Public school from elem through high school in Canada

[andy]

Dear Viewers,

Dose any body know about public school starting from elementary through high school in Canada?
Are they free for new PR or we have to pay little money? How is the quality compare to private school?
Please share, your comments is really appreciated :)

[PMM]

Hi

Dear Viewers,

Dose any body know about public school starting from elementary through high school in Canada?
Are they free for new PR or we have to pay little money? How is the quality compare to private school?
Please share, your comments is really appreciated :)

1.  Yes they are free.
2.  The Fraser Institute publish a ranking of Schools in BC.  See: http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=pb&id=832
Private school fees can range up tp $20K per year, depending on the school and minimal amounts for some religious schools.
It is something you would have to research in your province of destination.

PMM

[andy]

Hi PMM is always good to hear from you.
How about the quality of public school? It is fair, good or excellent?
I plan to move to Alberta, any ideas?

[BCbound]

I would say Canadian public schools rank well in comparision to any other country.  The vast majority of Canadians attend public schools.

[BCbound]

Should have added two things.

1.  Private schools have a lower student to teacher ratio.  That's good.  It means that generally students tend to score a little higher than they would in a public school, simply because the teacher can spend more time with them individually.

2.  Private schools cannot make a dumb kid smart.  That's life.  :wink:

[andy]

Hi BCbound,

I appreciate it for the info, it's very useful & informative.
Well I guess public school is enough for my kids if we move to Canada.
When the public schools starts for Fall? Is it same like US, in the middle of August? Do we need to register early or can we just show up and do the paper works by the time we arrive in Canada?

[PMM]

HI

Hi BCbound,

I appreciate it for the info, it's very useful & informative.
Well I guess public school is enough for my kids if we move to Canada.
When the public schools starts for Fall? Is it same like US, in the middle of August? Do we need to register early or can we just show up and do the paper works by the time we arrive in Canada?

Usually starts the day after Labour day. (First Tuesday in Sept)  You better determine where in Alberta that you are going, For Calgary Read this: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Programs/prog-esl-admissions.asp  Check the local school boards for each city, they all will have a web site.  You can't just turn up at your local school.

PMM

[andy]

Thanks for your info. I haven't decided yet where  I am heading but for sure is in Alberta. Is Canadian public schools using "boundary systems" like US? For example, you can only go to the public school that is in your area, you are not allowed to put your kids to where ever school you like.
Another thing is a school bus? Is it free or we have to pay little money?
Your answer is greatly appreciated.

[PMM]

Hi

Thanks for your info. I haven't decided yet where  I am heading but for sure is in Alberta. Is Canadian public schools using "boundary systems" like US? For example, you can only go to the public school that is in your area, you are not allowed to put your kids to where ever school you like.
Another thing is a school bus? Is it free or we have to pay little money?
Your answer is greatly appreciated.

Again it is the school district that sets their own policies.  For example in Vancouver you can attend any public shool that you wish BUT only after all the students in that school's catchment area have been accomodated first. Only then will they accept students from outside their catchment area.  There are specialty schools where this doesn't apply.

School buses usually only run in rural areas and you have to a certain distance from the school before you can use them.  Again it all depends where you decide to live.

PMM

[andy]

Thank you very much PMM  :)

[KarenT]

Having just arrived in Ontario after 2 years in Fort Worth Texas, we had little time to arrange schooling so we just turned up at the local school. No problems at all. Registered them on Friday, started Monday. You should probably check it out more than we did but we had no time

The system is comparable to the US although the curriculum is obviously a little different particularly in Social Studies. My 10 and 12 year old have taken to it well. We've only been here 5 weeks so can't comment much on quality but it looks promising and the general agreement on other similar forums is that Canadian education compares well to most other countries.

We are on work visas but schooling is free, and there were no hoops to jump through!!

[andy]

Having just arrived in Ontario after 2 years in Fort Worth Texas, we had little time to arrange schooling so we just turned up at the local school. No problems at all. Registered them on Friday, started Monday. You should probably check it out more than we did but we had no time

The system is comparable to the US although the curriculum is obviously a little different particularly in Social Studies. My 10 and 12 year old have taken to it well. We've only been here 5 weeks so can't comment much on quality but it looks promising and the general agreement on other similar forums is that Canadian education compares well to most other countries.

We are on work visas but schooling is free, and there were no hoops to jump through!!

Hi Karen Texans  :)
Thanks for your info. It is good to have you in this forum especially you have children moved from states to Canada. Would you mind share little bit about your kid's school? You said that they go to local school, is it public or private school? I used to have a co-worker who are Canadian and he said when his son move from Louisiana's public school to Canada, they down grade him (placed one grade lower than he suppose to be). I am happy this is not happening to your kids, but have you ever heard rumors like this?

When you moved, were you rent U-Haul or you used special agency? Please share and I appreciate it.

[KarenT]

The school is a rural public school. The kids were placed in the grade for there age. In Ontario you start 1st grade in the September of the calendar year you turn 6, not the academic year as in Texas. As my kids were born in January and June this made no difference but if your kids are born in September thru December they could be placed a grade higher. However, the Principal was happy to negotiate, but I said I was happy with them going to the same grade as in the US. I haven't heard of anybody being downgraded.

We moved under a company relocation policy, but we used a company called MIGroup who coordinated the move. I think they are relatively expensive but I could not fault them in anyway. The actual move was dealt with by John Gray, a company based in Montreal I think.

Feel free to ask anything else you need.

Karen

[andy]

I felt more comfortable to move to Canada regarding my kids' school after you explained that they placed the kids according to their previous grades. Thank you very much.
How about French, do they learn it in school as a second language?

[KarenT]

Here in Ontario they start french in Grade 4.They have 40 minutes a day. In effect my 2 have missed 1.5 and 2.5 years of French. They seem to be picking it up quickly and the teacher isn't assigning extra work. A lot of the learning comes from fun activities and the teacher talking simple french throughout the lesson. Unlike in the UK(where I went to school) where we were taught by an English Speaking teacher, many of the French teachers are native French speakers.
I think in High School the time spent on French reduces to 20 minutes.
There are also French Immersion programs where children are taught the main subjects in French. We are considering this for our little on who is only 2. How old are yours?
This is the one thing I was concerned about, but it doesn't seem to be a problem.

[andy]

Your info is really informative. Thank you :)
I have two daughters, they are 11 and 7 (5th and 1st grade). These are the followig questions that my oldest daugther concern about when we move to Canada.


Hi Karen! This is Nittha, Andy's daughter. I'm soon going to be in 6th grade. I was wondering, are the grades there the same? I mean is it like in elementery it is 1-5th grades, middle schools 6-8th grades, etc.
Is it fench difficult to learn? How are the kids speaks in school? Do they use english or french?

[KarenT]

Hi Nittha

My daughter Kenzie is in Grade 5 and she says the French isn't very difficult and shes catching on quite quickly. The school Kenzie and Jemma go to is an elementary school but includes grades 7 and 8 on the same site. Other elementary schools only go to grade 6 and then the students go to Middle school for grades 7 and 8. So it is very similar to the US, but depends on the school you go to.

The kids speak english in school. The french teacher uses french words as well as english in her class.

Jemma and Kenzie were a bit worried about coming to Canada but have found that its not very different and they have settled in quickly.
Hope this helps.

Karen

[andy]

Hi Nittha

My daughter Kenzie is in Grade 5 and she says the French isn't very difficult and shes catching on quite quickly. The school Kenzie and Jemma go to is an elementary school but includes grades 7 and 8 on the same site. Other elementary schools only go to grade 6 and then the students go to Middle school for grades 7 and 8. So it is very similar to the US, but depends on the school you go to.

The kids speak english in school. The french teacher uses french words as well as english in her class.

Jemma and Kenzie were a bit worried about coming to Canada but have found that its not very different and they have settled in quickly.
Hope this helps.

Karen

Thank you so much Karen. It is very useful they are happy now. :)
Have a great day.

Andy