The York School ADMISSIONS

One of the things I really loved about the York School was that they really had an amazing onboarding procedure to welcome new families and new kids. My kids started when they were in Grades 5 and 7, when they didn't know anybody in their grade. They were very nervous. And as parents, we were very nervous for them, as well. But the school was so welcoming. We were paired up with an existing family that we could liaise with over the summer, so that when September started, I felt comfortable and my kids felt comfortable, because they already had a friend, somebody who could show them the ropes. And I think that was a huge part of making us feel comfortable when we first started.

I would recommend visiting the school website, connecting with a current family, and visiting the school if you have the opportunity. Sometimes you don't know until you walk into the school, and you look around, and you go, ‘Wow, this is where I can see my child being.’ And for the child's face to light up and go, ‘This is awesome! And this is where I want to be.’ And you can feel the energy when you walk into the school. If you don't have that, because it's not always available, I would recommend connecting with one of the parents at the school.

I had an older brother already in attendance. My Mom set up the interview and I recall meeting with Mrs. Andrews, on her couch, talking about life, school, family, goals, sports and much more. There would be a formal entrance test that would follow, some weeks later, but I walked out confidently after being told that I was a great young man, with a bright future and was just the sort of student they were looking for (at twelve years old - gr7 entry year). I literally phoned my Mom to tell her how excited I was and to cancel my interview with UCC, as I had already made my decision.

The York School was our first choice based on the IB academics, the faculty, smaller school size, convenient location and coeducational, international student body. Our dealings with the Head of Admissions – who was wonderfully patient with our questions – were professional, informative, honest and enlightening. We found the Kira Talent portion of the application to be quite fair and an interesting way to get to know students. The entire Admissions team is helpful, kind and does a great job of easing the transition to The York School community and ensuring our entire family was very well supported.