our diversity enriches our community and prepares our students to engage the world.
We are a fairly new school, founded in 2005, and we pride ourselves on being agile and innovative. A few years back we started an elite developmental basketball program which has garnered national attention and already sent several graduates to NCAA division 1 schools in the United States, Canadian National teams and even to the NBA.
We are delighted that you are interested in learning more about Royal Crown School. We invite you to drop by our campus, reach out to our admissions team and attend one of our open houses. We look forward to welcoming you and sharing more about what makes our school extra ordinary and maybe the right fit for your child.
Sincerely,
Michael Burke
Head of School
Welcome to the Vancouver Independent School for Science and Technology (VISST)! Before founding VISST, I was a computer science professor at UBC where I taught over 25 courses to thousands of students. At UBC I made two key observations. One, that university students are much more comfortable with well-defined short-term tasks than with ambiguity and long-term planning; this, I concluded, is likely a product of our current high school system. And two, I observed firsthand the insatiable demand for computer science at UBC and all universities around the world, which is well beyond our capacity to provide it. This is unfortunate, I felt, because kids are more than capable of learning computer science. Combining these observations with my teaching experience, I decided to create VISST along with a fantastic team. VISST is a non-profit high school in Vancouver that aims to address the struggles I observed in university students and the lack of computer science in high schools.
Our pedagogical approach is to combine project-based learning with rigorous fundamentals. The former builds teamwork skills, long-term planning, and comfort with ambiguity. The latter is an essential component to STEM excellence. An overarching theme of our educational philosophy is to have students interface with the real world as much as possible. Whether it is publishing an article, interpreting data from the news, or partnering with a community organization during a project, real-world experiences are motivating and educational. We would consider it a failure on our part if our students are left wondering, "Why am I learning this?"
We look forward to having you explore VISST. Welcome to the VISST community.
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Progressive (sometimes called "in- quiry-based") curricula attempt to place children's interests and ideas at the heart of the learning experience. Instead of lessons being driven by predetermined pathways, progressive curricula are often "emergent", with learning activities shaped by students' questions about the world. Instead of starting with academic concepts and then tying it to everyday experience, progressive methods begin with everyday experience and work back to an academic lesson. Teachers provide materials, experiences, tools and resources to help students investigate a topic or issue. Students are encouraged to explore, reflect on their findings, and discuss answers or solutions.
Progressive (sometimes called "in- quiry-based") curricula attempt to place children's interests and ideas at the heart of the learning experience. Instead of lessons being driven by predetermined pathways, progressive curricula are often "emergent", with learning activities shaped by students' questions about the world. Instead of starting with academic concepts and then tying it to everyday experience, progressive methods begin with everyday experience and work back to an academic lesson. Teachers provide materials, experiences, tools and resources to help students investigate a topic or issue. Students are encouraged to explore, reflect on their findings, and discuss answers or solutions.
Not applicable
Royal Crown Academic School follows the Ontario Secondary School Curriculum. We are inspected by the Ministry of Education and are recognized as an Ontario credit-granting institution.
Our curriculum philosophy involves a mix of rigorous fundamentals with project-based learning. Projects provide an incredible opportunity for students to pursue their interests, practice teamwork, grapple with ambiguity, and go deeper when their curiosity tugs. On the other hand, we also believe in the value of structured learning to build up fundamental knowledge and skills through practice, continually pushing the boundaries of our students’ capabilities. Our courses, STEM and otherwise, will be delivered through this combination of techniques. We have found that, often, progressive education models come at the expense of rigor. However, there is no need for this tradeoff: a curriculum can be both progressive — incorporating methods like project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, emphasis on self-reflection and mindfulness, etc. — and also highly rigorous. We are aware that an entirely project-based approach may leave gaps in students' knowledge; thus we combine projects with methodical and structured learning to achieve the best of both worlds.
Equal Balance
These math programs feature an equal balance of “Traditional” and “Discovery” methods.
These math programs feature an equal balance of “Traditional” and “Discovery” methods.
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Not applicable
Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Equal Balance
Science programs that balance expository and inquiry learning equally will likely have an equal blend of tests and experiments; direct, textbook-based instruction and student-centred projects.
Science programs that balance expository and inquiry learning equally will likely have an equal blend of tests and experiments; direct, textbook-based instruction and student-centred projects.
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Evolution as consensus theory
Evolution as one of many equally viable theories
Evolution is not taught
Evolution as consensus theory
Evolution as one of many equally viable theories
Evolution is not taught
Not applicable
Equal Balance
These literature programs draw in equal measure from “Traditional” and “Social Justice” programs.
These literature programs draw in equal measure from “Traditional” and “Social Justice” programs.
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Ancient lit
English lit
World (non-Western) lit
European (continental) lit
American lit
Canadian lit
Ancient lit
English lit
World (non-Western) lit
European (continental) lit
American lit
Canadian lit
Not applicable
Not applicable
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Equal Balance
These programs represent an equal balance between the perennialist and pragmatic approach to teaching the humanities and social sciences.
These programs represent an equal balance between the perennialist and pragmatic approach to teaching the humanities and social sciences.
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Equal Balance
These programs feature an equal blend of the audio-lingual and communicative styles of language instruction.
These programs feature an equal blend of the audio-lingual and communicative styles of language instruction.
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Hebrew
ESL
Spanish
Russian
Latin
Japanese
Italian
Greek
German
French
Chinese-Mandarin
Chinese-Cantonese
Hebrew
ESL
Spanish
Russian
Latin
Japanese
Italian
Greek
German
French
Chinese-Mandarin
Chinese-Cantonese
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These programs have an equal emphasis on receptive and creative learning.
Creative arts programs are studio-driven. While historical works and movements may still be taught to add context to the program, students mainly engage in making art (visual, musical, theatrical, etc). The goal is use the actual practice of art to help educate students’ emotions, cognition, and ethos.
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Acting
Dance
Drama/Theatre
Graphic Design
Music
Visual Arts
Acting
Dance
Drama/Theatre
Graphic Design
Music
Visual Arts
Heavy integration
Effort is made to integrate the development of digital literacy through the curriculum. However, this is not a dominant focus.
A major effort is made to integrate the development of digital literacy throughout the curriculum and in everything students do. Digital literacy is understood to be a fundamental skill in the 21st century: it therefore follows, the idea goes, that teachers should find ways to connect every lesson back to technology. Effort is made to ensure the use of technology is meaningful and advances students’ skills beyond what they would otherwise be from using computers outside the classroom.
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Web design
Robotics
Computer science
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Not applicable
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Broadly-speaking, the main curriculum -- like that of most schools -- paces the provincially-outlined one. This pace is steady and set by the teachers and school. The curriculum might still be enriched in various ways: covering topics more in-depth and with more vigor than the provincial one, or covering a broader selection of topics.
The main curriculum accelerates beyond the pace of the provincial one; ALL students do the work of OLDER public-school peers in tangible and measurable ways. This accelerated pace is maintained by the teachers and school, (through textbook selection, topic selection, grading, assignment standards and expectations, etc).
VISST heavily incorporates project-based learning into the curriculum. During projects, students work at their own pace and can dive as deeply into a topic as their curiosity takes them. Outside of projects, VISST provides individualized instruction through small class sizes, expert teachers, and community mentors.
A school with a “rigorous” academic culture places a high value on academic performance, and expects their students to do the same. This does not mean the school is uncaring, unsupportive, or non-responsive -- far from it. A school can have a rigorous academic culture and still provide excellent individual support. It does mean, however, the school places a particular emphasis on performance -- seeking the best students and challenging them to the fullest extent -- relative to a normal baseline. High expectations and standards – and a challenging yet rewarding curriculum – are the common themes here. Keep in mind this classification is more relevant for the older grades: few Kindergarten classrooms, for example, would be called “rigorous”.
A school with a “rigorous” academic culture places a high value on academic performance, and expects their students to do the same. This does not mean the school is uncaring, unsupportive, or non-responsive -- far from it. A school can have a rigorous academic culture and still provide excellent individual support. It does mean, however, the school places a particular emphasis on performance -- seeking the best students and challenging them to the fullest extent -- relative to a normal baseline. High expectations and standards – and a challenging yet rewarding curriculum – are the common themes here. Keep in mind this classification is more relevant for the older grades: few Kindergarten classrooms, for example, would be called “rigorous”.
Students attend VISST because they are looking to challenge themselves. That said, a core value at VISST is balance. VISST students are not expected to sacrifice a good night's sleep due to homework. We want to make the most of students' high school experience, using time effectively, but we recognize the boundaries. We want our students to have both a great education and a happy childhood.
"We honour and distinguish our brightest students, using them as examples for other students to follow."
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Balanced
Equal emphasis is placed on a balance of priorities: intellectual, emotional, social and physical cultivation.
Balanced
Equal emphasis is placed on a balance of priorities: intellectual, emotional, social and physical cultivation.
Intellectual
The goal is to cultivate "academically strong, creative and critical thinkers, capable of exercising rationality, apprehending truth, and making aesthetic distinctions."
Balance is a key value at VISST. We view the purpose of school as beyond academics. The primary purpose of school is intellectual development, but school should also help students understand their passions and learn about career options; it should be a time of character development and personal growth; it should be a place where lifelong friendships are forged; and it should be fun! We keep all these purposes in mind when making decisions at VISST.
CompetitiveComp. |
RecreationalRec. |
CompetitiveComp. |
RecreationalRec. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
Badminton |
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Baseball |
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Basketball |
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Canoeing/Kayaking |
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Cricket |
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Cross-country skiing |
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Cycling |
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Downhill skiing |
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Equestrian |
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Fencing |
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Field Hockey |
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Figure Skating |
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Football |
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Golf |
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Gymnastics |
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Ice Hockey |
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Ice Skating |
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Lacrosse |
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Martial Arts |
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Mountain biking |
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Racquet Ball |
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Rowing |
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Rugby |
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Running |
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Sailing |
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Skateboarding |
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Snowboarding |
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Soccer |
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Softball |
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Squash |
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Swimming |
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Tennis |
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Track & Field |
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Volleyball |
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Weightlifting |
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Wrestling |
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Archery |
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Curling |
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Ultimate |
Ballet and Classical Ballet
Yoga
Yearbook
Student Council
Scouting
Science Club
School newspaper
Round Square
Robotics club
Radio club
Poetry/Literature club
Photography
Paintball
Outdoor Education
Outdoor Club
Online Magazine
Musical theatre/Opera
Math Club
Jazz Ensemble
Habitat for Humanity
Foreign Language Club
Environmental Club
Drama Club
Debate Club
Dance Club
Computer Club
Community Service
Choir
Chess Club
Band
Audiovisual Club
Astronomy Club
Art Club
Animation
Ballet and Classical Ballet
Yoga
Yearbook
Student Council
Scouting
Science Club
School newspaper
Round Square
Robotics club
Radio club
Poetry/Literature club
Photography
Paintball
Outdoor Education
Outdoor Club
Online Magazine
Musical theatre/Opera
Math Club
Jazz Ensemble
Habitat for Humanity
Foreign Language Club
Environmental Club
Drama Club
Debate Club
Dance Club
Computer Club
Community Service
Choir
Chess Club
Band
Audiovisual Club
Astronomy Club
Art Club
Animation
7 - 12
8 - 12
0%
70%
$0
$8,000
0%
0%
7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
9, 10, 11, 12
Rolling
Rolling
Rolling
Not available
Yes: grades 7 - 12
Yes: grades 8 - 12
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes: grades 8 - 12
No
No
We are looking for a variety of students from different backgrounds to join our diverse and caring community. For our basketball program specifically, we are looking for student athletes with talent and a great passion for the sport. We want all our students to align with and be guided by our school values: 1.) We are a caring community 2.) We aim high 3.) We have grit 4.) We embrace our diversity 5.) We always do the right thing.
We are looking for students who want to be challenged and who demonstrate the potential to meet those challenges. A strong applicant will also demonstrate that they understand what VISST is about and that they would really like to be a part of this unique school and community. As a STEM school, we are looking for students with an interest in STEM, but this does not have to be your only interest! On the contrary, we welcome students with a broad range of interests; a diverse student body will enrich the experience for everyone. You will find that VISST innovates, and employs amazing teachers, in all subject areas.
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See https://www.visst.ca/admissions for admissions information.
