The old Nipissing University campus in Muskoka is getting a new life.
The Bracebridge property has been sold to Dewey Educational Group, an organization focused on teaching international students in Canada. Dewey College will be using the property as a private high school campus, housing about 30 international students starting this fall. Dewey Director of Education Craig Shelswell says Muskoka is the perfect location for this new school.
Shelswell says Muskoka comes with an added benefit for these students who don’t primarily speak English.
The students not only need get their Ontario Secondary School Diploma but also score a 6.5 or higher on the IELTS. This is an English-language understanding test used by Canadian universities to approve international students. Shelswell says the majority of these students will be coming from China. Shelswell says they plan to run some international student summer camps before the first semester starts on September 3rd.
Mayor Graydon Smith says this is an exciting opportunity for Bracebridge both culturally and economically.
Smith says many parents tend to move to the community where their child is attending school, which would lead to more home sales and growth in Bracebridge.
The old Muskoka Nipissing campus has been empty since the summer of 2016 when the university shut down the property due to a drop in student enrolment. Nipissing has been working with the town since then to find a buyer for the property. The university officially made the sale to Dewey in December. Dewey will take over the building in March. There’s no word on how much the property was sold for.
You can find out more about Dewey College here.
