REVIEW OF Toronto District Christian High School BY parent, Alla Pereobeva

(4.5) Student Experience

Our son has truly enjoyed his first year at TDCH. The class sizes are small. In the first week of school, grade 9 went on the Service Trip to have the opportunity to know each other and to have an experience in community. In my opinion, it helps a lot with transition period from a different school. The older school had 10x less people than TDCH, so the Service Trip helped him meet new kids and get used to being with more people. My son loves the school, and the warm and positive atmosphere. He also enjoys their exclusive program called "The Pulse" where students make a television show to show to the rest of the school. He says he enjoys all the creativity, and the "hands-on" work.

(5) School Leadership

The school has an excellent online resource for parents to check marks, home work, and even attendance. School buses also have an online resource, so we can monitor the location of the bus every morning. The vice principles are always around and easy to connect with. They always reply to my e-mails and phone calls, and when we visit the school, they always greet us. We came from another private school where communication was not so easy.

(5) Teaching

We came from different privet school but we did not have that grate environment and experience as we got in TDCH. The teachers are exceptional. The teachers are knowledgeable and provide a wide variety of learning opportunities for the kids. We are very happy with the quality of what is taught. They really communicate and stay connected with both the parents and the students--this is so important in the educational process. All the teachers are kind, patient, and care about the students, both academically and personally. The classrooms the are perfect in size, and are bright and clean. The students interact very well with each other regardless of their class and age. Overall, we are very happy, and feel that we made the right decision for our son in choosing TDCH.

(4) Academics

The academic program meets my expectations. It would be helpful if the school could have one class with the IB program, or something at a more advanced level. The school offers many opportunities for students during the after-school hours, such as the robotics club, home work club, discussion club. Also it would be an asset, if TD Christian could add some basic accounting and law classes; that would help students build some key life skills. I have also met all the teachers that teach my son, and the teachers all look professional, have deep knowledge of the curriculum and teach with passion. I also like that they have classes that some schools don't have, including Communications Technology, Music, Art, STEM, and Drama. My son also enjoys that how different students that struggle in different class can get more one on one work time with the teacher. The teachers are very willing to help the student succeed.

(5) Extracurriculars

For a small school, TDCH offers a lot of different sport programs. My son is not athlete and was not involved in any of sports programs this year, but I hope next year he will be involved more. It would be nice if school could offer some recreational programs, like swimming or karate, that every student could be involved in.

(4.5) Students

TD Christian is a small school. It is around 500 students from grade 9 to 12. It has a warm and caring environment. My son loves the school, and the warm and positive atmosphere. The students interact very well with each other. By the end of the first year they already know all the other students in their grade and perhaps most of the people in the school. I enjoy how students from every grade interact with each through the clubs that the school provides, the sports teams, and even some classes that have students from multiple grades. My son tells me, though, that sometimes different grades don't talk to each other, and they "stick together."

(4.5) School Life

My son loves going to TDCH because there is so many classes that he can enjoy, and the school is so big!I like the idea of for the students and the parents" Fridge Door," that gives me updates on the school and school life. A lot of events for the students as well, such as Grandparents Day, and Dinner Theater. They treat each student at TDCH as an individual and teach them to treat each other with respect and kindness. They encourage students to ask questions and address any concerns that may arise. The school has a quite a large gym and library with a lot of books and nice lunch room. In the library students can borrow books even for the Summer break and Winter break.

(5) Community

Communication between school and parents is amazing. Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Parents are welcome to be involved in the life of the school. Parents are always invited into the school meetings, parties, and concerts. When we attend our first open house in the school, I found that a lot of parents and grandparents graduated from TDCH a long time ago and now they are bringing their sons and daughters into the school. The overall environment of the school feels like a family. In my view, this is one of the reasons that so many generations have graduated from TDCH. I also like how some of the teachers are graduates, and that they were part of the TDCH community back when they were in High School.

(5) School Location

The school is located in a safe, peaceful, residential area. On the lunch time, starting from Grade 10, students can go out into the neighbouring community to have a lunch. Lunch time is very short--only 20 min--but for the students that is enough time to go to an Italian Bakery called "Nino's" that is located just across the street from the school.

(5) Admissions

The admission process was easy and straight forward. Before our decision was made, we came to TD Christian for an open house and had our son tour the school and meet some teachers. During the open house we felt very welcomed by the school and our tour guide was really nice and answered all our questions. A couple weeks later we mailed our application and scheduled school interview. We had an appointment with the principle and vice principle and got all details about the curriculum and school life. We then had a second tour around the school. After the interview our son was accepted. The application package, including a welcome letter, was mailed to us and an interview for testing was scheduled. We are very happy with our decision.