REVIEW OF Blyth Academy Mississauga BY Alum, Jovan Dhanju

(4) Overall Experience

Went to Blyth for their sports program. Found it very beneficial, and the teachers were great! I found the teachers very accommodating towards my busy swimming schedule. I also really liked the idea of having quadmesters. Being able to do 2 courses at a time truly helped me focus on the content of these two courses. This ensured I did not rush through each course trying to get the work done. I really liked the friends I made at Blyth. Everyone was super easy to get along with. One thing I would change about the school would be ensuring each student feels included in daily activities as I know some kids have a hard time doing this. I hope to return back again as an alumnus to see the campus!

(4.5) School Leadership

Everyone was respected. There was a fine line between the students and admin where there was a mutual tone of respect. However, some students who had learning disabilities were unable to understand so there were some difficulties present. An example was a teacher I had who did not speak English very well, she found it difficult to communicate with the struggling student on a day to bay basis. Overall, I would say the student body respected the admin on a day-to-day basis.

(4.5) Teaching

The teachers were great! Very accommodating. There was always a level of respect present. Most of the teachers I had were very kind and did their best to ensure that the lectures were entertaining and engaging for all of the students. The one thing I would suggest to improve on would be to ensure that students remain engaged during the two-hour-long PowerPoint presentations. This is because it was difficult for myself, and other students to remain focussed for a longer period of time than an hour, without any sort of mental break, this resulted in the content, being dull and difficult to comprehend. Otherwise, I found the learning experience highly beneficial and would recommend it to any other future student.

(4.5) Academics

I graduated with honors and teachers were vital in helping me obtain this. One difficulty I found was the academic program was that some teachers were more attentive and committed to teaching than others. For example, there was a teacher who just read off his slides and assigned projects and tests without discussing the course contact with the class to ensure that we were fully engaging with the material. Otherwise, most of the teachers would do their lecture, and then we would spend a specific amount of time discussing the contact learned to ensure that each student understood what was being taught. I found this extremely beneficial for courses such as math where I was struggling a lot. Overall, the teaching experience was solid.

(5) Extracurriculars

During my time, I found extracurriculars to be extremely fun. For example, one memory I have was competing at the annual life academy triathlon. This was an indoor triathlon where we competed against other schools and I remember breaking the swimming record every year I attended. This was a great Emmett for me. I also remember to have the annual sports day competition which was fun!

(4) Students

The students were kind and very inclusive. There were a couple of instances where some students were exclusive towards others however, most people decided to try and be as inclusive as possible, including those who do not have many friends. I think it is difficult to describe one trait or set of traits of the typical student at Blyth. This is because everyone was unique as an individual, however, some of the common characteristics were that everyone was inclusive, kind, respectful, and had a positive attitude every day. One of the pieces of advice I would give to a future student would be to ensure they are open to having a great experience. If you put in the work you can do anything!

(4) School Life

Student life could have been a bit more close-knit. One of the reasons I chose Blyth academy was that I was a national-level swimmer while in high school. I found that their sports program was extremely beneficial to my academic development as a high-performance athlete. For example, when I was away racing across the world, teachers would be lenient with assignments by providing me with extensions. They would also record lecture content on days I would miss class to ensure that I still had the opportunity to learn while pursuing my passion and sport. During my time at Blyth, my classmates would come to watch some of my swim race when I was racing in Mississauga. This showed how the school and my classmates cared about my time at Blyth.

(3.5) Community

I regularly talked to those I graduated with and I see most of my graduating class on a monthly basis. There are also some students I graduated with that went to the University of Guelph, therefore I have the opportunity to see them often. I am still connected with other students I graduated with through social media. I don’t recall there being heavy parent involvement at Blyth besides parent-teacher interviews. I think it would be beneficial and interesting if Blyth Academy created some sort of platform or a chat that alumni could be a part of. This could be helpful to those who graduate to secure a future connection with previous students who have gone on the same path as them.

(5) School Location

The location of the Mississauga campus was perfect. I spent time at three different campus locations at Blyth Academy. The first was the Cawthra Park campus. There were not too many stores nearby. However, when I moved to the Adamson campus, we were much closer to accessing food during lunch during my stay at the new campus, I enjoyed going to coffee culture with my friends, and there were many food and beverage options nearby.

(3.5) Admissions

I found the admissions process very easy, I would tell someone to be themselves. And when I applied to Blyth for admissions this was before there was a formal application process going on, so it is difficult for me to speak about the process in which one has to apply and get into the school, however, I will say that if you were looking to apply to Blyth academy, it is a great option for those who need some extra help those who have a busy’s athletic schedule, and those who just want a more personal and hands-on learning experience. Overall, I would say if somebody wants to go to Blyth during the application process, just be yourself and I’m sure you will be successful.

(2.5) University placement and counselling

I did not feel like the university counseling program was similar to the university. We did have one day during the quad master where we simulated a day in the life of a university student. However, after being in university for three years, I can conclusively state that those days were not very beneficial in helping us prepare. For example, the teachers at the time made university seem like a big scary task where you’re going to be working almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week on classes and studying in course content however, it wasn’t until I actually went to university that I realized that most days are different than others you’re not in school for the same amount of time as you are during lectures. Some days you are in school for a lecture for an hour and some days you’re in for eight hours and Sundays are in for three hours.