Do private schools have to follow the Ontario curriculum?
No. A private elementary school in Ontario chooses its own curriculum, and the province neither inspects it nor requires it to teach the provincial one. That surprises most parents, and it's worth understanding properly before you choose any private school, including this one.
The Ministry of Education puts it plainly on its own website: schools it does not inspect do not need to follow the official Ontario curriculum.
What the Ministry actually does
Every private school in Ontario files a Notice of Intention to Operate each year, by September 1. A new school pays a one-time fee. The notice records who owns the school, who runs it, where it's and what hours it teaches. That's the whole of it.
In the Ministry's own words, it does not provide funding, regulation, licensing, accreditation or oversight of operations for private schools, and it does not endorse them. Any school describing itself as Ministry-accredited or Ministry-approved is describing something that does not exist.
Who does get inspected
Private secondary schools that want to grant credits toward the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Those are inspected roughly every two years, for that purpose specifically.
Elementary schools are not inspected at all. Neither are the premises, the health and safety practices or the staffing at any private school, elementary or secondary. Nor is a private school required to hire teachers certified by the Ontario College of Teachers, outside of those credit-granting secondary courses.
How to judge a private school
It means the question worth asking a private school is not whether it's approved. Nothing approves it. The question is what it will show you.
At The Galt Academy every unit is published to families before it's taught, and the full curriculum stays open all year to anyone with a child in the school. We would rather hand you the material than ask you to take a prospectus on trust, because under Ontario's rules trust is genuinely all you would have.
Questions about Straight answer
Is a private school in Ontario accredited?
No. Ontario has no accreditation process for private schools. Some schools belong to voluntary membership associations, which is a different thing and worth asking about specifically.
Do private school teachers have to be certified?
Not at elementary level. Ontario College of Teachers certification is required for teachers of credit-granting secondary courses, not for private elementary teaching. Ask any school you're considering who teaches your child and what their background is.
So how do I judge a private school?
On what it will let you see. Ask for the curriculum in writing, ask whether you can read it before it's taught, and ask what happens when you disagree with something in it. The answers separate schools quickly.
Join the founding families list
The Academy opens when the founding cohort is full. Families on the list get first places, help set the first year's calendar, and keep the founding rate for as long as their child is enrolled.