Don’t look now, but it’s that time of year again. Children may wish the carefree days of summer vacation would last forever. No one ever wants to trade a life of leisure and sleeping in for an alarm clock and early mornings. However, it is time for back to school and back to the daily routine.
One of the best parts about living in Toronto is the abundance of excellent schools you have to choose from.
The city is served by the Toronto District School Board, which represents nearly 600 schools and approximately 247,000 students. How do you pick the best facility for your child? Let’s take a look at some of the tools you can use to evaluate your choices.
The Fraser Institute
Every year, your child’s teacher sends home a report card to show their achievements and areas for improvement. The Fraser Institute is like a report card for schools.
Each year, the schools get a mark out of 10 to represent their overall provincial ranking. Plus, you can see how a specific school stacks up against others in the area. For a long time, the Fraser Institute rankings were the gold standard for evaluating schools.
Using their ranking tool is easy. Just go to compareschoolrankings.org and select whether you’re looking for an elementary or secondary school. As soon as you type in the name, you will see how it ranks out of 10 and compares with other schools. For example, let’s look at the Waterfront School in West Toronto. They have scored 6.9 out of 10, and they rank 978 out of 3037 schools in all of Ontario. What do these numbers mean? And do they really indicate whether a school is the best for your child?
The Fraser Institute rankings can give you a rough idea of how well a school performs, but you must take the results with a grain of salt. They base everything on Grade 6 achievement tests and Grade 12 diploma results.
Picking a school using these limited metrics may be short-sighted. Luckily there is another tool that will give you a broader insight into what a school is all about.
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Education Quality And Accountability Office
The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) evaluates schools nationally and internationally and provides more information than the Fraser Institute. For example, let’s see what EQAO has to say about the Waterfront School.
At a glance, you can see the principal’s name and how many students are enrolled. You can also get an idea of the social aspects of the school. For instance, 92% of the students were born in Canada. However, 24% have a first language other than English, potentially indicating a school with plenty of diversity.
You can also see an overview of student attitudes towards learning. A survey of third-grade students shows the percentage of children who like Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.
Perhaps most importantly, you can see what percentage of children perform above provincial standards in the same three subjects. The idea isn’t so much to rank schools based on an individual test but to empower them to improve. The objective is to give each student the highest possible level of personal achievement.
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The Toronto District School Board
One tool you should never overlook is the website of the school board itself. Each child is different, and will value different subjects.
- One student may focus on the availability of sports and extracurricular activities.
- Others may be more academically inclined.
- And some may need extra support to reach their potential.
Researching through the school board tells you about the facility’s values and mission. You can see if programs like French Immersion and special education are available.
Highest Rated Schools In Toronto
As we’ve discussed, there’s a lot more that goes into choosing a school than ratings based on standardized tests. That said, here is a list of some of the most highly rated schools not just in Toronto, but in the province:
Rosedale Junior Public School
This school has an incredible Fraser Ranking of 9.9, which puts it into the top 18 out of 3037 schools. And according to EQAO, Rosedale Junior Public School is a diverse facility where 99% of students perform above provincial standards in Reading, 96% in Writing, and 92% in Mathematics.
Blythwood Junior Public School
Another highly ranked school, Blythwood has an impressive 9/10 Fraser Ranking and places 70 out of 3037 elementary schools. And 96% of all students perform above the standards for Reading and Mathematics. 94% outperform the standard in Writing.
The Ursula Franklin Academy
The Ursula Franklin Academy offers advanced programs and is the highest-ranked secondary school in Toronto, with a Fraser Institute score of 9.2. This makes it the number 6 school out of 739 in the entire province.
Should You Consider a Private School?
Enrolling your child in a private school can run anywhere from $8,000 to $25,000. Unfortunately, you don’t always get what you pay for in this scenario.
Private schools are considered businesses, and there is very little oversight into the quality of their curriculum. Only secondary schools that offer the Ontario Secondary School Diploma are required to deliver on provincial standards. It’s also important to remember that principals and teachers in private schools are not required to be certified by the Ontario College of Teachers. To ensure that teachers are accredited, you can visit their website here.
If you wish to send your child to a private school, you should evaluate each choice carefully and hold them up to the highest standards. There are two organizations that can help you ensure the school’s quality:
- The Canadian Educational Standards Institute (CESI) evaluates private schools based on students’ performance against educational standards.
- The Canadian Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) regulates the curriculum and only admits schools that have successfully operated for 5+ years.
When evaluating schools, you naturally want to ensure that your child will receive the best instruction possible. With these resources we’ve provided, you can also find a school where your child will be happy and supported. Who knows? With the right school, your child may even be excited to see September come again.
Are you planning your next move around the quality of the schools? We specialize in various neighbourhoods around Toronto and can guide you to the perfect area. Reach out to us below to book a free meeting.
