We got a really "fat" glossy magazine in the Globe and Mail recently and it was filled with private school information. I was shocked by the size of it and by the widespread distribution to such a 'general' population. I had the impression that private schools cost a lot and were targeted to the 1% and not the other 99%. And even of the 99% of the general population, only about 26% of those have children. Furthermore, only 6% of the entire student population goes to private schools.
So what was the rationale for this advertising? And is my sense of the tuition being very expensive correct?
Ourkids.net says: "Quite a number of schools have tuition that starts under $4,000 per year for elementary levels, while many schools fall into a range of $6,000 to $12,000 per year, depending on what grade your child is in."
The lower cost seems to be with religious schools. Prestigious boarding schools cost in the range of $40,000 to $50,000 per year (and more).
When I was a child two private schools were very much in the spotlight for us. Eden Christian College was the private school for Mennonites. It was prestigious for Mennonites to send children to a Mennonite school. It was located in Virgil just across the street from my parents friends' house. You can say it was on our horizon.
It was founded in 1945 and expanded and evolved into the 2000s when it moved from Virgil to St. Catharines. It was a financial concern for the church, so evolved into Eden Christian Academy to become an alternative school in the public school system rather than religious one. It is not listed as a private school. Its fees start at under $2000 for preschool and goes to $12,000 for Grades 9-12.
The other school was Ridley College - a traditional, prestigious old-style boys school with grand architecture on an expansive campus. It began in 1889 as an Anglican-affiliated all-boys school. It became coeducational in 1973. It has special programs in sports/athletics and community contribution. Its Latin motto is Terar Dum Prosim - "May I Be Consumed in Service". Ridley's tuition fees range from $20,500 to $75,000 with variations for day students, domestic boarding and International boarding. That gets my attention as expensive. I still wonder about the rationale for the glossy magazine promotion.
I thought it time to move on to some humour - there are very few boarding jokes...but we only need a few:
In a Catholic boarding school, how do you know when to go to bed? The big hand touches the little hand.
Someone I know went to a very expensive, exclusive private school. These kids are so rich, they hire hitmen to do their school shootings.
I found some school buses in the car wreckers yard. I thought this might be what school buses from my era look like now.
