Read our 2023–24 Strategy Report, outlining Branksome's progress across our six strategic priorities.
Branksome Hall News
Branksome Hall Designated an Apple Distinguished School
Branksome Hall is pleased to announce it has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for the 2023–2026 program term. The Junior School at Branksome was selected for this distinction based on its commitment to continuous innovation in education and using Apple products to create exemplary learning practices.
“This designation truly showcases the importance of empowering every member of our Branksome Hall community to be future-focused learners and leaders, and of fostering a learning environment where we all have a responsibility to challenge the status quo,” notes Emily MacLean, Head of the Junior School.
“Being an Apple Distinguished School supports Branksome Hall’s aim to join a global network of visionary educational institutions. By connecting with other schools, our faculty aspire to exchange best practices and acquire valuable insights. In the same way, Apple technology allows for students to create, collaborate and connect their learning to the outside world.
“Through the use of iPad and MacBook devices, our students develop alternate worlds in outer space, or interconnected biomes through apps such as Reality Composer and CoSpaces EDU.
They create app prototypes using Keynote, developing valuable computational thinking and research skills. With GarageBand, students connect mathematics and music and experiment with sound. Through the use of Apple technologies, our students develop valuable and transferable skills that equip them to confidently take on any challenge that lies ahead.”
Apple Distinguished Schools are recognized as some of the most innovative in the world. They’re centres of leadership and educational excellence, with a clear vision for how technology-rich environments support learning goals. In Apple Distinguished Schools, forward-thinking leaders and their communities work to inspire, imagine and impact teaching and learning, and they have documented results of academic accomplishments.
This recognition is just the latest update highlighting the Junior School’s commitment to innovation within the classroom and beyond.
This year, Megan McKellar, the Junior School’s Innovation and Technology Coordinator, was awarded the prestigious Apple Distinguished Educator title, one of only 15 educators in Canada to receive this honour. As a result, this past summer Megan attended a week-long conference with Emily MacLean in Dallas, Texas, organized by Apple Education.
Noodle Jr. welcomed 32 Grades 5 and 6 students in its inaugural year and will expand upon its return in 2023–24 to include 40 students and those in Grade 4.
Noodle Jr. welcomed 32 Grades 5 and 6 students in its inaugural year and will expand upon its return in 2023–24 to include 40 students and those in Grade 4.
The Apple Student Mentorship program is offered to Grades 2 to 4 students in partnership with Apple Education and centers around cultivating curiosity and proficiency in technology.
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LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to acknowledge this land on which Branksome operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and go to school on this land.
Setting the new standard for girls' education everywhere takes collective action. From all of us.
