Interview with Branksome Hall PARENT, Boafoa Kwamena

The campus is beautiful, an idyllic space surrounded by old buildings and state-of-the-art facilities. The athletic and wellness campus has a beautiful pool. The new ICAST building is going to bring technology to the forefront of their learning.

What really sold us was seeing the Branksome Hall approach in action during the open house. Grade 6 students lead the tours, and we saw girls who were confident and articulate, and who were leaders. All the teachers knew the girls, which showed a real community. In the classrooms, we saw girls who looked happy, thriving, and authentically engaged in learning.

I’ve also been impressed by the quality of the education. While academically rigorous, there are opportunities for her to learn different interdisciplinary subjects, and arts is a major focus. The teachers and administration develop a partnership with you and want to support your daughter in the way that works for her. I’ve been impressed by how easy the transition was because they really wanted to get to know how she best learns and thrives. My daughter has thrived at Branksome Hall. 

The school has a strong focus on the social–emotional component of learning. The teachers work with the girls to understand the impact of their emotions on others and to help them regulate their emotions. They support them in resolving conflicts and talk about the importance of making good choices. You can see this work continue through the older grades.

My daughter is really thriving in the inquiry-based education approach. She’s asking questions, wondering why, challenging us respectfully, and coming up with hypotheses. They are teaching the girls how to learn, how to question, and how to observe the world around them.

There is a variety and diversity of families that come to Branksome Hall. My daughter has been making meaningful relationships with the other girls in her class and really enjoys going to school. She appreciates that she is allowed to be herself and learns at a pace that works for her. She feels part of a larger community through relationships with older girls, such as learning buddies and Grade 6 buddies.

I appreciate that how they market themselves is exactly how they run their school. They are trying to build girls who are leaders, confident, and who see themselves as having responsibility in the broader world. My daughter has opportunities to give back and understands that she has a responsibility to help others.

I’ve been impressed by teachers who are genuinely interested in the child’s development—not only academically but also in physical education, arts, and music. The girls are pushed to learn as much as they can and to grow. It is a close-knit environment with lots of camaraderie. The principal and head of junior school know the girls’ names, and everyone is interested in one another’s success.

What surprised me most was the balance between academics and everything else. They are trying to create whole human beings, not just students focused on academics. Girls have opportunities to pursue passions such as art, music, and athletics as rigorously as their academic interests.

The all-girls environment creates leaders. You can see confident young women in Grade 12 who are ready to take on the world. Branksome Hall is steeped in tradition, and it enriches the learning environment. The IB inquiry-based curriculum teaches girls how to ask questions, learn from multiple perspectives, and approach problems thoughtfully.