Fernie Academy

My kids have been attending The Fernie Academy for the last 5 years. They are going into their 6th year and are in grade 8 and 11. It’s been a great fit for them. As parents we were excited for the additional opportunities it provides them such as skiing every Friday in the winter, learning Spanish and German in addition to French, and the many public speaking and mentoring skills it provides them. The school supports them and encourages them to do their best.

Our son has attended The Fernie Academy for seven years and has received an exceptional education. He is a competitive ski racer and frequently travels, which is one of the reasons we selected TFA when we moved from Ontario. The faculty and administration at TFA have done an extraordinary job of supporting him in his educational and extracurricular pursuits. Mrs. Sombrowski and the teaching staff at TFA are amazing educators who care deeply about their students. We would not send our son there if we believed otherwise.TFA is not an easy school. There are expectations that they work hard and do their best. The use of cell phones, vaping, and bullying is not permitted on school property.The students use an excellent library located directly behind the school. Their playground and gym include the Aquatic Centre, the community centre, the tennis courts, the arena, kilometres of mountain trails, and several playgrounds within walking distance. Our son is particularly excited about the high school trips TFA offers; including a tour of the Maritimes, Peru, Germany, and France.We would highly recommend TFA to any parent who values academic excellence, respect, and fun in a school.Pamela Barnum

The Fernie Academy provides a learning environment where students are encouraged to be leaders in class and in the community. From Kindergarten to grade 12 the Academy guides everyone to educational excellence focused on further learning. It takes home and school support to foster the highest levels of knowledge and growth. With both classroom time and real world adventures through global travel TFA helps to cement class knowledge with interactive activities.

This school is a wonderful institution. I attended from kindergarten until grade 12. It helped me develop so many skills that have helped me succeed in balancing engineering varsity sports and many clubs. The teachers were unbelievably wonderful and supportive throughout my TFA career and they made me enjoy school everyday.The culture of this school is amazing. Going into school and being able to know most of the people by name is an awesome feeling. The performances are wonderful to watch because most of the kids look like they actually love what they’re doing! The trips abroad are also something to definitely look forward to. My trips to Peru, Nova Scotia, Germany and Paris were extremely memorable. Playing soccer with the boys in Peru was awesome and exploring lakes in Germany with my exchange student was quite cold. Viewing the art that we had actually learned about in Paris made art so much more engaging. This school made learning so much more fun that it could have been.The competitions in school seem very hard when you’re preparing, but those competitions have large value. The public speaking, time management and teamwork skills that I learned in debate, science fair and speech helped me make it through high school and will surely help me in university.TFA is a wonderful institution and I hope that everyone’s children have the opportunity to attend an institution of this caliber.

My husband and I feel very blessed to have this opportunity available to our girls. The amount of time, work and efforts put in to this incredible learning facility by the Head of School, is unmatched. Here our kids are pushed to be their absolute best and to peruse whatever interests are important to them. Students are encouraged to participate in the arts, applied skills, athletic teams and world travel. All this on top of pursuing academic achievements of the highest standards. Students leave this school with life experience that, at their age, is rare. We are thankful every day for the dedicated and highly educated faculty members who truly care for these students. Thank you Fernie Academy for all you do for our children.

My daughter has gone to the Fernie Academy since kindergarten and it was the best decision my husband and I have made. The school has not only provided her a better education then I could have ever asked for but it helped her with independence and gave her a confidence in herself and her abilities that I am so proud of. She gets not only everday classes but classes, activities and experiences that go above and beyond as well. The teachers and staff of this school have become people my daughter loves to spend time with, as well she knows she can go to them if anything happens and know it will be handled. I would highly recommend this school to anyone.

We came to Fernie in the winter of 2014 to allow our children to pursue their ski racing more actively for one winter. At their insistence we sold our house in Calgary and moved permanently that spring. The management and teaching body at the academy shares our values of maintaining high academic standards, while allowing time for sports, arts, and culture . Both our kids graduated from the academy and have gone on to pursue university education in competitive programs. While at TFA, they continued to ski race at a high level which meant being away from school for prolonged periods of time while still maintaining a full course load. They were able to experience the gift of volunteering in Peru, immersing themselves with families in Germany and an appreciation for history of the arts in Paris. We believe this gave them the tools to continue achieving well after they graduated from the Academy. Our daughter just graduated and she described her 5 years at the academy as the best years of her life, where she met her closest friends and benefitted from teachers that cared, expected her to achieve and were their to support her. Here is what she told me less than 1 week ago as I drove her to UBC “many leave for university running from high school, I loved my time in high school, I have nothing but great memories “ . The academy does not just provide an education, it helps us raise independent, hard working and productive young adults . In order to achieve this, it is true they must accept some level of discipline and expectation from the adults in theirs lives including parents, teachers and the leadership of the school. We truly believe that enrolling our children in the Fernie Academy was one of our wisest decision. They are both in university and while we miss them dearly , we know they are fully prepared to tackle this next chapter in their lives. Thank youSarah Deschenes

I am a student at this school and this school is an excellent school and I would suggest this school to others. The people in this school are all kind and we will always motivate towards respect, excellence and learning. All of the staff are kind and will help you become a successful person in life and will never give up on you. Anybody who is looking for a school change I would highly recommend this school.

Our daughter is going into her second year at the Academy. She is the youngest of our children, and we are not strangers to public and private schools in BC and Alberta. I can without a moment of hesitation say this is by far the best school we have put one of our children in. The teachers, helpers and staff are amazing, dedicated and driven to providing the best education in a safe, structured, fun environment. This is NOT run like an average public school. There are uniforms, children don't always pass, detention is a real consequence, the children are accountable for their choices, and the curriculum is challenging. They learn many languages, encouraged to participate in music, art, choir, drama and physical education. They still do science fair, speeches and have many productions on stage every year! For our daughter this is the perfect fit for her and our family! She has risen to the challenges, loves her friends and teachers dearly and is excelling in her academics! For the record, no one in my family is employed by anyone related to anything to do with the ownership of the school or surrounding businesses, and I'm in no ways a follower or friends with the owner of this school. . We in no way benefit from writing this review, and chose to do so only because it seems all of a sudden someone has decided to attack the school with bad reviews. This upset me enough to spend my own time and put it out there that these horrible reviews are honestly probably from parents who's kids were cut from the hockey team..

Would never advise anyone to send their child here. Our son attended for the hockey academy on a mountain of lies and empty promises. The experience was nothing short of abusive. I commend coach Michael Carlsen for his efforts. He did his very best despite being abandoned by the hockey academy director and being constantly thrown under the bus. I could go on at length about the horrible treatment our son endured. Consider yourself warned.