Independent schools in Durham Region
Independent is a word a lot of Ontario schools use for themselves, and it means two different things depending on who is using it. Parents compare schools with it, so it's worth knowing which meaning is in play.
It describes how a school is funded and governed. It tells you nothing about how the school teaches.
What independent means in Ontario
There's no legal category called an independent school. In Ontario a school is either part of a public board or it's a private school, and every private school files a Notice of Intention to Operate before it opens and every year after.
The sector draws a line inside that, though. CIS Ontario, the association most of the province's long-established independent schools belong to, defines an independent school as a private school that is not-for-profit and governed by a volunteer board rather than owned by a person or a company. Their own summary of it: all independent schools are private schools, and only some private schools are independent.
Plenty of schools use the word more loosely to mean any private school, and OFIS, the other main association here, takes in both kinds. Ask a school whether it is not-for-profit and who sits on its board, because the word on its own won't tell you. It brings no inspection and no accreditation either way.
What to ask instead
Who will teach your child, and what they've done before. Private elementary teaching in Ontario carries no certification requirement, so it's worth asking anywhere, this school included.
What gets taught, and whether you can read it before it's taught.
How many children are in a group and how many adults are with them.
Whether the school has its own site, and whether it intends to run every grade it advertises.
What The Galt Academy is
A private day school for Kindergarten through Grade 6, opening in Durham Region with its own site and its own staff. It takes no public money.
Reading, writing, mathematics, science, history and geography are taught to a high standard. Money and business, engineering, the outdoors, and health, nutrition and fitness are taught as subjects of their own, and a good part of the day happens outside in every season.
Every unit is published to families before it's taught, and the curriculum stays open all year to anyone with a child in the school.
Questions about Independent schools
Is an independent school the same as a private school?
Every independent school is a private school. Whether it runs the other way depends on who you ask: in law there is one category and both words describe it, while CIS Ontario reserves independent for private schools that are not-for-profit and board-governed.
Are independent schools inspected in Ontario?
Elementary schools are not. The Ministry inspects secondary schools that grant credits toward the OSSD, and that inspection covers the credits. It doesn't accredit, licence or endorse any private school, so a school calling itself Ministry-approved is describing something that doesn't exist.
Does independent mean non-profit?
Under CIS Ontario's definition it does: not-for-profit is half of what the word means there, and fees go back into the school instead of to an owner. Used loosely it carries no such promise, and a school will tell you which it means if you ask.
Are independent schools better than public schools?
The studies disagree once family income and parental education are accounted for. What a private school gives you is a different set of choices about class size, what's on the schedule, and how much of the day is spent moving. Whether that's worth paying for depends on your own child.