A large part of the OVS mission is to provide access to a high-quality education for students around the world. We have many international partnerships in several countries and we are dedicated to fostering those existing relationships, while continuing to grow and create new connections.
This past spring, several members of our team travelled to China. The purpose of the trip was two-fold. Firstly, to solidify our relationships with existing partner schools and take feedback for program improvements and share best practices. The second objective of the trip was to visit new interested schools to forge new partnerships and provide teacher training to those that will be launching the OSSD program in the near future.
Jin Shi Public School
First stop was the city of Guang Zhou, where we visited Jin Shi, a large public school with over 6000 students from K-12. They will start offering an OSSD program for interested students in 2025. We were overwhelmed with the sheer size and efficiency of this facility which offers student residences and 3 meals and snacks daily for all their students. With several gyms, recreational spaces, 3 cafeterias and 18 full size basketball courts this facility was well equipped to handle the student population.
WuHan Britain China School
Our second stop was WuHan, where we visited a new school called Wuhan Britain China School
They currently run an IB program as well as A level Cambridge system and even AP classes. Starting September 2024, they will have their first group of students pursuing the OSSD as they see the value the flexibility of the partnership with OVS provides for their students.
Dalian Royal High School
The next city we went to was on the north east coast of China called Dalian. We visited another large school, Dalian Royal High School, which many international programs and starting September 2024 they will be having 2 classes of OSSD students.
Sight Seeing
While in China, we took the opportunity to do some sightseeing; the beautiful religious buildings, Tiananmen Square and the Great wall of China were not to be missed.
Beijing Royal
Our last school visit was Beijing Royal School (BRS) has been a long-standing OVS partner school for a number of years having graduates gain university acceptances to University of Toronto, McGill and other prestigious universities in the UK and USA.
BRS uses the innovative hybrid model as well to teach Ontario curriculum using the OVS platform. OVS teachers work collaboratively with their local teachers to provide a customized learning and supports for each student.
We enjoyed our trip and connecting more closely with some of our OVS students and partner schools. We look forward to many more connection building experiences in our future!