'No kids left behind'?

At age 13 Alex Chorley achieved academic excellence last year at the College and has played roles in The Magic Flute for Opera Australia; Cat on a Hot Thin Roof for Belvoir Street Theatre, and Mary Poppins and Under Milkwood for Sydney Theatre Company.

Kayla-Maree Tarantolo, a 14-year-old veteran of McDonald College, was a finalist in the Alana Haines Australian Awards, an international ballet competition, and won a scholarship to the Central School of Ballet Summer School in London last year, She is now a Level 6 associate at The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne .

The college encourages students to pursue excellence by offering scholarships in drama, music, musical theatre, dance, ballet and sports as well as in creativity and academic excellence. Students learn to make strong commitments to achieving their chosen goals. They also experience great freedom to make their own choices–for instance by changing their performing stream. And none of this student centered education and training has prevented the school from achieving good academic results on top of its formidable reputation in performance. The college was placed 86th in the 2013 Higher School Certificate exam table.

Encouraging a wide diversity of talents to flourish and a student centered education system are the magic wands of McDonald College. Students are treated as if they are what they ought to be and are supported to become what they are capable of being. The college has become a cradle for students to experience freedom to choose according to their own interests and to enjoy equal opportunities in achieving excellence. And the students are active participants within the school system.

If "No kids left behind" has failed as a guiding principle in the American public education system, it is fully vindicated by the McDonald College education program.