For Port Perry and Scugog families
Scugog is the quietest corner of Durham and the one where families are most used to driving for anything worth having. Port Perry holds most of the population and most of the reason anyone comes.
We're building a Kindergarten to Grade 6 school in the region, opening when the founding cohort fills, with the site chosen by where those families turn out to be.
The land around Port Perry
Lake Scugog is shallow and marshy at the edges, which matters for a practical reason: children can work at the water. Most of what we'd teach there needs wading depth and a soft bottom.
The farmland around it does more work than the lake, honestly. Where food comes from is a subject with soil in it, and it needs somewhere that grows things at scale rather than a raised bed by the door.
What the school actually is
Small groups, each with a teacher and an assistant. Reading, writing and mathematics taught deliberately every morning, with each student moving on when they have it rather than when the calendar says so.
Then the subjects most timetables have no room for: money and how a business runs, building and fixing things, fitness and real food, first aid and what to do in an emergency, and how to make a case and change your mind on evidence.
Getting there
If the school lands on the lakeshore, this is a commitment twice a day and we'd rather you weighed it now than in the second week of September.
If it lands north, Port Perry is close to it. Which of those happens depends on where the founding families are, so an honest number on the form is worth more to us than an optimistic one.
Questions about Port Perry and Scugog
Is there any chance the school opens near Port Perry?
Yes. North Durham is under genuine consideration, largely because the land suits what we teach. Whether it happens comes down to how many founding families are up here.
How many students will there be?
Small, and small, with a teacher and an assistant in each group. We're setting exact numbers with the founding families.
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.