Northwood is a community that provides students with many unique opportunities. Through the support of teachers and their peers, students have the chance to accomplish incredible things. It takes a unique system to provide these unique opportunities. If you were to ask any student, 99% of them would tell you that school at Northwood is unlike anything they’ve experienced prior to their tenure here. Here is what students from different countries had to say:
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| “The main difference between school here at Northwood and school in Spain was trying to maintain a healthy balance between school, Football and my social life. When I lived in Spain trying to get a healthy balance between these three things was really difficult as my school workload was rather large, and I’d have to do most of my work in my spare time. Also, after school finished, I would have to go to football training with my club which finished at 9:30 p.m. Here at Northwood, it’s been a lot easier to balance these things. Even though the school workload is similar, the integrated time for training and Study Halls has let me finish my studies or train without cutting into my own personal time.”
Lochlan Alexander ‘27 (Spain)
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“The differences between the school in China and Northwood: 1. Time spent in school is different. In China, usually the students will stay in the school for the whole day and there will be 8 classes(45min) each day plus three study halls(60min). 2.There’s only three years of high school in China, but you can reclass in high school as long as you can if your family can afford the money and time. 3. The format of the classes is not the same. There are about forty to fifty students who will be placed in a class. These students will continue to live in high school as a group for three years. Similarly, each class has a fixed teacher who instructs the students in a certain subject. They will also be part of the class as part of the group for three years.”
Anthony Wan ‘26 (China)
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| “One difference is that the schedules are way more compact. When school is combined with sports, you get a routine that you do every day. There are not as many tests at Northwood, but a lot more homework. Also, the teachers and the rules are stricter. If you are not a hard-working person, I think that Northwood would be a much bigger struggle for you.”
Jonathan Fischer ‘26 (Sweden)
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“I think the schoolwork is more difficult because there’s a lot more work. The difference is the classes, like math, In Canada, it’s just math, but in the States, it’s Algebra, Calculus etc.”
Sara Martin ’26 (Ontario, Canada)
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| “I wouldn’t say it’s harder, but the language difference makes it harder for certain classes like Math. The days are a lot different from what my old school used to be. We had 4 classes of 75 minutes from 9 am to 3:40 pm and a cycle of 20 days so our days wouldn’t be the same for 20 days compared to a week here. There is also the difference that I am boarding here, and I wasn’t at my old school, so the day never actually ends until study hall is over.”
Florence Richard ‘25 (Quebec, Canada)
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“Everyone is really nice, and everyone is inclusive, obviously is different that I live on the campus and there is a better level of academics.”
Matias Cruz ‘28 (Ecuador)
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| “It’s different mostly because everyone’s here for the same reason and has a focus bigger than school. I love that sports drive the students to be the best they can be in many aspects. In my previous school people were there because they had to be, here people want to be present and work their hardest. It’s nice to always be around your teammates and going to practice everyday, before I didn’t have that.”
Lily Pratt ‘26 (New York, US)
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