Photo created by freepik - www.freepik.com. High Schools. Average Private School Tuition Cost (2020-21) State. That’s a significant burden for a middle-class family. And even certified teachers don’t necessarily have a degree in education. But there’s no shortage of well-trained educators in this country, so regardless of the rules that prevail in your area, you should insist on a school where teachers are not only certified, but have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in education as well. “There are private schools now that are fly-by-night places. Which kids are more successful? It is by no means true that a private school is always better than a public school, and it is true that public schools can often be more diverse than many private schools. Less than seven percent of Canadian students attend private schools, but the majority of Canadians believe private schools provide a better education than public schools. Independent schools often outline their students’ courses of study right on their Web sites or in their brochures. In my area, it's about $10K per year per kid, and I'm told that is really cheap compared to places like the Bay Area and D.C. where it might be $30K per year per kid. Before you enroll your child, make sure you’ll be getting your money’s worth. In fact, there are two kinds of non-public schools out there — “private” and “independent” — and there are important distinctions you should be aware of before enrolling your kid in either kind. Joe Raymond/AP Photo. With only a few exceptions, including in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, independent schools are not required to hire certified teachers. Average class size is 12 to 22 students. If you’re convinced that a private-school education is the best thing for your little learner, you’ll be relieved to hear that some of the expenses can be recouped on your income tax return; see a short course in writing it off. But the key question is to what degree do private schools actually produce those results? If your child is entering Grade 5 and up, it’s important to get her take on the teachers, as well. “Students in public schools in a similar socio-economic context as private schools tend to do equally well,” according to the OECD report, which concluded that “there is no evidence to suggest that private schools help to raise the level of performance of the school system, as a whole” (OECD, Private schools: Who benefits?). Most schools levy a one-time, nonrefundable “registration fee” or “new student fee” of up to $9,000 the first year your child is enrolled. “The teachers are all well-dressed, well-spoken, and they’re strong women — and those are the kinds of people I want to teach her.”, Nancy Ng had a similar experience on a tour of La Citadelle, which nailed the decision to enroll her son, Ian, in the Toronto school’s pre-Kindergarten program. According to Private School Review, the national average private school tuition is approximately $10,671 per year. “I loved when a student was sitting in class in Grade 1 and he was upset about something, and the teacher, instead of getting mad at him, excused all the kids to go to their table and do some reading, and she sat down on the floor with him and just talked him through what he was upset about. And your class size is going to be smaller — they put a ceiling on class size, and they don’t go over it because they’re accountable to a board. “If they find a school doesn’t meet their child’s needs, then they look elsewhere, and not necessarily in their own neighbourhood.”. Please contact us here. Statistics Canada echoed these findings in a 2015 report, which found students in Canadian private schools have more educational success than their public school counterparts because of their socio-economic characteristics, not because of private schools themselves. That's right, private school. If that contentment is missing, or their outlook on teaching doesn’t match what you have in mind for your kid, you’ll be able to tell very quickly in the course of even a casual conversation. Despite all the benefits that private universities and colleges offer, are they really worth the price tag? And families with lower incomes or academically high-performing kids may qualify for scholarships or bursaries directly from the school, usually covering half the cost of tuition; ask the admissions office for details on how to apply. “In the public system, people shop around too, especially at the high school level,” says Paul Axelrod, Dean of the Faculty of Education at York University. In the US there is a very small sector of non-sectarian private schools with high fees, but most private schools are, again, religious, with much lower fees than here. Furthermore, at the point of publication, we do our best to ensure the information we produce is accurate, however, sometimes prices and terms of the products are changed by the provider without notice to us. Keep in mind that the degree of flexibility to jump into a different district varies with the number of students enrolled from year to year. Share on Email, Your email address will not be published. The biggest thing parents worry about is regret. Share this article “There aren’t a lot of requirements.” She’s commenting specifically about Ontario, but the similarly lax regulations exist across the country. Sandra E. Martin  on August 8, 2019. As public schools face budget cuts that lead to larger class sizes and fewer resources, many private schools continue to flourish. MoneySense will always make updates and changes to correct factual errors. “If they get a reputation as having a school that families abandon ship from, that’s a problem. Wait till you see what else we charge for. Parents leaning in the direction of private education have to ask themselves if the benefits of private school are worth the high cost for the perks that private schools claim to offer, though calculating the true cost of education has been further complicated by new tax rules laid out by the DeVos-led Department of Education. Reviews on Private Schools in Ottawa, ON - Westboro Academy, Heritage Academy, Lycee Claudel, Collège Nouvelles Frontières, Astolot Educational Centre, North American Transport Driving Academy Ottawa, Bedmas Academy, Home Tutors 4 U, Ottawa Robotics Academy, Interlangues Language School Entrance Scholarship to Grade 7 is available. There are no guarantees at all.”, Be especially wary of schools that promise to improve your high-school-age kid’s grades just in time for the university application deadline. In other words, you could be paying for your child to receive a lesser education, in poorer conditions, than she would receive in your neighbourhood public school. I mean look at what it costs. The return on college investment is declining What do we teach while the world is burning? Some private schools deliver great educations. But Catholic schools offer other potential benefits, whether your family is Catholic or not. While the left side of your brain says you can’t afford it, the right side of your brain counters with the very compelling argument that hundreds of rich, influential and wildly successful men have graduated from this place: Galen Weston, Michael Ignatieff, Robertson Davies. This is larger than student enrolment increases by 54.6%, and larger than funding increases for public schools by 90.0%. “I got the glossy stuff,” says Michaéla Koch, referring to the information package she requested from the school both of her children attended starting in pre-Kindergarten. The only way to find out is to visit the school and see for yourself, as Michelle Wille did when scoping out St. Margaret’s, the school in Victoria, B.C., that she ultimately decided on for her daughter. By  To receive funding, a school must meet clearly identified criteria, such as employing only provincially certified teachers. “For parents who are so committed to the private school system and have three or four kids, the financial burden, unless you’re really well off, is extraordinary,” observes York University’s Paul Axelrod. IPE/BC Fellows on privatization and distributed learning, The State of Education in British Columbia, Annual Update: Public Subsidies to Private Schools, “How Canada Became an Education Superpower.”, Statistics Canada: Academic Outcomes of Public and Private High School Students: What Lies Behind the Differences? All of these factors feed the idea there is a private school advantage. Private schools, on the other hand, can be run by a single person with no accountability. We set out to discover what really goes on behind those ivy-covered walls. Do they have a good rapport with students? And I have to say these people who are opening them are well-intentioned. Like most parents, you’ve probably wondered how much private school really costs. It’s no small market with up to 8% of children enrolled in a private school — only a small fraction of an education market that could be worth $70-billion annually in Canada based on the amount spent by governments. Are private schools really better than public schools? Shockingly, there are no laws in place to stop a person with zero educational training to hang a shingle outside their door and start enrolling students. The price for secondary education in Canada at prestigious private schools with full board varies from 35,000 to 70,000 Canadian dollars per year. Sandra E. Martin  on August 8, 2019, By  This longitudinal study of over one thousand students concluded: “… children with a history of enrollment in private schools performed better on nearly all outcomes assessed in adolescence. However, private colleges can be quite expensive. But [they’re failing] either because they’re not businesspeople or because they’re not educators. Read Explainer: What is Universal Basic Income? There are many reasons to be skeptical of international rankings based upon a single test given to 15 year-olds. If you don’t like your kid’s private school, move on. Whenever the OECD releases the Program for International Student Assessments (PISA) results, breathless reporting usually follows. That's $889 per month. On average, the cost of private school tuition for the 2011-2012 school year was $10,740 per child, according to the NCES. “What you’re guaranteed when you go into private is you’ve got teachers who are there by choice, as opposed to being placed there [as they often are in public school systems]. So, if more parents in Canada and BC are choosing to send their children to private school is this an indication that private schools are really better than public schools? “Private” and “independent” schools aren’t the same thing. Lower cost than other private schools. The StatsCan report identifies two factors that consistently account for differences between public and private school student academic outcomes. Elementary. “The facilities, the resources, can be fairly basic in those schools.” Even elite schools fundraise furiously, claiming that tuition fees cover only annual operating costs, and that they need more money to maintain the facilities and purchase new equipment. 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