Star Academy Reviews

Gain exclusive insight into life at Star Academy from our carefully curated video and written reviews that deliver in-depth insider info from parents, alumni and students.

Our Perspective on Star Academy

Star Academy was founded in 1998 and was led by the founder, Belinda Bernardo, until her retirement in 2017. She was succeeded by Julie Benneyworth and Heather Rees, creating a nice continuity in leadership, as well as a substantive dedication to the values that Bernardo instilled in the school, those of respect, curiosity, collaborative learning, and active engagement. Administration has also consistently demonstrated their desire to regularly revisit best practices, adapting instruction, including adoption of 21st century learning, to meet the students where they are, and to take them where they will need to be. Families that enroll often do so in light of those values as well as the things that are unique to the school, including a more intensive commitment to physical education, an 11-month instructional year, and a low teacher-student ratio. Other draws include small class sizes, individual attention, and cross-curricular instruction.

Video reviews

Get crucial behind-the-scenes information about Star Academy from video interviews with probing questions that we recorded live with parents, current students, and recent alumni.

All (2) Parent (2) Alum (0) Roundtable Q&A (0)


Parent, Lori Keightley (2021) Watch our parent interview with Lori Keightley to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to have a child attend Star Academy.	all_videos parent_videos	,
Parent, Chala Dincoy (2020) Watch our parent interview with Chala Dincoy to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to have a child attend Star Academy.	all_videos parent_videos	,

Written reviews

Dive deeply into the real culture of Star Academy with reviews we’ve structured to highlight only the most valuable insights and opinions submitted by parents, students, and alumni.

All (4) Parent (3) Alum (0) Student (1)


(4.9) Parent, Katharine Najmala (2021) He is in Pre-K in the Kindergarten program and this is his first time enrolled in any program o... The school leadership and administration is very professional. The office staff, including Principal and Director, can be reached easily and communication is always open and encouraged. Seeing as we started the school part way... We are thrilled with how much he has learned! His teachers are so passionate about teaching and about creating such a positive, happy and healthy class environment for these young students. Ms. Smith is SO passionate about tea... I feel the academic program at Star will adequately prepare Cole for life's next steps. They have him printing sentences! He's not even 4 years old yet! He has never been in any other preschool or daycare, so I do not specific... Extracurriculars are sadly non existent during these pandemic times, but when we were registering him it was before the pandemic and there were a lot of extracurriculars that were offered. I'm not sure if they all applied to h... Cole feels very much a part of the Star family. In his class alone, there are many brothers and sisters which helps to contribute to the closeness of the class. The dynamic between students is great. They all play very well to... He is still very young but he definitely enjoys going to school every day. He loves to see his friends and he loves his teachers. He wants to be the first one at school everyday! I'm confident that if it wasn't a global pandem... This is the part that is the hardest for us. Since now we are in the middle of the pandemic, most of the schools activities and parental involvement has had to be paused. However, when registering him, it was not pandemic yet ... The school has an amazing, large and well kept outdoor space which is great for recess and also outdoor learning (since we are currently in a pandemic). The neighbourhood has many families and is easily accessible from any dir...	all_reviews parent	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,
(4.7) Student, Charlotte Rees (2021) I've been a student at Star Academy for 4 years, and it feels like my second home. As soon as I... The Star Academy Staff make me feel different than teachers past schools. I feel like I can be myself in a non-judgement space. The teachers have a perfect balance between kind and strict. They make it easy to want to listen ... I feel like the workload provided by our teachers is appropriate at each grade, although, in middle school I feel that some days we should be getting more homework to prepare us for high school. Many days I only have 20-30 min... My learning situation at Star Academy is slightly different than most students. Coming to Star Academy, I was ahead in math and language arts. A few days into grade 4, I was moved to the grade 5 program. This was great for me ... I love participating in extracurricular activities. We are required to do at least one club in each of the five terms. I usually choose 3 or 4 clubs each term. Some examples of clubs offered are cooking, gardening, gift wrappi... I remember when I first came to Star Academy, I was shy, lacked confidence and kept to myself at the beginning. I eventually made a good friend, that became a best friend. I soon realized that lots of students were friendly an... If I had to take a group of visitors around Star Academy, I start in the foyer with the big skylights and tell them about the different things that happen in that space. The foyer links to the full size gym, which surprises a... It took some time for me to feel comfortable at Star Academy because I am introverted. I didn't know anyone in my grade when I first arrived but eventually that changed and I got to know my classmates. After a few months I ha... The location of the school makes it a bit tricky to find. It is at Dixie Road and the QEW but since there isn't a proper exit from the QEW, there is a roundabout way to get there. Students are not allowed to go off school pro... For admissions, my parents read about the school and then booked a tour using an online form. Parents first have a meeting with the principal or director and also a tour of the school. Then, as a student I came in for a visit ...	all_reviews student	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,
(4.2) Parent, Jacqueline MacDonald (2019) With its small class sizes, Star Academy has been able to cater to the very different learning ... The Star teaching environment is one where all teachers have the opportunity to interact with and teach all students. Similarly, administration staff, by greeting students every morning as they arrive and joining them daily fo... Communication between teachers and parents is regular and ongoing. At the beginning of each academic term parents are emailed a detailed breakdown of the curriculum for each subject, including homework and assessment details.... Teachers at Star are warm, accessible, enthusiastic and caring. It is evident that they believe a strong student-teacher relationship is crucial to student success. Every teacher knows every students name; they engage them in ... The student population at Star does not lend itself to a robust extracurricular program. There are no intramural or competitive sports team. That being said, students are encouraged to propose clubs, which has led to some fun ... While small – under 100 students from K to Grade 8 – the student body at Star is diverse, both racially and ethnically and in disability and ability. Because relationships, from the top down, are characterized by openness,... Both our children are happy and keen to go to school on a daily basis. Because school policies and facilities promote student safety – both emotional and physical – previous anxieties related to witnessing aggression are n... Star’s location means that school community is stretched over several GTA cities. Coupled with a lack of transit options, this limits possibilities for parent involvement. There are monthly coffee mornings following drop off... Star is currently situated in a quiet cul-de-sac like location. Unless they are on field trips, students do not venture beyond the school grounds. The main building is light filled, with a large gym. Senior students (grades 7 ... The administration at Star is very open to showing prospective families the school. For families interested in applying, call and book a tour. This not only gives you a sense of the space, but an opportunity to peak in on the ...	all_reviews parent	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,
(4.9) Parent, Chala Dincoy (2019) Logan loves to go to school again. He gets mad when I'm late leaving the house to drop him off.... The new leadership and administration has left the old one behind by a mile. They started their reign by taking the pulse of all the constituents. From the parents to the teachers and the kids. They then meticulously incorpor... Logan's teachers at Star Academy are all characters onto themselves. One is passionate about art and can write reams of content about her love. Another one loves to DJ. Yet another one is crazy about film. They all bring their... The academic program at Star Academy was ideal for us when we came from the public school system because my son was a whole year behind in reading and writing and he was only starting Grade 2. There were no tests and no homewo... Sadly, I can't keep up with the number of clubs that Star Academy offers. All I know is that my child who has eaten the exact same food for 7 years started to experiment with food when he joined a cooking club. He became an av... One of the biggest influencing factors for us choosing Star Academy was its small size of student body. Logan's reading and writing difficulties had fallen through the cracks in the public school system because he was one of ... I may have mentioned before that Logan gets mad at me every morning if we're not out of the house by 7:30 am because he wants to go to school early. He joins the outdoor time before school with his friends. I think this is a ... The parent community at Star Academy is top notch. Most have become our friends. We share common interest and concerns with respect to our kids' sensitivities and special needs. They are very involved in the school. My husband... The location is a quick 5 min drive for us but isn't accessible by Uber due to some glitch in the GPS coordinates. The Leadership was having that looked at but it was an issue last year. Other than that, the school is a secur...	all_reviews parent	1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,

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Star Academy Reviews

Our Perspective on Star Academy

Video reviews

Parent, Lori Keightley (2021)

Parent, Chala Dincoy (2020)

Written reviews

(4.9)

Parent, Katharine Najmala (2021)

(4.7)

Student, Charlotte Rees (2021)

(4.2)

Parent, Jacqueline MacDonald (2019)

(4.9)

Parent, Chala Dincoy (2019)

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