Author Archives: Mentor College / TEAM School

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About Mentor College / TEAM School

Tutorial and Educational Assistance in Mississauga, or TEAM School, was established in 1981 to strengthen the learning skills of students. Located in the heart of Mississauga, TEAM School is a non-denominational private school recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Founded in 1982, Mentor College educates children from junior kindergarten through to the university entrance level. Children at Mentor College are grouped by age and experience in three levels of study: Untitled-1primary, intermediate, and high school. These groupings follow the curriculum set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education for all schools in the province.

Consistency Counts

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One of my colleagues is working on a master of education (M. Ed) degree and told me that this week’s assignment was about the implementation and enforcement of school policies. Whether it is students, parents or teachers, the researchers in the assignment say that the most popular complaint comes from policies that are not consistent in their application. The assignment asked, “Is it better if every situation is black or white?” As a school, we strive to be as close to “black and white” as is practical.

If we are talking about our “rule of 10” (10 minutes times the grade of the student) for homework, then every Grade 2 student should be getting 20 minutes of homework every Monday to Thursday night. Does that formula work every night? No, that wouldn’t be practical, but the students know they need to set aside that time, the parents know that there won’t be an hour one night and nothing the next night and the teachers know that their principal is checking for consistency within that grade level as well.

Once they hit the intermediate grades, students get more tangible lessons from this consistency. If the student requires assistance and goes to extra help at one of the regular, posted times, their comprehension of the subject will no doubt improve. If they forget their gym clothes, their participation in gym class will be limited. If they don’t complete their homework, the teacher has a specific consequence that is applied.

In high school, the rules become even more important. If an assignment is 2 days late, the student handbook (in black and white, ironically) states the consequence. Being late for class means a detention the following day. This is, of course, also the age where students like to “debate” the rules and we have learned over the years from our alumni that they appreciated (albeit later in life) that we showed them this consistency during high school. As one alumnus (now a successful restauranteur) told me, “my employees can be late with or without a reason three times; after that, they are not my employees”.

Of course, all decisions are not black and white. If a situation develops that does not fit the usual guidelines as posted in the student handbook, we can allow for shades of grey. It is just easier when there is a starting point from which the grey can be shaded.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Mentor/TSS 2013 Grads: The Skills To Get Through

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I attended the University Fair this past Tuesday and in speaking with a parent afterwards, the discussion turned to university admissions and marks.

The question comes up most often with families who have been with us for a long time and usually when the students are in Grade 8 to 10. The argument we hear is that if the students go to another school, they will get higher marks.

If the final grade is the only thing that matters, we have a list of private schools where we know you can “pay for an A”. In my opinion, though, this sets the student up at university for either failure (you might need to put aside some additional cash for a 5th year, perhaps) or for a continued use of loopholes to get the required grades.

I think the numbers associated with the Mentor College and TSS Class of 2013 help to illustrate the point that our students earn the grades required for post-secondary education. There were 148 graduates last year and of those students, 146 of them were offered admission to at least one post-secondary programme. For those who say that it is difficult to get an “A” at our schools, please note that 85.1% of our graduating Mentor/TSS students were “Ontario Scholars” (minimum 80% average). I could give you a long list of where those kids are studying and what programmes they are taking but for those who believe that you can only get to college or university with an 80% average, here is what the grads with 79.9% and less are doing this year:

TSS Grads – Sheridan (Arts and Sciences), Humber (Business), Sheridan (Journalism), Humber (Travel and Tourism) and one student who did not apply to college this year (but plans to in 2014).

Mentor Grads – York University (Accounting), Toronto (Psychology), McMaster (Life Sciences), Wilfrid Laurier (Communications), Toronto (Criminology), Southern Connecticut (Exercise Science), McMaster (Humanities), McMaster (Social Sciences), Toronto (Life Sciences), Wilfrid Laurier (Criminology), Ottawa (Business) and one student who did not apply to university (but plans to in 2014).

I am confident that these students will be in the top half of their first year classes because in high school, they put in the required work and have the tools to succeed. As we always say, it isn’t marks to get INTO post-secondary education but it is the skills to get THROUGH post-secondary education that matter!

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

Felt Just Like Home

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This past Tuesday evening, I was at the Mentor College and TEAM School table at the “Fashion With Flare” event.

Now when I say I was at the schools’ table, I should probably clarify because it seemed like every one of the 52 tables of 10 had some sort of connection to us. There were a few dozen current families in attendance and another dozen parents of alumni who came to let us know how their “kids” were doing. We saw alumni who are still in university and “kids” like Britta Funck, who was in my Grade 10 phys ed class in my first year of teaching in 1990! The MC for the evening was former student Matthew Maida and almost all of the teen volunteers for the evening were current students. Even the organizing committee was made up of TEAM and Mentor “Moms” and I am sure that they were putting their experience from MTPA Bingo Nights and the charity Fashion Shows to good use! What struck me most about the evening was how it mimicked many of our school events.

Did it start out “small” and grow into something bigger than the organizers ever expected?
Check. The event has grown exponentially in size and scope after just three years.

Were there lots of student volunteers gaining leadership experience?
Check. They even had their shirts tucked in!

Were the speakers poised and confident as they are on Speech Night?
Check. The only 3 speakers were a former student, the Mom of an alumnus and the Dad of a current student!

If money was collected, did it go to a charity?
Check. The event has made a three-year commitment of $250,000 to fund a child-friendly emergency room at the Credit Valley location of the Trillium Health Partners.

Did it start at 7:00 sharp?
Check.

While I was privileged to be one of the principals of the school that was sponsoring the event, full of pride for the confidence our high school students showed, happy to hear of the success of our alumni and pleased with the support of our parents in attendance support, I was especially proud of the group of Moms who put the event together. Just as our teachers give of their personal time to provide students with the best school experience they can, these Moms chose to give their spare time and energy towards making their community a better place. Over and over last night we heard you say how proud you were of the school for supporting the event; indeed, we are just as proud of YOU.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College/TEAM School

Two Incidents, Two Reactions

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We host quite a few invitational sports tournaments at our schools. TEAM School and the Primary Campus are famous for their soccer and floor hockey tournaments, the Mentor Intermediate Division has been inviting schools to its volleyball and basketball events for over 20 years and in just the past few weeks, we have hosted HS volleyball and rugby tournaments at the school. These tournaments give our students the opportunity to play many games in a short span of time against teams that are usually not in the same division or league, and any profits from the tournament go back into equipment purchases for the teams who are hosting, so they are a beneficial part of our athletic programme.

Whenever we host, there is the risk that some things could get damaged. It is not common but it does happen and at two of the recent tournaments, there was some damage. In the first incident, a visiting student jumped up and smacked a directional sign. The sign fell on the floor and was ruined beyond repair. In the second incident, a group of students were in a washroom. One of our staff members was walking past the washroom and heard a big ruckus. When the students came out, the floor was a mess and there was water and spit all over the walls. The staff member asked what school they were from and they told her.

This is where the stories turn in different directions. In the first case, I found out about the damage after-the-fact so a message was sent to the coach of the player. The coach started by apologizing and then investigated. He told us later that the student admitted to the damage, was remorseful, and was offering to pay for the sign. This was accompanied by another apology from the coach.

In the second case, I went and spoke with the coach of the team right away. His reaction was interesting to say the least. He immediately denied that it could be his team and asked what colour jersey they were wearing, hinting to me that another school’s students had been in the washroom and had given his school’s name instead of their own! A while later he told me that he had talked to the team and they said the washroom was already like that when they got there (and he again insisted that he knew it couldn’t be his kids). It was only after that conversation that I learned there had been an incident with the same team the year before and that they had only been invited back by the convenor because the other coach of the team had promised there would be no incidents.

After over 20 years of coaching and running tournaments, I can tell you that all student-athletes are 100% capable of being just as responsible (or irresponsible) as their coaches. When we go to look for the coach of the players who are found in the out-of-bounds areas of the school, we learn that the coach left the building for a while. The students who are yapping at the refs are the ones on the team where the coach has already complained to me about the tournament setup or the officiating.

I can proudly report that your TEAM/Mentor coaches have never been “uninvited” to a tournament.

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School

I am not a Number! I am a Mentor/TEAM Student!

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For some reason, we are admitting students after Labour Day more than any other year I can remember.

Now this is not uncommon at TEAM School; the fact that we have an individualized academic programme for each student allows us to admit students at almost any point of the school year. It is also not that uncommon in our high school programmes as international students await visa applications and the like.

Yesterday we had 4 students writing an entrance assessment and in each case, the parents felt that the current school was not delivering on promises that were made in the spring and even into September. We even got the compliment of “I have always wished our current school was more like yours” (which makes me wonder why they weren’t here in the first place…).

The best stories always come from the Mentor high school division, though. As Mr. Whyte says “the story is always the same every year….a student who decides on their own to try a new school after many years at Mentor College. With hesitant parental support, it is allowed and the students are on their way. They then come in to see me hoping for a spot here after their week elsewhere…”. Mr. Whyte tells me that these requests actually come from the students (not parents) and he always hears the same comments:

“I have a comfort zone here.”
“The teachers are so fantastic and really care.”
“The students here generally all want to succeed.”
“At the new school I felt I was just a number.”
“I got there and realized how great I had it here.”
“The principals at the other school don’t know anyone’s name.”

and his favourite:

“I miss wearing the uniform!”

He says that his favourite part is seeing the knowing smiles on the parents when he meets with the family. Their faces say, “We let them make the mature decision to try something else, and they made the even-more-mature decision to return”. We know why we have such smart kids here…it’s all genetic, right?

Chris Starkey
Administrative Principal
Mentor College / TEAM School