REVIEW OF Branksome Hall BY Alum, Deniz Mutlu

(5) Overall Experience

I had a wonderful experience at Branksome. I joined Branksome in the 3rd grade and continued until my graduating year. I truly feel like I grew up at Branksome and had the pleasure of being a part of the community. One thing that stands out is the student support at Branksome. There is a helping hand whenever you look. Branksome truly cares about their students' success and it shows with their dedication to ensuring their students' excellence. Speaking from my personal experience the energy and spirit at Branksome is definitely a fond memory. Branksome truly feels like such a tight-knit community and there are always fun events and community bonding opportunities for all students. I think Branksome does an extraordinary job at preparing students for the future. Just alone with the IB program, I felt so prepared going into university and managing my workload because these were skills that were taught to me from the 7th grade. I learned how I learn, I learned how to study, I learned how to manage my time and also learned how to take care of myself. I think Branksome does an amazing job at producing well-rounded students.

(4.5) School Leadership

One thing that always will stand out about Branksome's leaders and administration is they really take into account the student's voice. It does not matter what grade you are in, if you have a student leadership position, that team is constantly looking to hear from student voices. I think this is evident through their yearly student forum, where students are encouraged to speak out about how they believe Branksome can better itself. And they really do listen to the feedback they hear from their students.

(5) Teaching

I was very happy with the quality of instructors and teachers at Branksome. The IB program is a very rigorous one at that and the teachers do not take this lightly. They are incredible at what they do and they also offer a lot of one-on-one support. We have something called sittings where you can book with your teachers a time to go over any content you would like, you can also create sittings with a group of friends and have a group study session as well, with your teacher present to support and answer questions. The dynamic between teacher and student is definitely formal, but the energy at Branksome and from the students really does bond teachers and students and all teachers are very involved with student life and what is going on at the school. There are constant opportunities for you to receive feedback from your teachers, they are extremely passionate about what they do and teach.

(5) Academics

One of Branksome's biggest strengths is their offering of the IB Programme. When I graduated Branksome I really saw the benefits of this program. I felt beyond prepared for my university courses and workload. The school cultivates an atmosphere of academic excellence. When I went to Branksome I can definitely say the "cool" thing was to get good grades. The girls in my graduating class were some of the brightest, hard-working individuals I have ever met. And again to reiterate working hard, studying like crazy and doing well in school was the goal for everyone and truly something that was rooted in culture. The students really do care about their grades, and how well they are performing and constantly striving for improvement. That is the culture at Branksome that academics are at the forefront of it.

(4.5) Extracurriculars

Branksome offers a ton of extracurricular activities. There are endless amounts of clubs at Branksome that cover a wide range of interests. As well there are endless ways for students to get involved as well. There are athletics councils, service councils and arts councils that welcome students from the 7th to the 12th grade. The athletics at Branksome is also great, the rowing team is definitely a standout. But they also have teams that compete in the Division 1 level and the Division 2 level throughout high school.

(5) Students

The student body definitely has a crazy amount of spirit. It is definitely seen mostly during Spirit Week. A loved tradition that happens every year and includes a week full of events where every grade competes against each other for the Spirit Week Cup. The student body is very well connected, unfortunately, a majority of my high school years were during COVID-19, and even throughout that we had continued to find a way to stay connected. I think it speaks to the closeness of the community, I remember my class would meet weekly on Zoom with all 100 students and just talk to each other, and watch movies on Zoom together. And these were calls we would organize ourselves. There is definitely that feeling of closeness and community you feel when you walk the halls.

(5) School Life

I had a great experience at Branksome. I was definitely a student who was extremely involved with a lot of athletics, events, clubs and so on. Looking back I would not have changed a single thing about my experience. And honestly, I am very grateful to have been able to go to a school like Branksome. One thing that stands out for me, is students know how lucky they are when they are walking through the halls. It is a known thing that there is a level of pride that comes to call yourself a Branksome student. And we don't take the opportunity lightly. Branksome has some incredible things to offer and endless amounts of opportunities and the students know they can not waste it, they soak up every chance they get to get involved in the school.

(4.5) Community

I had friends who were in boarding at Branksome, and I do remember them speaking highly of it. Parents are constantly invited to seminars held at the school. Branksome is constantly welcoming parents to become a part of the conversation. The alumni community is definitely very well-connected. Branksome does have various channels through which students can stay connected with each other. I have kept in touch with almost my entire grade since graduating. It is definitely a very close community. Branksome sends out alum emails weekly as well and they have a magazine highlighting alum that is available to the alumni community. Branksome students definitely love to lend a helping hand whenever they can. For example, I tend to hear from a lot of students applying to the same university I am currently attending and every time I love to give advice and share my learnings and experiences with those students.

(4.5) School Location

Branksome has a great location. We are located on Mount Pleasant and Elm Avenue. It is about a 5-minute walk from Bloor St. East. It is also surrounded by a lot of family neighborhoods. Students occasionally venture beyond the school grounds to grab lunch off campus, I believe they are able to do this once they reach the 9th grade. The campus itself is very large and has some pretty amazing spaces for being in such an accessible location.

(5) Admissions

In complete honesty, I was 8 years old during my admissions process. I do not have a lot to say on the topic as I do not remember most of it. I do remember however I was still living in Turkey at the time. The admissions department was very accommodating and met with us on Skype to conduct our interviews. I do believe the admissions team has the best interest of the student in mind and there is endless support given at Branksome Hall during the process itself.

(4.5) University placement and counselling

During my time at Branksome, we had been hit by the pandemic. My experience applying to University was therefore a lot different. At the time our graduating class had a lot of challenges applying to schools, as it was seen to be a very competitive year. However, the guidance counsellor department was very supportive. We could book meetings at any time and any day to go over whatever we wanted and were encouraged to ask as many questions as we had. I have heard that Branksome has enlisted more university counsellors. From the feedback from my peers currently attending Branksome and seeing their results being able to get into incredible schools, I believe the new team is exceptional in their ability to support students. The results speak for themselves I think, and Branksome's decision to separate University and Guidance Counselors was a perfect way to improve that process for students.