Summer-Rae Dobson loves to play hockey. She started playing Timbits at four years old and continued to play in Huntsville until she reached PeeWee, playing boys’ hockey because there was no girls’ program available. Her skills landed her a position on the Aurora Panthers squad but that meant hours on the road between Huntsville and her games and practices in grade eight and nine. She was missing school and losing friends. Her family knew something had to change.<\/p>\n
She was missing out on school activities, she\u2019d be getting done school, getting in the car and travelling the two hours down for practices. She was crying and we said we can\u2019t keep doing this. That\u2019s when we found Ridley College.Al Dobson, Summer-Rae’s dad<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The independent school in St. Catharines has a long history of sports achievement. But beyond that, the Dobsons were impressed with the school\u2019s academic standards. Ridley College is the only IB Continuum boarding school in Canada and one of three in North America. If they were going to send their daughter to boarding school at 14, they wanted to be sure her experience was going to be about more than just hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to keep up when you\u2019re playing and travelling to games,\u201d says Summer-Rae\u2019s mom, Connie. \u201cWe liked Ridley\u2019s structured environment and how well they prepare students for university and for life.\u201d Students are required to keep themselves on schedule and evening study time is mandatory for everyone. \u201cIt instills discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equally impressive for the family was the school\u2019s spirit and community<\/h6>\n
\u201cA lot of the teachers live on campus so you have more of a relationship with them,\u201d says Summer-Rae. \u201cAnd there\u2019s good support. I didn\u2019t really feel homesick.\u201d That was helped by the Ridley\u2019s annual tradition of sending students away to camp together right before the school year begins \u2013 they start classes already having made friends.<\/p>\n\n\t\t