The regions Rosseau Lake College offers busing from are:
Additional notes: We are flexible in offering new routes to new day students, from areas not currently serviced.
The 50-page review of Rosseau Lake College is part of our series of in-depth accounts of Canada's leading private schools. It provides a unique and objective perspective on the school's academics, programs, culture, and community.
Read our in-depth review"Rosseau Lake College is an independent co-ed day and boarding school established in 1967 in the heart of Muskoka, Ontario. The lakefront campus provides the basis for an innovative academic program that immerses your child in powerful experiential learning that’s impossible to gain in traditional classroom settings. Our intentionally small school environment ensures meaningful relationships and a deep engagement in curricular and co-curricular life."
A key aspect of our program is outdoor education. In many people’s minds, outdoor education is synonymous with outdoor adventure and athletics. That’s one aspect of what RLC offers: education of the outdoors, learning how to paddle and swim and climb; experiencing the satisfaction of reaching a goal.
It’s also education for the outdoors: learning about the environment, about what is happening to the ecosystems.
And it’s education in the outdoors. The campus—forest, fields, lake, watershed—is essentially a 56-acre STEAM lab. You can test ideas here. Newton’s laws describe the motion of canoes just as they do a block descending an inclined plane. You can be inspired here. The natural setting brings a unique calm and focus.
In all, we believe that outdoor education delivers the skills that post-secondary programs and employers are looking for: problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, teamwork, observation, synthesis, communication, and calm.
Our commitment to offering a personalized, holistic admissions process and maintaining small class sizes means we invest heavily in nurturing relationships over rapid expansion. This ensures we maintain a close-knit community that truly supports each student's development, but it may limit the number of students we can accommodate. Additionally, our focus on outdoor and experiential programs sometimes requires more resources and time than conventional teaching methods.
Rosseau Lake College was established in 1967, the year of Canada’s Centennial. The founders were of course aware of that, and in a sense the creation of the school was a centennial project. In a letter announcing the appointment of R. H. Perry as headmaster the board wrote, “As Canada prepares to enter its second century, there is a pressing need to equip its future citizens socially, morally, and intellectually so that they may meet the challenges of ensuing decades with courage, intelligence and understanding.” The letter ends by saying that the school intends to “do its modest share to help young Canadians face the post-centennial years.” It’s important that the founders were thinking in that way—thinking to the future, and to the needs of the students in their ability to meet that future. Ever since, that kind of thinking has been what has guided the mission of the school.
For us, the ideal student is one who is willing to try something new and to be open to new discoveries. The academic program at RLC seeks to maximize a sense of personal discovery. It’s the difference between spotting an owl on a trail walk and seeing it at the zoo: the bird is impressive in both scenarios, but the experience is vastly different. We want our students to see the owl, not because we show it to them, but because they discover it for themselves. That’s metaphorically true–discovery and experience is at the heart of our academic delivery. It's also literally true–there really are trails, and students really do see owls. At the end of the day, we believe that outdoor education is uniquely able to deliver that sense of discovery. We also feel it delivers the skills that post-secondary programs and employers are looking for: problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, teamwork, observation, synthesis, and communication.
We might advise a family against choosing Rosseau Lake College if their child prefers a highly traditional educational environment that relies heavily on conventional classroom settings, with a strong focus on rote learning. If a student is not open to engaging with nature or participating in outdoor activities, they may find it challenging to appreciate our experiential learning approach. Additionally, families seeking a large school environment with sizeable class sizes might find our close-knit community and personalized attention to be a departure from their preferences. Lastly, if a family is not supportive of the inclusion of diverse perspectives, including Indigenous teachings, or if they do not value global citizenship initiatives and cultural exchanges, they may not fully align with our school's values and mission
Families often choose Rosseau Lake College for our unique blend of strong academic programs and experiential learning in a natural setting. Our commitment to small class sizes and personalized attention ensures students receive tailored support, fostering meaningful relationships. Parents appreciate our inclusive and diverse community, where over 20 nationalities are represented, and the holistic admissions process that focuses on each student's potential. Our innovative programs, like Outdoor Education and global initiatives, offer students opportunities for personal growth and leadership development.
We have a lot that distinguishes us, the most obvious being that we're on a 56-acre property on the edge of a pristine lake in Muskoka. The region is home to some of the original Ontario summer resorts, and a nearby are the Windermere and the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka. Given the celebrities who have homes here, the New York Times has called Muskoka the “Malibu of the north,” (if thankfully quieter and more reserved than the Malibu of the south).
That said, our greatest distinction within independent schooling in Canada—and many would argue our greatest advantage—is scale. When people talk about small schools, they’re typically thinking of enrolments of a few hundred. Today at 130 students, we’re the smallest independent school in Canada. That’s intentional. Our students benefit from being visible and known to all staff, peers, mentors, and parent volunteers. They feel part of a community that wants to see them succeed. Because of that, we believe that small is beautiful.
One underappreciated aspect of Rosseau Lake College is our commitment to integrating Indigenous teachings and perspectives throughout our curriculum. This initiative not only enriches our educational approach but also fosters a community of understanding, empathy, and respect among students and staff, preparing them for a diverse and interconnected world.
I think one thing that families don't expect is that we're in a typical Muskoka village. Truly, the experience of the village of can be a pinch-me kind of moment. There’s a bakery, a post office; there’s a farmer’s market, people walking their dogs at dusk, children jumping off the municipal dock on a late spring day. The Rosseau General Store has been operating here since incorporation, and the creaking, worn wooden floors are a charming reminder of its age. (Celebrity sightings are common, too, particularly in the General Store, given the cottages in the area.) In history, and feel, and that sense of community and safety, the village of Rosseau is a unique and delightful aspect of where we are and who we are. True, the village isn't a factor in our academic program, but it's a very important aspect of the student experience. Ask alumni about their time at RLC, and you'll invariably hear about how wonderful it was to spend those years in a charming village by a lake in Muskoka.
Recently, Rosseau Lake College has continued to enhance our facilities and programs to better serve our students. We are in the process of developing a new iSTEAM building, which will provide state-of-the-art resources for our innovative curriculum. These improvements, along with our ongoing focus on outdoor education and global citizenship initiatives, demonstrate our dedication to providing exceptional learning experiences in a supportive environment.
In the next five years, Rosseau Lake College will continue to evolve by enhancing our campus facilities, including the new iSTEAM building, to support innovative academic programs. We aim to strengthen our global citizenship programs, maintaining our position as a leading choice for families seeking dynamic and inclusive education.
Hear directly from Rosseau Lake College community as they share insights.
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