Belinda Bernardo
Sixteen years ago, Star Academy principal, Belinda Bernardo, then a mother of three young children (aged 4, 6, 7), left a promising career, climbing the ladder with the public school board, to pursue her dream of founding her own school where every child could love learning. Today, while Belinda’s children are on to Post-Secondary educational journeys, Star Academy continues to provide quality education to the South Mississauga and Etobicoke communities.
Throughout her own youth, growing up, then teaching in the Toronto District School Board, Belinda was never comfortable with large classes and often felt invisible. As an administrator, she became frustrated with the bureaucracy and saw quickly that she wasn’t going to be able to make philosophical changes; Belinda understood that even with the best teachers, students were still not treated as individuals because of the constraints of the large government system.
Belinda knew that she wanted to create an environment where children could learn to love to learnTM and where every child could receive the personalized education they deserve. After a slow start with only 3 students, Star Academy has continued to grow, year over year, increasing enrollment and researching new programs to benefit all children. Star Academy still offers academic level curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade Eight in small 10:1 ratio classrooms. All students participate in a daily physical literacy program, have access to integrated technology in a blended learning environment, as well as homework help and tutoring.
Belinda has realized her dream of integrating all aspect of a successful education into her school philosophy: Academic- Global- Physical- Individual- Social/Emotional are all integral parts of Star Academy’s unique program. As a young mother, Belinda was able to bring her children to work with her each day, and they were given the gift of education along with life-lessons, watching their mother run a successful business. Researched, developed and implemented with students and their individual futures in mind, Star Academy and Belinda invite you to come and see a unique elementary school!
