Roundtable Q&A Discussion About Cambridge International Academy (2021)

As an alumna of Cambridge International Academy, the thing that I appreciated most was that school felt like a home to me. The learning environment and the school were unforgettable, and the teachers were helpful and knowledgeable. The pace of work for each semester was tight but still full of extracurricular activities. I still remember the time that we celebrated the Chinese Spring Festival together. We cooked hot pot and made dumplings with the parents and teachers. We also counted backwards and welcomed the Chinese New Year. It was the school that made my first time celebrating the traditional Chinese festival without my parents so meaningful.

Thanks to the study experience at Cambridge International Academy, I gradually became more independent and self-motivated. In the past, I felt like it was tough to manage my time, and it was hard to overcome the heavy study pace. I had also doubted myself and even wanted to give up.

The schedule at Cambridge International Academy is condensed, which helped me stay on top of my grades and my homework assignments every day. Every semester is just two months long at Cambridge. It cultivated my strong time-management skills and the ability to deal with any stress and always have a positive attitude. That helped me enter university later on.

I think what most differentiates Cambridge International Academy from other schools is that we formed a community where everyone could have equal opportunities to lead and organize school events. We always had room to demonstrate our abilities. For example, more people got involved in extracurricular activities like joining the Student Council, and we all had opportunities to be leaders. There wasn’t just one year leader, because we used to rotate to become the leader and to cultivate our leadership, collaboration, and communication skills.

Cambridge International Academy is flexible and creative enough that it  enables the student-driven community to think outside of the box.

I learned time-management skills at Cambridge International Academy, and also money management skills. I needed to plan an executive event within a specific time frame and limited budget. I developed my interpersonal and public speaking skills because I needed to inform the school through announcements to let others know my plans and ideas. I followed up by talking to all the students personally and getting them excited to participate in the event.

Cambridge International Academy helped me connect and talk to people outside my friend circle. It helped my understanding of the variety of interests within the student body.

If I could only pick three words to describe Cambridge International Academy, they would be warm, responsible, and supportive. Cambridge cares about every student both for their academic performance and their life. There was even a meeting with school principals in Grade 12 to discuss my study plans, such as university applications, and program options. A teacher is responsible for addressing any issues for both international students and local students effectively.

Cambridge International Academy provides platforms to demonstrate our abilities and to grow, such as joining the student council, participating in volunteer work, or joining the public speaking club. I think every student could achieve self-development when supported by Cambridge.

The Toastmasters public speaking club at Cambridge International Academy taught me how to get better at public speaking. It gave me practice, and I got feedback whenever I gave my speeches. Even though I was comfortable with public speaking because I'm outgoing, I knew I could always get better. The feedback from both my friends and the teachers who helped run Toastmasters helped me improve continuously.

The small class sizes at Cambridge International Academy enables every teacher to care about every student and help them achieve their goals. At the end of each semester, teachers find students one by one, go over our transcripts, and summarize our weaknesses and strengths and which courses we need to improve on.

The small sizes at Cambridge International Academy provided us many advantages. When I received my first writing assignment from English class at Cambridge in Grade 12, the grade was lower than I expected. I went through it and reached out to my teacher to go over it. The teacher was approachable, helped me go through it paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, and gave me suggestions. In a big class size, teachers may not care about every student because they have a lot of students to care for.

I learned at Cambridge International Academy that having physical fitness significantly helps me maintain the balance in my life and relieves my stress. I always felt nervous when working at a heavy study pace. The instructor that came to the school from a local gym could always motivate us and challenge us to be our best physical selves and even set personal goals, rather than worrying about what everyone else was doing. It was great to have her come to the school because it made us more comfortable trying things we may have never tried before.

The staff and students at Cambridge International Academy are so flexible and helpful. They can solve any issues you may encounter in the future and help alleviate your concerns. Cambridge always provides platforms for students, and you will learn and gain abilities from those kinds of experiences.

At Cambridge International Academy, teachers and tutors catered to students’ needs, talents, and interests. They assisted us in reaching our best level by customizing the curriculum based on our academic achievements and personal interests.

At Cambridge International Academy, students are empowered to become independent thinkers, have flexible minds, and use speculative thinking. We are inspired by a lifelong curiosity and strive to uncover our academic potential.

Cambridge International Academy provided me with a happy life and an excellent educational environment, where I established deep friendships. We still have a connection with each other now.

The warmth among friends at Cambridge International Academy has moved me very much. I went to China on the Nanjing world trip with Cambridge to see the beautiful landscape and taste some delicious food. I had an accident during the trip, and I went to the hospital. I was so sad about that, but my friends at Cambridge were there for me.

At Cambridge International Academy, everyone has a fair chance and an environment to show themselves. For example, when students who are good at painting make a beautiful painting, it will be displayed in the corridors of the school. The knowledgeable and talented students often like to participate in business competitions provided by Cambridge or participate in the election of chairman of the student union, showing their leadership and communication skills.

Cambridge International Academy is not only concerned about the academic part of school, but is also very concerned about the students’ lifestyles. When I was ill one day and late for class, the school teachers called me and cared about my situation. The homestay took me to the hospital and accompanied me, which moved me.

Cambridge International Academy assists its students in reaching their highest level of academic achievement by utilizing renewable educational resources that are relevant and engaging.

Educators at Cambridge International Academy take a holistic approach to learning that establishes positive student relationships.

I admired the teachers’ professionalism at Cambridge International Academy. They know how to use different strategies to cultivate students into independent thinkers. Teachers at Cambridge always create new and fantastic ideas, involving great activity. They constantly provide energy and help the students.

Cambridge International Academy offered such amazing volunteer activities, and I gained different volunteer experiences at the school. I felt really happy there.

Teachers at Cambridge International Academy choose learning methods that suit each student's characteristics to give full display of the students’ strengths, and make up for their differences. They stimulate students' interest in learning, establish their confidence in their knowledge, and promote their all-around development.

My parents always hoped that I could successfully enter the University of Toronto to study. Because of the help of the Cambridge International Academy teachers, I successfully entered the University of Toronto.

When I was filling out my applications to university, the teachers at Cambridge International Academy fully understood my interests and advantages, and they helped me put those relevant advantages in my application documents. When I learned that I had successfully applied to the University of Toronto, my parents were happy and surprised, and they are so thankful to Cambridge.

Originally we picked Cambridge International Academy because we had just moved back into the country from the Middle East, and my children have always been in a private school. Although the schools they've been in mainly were faith-based, I know that Cambridge has a reputation internationally. I stumbled upon an ad for Cambridge and decided to check it out. We felt that the atmosphere of the school matched our beliefs, so we decided that we would take this step with them.

Cambridge International Academy provides extra help, pushes the kids a little bit extra, and builds their confidence. This is all possible because of the one-on-one learning that happens. It allows the teachers to maintain trustworthy and comfortable relationships with the students and vice versa.

Although we didn't expect it from looking at the building, Cambridge had everything my kids needed on the inside. One of the first activities that my kids were so happy about was a cooking class in the open kitchen. Cambridge International Academy has a fully functioning library, a computer lab, and a gymnasium.

Students at Cambridge International Academy have access to WiFi, which is good so that they can do their research from their desk. They're happy about that. They get a lot of work done in class, too.

I like that Cambridge International Academy finds a lot of outdoor activities to do with the kids. They go hiking and they visit conservation areas and stuff, so they're still able to go outside to exercise and have fun too.

The staff at Cambridge International Academy are constantly talking to their students, asking them questions, and making them feel comfortable. The students are building that rapport with their teachers, and they can ask questions without feeling judged. This is building a community, which made a significant impact on us. Another thing I think that goes along with that is that students don’t feel as competitive because of the class sizes. They can give their all without feeling that they are competing with anybody else. They are just in competition with themselves, which helped them flourish.

My kids are both very comfortable at Cambridge International Academy. They love the way the teachers educate them. They can build rapport with their teachers, which is super important for me. They spend eight hours a day there, so that's really important. They also have more freedom because of the smaller classroom sizes, and they love their school trips.

Teachers make or break school for kids, and my kids feel very secure with their teachers at Cambridge International Academy.

The children are very happy with their academic outcome at the end of the year. They're happy with their development because of the continuous assessments at Cambridge. The teachers stay on top of it, and their outcome has been excellent because of that.

The teachers at Cambridge International Academy take responsibility in being consistent with the kids and helping them. If they see children lacking or falling behind, they will take that responsibility and help them move forward. Children need consistency, and they need routine.

The teachers at Cambridge focus on the growth mindset and developing the talent of the students through hard work and good learning strategies. I believe that this showcases the school's flexible, positive, and open-minded values. They matched our family values, and we're happy with it. All the families at Cambridge have different values. Not everything we believe in will align with each other; however, we have a common goal for our kids.

At the end of the school year, when you see your child's progress, it reaffirms your decision to send them to Cambridge International Academy and makes you feel happy.