Admissions FAQ

St. John's-Ravenscourt School (SJR) is one of Canada's leading independent, co-educational, university-preparatory boarding and day schools, celebrating nearly 200 years in education. Our day program admits students into Kindergarten to Grade 12 while our boarding program accommodates applicants in Grades 8-12. With class sizes averaging 20 students and a 5:1 student to boarding staff ratio, we ensure personalized learning and individual attention. Advanced Placement (AP) courses allow students to earn post secondary credits in biology, calculus, chemistry, English literature and composition, European history, French, psychology and physics. Core academic courses are combined with modern technology, and computer skills are taught throughout all levels. The School has produced 18 Rhodes Scholars and dozens of SJR students have been crowned world champions in debating and public speaking; three International Math Olympiad champions have also come from SJR.

Applicants admitted to SJR come from a wide variety of schools; public, independent, Montessori, French immersion and French. As part of the admissions process, we do consider the applicant's previous school record; however, we do not give preference to candidates from any particular school.

SJR has an average class size of 20 students, which ensures personalized learning and individual attention.

SJR has a total student population of 830 students (Kindergarten through to Grade 12).

SJR's state of the art facility offers a 23-acre campus (9.31 hectares), four soccer pitches, indoor international-sized hockey arena, rock climbing wall, two full-size gyms and one mini gym, eight science labs, four computer labs, three portable laptop computer labs, music center, theatre, and spacious classrooms. To book a tour, contact the Admissions Office.

For more information on the application process go to the How to Apply page.

Applications are accepted at any time. However, we do recommend submitting the application by January to ensure that testing and assessments have not been missed as we start the admissions process early in the new year. Submitting an application early does not guarantee acceptance. All admissions to the School are based on the results from the assessment/entrance test, reports from the applicant's current program, and the applicant's co-curricular involvement.

Each year over 120 new applicants join the SJR community. Applicants can be accepted at all grade levels, however, admission into Kindergarten, Grade 6, & Grade 9, our entrance levels, have more space availability; at these grade levels we accept two new classes. For entry into all other grades, attrition determines space availability. SJR's boarding program starts at Grade 8 and continues to Grade 12. Boarding applicants will be considered first for all available spaces in aforementioned grades.

Please view our fee schedule for the current schedule of fees.

Tuition for day students includes:

• Daily bus transportation (within city limits; door-to-door service is not guaranteed)
• Lunches
• Junior School classroom supplies
• Cost of travel, accommodation and group meals associated with the three-day fall camp/trip for students in Grades 4 – 8
• Basic costs associated with our co-curricular and special classroom programs
• Boarding tuition includes room and board

Fees for boarding students includes:

• Tuition
• Room and board
• 3-day fall trip for applicants in Grade 8
• Basic costs associated with our co-curricular and special classroom programs.

Costs not included with tuition may include, but are not limited to:

• One-time initial admission fee of $1,800
• School uniforms, team uniforms & required physical education equipment.
• Middle/Senior School classroom supplies
• Tournament, band and choir trips: travel, food and accommodations
• Special optional trips by athletic teams or other groups
• Hockey registration fee for co-curricular hockey teams
• Yearbook
• Soccer registration fee for co-curricular soccer teams
• Private music lessons
• Optional courses and activities, such as drivers’ education, self-defence courses, etc.
• Ski trip, outdoor education trips and debating team tours
• Additional boarding costs (i.e. long distance charges, taxis, drugstore purchases, etc.) including charges relating to building repair, maintenance and housekeeping incurred as a direct result of student misconduct or neglect
• Weekly and extra allowances distributed to boarding students

Yes. International applicants are welcome to apply to our boarding program. Fifty per cent of our boarding students are international. Applicants join SJR from all areas of the world, including Chile, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Taiwan.

We provide English as an Additional Language (EAL) support for students with an intermediate level of English (both written and oral). We do not accept applicants with a beginner level of English.

No, we do not offer a home-stay program. International applicants must apply as boarding applicants.

If we have two equally qualified applicants and only one space, applicants who have siblings attending SJR or are children of alumni are considered first.

Kindergarten applicants are assessed in groups of approximately eight students for one hour. As Kindergarten is one of our main entry points, we schedule these appointments early in the new year.

Applicants are assessed for:

• fine motor skills
• gross motor skills
• basic literacy
• basic numeracy
• play
• basic school readiness

Applicants applying to enter SJR for Grades 1-5 go through a slightly different assessment process. Applicants are invited to spend a full day at SJR in one of our classrooms. For the majority of their time at the School they will participate in the daily activities of the class. For approximately an hour of the day they will be taken aside by a teacher for a one-on-one assessment. Literacy and numeracy skills are the main components of the assessment.

Appointments for assessments are made on an individual basis and are typically scheduled in March and April.

Middle School and Senior School applicants write a multiple choice standardized school ability test (not curriculum specific) and an essay. Each section takes 40 minutes to write. Please refer to our admissions calendar of events for scheduled test dates.

We strongly discourage any preparation for the admissions process. Not only is it unnecessary, but tends to cause anxiety for both parents and children.

We can arrange to have applicants write the SJR admissions test in their home country, however some exceptions may apply. Please contact the admissions office for further information about the testing process.

Please note that English as an Additional Language (EAL) applicants applying for Grade 11 or 12 must write TOEFL as their admission requirement.

Applicants to our main entry grades (Kindergarten and Grade 6) are typically notified mid-March; all other applicants are typically notified late April to early May.

Should an applicant not gain entry this year, their application will be held over for future years. To keep a file current, we ask families to forward a copy of all report cards received; applicants are only tested every second year.