International students transitioning into North American preparatory boarding schools are expected not just to succeed in their new locale, but to excel. The pressure on the young students learning far from home is intense and it is an unfortunate fact that many do not find the success both they and their families expect. Achieving excellence in school and winning acceptance into a prestigious university is a daunting challenge and several factors lead international students to be less prepared for success in boarding schools than they would hope.

Many families send their children to boarding schools in Canada or the US to learn English but while these schools educate students, they don’t actually teach them English. Since the majority of their students speak English as their first language, schools expect students to already be fluent when they arrive. A student’s cultural and social knowledge is also crucial, impacting on both curriculum learning and the students’ understanding of and involvement in classroom activities. Educators have experienced these issues for decades, and good schools make attempts at remediation, but it’s at a cost to the students’ progress.

A new way of thinking
To provide a new and novel educational pathway for international students seeking a prestigious preparatory school education in North America, Suzan Kendall founded the Fulford Academy in 2002. Fulford offers a warm, nurturing environment where international English as a Second Language (ESL) students aged 11 to 17 can prepare linguistically, academically and culturally for a smooth transition into prestigious Canadian and American boarding schools.

Discerning boarding schools pay attention to Fulford graduates because they know Fulford’s programs offer a curriculum that goes beyond the functional English syllabus, providing a content-rich, high-standard contextual learning experience. Fulford’s caring, well-trained faculty and staff ensure that all students receive the attention they need to gain the confidence to excel in a fast-paced boarding school environment. Their school is small by design, with fewer than 50 students in total and only five to seven students per class, all housed on a beautiful 16th century Surrey-style campus, providing an elegant background for any child’s transitional learning experience.

The Fulford experience
This year-long foundation program is an intensive English immersion experience that helps students transition smoothly into the rigorous, demanding traditional North American boarding school programs. Fulford teaches from a content-based ESL curriculum, allowing students to improve their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills through maths, science, social studies and English literature material. This ensures students learn the classroom vocabulary in an appropriate context, helping them succeed academically.

Fulford Academy can make all the difference between a child struggling at boarding school or thriving. Fulford’s immersive transitional period ensures each child will be familiar with boarding school expectations, both inside and outside of the classroom. Fulford Academy
has a proven record in increasing students’ linguistic, academic, and cultural preparation and through partnerships with prestigious boarding schools in Canada and the US, Fulford Academy offers a pathway for success for students from across the world.

Contact
Web: www.fulfordacademy.com