Your Private School Advantage
Highly Specialized Faculty | 1:4 Teacher Student Ratio | Individualized Education Programs | Personalized Mentorship & Coaching Programs
Your child will be treated with respect & dignity, revered a precious gift and valued for the unique person that they are.
We offer special needs education, working not only on academics but also on social and behavioural challenges. We are a school that believes that education doesn’t just include academics from books, but also incorporates working with the student to learn acceptable social behaviour with both peers and adults, coping and negotiation skills and self-assurance.
As part of our academic and social development programme, we include therapeutic riding and Equine Assisted Learning, and outdoor physical activities daily to improve body strength and coordination, self-discipline and positive self- esteem.
We are the only school in Ontario to offer these programmes as part of our curriculum. Working closely with parents, therapists, counsellors and other external supports to ensure a positive experience is what makes our facility as successful as it is.
Vision & Philosophy
Every child deserves an opportunity to be the best they can be and valued for their unique abilities and strengths.
Unfortunately, the society we live in is structured to label and categorize each of us — not by those strengths that make us unique but, by our failings, doubts and challenges.
Our team of dedicated education specialists provides a structured support system for your child:
- Certified teachers;
- Special education experts; and
- Child Youth Workers (CYWs)
Meet Shiloh, A Very Special Part of Our Support Team
She breaks barriers by relaxing kids with gifted minds, high anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, autism spectrum disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and other complex behavioral challenges.
Our System Guarantees Success Beyond Academics
We help foster and inspire a sense of self respect, self confidence and an enthusiastic optimism for starting a career and family life; preparing your child socially, physically and spiritually for whatever challenge may come their way in those pursuits.
Leadership
We have a diverse and talented teaching and administrative staff, each wearing more than one hat!
Mikki White
Principal
Math & Science Instructor
Phil White
Vice Principal
CYW Special Needs Consultant
Marilyn Warren
Guidance Administrator
Susi Rumney
Equine Programme
Social Sciences and Arts Teacher
Equine Team
Check out the Equine Team partners who support the Discovery Outdoors field work.
Angela Vandenhurk
Academic Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor, Equine Canada Certified Competition Coach
Kuruka Equestrian, Brentwood
Gord
Munro
FEI/World Cup level International Trainer National level Instructor
EAL Youth Programme Director, Foxbury Farm
About Private Schools In The Province Of Ontario
Under subsection 1(1) of the Education Act2, a private school is defined as:
“an institution at which instruction is provided at any time between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on any school day for five or more pupils who are of or over compulsory school age in any of the subjects of the elementary or secondary school courses of study…“
This definition sets out the basic criteria that a private school must meet in order to operate. All private schools in Ontario must be:
- providing instruction any time between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.;
- on any school day;
- for five or more students;
- of compulsory school age;
- in any of the subjects of the elementary or secondary school courses of study.
If a new private school does not meet each of the above elements of the definition, it will not pass the validation process required to operate. Similarly, if an existing private school fails to continue to meet any part of this definition, it may face closure through the removal of its Ministry-issued Board School Identification Number (BSID).
There are two types of private schools operating in Ontario:
Non-Inspected private schools include all private elementary schools as well as any private secondary schools that do not provide courses offering credits toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). These schools are not required to follow the Ontario curriculum, although they must still offer instruction in any of the subjects in the elementary or secondary courses of study.
Inspected private schools are seeking or have been given authority by the Ministry to provide courses offering credits toward the OSSD. This includes private schools offering a combined elementary-secondary curriculum (in which case only the secondary school will be inspected) and private schools offering credits in an online environment.
Please note that the authority to grant credits is given to the principal of the school and may only be exercised with respect to students of that school.
The authority to grant credits is determined through a cyclical inspection process, the purpose of which is to ascertain whether the standard of instruction in courses leading toward the OSSD is being delivered in compliance with Ministry requirements.
Throughout this manual, the term ‘inspector’ will be used to refer to the Ministry staff members conducting validations of all private schools and inspections of those schools seeking authority to grant credits.
How are Private Schools Different from Publicly-Funded Schools?
In Ontario, private schools operate as businesses or non-profit organizations, independently of the Ministry of Education. Private schools do not receive any funding or other financial support from the Ontario government.
The Ministry does not regulate, licence, accredit or otherwise oversee the day-to-day operation of private schools.
Private school operators set their own policies and procedures regarding the operation of their schools, and are not obliged to comply with the policies and procedures that school boards must follow.
For example:
Private schools are not required to use the Ontario curriculum unless they are seeking authority to grant credits toward the OSSD. Those that do may also offer other content beyond the Ontario curriculum.
In Ontario private schools, principals are not required to have Ontario principal’s qualifications, and teachers are not required to be members of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) or have OCT certification.
Private schools are not authorized to deliver correspondence courses, which are delivered through the Independent Learning Centre (ILC). However, a private school can host the student taking such courses.
Private schools may, but are not required to, communicate student achievement using either the Elementary Provincial Report Card (for Grades 1-8) or the Provincial Report Card (for Grades 9-12).
Despite this flexibility, any person, business or non-profit entity wishing to operate a private school in Ontario must do so in accordance with the legal requirements of the Act, and with the policies and procedures detailed in this manual.
source: “Private Schools Policy and Procedures Manual”, www.edu.gov.on.ca