Frequently asked questions
The questions families ask most, grouped. If yours is missing, send it and we'll answer it here.
The school, and when it opens
When does the school open?
When enough families have committed. We'd rather open with the right group than hit a date and hope. Everyone on the list hears as soon as one is set.
Where will it be?
Durham Region. We're evaluating sites that let a class move between indoors and outdoors through the day. The form asks where you live and how far you'd drive, and those answers weigh heavily on where it lands.
Why Durham Region?
It's where the families asking for this are. Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering, Clarington and the country north of them are full of parents who want something other than the two systems on offer, and most of them are being told to drive to Toronto for it.
How many places will there be?
We haven't set it, and a number invented now would only be a number invented now. It gets decided with the founding families and published as soon as it is. Places go in the order people joined the list.
Would you really open in north Durham?
It's a real possibility. The land up here is the best in the region for what we teach, and the constraint is whether enough founding families are close to it.
What happens after Grade 6?
Students move on to a secondary school. We're building the elementary years properly first, and we'd rather do that than announce a Grade 12 we can't staff.
What if we join the list and change our minds?
Nothing happens. It's free, there's nothing to cancel, and you can ask us to stop emailing whenever you like.
Admissions, ages and starting
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.
Can my child start Kindergarten at three in Ontario?
In a licensed child care setting or a public JK class, potentially yes, if they turn four that calendar year. At a private school relying on the licensing exemption, no.
Is Kindergarten mandatory in Ontario?
No. School attendance is compulsory from age six. JK and SK are available and widely used, but not required.
Can our child start partway through the year?
Yes. Once the school is running, a child starts when you enrol them. The first cohort is the exception, because that group begins together on the first day.
Do you take children part time?
Part-time places are likely. Tell us on the form which would suit you, because those answers are shaping what the school offers.
Tuition and cost
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 are offered the opening rate.
What's included in the fee?
The teaching, the materials and the outdoor program. Families provide outdoor clothing, and we'll send a list well before the first day.
Do you offer financial assistance?
Not yet, and we'd rather say so than imply otherwise. It's on the list of things to work out with the founding families before the first year.
Is private school tuition tax deductible in Canada?
Generally no for the tuition itself. A portion may qualify as a child care expense in specific circumstances, and some religious schools issue a donation receipt for the part of the fee treated as a gift. Ask an accountant about your own return rather than a school.
Why is private school cheaper in Durham than in Toronto?
Mostly the building. Property is the largest fixed cost after salaries, and a school pays it whether or not a seat is filled. The same program on Toronto land costs more to run.
Why do so few Durham schools publish their fees?
Usually because the figure varies by program, by number of children, or by what a family can pay, and a single number on a page invites the wrong comparison. It is still worth asking for the full schedule in writing before you visit.
What we teach, and how the day runs
Do you follow the Ontario curriculum?
We teach reading, writing and mathematics to a high standard, and in the other subjects we take the parts of the Ontario curriculum worth keeping and leave the padding. A private elementary school in Ontario is free to make that call, and it's how money, fitness, building and the outdoors get taught as subjects in their own right instead of squeezed into what's left.
How do I know what my child is being taught?
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 written down.
What does a school day look like?
Reading, writing and mathematics taught deliberately, every day, with each child on their own path. Around that, money and business, building and fixing, fitness and food, and time outside whenever the weather allows.
How big are the classes?
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, and we'll publish the number once it's set.
Are the classes by grade or mixed?
Children are grouped by where they're at, not only by how old they are. In each subject a student works at their own level and moves on once they've got it. It also means an older student explaining something to a younger one is a normal part of the day.
Can we see the curriculum before enrolling?
Yes. That's the point of publishing it. Ask and we'll send whatever exists so far.
Is this a microschool?
Close enough that the word is useful. Small groups, individual learning paths, and a day that isn't run by a bell. Where we differ from most microschools is that we're building a full Kindergarten to Grade 6 school with its own site and its own staff.
How is this different from a learning pod?
A pod is usually a private arrangement between a few families for as long as it suits them. This is a school with its own premises, its own teachers and a curriculum published to every family in it.
Is this a Montessori school?
No. We share individual pacing with Montessori, but we're not a Montessori school, don't use the materials, and have no affiliation with any Montessori body.
Is this unschooling?
No. Unschooling waits for a child's interest to lead. We teach reading, writing and mathematics deliberately, every day, whether or not a child arrives interested in them.
Isn't this too young for financial literacy?
Five-year-olds already know that things cost money and that you can't have everything. Building on that is easier than undoing twenty years of nobody mentioning it. A Grade 1 running a stand for an afternoon has met profit, pricing and stock without any of those words being used.
Do students actually handle real money?
In the senior grades, yes, within a real venture with real records. That's the part that makes it stick.
What we stand for
Is this a conservative school?
Parents ask it, so here's a straight answer. We don't teach politics, from any direction. No land acknowledgements, no gender or sexuality on the schedule, one flag and it's the Canadian one. What we do teach is how to take a question apart, make the case for both sides of it, and reach your own conclusion. This isn't about how a family votes. It's about teaching children to think clearly and leaving the rest to you.
Is The Galt Academy a non-woke school?
That's the word a lot of parents use when they call, so: yes, in the sense they mean. Ideology stays outside the classroom, and the curriculum is open to every family in the school, all year, so you never have to take our word for what's being taught.
Do you teach gender ideology?
No, at any grade. There's no unit on it, no materials for it, and if a child raises it they're directed to talk it over with their parents.
Do you do land acknowledgements?
No. We don't open the day with one. History is taught as history, in its own lessons, with the material published to families in advance like everything else.
Is this a religious school?
No. There's no religious instruction and no denominational affiliation. Families of every faith and none are welcome, and what we teach doesn't change depending on which are in the room.
Would my family be welcome if we don't think of ourselves as conservative?
Yes, and plenty don't think of themselves that way. What the families here have in common is wanting politics kept out of a Grade 2 classroom. That's a much broader view than the label suggests, and it has nothing to do with which party anybody votes for.
Outdoors, and the weather
Is this a forest school or an outdoor school?
Both, partly. Lessons run outside whenever the weather allows, and the site we choose has to make that easy. What separates us from a pure forest school is that reading, writing and mathematics are taught deliberately, to a high standard, every day. Some of that happens at a table and some of it under a tree.
What about the weather?
We go out anyway, dressed for it. Families provide the outdoor clothing, and we'll send a list well before the first day.
Our children are already outside most of the time. Is this still for us?
Probably more so. A lot of what we teach assumes children who are comfortable outdoors and around tools, and families up here tend to arrive with that already in place.
We're rural. Is that a problem?
The opposite, mostly. A good deal of what we teach assumes children who are already comfortable outdoors and around tools, and rural families tend to arrive with that in place.
Homeschooling and part-time places
We homeschool. Would this work for us?
It's the closest thing to homeschooling that isn't homeschooling, and part-time places may be available for exactly that reason. You keep control of what your child is taught, because the curriculum is published to you before it's taught. What you get on top is other children, a teacher for the subjects that are hard to run at a kitchen table, and your week back.
Do I still need to notify the board if my child attends part time?
That depends on how the arrangement is structured, and it's worth confirming with your board rather than taking a school's word for it. Ontario homeschooling families notify their board of intent to provide satisfactory instruction at home.
Which days would my child attend?
Undecided, and the founding families will decide it with us. Consistent days across a cohort work better than a pick-and-mix, because the group work has to land when the group is there.
Getting there
Would you ever run a bus?
Not in the first year. A school opening with its founding cohort can't carry route costs, so families drive until it's large enough to change that.
Is the drive from Uxbridge realistic?
It depends entirely on where the school lands, which is why the form asks. If it goes to the lakeshore, this is a long way twice a day, and we'd say so rather than let you find out in September.
How does this compare to sending our child into Toronto?
Shorter drive, lower fee, smaller school, and a curriculum published to you in advance. What you'd give up is a long-established institution and a purpose-built campus.
Private schooling in Ontario
Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education?
Not yet. A school files its Notice of Intention to Operate before it opens, so ours goes in ahead of the first day and every year after, as every private school in Ontario does. Worth knowing either way: the Ministry doesn't accredit, licence or endorse private schools, so any school telling you it's Ministry-approved is describing something that doesn't exist.
How is this different from the public or Catholic school down the road?
Class size, what's on the schedule, and how much of the day is spent moving. We teach money, business, building things, fitness and the outdoors as subjects in their own right. Beyond that, we'd rather tell you what happens here than characterise somebody else's school.
Is a private school in Ontario accredited?
No. Ontario has no accreditation process for private schools. Some 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 are considering who teaches your child and what their background is.
Is gender identity taught in Ontario elementary schools?
Not as a curriculum expectation. The 2019 Health and Physical Education document places gender identity in Grade 8. Sexual orientation appears in Grade 5 and again in Grade 6. What an individual board or classroom does beyond the document is a separate question, and worth asking your own school.
Are land acknowledgements part of the Ontario curriculum?
No. They are board and school practice rather than a curriculum expectation. A school choosing not to open the day with one is making a decision about its own practice, not departing from the provincial curriculum.
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 is taught, and ask what happens when you disagree with something in it. The answers separate schools quickly.
Is an independent school different from a private school?
Not in law. Both are private schools in Ontario. Independent usually signals a governing board rather than a single owner, which is worth asking about, but it carries no extra oversight and no accreditation.
Are Catholic schools private?
No. Catholic schools in Ontario are publicly funded and charge no tuition, under a constitutional protection that dates to Confederation. A private Catholic school is a separate thing and does charge.
Do private school students do better?
The research is genuinely mixed once family income and parental education are controlled for, and anyone quoting you a clean number is selling something. Judge a specific school, not a category.
Can my child go back to public school afterwards?
Yes. Movement between the two is normal, and at elementary level there are no credits at stake to complicate it.