The Underdog Comes Out on Top – MPS Continues International Recognition

K12 Digest, an independent international K12 Educational Portal, and Magazine featured Merrick Preparatory School (MPS) on February 28, 2023, as one of 10 Prominent Boarding Schools to Watch in 2023. Only 2 Canadian Boarding Schools made the list, and we were one of them. A small school like ours, often seen as an underdog in the boarding school industry, has been recognized internationally once again for its achievements.

The K12 Digest featured MPS as a school that is building a global community of compassionate citizens. Our Headmaster, Mr. Kevin Farrell, was interviewed about how and what we do at Merrick Preparatory School, which is reflected in this article.

Merrick Preparatory School has worked for over 10 years to not be overlooked and they are elated to see that international educational players are now reaching out to them, recognizing the work and support that has been given to the students at MPS.

“Merrick Preparatory School is much more than a school; it is a family, an emotionally safe place for students to flourish,” pinpoints Mr. Farrell.

Merrick Preparatory School has graduated 127 students to date with the Ontario Secondary School Diploma and has continued the 100% acceptance rate to universities to which our students apply. ?Whether our students were excelling academically or needed to improve their GPA when they joined us – all of them entered universities.

Merrick Preparatory School was founded with a mission to help students reach beyond their grasp and a vision to create courageous, community-minded, compassionate global citizens. To fulfill this mission, the school recruited from several countries, wanting to be independent of one nation, culture, or language.

“Diversity is our strength. Developing compassionate global citizens who learn there is more in them than they think is our passion and vocation. Since our founding, we have maintained a 100% university placement rate for our graduates to their first-choice program at their first-choice university at world-ranked institutions globally. Our 127 graduates have earned over CAD 883,000 in university scholarships,” states Mr. Farrell.

Located in the small town of Merrickville, ON, Merrick Preparatory School focuses on offering individual attention to its students and helping them to achieve beyond the curriculum requirements. Our students grow academically and personally, in a small, safe, inclusive, and caring environment focused on diversity.

Going beyond the academic requirement, Merrick Preparatory School offers co-curricular activities every Monday and Thursday defined by the students, ranging from clubs to sports to arts.

“Our students create and run the Student Council annually, partake in the Model United Nations at the University of Toronto, and participate in a variety of sports with other private schools across the Greater Ottawa Region and Eastern Ontario,” explains Mr. Farrell.

Mr. Kevin Farrell, Headmaster of Merrick Preparatory School, says, “Merrickville was selected as it is a very safe, quiet, and calm location for high school students to remain focused on their academic and social development. Yet, we are only 50 minutes from Ottawa, the nation’s capital, where our students have access to all of the national capital resources, national museums, the seat of the federal government, two world-ranked universities, two colleges, the bilingual center of the country, and the world-famous Gatineau Park and Rideau Canal.”

Our community goes further than our staff and students, it includes the beautiful community of Merrickville, Alumni, Partners, and Families around the world.?We are very thankful for each one of them as without the support of our MPS community, Merrick Preparatory School would not be the school it is.

Merrick Preparatory School is intentionally small by design. The average class size is 10, with the maximum allowed being 18. The student-to-teacher ratio varies from year to year and can range from 4:1 up to 8:1.

Mr. Farrell explains, “We aim to have a big impact on a few students rather than a small impact on a lot of students. We can welcome 60 boarding students and 20-day students per school year, on campus.”?

MPS won the 2021 PIEoneer “Secondary Learning International Impact Award,” recognizing it as the best high school in the world. Merrick Preparatory School has been awarded on the Fortune’s World’s Best Boarding School 2023 List. This prestigious award is presented by Fortune and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider.

“Our plan is to expand our campus by developing a new gymnasium, sports facility, and science and technology lab. We will continue to be a world-leading educational institution, graduating globally-minded, courageous, and compassionate students ready to help shape and change the world for the global good,” concludes Mr. Farrell.

Johanna Ziegler – Director of Admissions

Personally, I have always worked for small companies and schools. Especially at Merrick Preparatory School, I love seeing the impact each one of us (cleaners, kitchen staff, teachers, residential staff, administrators, admissions & marketing, headmaster, and owner) has on each student. MPS is a jewel in this boarding school industry and is often overlooked, but not any longer.

Seeing that with our 10th anniversary, we are recognized internationally for the passion and hard work of each one of us, is incredible. A lot of the time we are overseen by parents on their search for a school as we only have a small campus and seem unable to compete with the big traditional boarding schools.

Those families and partners that have chosen to join our community feel and see what a huge impact we have on each student and how we change their lives beyond academic growth. Our school is a family and community, and every stakeholder matters.

I am very proud of the recent recognition from K12 Digest as well as the recent award from Fortune. ?I hope that these international recognitions show how we care about our student’s success and that we prepare them well for university and life beyond.

We look forward to growing our school and are welcoming applications locally and internationally for the upcoming school year.

Reach out to Merrick Preparatory School and let’s start a conversation today! [email protected] or HERE.