Any Canadians on this forum?

[Anonymous]

I'm curious if anyone could do a comparison with the top private schools in DC to the private schools in a major Canadian city like Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver? If there are any Torontonians, what would be the equivalent to UTS?

[Anonymous]

I went to a private school in Montreal... Now I have my children in DC private school. The private school network is very different. Here is what Wikipedia says about privates Quebec private schools:

"
Quebec has the highest proportion of children going to private schools in North America. The phenomenon is not restricted to the well-to-do. Many middle class, lower middle class and even working class families scrimp and save to send their children to private schools. The government of Quebec gives a pro rata subsidy for each child to any private school which meets its standards and follows its prescriptions, reducing tuition costs to approximately 30% of non-subsidized private schools.
Most of the private schools are secondary institutions, though there are a few primary schools, most of them serving precise religious or cultural groups such as Armenian Orthodox Christians or certain Jewish faiths.
17% of the high school population of Quebec currently attends a private high school. The figure is even higher in urban centres such as Montreal, where 30% of high school students are in the private sector. A study released in August 2004 by the Quebec Ministry of Education revealed that, over the preceding five years, the private sector had grown by 12% while the public sector had shrunk 5.6%, with slightly steeper rate in the last year.
Private secondary schools usually select their students by having them go through their own scholastic exams and by making a study of the entire primary school record.
The Quebec public sector teachers' unions oppose any form of subsidy to private schools. They charge (1) that private schools select only the brightest and most capable students and reject children with learning difficulties; and argue (2) that by doing this they leave a burden to the public sector. Private schools usually have teachers who are not unionized, or who belong to associations not affiliated with the main body of Quebec public sector teachers' unions. The debate over the subsidies has been going on for several decades.
"

[Anonymous]

http://www.ourkids.net/

[Anonymous]

I am a 40 yr old Canadian who has lived in Canadian cities my entire life. i can't answer your question because I have never even met anyone who went to a private school, and I only know of one person who sent her daughter to a private school. I wouldn't even recognize the names of any private schools in my city. The vast majority of people here go public. Only the very rich, elite, country club, upper class who don't socialize with the masses go to private school. There are also independent religious schools.

There are about 300,000 students total in Canada in non public schools (we don't have charters either). There are about 5.2 million in public schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a 40 yr old Canadian who has lived in Canadian cities my entire life. i can't answer your question because I have never even met anyone who went to a private school, and I only know of one person who sent her daughter to a private school. I wouldn't even recognize the names of any private schools in my city. The vast majority of people here go public. Only the very rich, elite, country club, upper class who don't socialize with the masses go to private school. There are also independent religious schools.

There are about 300,000 students total in Canada in non public schools (we don't have charters either). There are about 5.2 million in public schools

Yep. I grew up in Vancouver and live in Victoria now (other major city in BC). The way that the education system works in the US blows my mind. The system is totally fucked and just furthering the divide between the classes. The amount of time and energy that parents dedicate to stressing over what school their child goes to is bizarre. I have met 3 people in my life who went to private school, and they were religious schools.

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

[Anonymous]

PP, Happy to hear. Now please keep your smarties-eating, molson-drinking, crack-smoking ass in that frozen tundra up North that you call a nation. I am still trying to figure out what value you have added to the world besides producing Gretzky and providing us a few weeks of comedy relief with that clown of a mayor you have in Toronto. When you can choose either French or English as an official language, we will allow you to comment on our school system. In the meantime, I will be sure to show my appreciation to you the next time I hit Whistler, the only place in Canada worth visiting.

[Anonymous]

Oh good grief.

[Anonymous]

BTW, McGill is still a great school (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc5vN2XReWs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a 40 yr old Canadian who has lived in Canadian cities my entire life. i can't answer your question because I have never even met anyone who went to a private school, and I only know of one person who sent her daughter to a private school. I wouldn't even recognize the names of any private schools in my city. The vast majority of people here go public. Only the very rich, elite, country club, upper class who don't socialize with the masses go to private school. There are also independent religious schools.

There are about 300,000 students total in Canada in non public schools (we don't have charters either). There are about 5.2 million in public schools

Yep. I grew up in Vancouver and live in Victoria now (other major city in BC). The way that the education system works in the US blows my mind. The system is totally fucked and just furthering the divide between the classes. The amount of time and energy that parents dedicate to stressing over what school their child goes to is bizarre. I have met 3 people in my life who went to private school, and they were religious schools.

After a few years of reading DCUM and reading blogs written by American moms with school aged children, I can say unequivocally that the Canadian school system is superior. You send your child to whatever public school you are zoned for, you don't have to wait in line to apply, you don't have to deal with testing your 3 year old or whatever people have to do to get in to elementary schools, and we all end up smart the system works.

I agree! Reading this forum was a real eye opener as to how different education is in the US. School is just a non event here. You go to your public school. No testing, no lost nights sleep over applying or getting in, no AAP, no private/public split. We also don't see academic achievement and lucrative careers as the only markers of being a worthwhile or successful person. There is more of a try hard and do well in school but that is seen as just one part of who someone is rather than the only thing that matters. I can't imagine living in that kid of pressure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW, McGill is still a great school (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc5vN2XReWs).

McGill is a university, not a private secondary school.

[Anonymous]

Watch the clip hoser. It was a joke, eh.

[Anonymous]

In Canada many don't go to college and attend trade schools and it is culturally accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Canada many don't go to college and attend trade schools and it is culturally accepted.

And what's wrong with that? Working a trade is very lucrative (which seems to be the indicator of success in American culture anyways) and I'm pretty sure no developed society could function without plumbers, electricians, pipe fitters etc.

What Americans don't seem to get is that you can't all grow up to be lawyers and doctors. You over work your children and deny them their childhood, instead scheduling every free second with "enrichment" activities. And then you come post here when little Timmy, who really just wants to be a garbage man when he grows up, doesn't get into AAP or IB or whatever else. Cut your kids some slack.

And I say that as someone who did the IB diploma program in high school. I had never heard about it before 8th grade, and neither had my parents. They were worried that doing IB would take too much time away from my job, hobbies, time with friends. And now I'm about to graduate from one of the best schools in the country with a degree in the low paying, high stress, often under appreciated field of social work. And I couldn't be more content.

In Canada, it's not considered shameful to want to pursue a career that isn't high paying or lucrative. Time with your family, a real work/home balance, and the opportunity to be more than whatever you do at your 9-5 (or 8-6 or 7-7) are also very valuable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What Americans don't seem to get is that you can't all grow up to be lawyers and doctors. You over work your children and deny them their childhood, instead scheduling every free second with "enrichment" activities. And then you come post here when little Timmy, who really just wants to be a garbage man when he grows up, doesn't get into AAP or IB or whatever else. Cut your kids some slack.

We (Americans) don't actually all do this. Only the part of America with a lot of secondary education and an upper-middle-class income. Which happens to be the part of America that is over-represented on DCUM overall and enormously over-represented on DCUM's private school forum. It would be a mistake to think that DCUM is representative of real-life America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In Canada many don't go to college and attend trade schools and it is culturally accepted.

"Many" is not exactly accurate. About 26% of all Canadians aged 24-65 have a university degree. I think that number in the US is about 31%. Those numbers include many who are in the 40-65 age group when university enrollment was less common. in recent years about 40% of high school graduates in Canada go on to university. About 10% of 19 yr olds in Canada haven't complete high school. That leaves about 50% of high school graduates not going to university - many of these students do go to college (the equivalent of community college/trade/vocational schools in the US) and yes this is very culturally acceptable. Currently 51% of the adult population has a post secondary diploma (college) or degree (university). It is also fairly common in Canada to work for a year or two after high school then go back to do your diploma/degree. The highest in the OECD. I am not sure how all those numbers compare to the US. I think the high school drop out rate is much higher.