REVIEW OF Ashwood Glen BY parent, Odette B

(4.5) Student Experience

Re-locating from out west, we were searching for a school that had a smaller class size, diverse staff and student body, strong academics, and extra-curricular. We found that at Ashwood Glen. The head of school was our first contact with the school and we were immediately impressed with her level of engagement with us as parents, and her care and attention to our daughter. She helped ease her transition to a new school community and deftly dealt with any questions that arose. The staff and teachers are very caring about their students and work to ensure comprehension of the materials they are teaching, even if it means spending some extra time working one-on-one as much as possible. Our daughter responded really well to this environment and it has certainly helped to prepare her for future growth. Ashwood Glen has a wonderful student body with lots of very supportive parents. Continued investment in teachers and student recruitment, particularly in elementary will be key moving forward.

(4.5) School Leadership

Administration, staff, and teachers are very engaged in fostering a positive school environment. To that end, they are very responsive to questions or concerns and ensure that any solutions are arrived at through collaboration between students, teachers/schools, and parents. This is definitely an area Ashwood Glen excels in and it is probably due to the smaller size of the classes (elementary) and the great ratio of teachers to students. This will be something that they should be able to maintain as their numbers grow.

(5) Teaching

Our daughter was fortunate enough to have the same teacher for the past couple of years as her teacher moved with her from the grade 1/2 split to the 3/4 split. That level of continuity was both refreshing and comforting because the students were able to work well in an environment that they were familiar with. It is great that the smaller class sizes permit this type of engagement. Her teacher was very knowledgeable of all subject matters relating to her grade two and grade three instruction. In addition, we found that our daughter gained great confidence in math, spelling, and reading under her tutelage. She also felt like she had to take ownership of completing her homework in a timely fashion and stayed on top of all of her assignments. Being able to traverse through the school to attend different classes definitely helped her mature and prepared her for future schooling. Exposure to french during elementary and other subjects helped to hone a much brighter student in our daughter.

(5) Academics

The IB program is something that we weren't quite familiar with prior to attending Ashwood Glen. And it was great that within the first contact with the school, the head of school ensured that we as parents were up to speed on the pedagogy of the program and how our daughter would benefit from this environment. Our daughter has been encouraged daily in this environment to be a leader, and to care for her fellow classmates and the community at large, all while learning the provincial curriculum. This school cultivates future leaders and well-rounded students. We are certain that our daughter will be prepared for what lies ahead scholastically and otherwise because of her experiences at Ashwood Glen. She's not afraid to ask questions and challenge ideas.

(4.5) Extracurriculars

There are certainly wonderful after-school activities, which varied every term. So our daughter was privileged to learn cooking skills, chess, comic book making, clay modeling, and how to produce/organize a school-wide talent show. Some organized sports would definitely be a wonderful addition to this menu of extracurriculars. Particularly those that enhance the skill set around teamwork, competitiveness, and sportsmanship.

(5) Students

Everyone at Ashwood Glen has been so wonderful and there have been great opportunities for parents and children to organize meetups even outside of school. That is truly a great testament to the spirit of the school when there is a desire to curate space and time beyond the school walls. At the Fall Fun Fair this year and the Holiday Bazaar, there was just such an outpouring of support and generosity from the families of the students. In addition, the students themselves did such a great job by performing wonderful songs, dances, skits, and presentations throughout events at school. The student council is very active and has the benefit of a diverse representation of the student body from each and every grade. This will definitely be something that they will look to maintain as they continue to grow.

(4) School Life

Our daughter simply loves going to Ashwood Glen and you can really tell that she is not only engaged with her classmates and the teachers of her classes, but also with the head of school, staff and other students as well. It's great that the older students have opportunities to mentor younger students and that they have outdoor time together so that they can be exposed to each other and learn how to play amongst a diverse group. Suggestions for improvement would be to complete the playground outside and continue to add more equipment for outdoor play. There's certainly enough green space that could be utilized and perhaps even creation of some quiet corners (tables, benches, hammocks, etc) for the elementary kids to be able to congregate to chat, play, plan, or read.

(5) Community

The Parent Engagement Committee is a wonderful access point for all parents to share their thoughts and feelings about Ashwood Glen. It's a committee that greatly benefits from parent involvement and was a great way to provide support to the school body as a whole. Parents enjoyed the fair and bazaar put on during the school year and it gave them an opportunity to look in and observe all of the wonderful things that their children have been doing throughout the year in a more social setting, as opposed to just a parent-teacher meeting. More involvement with the PEC would be great for all parents, even if just for a specific event or just a specific item - it's a great way to meet other parents.

(4.5) School Location

Burlington is a lovely city and very nicely set just north of Lake Ontario. Ashwood Glen is positioned very well, close to all methods of transportation (i.e., GO, transit, highway, etc) to make commuting for drop-offs very easy. The building itself is a very bright space with plenty of room for the continued growth of its student body. The neighborhood is the right mix of residential and commercial spaces.