Interview with Appleby College PARENT, Stephanie Shorey
Stephanie, a parent at Appleby College, describes the school's supportive community, diverse opportunities, and global focus. She emphasises the advisor program's significance and how the school fosters student growth both academically and personally through various activities.
Highlights from the interview
Appleby offers a great academic program, but also a number of opportunities outside academics. There's great athletic programs, arts programs, there are service opportunities and clubs. There's really a lot of different ways that they learn, not just in the classroom, but outside of the classroom as well.
The one thing that surprised me most about the school is the advisor program. As a parent, the advisor program is great because you have that one point of contact with the school. Their advisor helps them problem-solve challenges they might have and really acts as a point of contact for the rest of the school.
We were also very impressed by the global focus of the school. There are kids from all over the world at Appleby, and we were really happy that our son will grow and learn with them in the next few years.
At the beginning of the school year, there was a camping trip up north which helped them to build friendships and relationships at the outset. My child appreciates the friendships he's made at Appleby more than anything else. I think that the school is focused on building a positive culture from the beginning, which is great.
To choose one thing that I've observed that my child has been proud of while at the school, it would be the camping trip with the school. He felt very happy with how that experience challenged him and how he was able to rise to the challenge of that experience.
The location of Appleby and the facilities they provide are very impressive to me as a parent.
One of the values, in particular, that we've noticed being put into practice at Appleby is the building of community and the discovery of self. The building of community really takes place in a variety of settings, and we've really seen that put into practice. The other aspect we've observed in practice is the discovery of self. My son has developed interests he didn't have before attending Appleby, due to the numerous opportunities they offer and the supportive culture that encourages him to try new things.
Choosing Appleby College, it was really important to involve my son in the decision-making process. And, visiting the campus was also very helpful. We'd visited a number of schools, but we ultimately felt like Appleby was the right fit for our child. I think he also felt like it was the right fit for him.
We've been very impressed by some of the information he brings to us that we didn't even know ourselves. I think he's more confident outside of school because of the confidence he gains in school.
My experience with the administration and the teachers at Appleby has been very good overall. They can answer your question, or they can point you in the right direction of the right person to speak to. We were kept informed in terms of the changes and how the school was adapting to the various phases of the pandemic.
It's hard for me to characterise one typical Appleby family because I think we are all different from each other, but we all share the same goals. We found that other parents have been quite generous with their time in terms of meeting with us and helping us to understand different facets of the school.
