Interview with Kendellhurst Academy Alum, Mattea Ma
Mattea, a Kendellhurst Academy alum, shared her perspective on the school’s intimate learning environment, the creative academic opportunities, and support system. She emphasizes on the small class sizes which allowed her to form close relationships with her teachers and peers, and how the school's accelerated curriculum helped her get ahead academically.
Highlights from the interview
I appreciated the ability to really get to know my teachers and peers, seeing that it's quite a small school. It really gives the opportunity to get really intimate with my teachers, really get to know them. I think I forever appreciate the teachers and friends that I made at that school.
Something that really made Kendallhurst stand out to me was that they offered a jump ahead credit for both English and Math. And that really put me ahead of a lot of my high school classmates. And just being already a step ahead, it just made me feel really appreciative.
The teachers at that school never stopped thinking of the student's well-being. And that was one of the things that really helped myself and my classmates during COVID, especially.
A lot of the kids have been in the school since they were young, especially in my graduating class. A lot of them have been there since Grade 1 or since kindergarten. And it really made all of us feel very connected spending so much time with each other and really getting to know each other on a deeper level.
While I was in Kendallhurst, there was always a lot of flexibility. When people think of private schools, they always think very strict, very rigid. And I don't think a lot of people realize just how flexible they can be and how they aren't as rigid as other private schools that I've been to, definitely.
For me, the only thing I would change was the level of math. I personally thought that the math curriculum could have been a little stronger just because when I started taking Grade 10 math in Grade 9, I definitely thought there were a few things that I was a little behind in.
The reasons I think you should go to Kendallhurst, I think one, would be that you really have a wonderful time. The school continues every year to come up with something new to progress their education. The teachers there supported me, pushed me to really be the best version of myself, and that really helped. The students there are so lovely, and their curriculum, how they run their school is so different and unique from so many other schools that I've been to.
I think Kendallhurst Academy is such an amazing school if you really want your child to really advance their education. Because Kendallhurst Academy gives so many great opportunities for you to really advance and to really progress yourself. And I know from my class, three students actually went to the AP program, and I myself went to the gifted program.
