Observations from students and parents suggest that The York School’s array of extracurricular activities is not only diverse but often student-initiated, fostering an inclusive and dynamic environment.
I'd say the biggest surprise at the York School was learning that the diversity of extracurricular offerings is often initiated by the students or by a student-teacher collaboratively. For example, there was some interest by a student and some of the teachers to start a mountain biking club and there it went. It started and my daughter participated and had a terrific time. And it was important for us that the school have a balance of both academic excellence and a wide extracurricular program.
I would recommend to all parents to encourage their student, their kid to join extracurriculars, to join a sports team at York or join a club. We have such a wide variety of initiatives, community service events and clubs at York, whether it be debate or even Dungeons & Dragons Club. There's so many different opportunities for such a wide array of skill sets and passions and interests for every student. Co-curriculars are not mandatory but are a great way to experience the spirit and the community life at York. I'd really recommend joining just one or two. I think extracurriculars play an invaluable part in connecting the school community together.
My kids surprised me with their participation in drama, which was not really in their comfort zone. They were both very proud of their performance. We had an opportunity to see them do a performance, and it was just fantastic! It shows that they feel comfortable enough with their peers to be able to freely participate, really put themselves out there. Especially kids between Grades 7 and 9, they're usually so self-conscious. That was something I would have never guessed they would get into.
The ICE program in Grade 9 is not something that you get everywhere at all. You combine a lot of different studies of Canada and you learn a lot about Canada, which I think is really important. You also get to get out of the classroom a lot. We had a lot of really interesting trips and these were more local trips, but they were still very fascinating and I think it is important to develop our mindsets as young high school students. So I think that that was really valuable as well. And I think that that's one of the examples of the unique opportunities that York offers.
One of the best parts of being at school is all the activities. ... The school has really done an excellent job at trying to make it as fun as can be and promote the school spirit, to have activities within the grades, as much as possible. And I think the kids really appreciated that. As a parent, I think, I'm so appreciative of the great education that my kids are getting, and the wonderful faculty and staff.
The IB's motto is to help students become the most well-rounded versions of themselves. And part of that is obviously picking one course from each discipline, whether that be econ, geography, or history within the humanities or picking a maths, picking an art, whatever it is, trying to create that well-rounded balance between students. And whether that be just within academics, but also encouraging students to get involved in those extracurriculars, I think York does a great job of that.
The York School is a community that shaped me into the person that I am today. The list of opportunities is almost comical, to name some: band, choir, basketball, softball, volleyball, ultimate, chess club, debate club, morning announcements, plays, musicals, student council, volunteering, outreach, exchange and so much more. My classmates and I had an opportunity to experience all that the school had to offer, in addition to the MYP and IB programs, challenge weeks and immersive laptop program.
Every day morning announcements. Monday basketball shout around at lunch, vocal coaching after school until 5:30PM. Tuesday morning basketball practice, Tuesday night play/musical rehearsal. Wednesday lunch band practice, night basketball game. Thursday night play/musical rehearsal. Friday night student-teacher basketball shoot around and pickup game. You can seriously be as involved as you want to be. The debate team, soccer team, organize a charity event, school dances and really anything that is of interest.
There is an abundance of clubs, sports and other groups available for students to participate in at York. Our sons have played basketball, soccer, volleyball, and badminton with the school teams and enjoy the competition very much (victories against Crescent and UCC were highlights of this year's middle school volleyball effort!). One shortcoming of the sports program is due to being a smaller and coed school. Some of the larger schools field two or three teams based on ability and York typically fields one.
—Glenn Asano, parent (beginning 2017) (see
full review)
There are so many extracurricular opportunities at The York School and my boys have participated in wide-ranging opportunities including Investment Club, basketball, Model UN and DECA. York is a small school but fields competitive sports teams with assistance from outside coaches. York is renowned for its debate teams and consistently has students place at the top of their field around the world.
—Heather Faralla, parent (beginning 2018) (see
full review)
The student body is co-ed, international, diverse, inclusive and collaborative. This is fostered through such things as group work, project collaboration, house games, sports teams and an enormous array of extracurricular clubs. The school is smaller in size which allows for everyone to get to know each other really supports a great feeling of camaraderie and family. School spirit is very strong and is supported through fun events held throughout the year including house competitions, spirit weeks and casual themed days.
—Heather Faralla, parent (beginning 2018) (see
full review)
