Thinking of private school? Here is some advice for you

Secular or faith based. All-girls, all-boys or gender-less. Day or boarding school. Sports focused or university preparatory. For profit or not for profit. When it comes to what independent schools to consider for your child, the landscape in Canada is wide and varied — and the exact number of private institutions is unknown.
“There is no centralized depository, there is no really good data and we ourselves are trying to estimate,” said Anand Mahadevan, the executive director of Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS), which ensures schools in Canada (and also Bermuda) meet international learning and governance standards.
“We think there are about 6,000 private schools that include daycare supports, kindergarten through Grade 3, and things like that. But most of these would be small, for-profit schools, including strip-mall schools. That’s not our jam to be honest.”
Mahadevan said that among the things CAIS considers when accrediting schools are whether it meets certain best practices and has policies in place when it comes to the needs of their students and their staff.
There are 96 CAIS schools accredited across Canada, and all of them are not-for-profit and are run by a board of governors, said Mahadevan.
“Accreditation is a quality assurance that parents can then say that if a school is accredited, that it is actually operating at a very high level of quality,” he said. “A parent who is perhaps thinking of sending their kids to an independent school, they want to make sure that school is still around and will be better years from now.
“It assures them that not only are they good today, but they will be good tomorrow.”
We asked Mahadevan to provide some advice to parents who are looking at independent schools for their children.
What are some of the things a parent considering sending their child to a private school should think about?
It really comes down to what are the hopes and aspirations for that child, and where can they see those hopes and aspirations met. Where do they see their child flourishing?
Families will be motivated by different things. Some families will be motivated by high academic achievements and they might select a school because they are known to produce highly qualified candidates for Ivy League schools.
Some families might be interested in a school that is really welcoming and supporting, they have an anxious child and they want to put that child in a space where the child will feel safe and cared for and is known as a human being in a small classroom rather than being in a much larger school.
Or, you may have a family that is really interested in athletics and their child is the star of the basketball or hockey team. In that case they might select a school like Ridley College, or Shawnigan Lake School for its sailing program or St. Andrew’s College, which has had multiple students graduate from Grade 12 and get picked up in the NHL draft.
What we are seeing more and more in the Grade 7 and Grade 8 age range is that (the children) are making the decision. They are telling their parents ‘I want to go to a school where…’ and they talk about what matters to them. And they have often done the research.
What does that tell you about those students?
We have done research — we have about 55,000 students in the CAIS school system — and we surveyed the older students in grades 8 to 12, and what we found that is standing out in our survey is that our kids want to be at our schools.
They self-identify as wanting to do their best, and also identify that they appreciate not only the teachers and the facilities but the peers who surround them because those peers are, in their view, also people who are focused on achieving their best whether it is in academics or athletics.
There is a feeling that I belong here and that the people I want to be with are here as well.
Some people might think it is the parent who wants them to attend a certain school?
It depends on the age group. If we are talking kindergarten to Grade 8, then yes, it is the parents or grandparents or larger family that has the say in where the child goes.
Certainly, we also sometimes have children moving from the public system to the private system because the family has had a negative experience at a school. It could be because they thought their child was written-off or their child’s potential was not seen.
Kids are basically the hearts of their families. Parents, when they send their kids to school, are sending their hearts out and saying, ‘I hope my child flourishes.’ They want their child to be in a space where their child is seen and loved and supported, and where people look for the potential in the child rather than what their child is doing wrong.
When parents are picking schools for the younger ages, they are really picking schools to make sure their child is learning, their child is growing, their child is getting the academics, but also that their child is developing skills like confidence, leadership, the ability to think for themselves. Those matter.
Because our kids are also getting a lot of information outside the family once they start to hit 13, 14 or 15, they start to have a bigger role — in some cases — and once they start visiting schools will have input into the decision making.
If I am a parent who has decided to place my child in an independent school, what should I do before deciding where to send them.
Sit down with your child and figure out what your child wants or what they think will be necessary for success. And, you know your child as well, so make a list of what are some of the absolutely essential things that you are looking at in a school, what would be nice to have, and what would be some things that would be red flags. Every family needs to do that homework.
A school’s website, a school’s social media accounts are helpful ways to get started, but nothing will give you as much information as literally stepping on the school campus and walking it, going on a tour and meeting people. That will give you a sense of what is happening at the school.
Do your own research and go into the school, talk to people, get a sense of the school and make your own decision. Really get a sense of what kind of supports are available if your child needs support, what kinds of enrichment activities are available if your child is a high achiever. Really do that homework, because every kid is different.
NOTE: this interview was edited for length and clarity
Mahadevan said that parents might also want to consider sending their children to a boarding school rather than a day school.
“It might be an appropriate option for their child, particularly if they want that child to develop more,” he said. “There may be families that only have one child, or that child might need more opportunities to engage with other people their age.”
He said a boarding option is one way that children can be with kids their own age, while still receiving the support of trained adults — not only from teachers but also from the adults who care for them after classes are done.
The Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) has 29 member schools that provide boarding, and are located in large cities and rural settings. They offer boarding options that range from weeklong to just five days a week, allowing students to return home for the weekend.
“Parents that might be super busy or engaged with their careers or their businesses can actually be quite comfortable knowing their kids are looked after Monday to Friday and then really spend time with their families on Saturday and Sunday,” said Mahadevan.
“Especially now, with parents worried about kids disappearing into the basement and spending all their time on a computer or a smartphone when they are not around, boarding can be a really good option for those kids.”
And, Mahadevan said, their data has shown that those students are coming out of school with better life skills because they had to learn — for example, how to do their own laundry or make their own bed — and navigate aspects of living on your own that other kids don’t experience until they head to postsecondary school.
Social skill development, Mahadevan prefers that to soft skills, are also developed by students at boarding school, who need to learn to live with others.
He said CAIS research shows that kids who go to a boarding school will rate themselves and each other as having much better peer communications and conflict resolution.
“They also report much less FOMO — fear of missing out — because they are part of, in some ways, an oasis, where they can really focus on the things that matter to them. Kids in boarding actually get involved in a lot more activities than kids in day school.
“In boarding, when they go home, they still have their friends and they have their dorm parents and they have activities they can engage with,” said Mahadevan.