Meet the Team
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Alexandria Grindlay
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER
Alex is the lead mentor at Telos Academy. She is also the founder and lead tutor at Grindlay Learning. She has homeschooled her own 3 children for the past 6 years. Prior to her education career, she worked as a lab manager in a cancer research lab at the University of Toronto, bringing a strong background in both science and education to Telos Academy.
She is passionate about giving as many families as possible the opportunity to give their kids the gift of child-led academic exploration - even if they have to work full-time themselves.
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Brittany Vandenbrink
BOARD PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER
Brittany a part-time mentor at Telos Academy. As a Certified Forest School Practitioner through the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada (CNAC), she brings a background in inquiry-based learning and outdoor education to our program.
She is also a homeschool mom to 4 kids. As a part-time working mom who also homeschools, she wants to help provide flexible education options for other local parents and their children.
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Kathy Swance
VICE-PRESIDENT
Kathy is a homeschool mom to 2 energetic boys and the Manager at the Woodstock Farmer’s Market. She believes that a solid academic education doesn’t need to happen under fluorescent lights for 6+ hours a day and that book work should be balanced with plenty of movement and real-world learning opportunities.
As the Vice President of the Board at Telos Academy, she helps organize hands-on workshops and community volunteering opportunities for our students.
Our Philosophy
Rather than deliver a one-size-fits-all curriculum to all students, our teachers’ (called “mentors”) roles are to ask thought-provoking questions and create hands-on learning opportunities.
Mentors use the Socratic method to develop students’ critical thinking skills. We always respond to student questions with new questions to encourage exploration and reflection.
“We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something provided for us, and toward the idea that education is something we create for ourselves”