Observations from administrators and parents highlight that Upper Canada College is celebrated for its inclusive and diverse community, welcoming students from various nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and neighborhoods, creating a rich and supportive environment.
So the forward focus has been something that perhaps has been pleasing, maybe not surprising. I would also say that the community of the College is a wonderfully inclusive community, one that is extraordinarily diverse. When we were speaking just before this call, we were talking about the circumstance that I've had personally to live and work outside of Canada and in fact, spending 20 years overseas. It was actually 23 years between leaving the city of Toronto and returning to Toronto and the incredible diversity of our city and our country.
The wonderful inclusion that we feel in this city and country is something that also is experienced here at the College, with more than 40 different nationalities by birth represented in our student population, with a great range of individuals across socioeconomic statuses of our society supported by a financial assistance program in the school. Diversity is something that has been wonderfully pleasing, maybe not surprising, but incredibly pleasing about my experience at UCC.
The student population annually approaches 1200 students. The boarders come from as many as 25 countries in last year's boarding population. They are a wonderful group coming from across Canada. We had individuals from Alberta through to the East Coast of Newfoundland in our boarding community, and that community, as I mentioned, is wonderfully vibrant, involved in the full breadth of school activities, very much interconnected with our day population. Our student population of 1170 begins with senior kindergarten students, and we have one class of senior kindergarten students. We have entry years in year three and year five, year six, year seven and into our high school. Our boarders don't begin until that high school age, typically starting in around year nine and progressing through to graduation. They are, through classroom experience, through co-creator activities, sports, drama, music and the like, all involved in the full program of the school.
Students come to us from down towards the Lake, east towards Scarborough and beyond, west towards Mississauga, north towards Richmond Hill. They come from all spokes of that wheel. And many students travel a significant distance to come to school, some by public transit, some by personal transport, and others will walk or ride a bicycle to school. So there isn't one specific neighborhood for students in the school. We draw from all across the city, indeed with the boarding community and from across the country and globally. So there isn't one neighborhood for the school, that is for sure.
Our community is all shapes and sizes, all levels of engagement and less engagement. So really, it's about opportunity. And again, like a student, there are plenty of opportunities for a student to be involved in. And while I believe that in many ways the students who have gained the greatest outcomes from the school have been those who've been most involved, I think, in many ways, families. Families find ways to become involved, and that can be in any multiple of ways. It might be helping on Grandparents Day here at the College, volunteering or Remembrance Day or on open houses or things of that nature. It might be helping a child at home bake something for a bake sale, and not coming into the school for that, but helping their child in support of an activity in the school.
Being a student at Upper Canada College gives you a sense that you are receiving the best education that money can buy. I think when you're young, and you're made aware of that, you must also be made aware that your view is not the only view, that there are people from all walks of life in the real world who have not had the same experience as you. You need to be open-minded to those people, and to the very different experiences they've had. So while I was at Upper Canada College, I can't think of any particular incidents of boys being made to feel that their opinion is special, but I think there needs to be a very robust reminder, and a regular reminder that you are very lucky, and that out there, your view is not the only view.
The sense of community is 100% what I appreciate the most from attending Upper Canada College to this day, my best friends are people from Upper Canada College. When I look back on my experience, it is all very, very positive. Talking to other people who came from other schools, generally, that's not the kind of the sense that they have. High school isn't necessarily the time where they made the most amount of friends or those kinds of things. For me, from immediately going there, to this day, I still talk to my best friends who are people that I met at Upper Canada College.
There was never a time at Upper Canada College when I felt like I didn't belong or I was an outsider. There was always a way that a friend, teacher, or somebody on the faculty would make me feel like I was a part of something bigger.
A large number of my friends came from other faraway places. They would come in from Pickering, from Brampton, from Scarborough. It allowed for a more diverse population. That made me feel more welcome, and that I wasn't the odd one out of this group of wealthier, generally upper class, or what the common perception is of kids who go to private school.
The diversity of Upper Canada College made me feel more welcome and more engaged. From going to other schools, whether it be for a tournament or for an event, I didn't see that. It was much more of the generic type of wealthy student. I'm not trying to put down any other school or anything like that, I’m just kind of going off of my experiences.
I think that Upper Canada College has a great student atmosphere. We have a very diverse culture at UCC and I am very fortunate to interact with such a great group of people at a young age. A lot of the people that thrive at UCC are students who are not afraid to socialize. Making a lot of connections with different people everyday is natural for a student at UCC because you interact with many other students in your own year but also younger and older boys as well with regularity. I think everyone feels included at the school because there are always opportunities for people to participate. These activities can appeal to a wide variety of people and usually a lot of shy students can thrive in these activities. At UCC we have a saying called 'Never Walk Alone'. Our school motto is a great way to represent our student body. Students at UCC never feel like they are alone because there is always someone to have their back. This saying translates to all grades of the school and is something that all students abide by.
—Will Huang, student (beginning 2012) (see
full review)
Upper Canada College has an extremely diverse student body. There are boys that excel at all different interests, there is no one typical boy. Although it is a large school the boys begin in one small class, and it remains this way until grade 3. The grades gradually get larger as the years move on. The school spirit is extremely strong, as the boys have several opportunities to support school teams, watch music performances, plays etc. The school is also divided into colour houses which provides smaller group interaction between the grades, participating in events such as soccerfest. From my experience, the boys have interacted well, successfully worked together in groups inside of the classroom as well as games outside of the classroom. There are also several 'buddy' systems with the older grades such as reading buddies from the early years.
—Julia Pantalone, parent (beginning 2012) (see
full review)
