The Explore Program has three components: academics, workshops, and activities. As such, each student’s final grade is based upon each of the three components, with the largest contribution coming from academics. 80% of the final grade is derived from pure academics (class), 10% comes from the workshop component, and 10% comes from participation in activities.

Academics

At the beginning of the program, students are given an English assessment test to determine their level of comprehension. Students are then placed in classes based on their appropriate English level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Classes are held from Monday to Friday between 9:00 am and 12:00 noon. Class sizes are small, as we are committed to quality instruction. For this reason, the program student-to-teacher ratio is 18:1.

Workshops

Each student participates in a minimum of one workshop throughout the program. A workshop is informal learning, in the sense that there is no final quiz, and a grade is not given based on performance. Rather, assessment is based on participation and enthusiasm. Students sign up for their choice of workshop in the first few days of the program and are given an opportunity to participate in a second workshop, provided there is space available.

Some of the workshops are of no cost to students. Other workshops are more expensive to facilitate and will cost between $10 and $20 in total, to cover supplies. Examples of workshops held in past years include:

• Yoga
• Creative Writing
• Cooking
• Volleyball
• Health and Fitness
• Film-making
• Hiking
• Outdoor Sports