Interview with Académie Ste-Cécile International School Alum, Rebecca Parker

I appreciated the one-on-one opportunities with the teachers from Ste. Cecile, especially in the younger grades. Int hose first couple of grades, the teacher could really help you if you were struggling, or if you had a hard time learning a subject or developing those communication or bonding skills with your friends. That one-on-one experience with the teacher, with only five or six kids in the classroom, made for a really friendly and engaging experience. It helps you work through the heavy course load of something like the IB diploma. I know for other students that went to high schools with that program, they really struggled.

Ste. Cecile is definitely not for the kind of student who doesn't have a strong work ethic. They throw a lot of work at you, a lot of developmental exercises. If you take on the IB diploma or AP, you have a very heavy course load and you need to have a strong work ethic because no matter how much the teachers want to help you, they can't do the work for you. You have to want to succeed. If you don't have the work ethic, it may not be the right place for you, but they do try their best to help you.

Ste. Cecile is an international community. We have students from all over the world, and that diversity, as well as the multiple religions and faiths of people that go to Ste. Cecile, makes a very inclusive environment. There is nothing that can replace going to an institution where there are many faiths, religions, countries, diversity, all of that is represented. It really changes who you are as an individual. It makes you very open minded, you're very socially aware, aware of what's going on in the world, and you try new foods, you meet new friends, learn about new cultures. It's really an amazing experience.

Community is a strong value within Ste. Cecile, not just because it's such a small population, but because the teachers genuinely want you to succeed and because the people that you're in classes with really are your friends. It doesn't have this kind of toxic competitiveness that a lot of very high-end institutions have.

When you're around a bunch of people who are succeeding to a very high level, you also want to succeed to a very high level, but no one's going to coddle you while you do that. In order to succeed, you need to want to do it on your own and that's a lesson that Ste. Cecile taught me very well.

Ste. Cecile definitely helped me get a lot more opportunities that I wouldn't have got had I gone to a bigger school. It gave me the opportunity to be captain of lots of sports teams and many leadership opportunities. That made me a more confident person because I wasn't drowned out by other students. Ste. Cecile gave me an opportunity to shine and do so in a manner that also made universities interested in my application.

The university process was so easy and so assisted at Ste. Cecile. They really helped me through the steps of applying. There’s a great guidance committee. The education and the opportunities made it easy to choose where I wanted to go and make that a reality.

There is not another institution that cares about your child as much as Ste. Cecile does, whether it's checking that students are mentally and physically healthy, making sure that they're succeeding, or making sure that they're happy. If you're going through a tough time at Ste. Cecile it's hard to hide it because it's such a small community, but the administration does care, and they're always pulling you to the side. They're making sure that you're happy, and if you're not, they're doing whatever they can to help you get better, to make sure you're happier. They don't want to see you struggle. They want to see you succeed.