“Whole Life. Whole Child.
Whole World.” — so reads the mantra of Toronto’s prestigious Bayview Glen, a multicultural co-educational
facility that offers schooling from pre-school through to Grade 12.
Bayview Glen is dedicated to providing an education throughout the entirety of their students’ childhoods.
Along with an engaging, approachable teaching staff, Bayview Glen supports student leadership within their
educational community so that senior students can serve as active mentors and role models to their younger
peers.
The attitude is clearly one of family, and so it comes as no surprise that many students choose to stay at
Bayview Glen throughout their education. “Some students begin at two and stay all the way through,” says
Corina Gill, assistant head of the Lower School. “We call them ‘lifetime achievers.’ Last year we had to take
our graduation picture in two parts because we couldn’t fit all of them into one!”
Entry is offered at all levels, however, with Grade 7 being a designated entry year. Students arriving later
blend seamlessly with their peers. “In fact,” laughs Dina Astrella, assistant head of the Upper School, “we
tell them, ‘You’ve been a Bayview Glen boy/girl your whole life and you just didn’t know it.’”
Bayview Glen students are quickly taught to adopt the school’s dedication to the environment, an awareness
that begins at a very early age.
“The green bin becomes part of a routine for students as young as the two-year-olds. They are taught to
compost leftover school lunches and to recycle used paper towels,” explains Gill. “They learn about
sustainability and about group work.”
Bayview Glen students are encouraged to seek off-campus experiences, as well. Students in Grades 9 and 10 are
actively involved in a program called the “Youth and Philanthropy Initiative” (YPI). Participants seek out
local grassroots charities and decide on an organization to support based on its mission, budget, fund
allocation and community impact. They then present their choice to a panel of judges. The most compelling
presentation is awarded a grant of $5,000 from the Toskan Casale Foundation towards their charity.
Astrella emphasizes this Bayview Glen focus on the study of philanthropy by actively encouraging students to
become involved in local and international philanthropic activities, such as Round Square Service
Projects.
Through Round Square, an association of more than 70 schools from five continents, students are able to learn
about responsibility and take part in international exchanges. Other international student-run initiatives
include a recent fundraiser for Haiti.
“We worked with a charity called Shelter Box,” explains head girl Katie Shaw. “Each box was $1,000.”
“As a student council we said we could raise enough money to achieve enough money for one,” adds head boy
Michael Lin. “[But] in the end the school ended up getting 39 boxes.”
This level of success is a common occurrence for Bayview Glen seniors, who are offered opportunities such as
advanced placement courses and leadership roles to further prepare them for university and the evolving
workforce.
“There are a lot of leadership and scholarship opportunities you might not find at other schools,” explains
Lin. “These opportunities make us who we are and shape us into who we will be in the future.”
In every regard, Bayview
Glen students are a quick step ahead of the game.
“Students are preparing
for jobs that haven’t even been created yet,” Astrella confirms. “They are preparing for jobs that they will
be creating.” •
Photo courtesy of Bayview Glen
