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Go to child profileWe offer self-directed learning, fostering student autonomy and liberty in a culture of mutual respect. Academics are individualized. We use a student-paced approach with tutorial instruction in small, multi-aged groups of 10:1. Collaboration within meaningful, trusting relationships enhances learning. Students connect with the community through field trips, volunteerism and internships. We communicate, negotiate, solve problems and develop soft skills. Member of Canadian Coalition of Self-Directed Learning--CCSDL.
What learning looks like now: “Banbury-COVID-Style” – How does it look? It’s social distancing at its finest! 1. Temperatures and screening questionnaires are taken right at the entrance every day 2. Students enter and leave the school in the morning and in the afternoon at staggered times to avoid close contact 3. Our cozy couches (just stored away… will be back eventually) have been replaced with new and easy to sanitize furniture 4. Students are spread out in the classrooms, hallways, and are encouraged to keep their mask on when not seated 5. We sanitize all door handles, tables, and other frequently touched surfaces every hour 6. We enforce a stay-at-home-policy for teachers and students with COVID like symptoms until the test comes back negative. 7. Our entrance door is always locked
Curriculum delivery:
Living Arrangement | Grades | Delivery Model | Frequency |
---|---|---|---|
Day | K - Gr. 12 | In-person | Full-time |
eSchool | K - Gr. 12 | Online | Full-time |
Highschool Climbing
Highschool Skiing
Elementary Gymnastics
Yearly School Performance
Highschool Art Class
Teachers at Halloween
Main entrance
Staircase with shoe-rack leading to 2nd floor
Covid-clean Hallways
Our Little Library
Diane Swiatek founded Banbury Crossroads in 1980, and she remains the head of the school today. She has said that “parenting and mentoring children is a matter of choosing philosophy and principles, and acting so as to live out those principles.” Indeed, since its inception, Banbury has been an expression of that ideal. The academics are demonstrably strong, though the attention to values, including responsibility and character development, is a particular draw for the families that enroll here. So too is an academic approach founded in the curiosity and the interests that students bring with them to the classroom. We learn best when we learn for ourselves, rather than for external reward, and the Banbury environment has been created with that in mind.
Focus | Special needs |
---|---|
Academic | Gifted |
DIBELS Testing: This school does not use DIBELS testing to assess reading progress.
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Evolution as consensus theory | |
Evolution as one of many equally viable theories | |
Evolution is not taught |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Biology | |
Chemistry | |
Ecology | |
Geology | |
Meteorology | |
Physics | |
Physiology | |
Zoology |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Acting | |
Dance | |
Drama/Theatre | |
Graphic Design | |
Music | |
Visual Arts |
Expressive | |
Disciplined |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Computer science | |
Robotics | |
Web design |
Flexible pacing style | offered |
---|---|
Subject-streaming (tracking) | |
Multi-age classrooms as standard | |
Ability-grouping (in-class) as common | |
Frequent use of cyber-learning (at-their-own-pace) | |
Regular guided independent study opportunities | |
Differentiated assessment |
Students remain in a regular classroom for most of the day, but are pulled out for extra support from a qualified special education teacher.
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Learning strategy and study counselling; habit formation | |
Extra support and minor accommodations for children experiencing subclinical difficulties |
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Accommodations | |
Modifications | |
Extra support |
Read our guide to special needs schools and special education
Curriculum delivery: Acceleration and enrichment (There is an equal emphasis on acceleration and enrichment.)
Program | offered |
---|---|
Custom subject enrichment (special arrangement) | |
Custom curriculum compacting (special arrangement) | |
Guided independent study (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Cyber-learning opportunities (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Formalized peer coaching opportunities (specifically for gifted learners to coach others) | |
Custom subject acceleration (special arrangement) | |
Career exploration (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Project-based learning (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Mentorships (custom gifted arrangement) |
In grade Gr. 12, Banbury Crossroads students perform an average of No homework of homework per night.
K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banbury Crossroads | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins | 0 mins |
Site Average | 6 mins | 15 mins | 17 mins | 23 mins | 29 mins | 34 mins | 40 mins | 51 mins | 56 mins | 69 mins | 80 mins | 98 mins | 107 mins |
Prose (narrative)-based feedback | JK to Gr. 12 |
Parent-teacher meetings | JK to Gr. 12 |
Competitive sports: N/A
Recreational sports: 18
Banbury Crossroads School offers 12 clubs and extracurricular programs.
PS | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
Day | $10,750 | $9,750 | $10,050 | $10,550 |
Discounts
Discount Type | Enrolment Type | Amount |
---|---|---|
Early payment | all students | 4% |
2nd child (sibling) | all students | 4% |
3rd child (sibling) | all students | 4% |
Grade range that need-based aid is offered: | K to 12 |
Percentage of grade-eligible students receiving financial aid | 10% |
Average aid package size | $3,500 |
Percentage of total enrolment on financial aid | 10% |
Total aid available | $3,500 |
This school works with other. for processing financial applications
An interview with the Director of Banbury Crossroads School
Grades | Gender | Living Arrangement | Enrolment | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Group 1 | Preschool to Gr. 12 | Coed | Day | 90 |
Total enrolment | 90 |
Average class size | 8 to 10 |
% of international students (total enrolment) | 10% |
Number of different nationalities within student population | 5 |
PS | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Day Enrollment | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 11 |
Class Size | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Assessment | Required | Grades |
---|---|---|
Interview | PS - 12 | |
SSAT | ||
SSAT (out of province) | ||
Entrance Exam(s) | ||
Entrance Essay |
Day students: N/A
Offer mid-year entry:
Yes
Application fee: $175
Registration fee: $175
Deposit:
0.00%
An interview and tour of the school is encouraged. School records and assessments are to be submitted. No admissions test is administered. We take students who are gifted through average to struggling. A match of philosophy is a must. This is because we are a philosophically-driven, self-directed learning school. Students work to mastery, so they keep progressing until they have completed units or projects or grades. Classes operate with students in multi-aged groups, with 10 students per teacher, so students receive much personal attention. This allows for students to work independently, as they receive instruction individually or in small groups or seminars. We do not normally take special needs students, as we only have one teacher who is trained to work with such children, and she works only with the younger ones. We also do not have ready access to special needs resources, nor do we have psychologists or other specialists on our staff. Therefore, we generally only take students whose abilities are average through to gifted.
This is the percentage of applicants typically accepted into the school. So if 50 students are admitted out of 100 applicants, the school has an overall acceptance rate of 50%.
Student Entry Points
This shows approximately how many openings there are likely to be in each grade in a typical year, as well as the estimated acceptance rate for each grade level.
Student Type | PS | K | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Day Acceptance (Acceptance rate) | 1 (100%) | 3 - 5 (100%) | 3 - 5 (100%) | 2 - 3 (100%) | 2 - 3 (100%) | 2 - 3 (100%) | 3 - 4 (100%) | 4 - 5 (100%) | 5 - 8 (100%) | 5 - 2 (100%) | 5 - 8 (100%) | 5 - 9 (100%) | 5 - 8 (100%) | 5 - 7 (100%) |
Average graduating class size | 4 |
Students accepted into post-secondary studies upon graduation | 50% |
Percentage of students who attend post-secondary institutions outside of Canada | 5% |
Students who attended a Ivy+ school Number of students in the past 5 years that that attended one of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, University of Chicago, Oxford or Cambridge (UK) | N/A |
University of Calgary | 35% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University of Lethbridge | 20% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University of Victoria | 15% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SAIT | 10% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University of Alberta | 10% |
Banbury Crossroads School Graduates’ Post-Secondary Studies:
Aggregate of All Schools’ Post-Secondary Studies:
Career planning | |
Internships |
Mentorship Program | |
University counseling |
What Banbury Crossroads says:
Alumnus | Grad Year | Accomplishment |
---|---|---|
Delaney Boyd | 2016 | Delaney Boyd has just graduated with a Ph.D. One site is http://wikipedia.org/wiki/plains_bison, where her thesis is referenced. |
Alumni Highlights
Congratulations to us all! Banbury Crossroads School passed its 40th Anniversary mark on November 1st, 2019. The historical inertia represented in its continued existence warms my heart, because it means that the Banbury way of learning is still available for children in the Calgary region. It has been my passionate dream for the entirety of my adulthood for children to have the opportunity to be respected as individual people, and to be happy, visible, and nurtured while they learn in a holistic fashion. Over the years, the thinking and writing that was done from the very beginning is still valid and relevant. Our philosophy and practices of self-directed learning from those early years have become richer and validated through practice, flourishing into our present ways of being. The inspired devotion and multitudinous efforts of teachers, students, and parents have all contributed to create the actual way we are now. We are a very unique school, with our own particular identity. By this time, it is common for me to tell children and young adults, “At Banbury, we…” while explaining our ways of relating to others, engaging in learning activities and interest-based projects, developing emotional intelligence and self-regulation, connecting with the real world outside our walls, and creating the school culture inside them.
Over the years, Banbury has honed its mission to foster learning through self-empowerment, intrinsic motivation, management of time and resources, and active goal setting. Mutual respect is the foundational principle. So, all of us expect to have both rights and responsibilities. Some of the hallmarks of our school are the development of moral and logical reasoning, and competence in the soft skills that are crucial for smooth social functioning, We have developed expertise in developing communication and negotiation skills, and providing guided conflict resolution among willing participants.
Academics matter, because students have an innate impetus for intellectual growth. They need to learn about, and master, their environment. To be respectful to our students, we allow them to work on material that suits their true level of accomplishment, rather than pushing them ahead or holding them back within same-age cohorts. This requires personalized and individualized instruction. So, students set their own schedules and deadlines, and pace their academics, individually working to levels of mastery in accordance with their abilities and motivation. The Alberta Programs of Study are the baseline; students often go beyond that.
As a result, Banbury offers very unique schooling. The first difference is shown in how we treat children. Since we respect them as persons, we value their development in autonomy and self-sufficiency, while at the same time emphasizing their interdependence with other people. They are important individually, and so is everyone else. So, we put energy into helping them develop self-leadership, confidence, empathy, compassion, and social responsiveness. We emphasize the need to contribute to their communities.
In order to enable such individualized mentoring, the student-teacher ratio is 10 to 1. This allows students to receive the visibility, attention, and nurturance necessary for optimal learning. Our choice of this small ratio allows the school atmosphere to be peaceful, comfortable, trusting, and optimistic. Joy happens here. Within these small classes, in order to allow students to work at their true levels of competence, we have chosen multi-aged groupings. This is not unique in the world at large—indeed, this describes the world at large—however, it is certainly unique in schools. This multi-aged approach fosters peer learning, and trust and comfort between people of various ages. As well, it does not socially penalize those students who are working either ahead or behind their peers.
Therefore, teachers need to use tutorial instruction, rather than lecture-based, teacher-paced instruction. This facilitates academic mentoring, with students being able to ask questions and receive assistance in answering them. In academic pursuits, students are encouraged to compete with themselves, to surpass their historical achievements, and work towards their current, personal goals. They may participate in designing their assignments and projects in line with their interests, and they use manipulative materials to carry them out. They participate in the community for real-world learning. In non-COVID years, we do this through field trips, volunteerism, internships, and international travel. Since it is a COVID year, because we have small class sizes, we are able to socially distance our students, and when we need to engage in remote learning, we contact our students daily. Banbury is the school when students may experience learning activities that are impossible in large institutions. Banbury Crossroads is a fine example of unique, innovative schooling!
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