Merrick Prep offering scholarships to local students

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Merrick Preparatory School is offering full scholarships to local students for the 2021/2022 school year. The international boarding school has been welcoming high school students from all over the world to Merrickville since 2012. Their focus has always been on giving international students the opportunity to earn their Ontario Secondary School Diploma in a welcoming and uplifting environment. The classes are small, with a maximum of 10 students, and their teachers are highly qualified with Master’s degrees, specializations in their fields, and guidance counsellor certifications. Since the school’s inception, they have also maintained a 100% university acceptance rate to some of the top universities in the world, many with scholarships. “I really do think we have something very unique and very special here that I haven’t seen anywhere else,” says Principal Kevin Farrell, who has worked in education systems all over the country for over 30 years.

Two years ago, Merrick Prep started thinking about opening up enrollment to local students who wanted the chance to have the same quality education and experience as their international students. They felt that having local students at the school would give their international students the opportunity to learn about Canada through the eyes of their peers. Local kids would benefit, not only by getting a quality education, but also learning from and making friends with kids from over 27 different countries.

Kevin says Merrick Prep has been exploring their options for the past year, and came up with the idea of offering five full scholarships to local Grade 9 students. The scholarships cover day student tuition, valued at just under $25,000. “Merrickville has been such a great home for us, and has give so much to us and our students,” Kevin says. “We wanted to give back to the community.”

The scholarship is guaranteed for the rest of the student’s high school career, based on need. Merrick Prep will be using an accounting firm called Apple Financial Services to assess the student’s ability to pay some, all, or none of the tuition. Although the scholarships are only open to students starting Grade 9, Merrick Prep is also offering $40,000 in bursaries for students from Grades 9-12. “The bottom line is: how do we support local families to attend Merrick Prep, because a private school education is very expensive. It’s a big financial commitment,” Kevin says. “How do we help local families have this experience, because we think it’s so valuable.”

Kevin is very passionate about the educational experience that the school offers. He has seen amazing life-long connections forged between students from all different races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. Between classes and debates in the dining hall, students get to experience what life is like for people their age all around the world. “The very cool thing is the opportunity for our international students to experience the world through a Canadian student’s eyes, and an amazing experience for a local Canadian student to see the world through international eyes.”

Applications for the scholarship program are now being accepted. The process is quite simple, but does involve a report card, interview, entrance exam, confidential reference, and a personal profile. Anyone interested can email admissions@merrickprep.com, or Kevin directly at kevinf@merrickprep.com, and they will guide you through the process.
Kevin says they hope to get lots of applications by the deadline of April 6. “One of the things I am most excited about is to give back to the community, because the community has given so much to us,” he says.

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