Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools

Susannah D. Ketchum, a former teacher-librarian at the Bishop Strachan
School in Toronto, serves on the Southern Ontario Library Services
Board.

The Handbook of Canadian Boarding Schools brings together profiles of
the more than 60 Canadian schools that offer a full-residential program
(as opposed to weekly boarding) for grades at, and leading to,
university entrance. To construct the profiles, the authors relied on
information provided by the schools themselves, supplemented by
interviews and much correspondence. Each school approved its final
profile. Entries are arranged by province from west to east, then
alphabetically within province. Each chapter begins with a brief outline
of secondary education in that province. Information about individual
schools includes history, boarding facilities, administration and
faculty, a typical timetable, information technology, admission and
costs, and, where available, e-mail and Web site addresses.

In addition to the profiles and five indexes, the handbook includes a
number of useful appendixes describing, for example, the International
Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, and the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Even
more valuable are the preface and the introduction in which the authors
discuss such matters as the factors that parents should consider, and
the questions they should ask as they choose the school best suited to
their child. Several times Thomson and Lafortune stress the importance
of interviewing the school’s head or principal.

Although its information will, as the authors warn, soon be out of
date, this handbook remains a very useful guide for parents who are
considering sending a child to boarding school. Just to have a
reasonably complete list will give parents a head start on their
research. As well, the standardized format of the profiles makes
comparing schools much easier. If the profiles often sound distinctly
promotional (“Bodwell High School [BDS] is conveniently located in a
prestigious and quiet residential area ...”) discerning parents should
have little trouble interpreting the information.

As well as parents, Canadian consulates in many parts of the world
would do well to buy at least one copy of this handbook. Participating
schools should definitely acquire it, if only to revise their profiles.
The Bishop Strachan School, for example, considers itself in the
vanguard of technology education, but the Information Technology section
of its profile is very weak compared to that of several other schools.
Parents looking for an independent day school have a far greater field
to select from, but they too will find this handbook helpful. It is both
a good starting place and a useful guide to the kinds of information
parents should request when investigating any independent school.