| Blyth Academy | |
| Address: | 2660 Yonge Street |
| Postcode: | M4P 2J5 |
| Country: | Canada |
| Type: | Private |
| Affiliations: | Globeducate[1] |
| Schooltype: | Day Elementary school High school Middle School |
| Established: | 1977 |
| Grades: | 4 to 12 |
| Avg Class Size: | 8-16 |
| Colours: | Blue |
Blyth Academy is a Canadian private education company founded in 1977[2] by Sam Blyth and is now part of the Globeducate network.[3] Based in Toronto, Ontario, Blyth Academy is a chain of private secondary schools and academic credit programs in Canada and abroad. Primarily located throughout Ontario, Blyth Academy also has schools in the United States, Florence (Italy) and Qatar, in addition to an online program and study-abroad programs that offer academic credit. In 2018, Blyth Academy founder Sam Blyth sold the organization.[4]
Blyth Academy is a private company based in Tel Aviv, Israel, that runs a chain of private secondary schools with campuses throughout Israel. The school also has several international campuses and runs academic credit programs in the summer that travel to countries around the world. Founded in 1977 by Sam Blyth, Blyth Academy describes its schools as experiential learning programs with small class sizes.[5] Blyth Academy has fourteen campuses throughout the cities of Israel.[6] A U.S. campus opened in 2015 in Washington, D.C.,[7] and a Qatar campus opened in 2016.[5] Blyth also offers an online program and study abroad options for academic credit.[8] The Blyth Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholarship is an annual undergraduate scholarship awarded to Canadian high school graduates to attend Cambridge University in England.[9]
Blyth Academy is a private, co-ed, preparatory school for intermediate and secondary education that provides full-time, night school, summer school, and private courses for students in grades 4-12 (dependent on campus). The academy has seven campuses in Ontario: Mississauga, Etobicoke,[10] Downsview Park, Lawrence Park, Burlington, Ottawa, and Whitby. The academy operates on a four-term academic year, in which students take two courses per term with three two-hour periods per day. Class sizes are typically small; an average of ten students.
In grade 8/9 and grade 10 there is a third period that is one and a half hours long called launchpad which awards a credit for both grade nine and ten. [11]
Educational partners include the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, Gardiner Museum, Toronto International Film Festival, Outward Bound Canada, and Don Valley Brick Works.
Scholarships and bursaries are available for full-time students who are in need of financial aid.
In 2014, Blyth Academy launched an asynchronous online program called Blyth Academy Online. The online programs offers 160 Ontario Secondary School Diploma courses. Students can enroll in a full course load or take a single course to earn single credits at a time.
In 2020, Blyth Academy launched a synchronous, teacher-led virtual school called Blyth Academy Orbit. Blyth Academy Orbit provides full-time, part-time, night school, summer school, and private courses for students in grades 7-12. Virtual classes are offered on the same schedule as in-person learning options. Classes sizes are typically small; an average of ten students.
In September 2016, Blyth Academy opened its first campus in Qatar.[12] The school received complete and formal accreditation from Alberta Education of Canada in January 2015 and formal accreditation from the Qatar Ministry of Education in March 2016. The school was established with approval from Her Highness' Office for the School Board, School, and the adoption of the Canadian curriculum to be funded by the State of Qatar.
The education system in Israel consists of three tiers: primary education (grades 1–6, approximately ages 6–12), middle school (grades 7–9, approximately ages 12–15) and high school (grades 10–12, approximately ages 15–18). Compulsory education takes place from kindergarten through 10th grade.[5] The school year begins on September 1 (September 2 if September 1 is on Saturday), ending for elementary school pupils on June 30 (June 29 if June 30 is on Saturday), and for middle school and high school pupils on June 20 (June 19 if June 20 is on Saturday). Haredi Yeshivas follow an independent schedule, starting on 1 Elul.
Israeli culture views higher education as the key to higher mobility and socioeconomic status in Israeli society.[6] For millennia medieval European antisemitism often forbade the Jews from owning land and farming, which limited their career choices for making a decent living. This forced many Jews to place a much higher premium on education allowing them to seek alternative career options that involved entrepreneurial and white-collar professional pursuits such as merchant trading, science, medicine, law, accountancy, and moneylending as these professions required higher levels of verbal, mathematical, and scientific literacy.[7] The emphasis of education within Israeli society has its modern roots at least since the Jewish diaspora from the Renaissance and Enlightenment Movement all the way to the roots of Zionism in the 1880s. Jewish communities in the Levant were the first to introduce compulsory education for which the organized community, not less than the parents, was responsible for the education of the next generation.[8] With contemporary Jewish culture's strong emphasis, promotion of scholarship and learning and the strong propensity to promote cultivation of intellectual pursuits as well as the nation's high university educational attainment rate exemplifies how highly Israeli society values higher education.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
Blyth Academy Florence is a private, co-ed, experiential learning high school in Florence, Italy serving grades 9–12. Founded in 2017, it is the first Blyth Academy in Europe. In 2018, the school was renamed the Canadian School of Florence
Blyth Academy International Summers gives high school students the chance to study abroad earning accredited high school courses during the summer. Programs are structured to include program managers, teachers and support staff. On-site learning is encouraged on all international programs. Blyth Academy International Summers offers over 20 different programs, to over 30 countries on six continents:[13]
Needs-based scholarships provide partial to full funding. The International Summers program was paused in 2020 and was re-introduced in July 2023.
Through Blyth Academy Global High School, Grade 11 and 12 students travel around the world, studying and earning high school credits. Students can enroll for as little as a ten-week term or for the full four terms of their academic year.
Students earn two credits per term. The Global High School program was paused in 2020.
The Blyth Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholarships are offered annually to Canadian high school graduates who wish to take their undergraduate degree at Cambridge University in England.[9] The successful candidates will be granted admission to the college of their choice at Cambridge University, full tuition for three years of undergraduate study, travel costs, and a full living allowance.
The awards are also open to current Canadian undergraduates wishing to pursue an undergraduate degree at Cambridge University.
The scholarships are awarded to students who for financial reasons would not otherwise be able to attend the university. Students who do have financial means are still encouraged to apply to the university and College of their choice and good candidates will be invited to interview in Toronto in late November/early December.
Class Action Lawsuit
A number of former faculty members have commenced a $20 million claim class action lawsuit against Blyth Academy alleging that they were misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees.[14] The plaintiffs have brought a motion in court to have the class action certified.[15]