Settled on 75 acres of pristine oceanfront property on Vancouver Island is Brentwood College School, a university preparatory school offering students from Grades 9 through 12 a unique tripartite education.

The Brentwood program emphasizes the importance of academics, as a university preparatory program must, but it also creates equal opportunities for students to experience a range of athletic and artistic activities.

Unlike the standard schedule, Brentwood students attend classes from Monday through Saturday. The six-day rotation allows for the tripartite aspect of the Brentwood program to come into play: Classes, Monday through Saturday, only take place until lunchtime. Afterwards, students are invited to change into casual wear or sports uniforms, as the activity may be, and enjoy full afternoons of credit-carrying athletic or artistic experiences.

“Monday, Wednesday and Friday every student has to choose at least two ‘blocks’ — [but] many students do more,” says Clayton Johnston, director of admissions. “Each block contains 28 art options to choose from. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday they choose physical activities, [with] 24 sports option to choose from.”

According to Johnston, this wide range of accessibility of programs is unique in the world — and it works. Brentwood graduates include 23 Olympic athletes as well as talented performers and artists. 

The academic program, consisting of Grades 9 through 12, is divided into four years: Grade 9, the foundation year; 10, the exploration year with diverse electives; 11, the commitment year, where students begin to focus on advanced placement courses; and 12, the leadership year, where all senior students take part in leadership experiences. 

Brentwood offers 16 AP courses, most of them over two years (Grades 11 and 12). The school ensures that students are fully prepared to write the exams, and in doing so, prepares students for the transition into post-secondary education. This preparation makes Brentwood students an easy choice for university admissions; 100% of students carry on into post-secondary institutions, with a notable 83% admitted into their first-choice programs.

As Brentwood is primarily a boarding school, the six-day schedule lends itself to longer holiday periods as well, a fact that is greatly appreciated by the students who must travel a significant distance to return to their families. The boarding program consists of 70% Canadian students, 20% American, and the remaining 10% includes 27 countries.

Boarders, who make up 360 of the 435 Brentwood students, enjoy a residential life program that takes full advantage of the nearby ocean. In fact, the majority of teachers choose to live on campus as well with their spouses and children, so the result is a tight-knit community that Johnston refers to as the “heart and soul of the Brentwood campus.”

Brentwood’s unique location influences students and staff academically, as well. When students aren’t rowing on the water (Brentwood boasts of one of the top rowing teams in the world), they are taking part in the unique academic experience that comes with their proximity to nature: Biology and oceanography students, for example, enjoy a natural classroom setting that involves an interaction with the ocean itself! •

Photos courtesy of Brentwood College School