How to join the founding cohort
The Academy opens when enough families have committed. Until then the list is the whole process.
You join the list
Name, email, and your children's birth years. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
We choose the site
Where families on the list live, and how far they'd drive, is what decides it. That's the first thing your answers do.
Places open
Founding families get first refusal, in the order they joined, and help set the first year's calendar.
The school opens
When the founding cohort is full. Not on a date we picked before we knew who was coming.
Tuition
We're aiming at $8,000 to $12,000 a year for full time, and part-time places may be available. The exact figures are set before anyone enrols, and founding families keep the rate they join at for as long as their child is here.
Tuition covers the teaching, the materials and the outdoor program. Families provide clothing for the weather, and we'll tell you exactly what to buy well before the first day.
Where the school will be
Somewhere in Durham Region, on a site that lets a class move between indoors and outdoors through the day. The exact location is being chosen now, and families on the list help decide it: the form asks where you live and how far you'd drive.
Questions
When does the school open?
When the founding cohort is full. We'd rather open with the right group of families than hit a date and hope. Everyone on the list hears the moment it's set.
What will tuition be?
We're aiming at $8,000 to $12,000 a year for full time, and part-time places may be available. The exact figures are set before anyone enrols, and founding families keep the rate they join at.
Where will it be?
Durham Region. We're choosing a site that lets a class move between indoors and outdoors through the day, which rules out a lot of ordinary buildings. The form asks where you live and how far you'd drive, and those answers decide it.
Do you follow the Ontario curriculum?
We teach reading, writing and mathematics to a high standard, and we choose the rest ourselves. A private elementary school in Ontario is free to do that, and it's why the school can teach money, fitness, building and the outdoors alongside the core subjects instead of squeezing them into what's left.
How do I know what my child is being taught?
You read it first. Every unit is published to families before it's taught, and the full curriculum stays open all year. Ask a teacher what's coming in March and the answer is already on the page.
Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education?
We file a Notice of Intention to Operate with the Ministry of Education each year, as every private school in Ontario does. The Ministry doesn't accredit, licence or endorse private schools, and any school telling you otherwise is describing something that doesn't exist.
How old does my child have to be?
Four years old on the first day of school, and up to Grade 6. We can't take a child who's still three, even if they turn four that autumn.
Are the classes by grade or mixed?
Mixed, in bands. A student works at the level they're at in each subject rather than the level printed on the door, which is what the individual learning paths are for. It also means an older student explaining something to a younger one is a normal part of the day instead of an interruption.
How big are the classes?
Small, and mixed-age. Each group has a teacher and an assistant. We're setting the exact numbers with the founding families rather than picking one now and working backwards from it.
What about the weather?
We go out anyway, dressed for it. Kit is on the list of what a family provides, and we'll tell you exactly what to buy before the first day.