We arrived in Canada in 2015 and our initial plan was to leave and go home in the summer of 2017.

Now we are considering to stay here - which means that we need to consider (and apply for) High Schools for our oldest, who is in grade 8.

The local high schools (in The Beach) seem to have decent reputations, but he mentioned yesterday, that he might like to go to one of the high schools with special programs (without specifying WHICH kind of special program...), so I am thinking that I should probably do some research and find out what the options are...

1) Does anyone in here know where to find information on high schools and programs in Toronto?
2) Is there a ranking system (similar to the Fraser Insitute rankings for elementary schools) or some sort of research on ranking on the academic levels of the different high schools?
(I KNOW the limitations of the Fraser Rankings, but I found them helpful when researching elementary schools as one of many critera to consider when picking schools)

Any help on these topics would be appreciated.

Thanks!

When I lived in the Beach most of the children went to Le Collège français; that overflowed with academic programs. It's an ib school, for example. The autistic one went to school in Hamilton but perhaps she needed a more special program than you have in mind.

Compare academic rankings and ratings of Ontario schools


Compare the Best Toronto Schools. | ScholarHood.ca

I went here for Grade 12/13

Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute Toronto Ontario Academic school ranking

It was the local school for where I lived and at the time seemed fine. It seems to be slipping in the rankings and from what I've heard (based I admit on one person from that era who still lives in the catchment area) many people try and find other options for their kids. Private schools, specialized programs at other schools or some parents go whole hog and suddenly decide that they are papists and go down the RC channel.

Keep in mind that the rankings include everyone in the school. eg my old school has a 39% ESL population which will likely pull down the scores on english comprehension which gives the school an overall bad #. Your child would not likely need to be in ESL classes.

I think OSSLT is the # of students (grade 10? Gozit may be able to help) who took the grade 10 literacy test in the school. My grade 13 grad class was about 300 so that makes sense.

Unless your child can qualify for a specialized program at another school aren't you limited to the school in your catchment area. Keep in mind you will be responsible for transport to another school or via TTC. Attending a school within walking distance pays dividends in my mind unless the school is truly awful and you don't want to be an early adopter in turning it around.

Earl Haig Secondary School in North York has a very highly-regarded arts program. If your son has talent in visual arts, a musical instrument, dance, or drama, he could audition. Of course you'd almost certainly need to move as travelling from the Beach to North York and back every day is not feasible.

As noted above, unless you send him to a private school, or unless he is accepted to a specialty program such as Earl Haig's arts stream, you generally wouldn't have a choice and he would attend the highschool associated with his current junior high. 20 years ago there was something called "optional attendance" whereby parents could put their child's name on a list to attend a high school in different catchment area - usually there was a specified number of spaces and it was first-come/first-serve. Not sure if that exists anymore.

Yes OSSLT is the useless pass/fail test everyone has to take, usually in Gr. 10, in order to graduate. It has no impact on your mark or diploma and its only listed whether you passed or failed, not your mark. Its supposed to confirm that you know how to read and write, but the fact that English classes spend the better part of the semester preparing you for how exactly to read and write in order to pass it, there seems to be more at play.

The numbers probably refer to the number of pass/fails.

It should also be noted that the Gr. 3, 6 and 9 EQAO tests are optional and you may opt your kids out of it if you don't feel them useful. Though in order to do so without a "valid" reason you would have to essentially keep them home from school during the two week testing periods. Their absence during this time doesn't affect their advancement into the next stage of schooling. For the Gr. 9 one, some teachers and schools try to include it as part of the students marks in order to force them to write, as a parent you can demand an alternative assessment.

The Grade 10 OSSLT however is mandatory and you have to write it to get your diploma. This test cannot impact a student's mark in any course.