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THE OUR KIDS REPORT:
The Country Day School

Grades JK TO Gr. 12 — King, ON (MAP)

The Country Day School:
THE OUR KIDS REPORT
REPORT CONTENTS:

Pages in this report:

  • Grades
    JK — Gr. 12
  • Gender
    Coed
  • Class Size
    18 students
  • Tuition
    $33,700 to 34,700/year
  • Language of instruction
    English
  • Associations
    AP, CAIS, CIS Ontario
  • Enrolment
    806 day students
  • Curriculum
    Progressive
  • EBROCHURE
    View eBrochure

School address

  • 13415 Dufferin Street, King, Ontario, L7B 1K5 (MAP)
  • Busing available (View details)

School Busing:

Country Day School offers bus transferring. Service options offered are regular rider.

The regions Country Day School offers busing from are:

  • Kleinburg
  • Caledon
  • Richmond Hill
  • Barrie
  • Vaughan
  • Bradford West Gwillimbury
  • Bolton
  • Nobleton

Additional notes: The Country Day School operates eight daily bus routes to and from parts of York and Peel Regions, and as far north as Barrie. The 2023-2024 Bus Service routes have been adjusted and in some cases expanded to offer improved service and to reduce travel times wherever possible. If you are interested in using the CDS Bus Service, please take a moment to review a summary of our services and routes listed here: www.cds.on.ca/busing

Our Perspective

How we see The Country Day School


Our Kids Feature Review

  • The Country Day School sits on 100 acres of protected wetlands, fields, and forests.
  • Relational teaching—a method that prioritizes trust and mutuality between teachers and students—is a core pedagogical approach at The Country Day School.
  • The Country Day School fosters public speaking skills from the early grades, and has brought home the world championship in debating four times.

The 50-page review of The Country Day School 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

Key insights from our research

  • The teachers are incredible at what they do, and genuinely care about where your life is heading. They try to put opportunities in front of you to help foster your creativity, and your technical ability, so you can end up in a post-secondary place that you’re happy with.
    —From Interview with Country Day School alum: Eric Pinto.
  • We have a commitment to educational balance… to having an amazing and expansive academic program, arts program, leadership, character building, our really leading outdoor education program, and finding ways to put them together and have synergies across them.
    —From Interview with Country Day School Director of Admission and University Placement: David Huckvale.
  • The school is really committed to teaching students how to live a balanced life, and helping students find themselves … being able to balance their schoolwork, friendships, and extracurriculars. A lot of those habits and behaviours that my teachers encouraged, I really see them continuing to help me out.
    —From Interview with Country Day School alum: Ali Dashti.
See all our top insights

Featured articles

Profile of John Liggett, Head of School, The Country Day School

Liggett’s passion for education comes from his enthusiasm for engaging young people in the possibilities of the future. He believes that great schools don’t only maintain strong academic standards, but engage the whole student as a person.

School's Perspective

Compare with:  

How The Country Day School sees itself


The school administration answered our questions

Who are you, as a school?

"Situated on a 100-acre campus just north of Toronto among the rolling hills of King Township, The Country Day School is a leading JK-12 co-ed independent school. Since 1972, the dynamic and friendly CDS community has been nurturing student talent and fulfilling promise. Our innovative approach to learning integrates leading-edge technology, sophisticated facilities and exceptional teaching. We offer a superior educational experience that is sensitive to each student's individual needs, enables learning and equips them for life. Emphasizing education with balance, CDS provides diverse opportunities in academics, athletics, and visual and performing arts. Plus, students of all ages also love to explore our sprawling campus for outdoor education activities. This is a place of possibilities where students unearth their passions and everyone feels known, supported and inspired. CDS is a school where each graduate can answer the biggest question of all: Who will you be? Learn more at www.cds.on.ca."

  • Nurture academic excellence
  • Build sound and honourable character
  • Raise social and global awareness
  • Advocate fitness for life
  • Employ talented people
  • Promote community involvement
  • Foster artistic passion and expression
  • Create a place where all are welcome
  • Develop the finest campus resources

What do you do differently and uniquely well?

"At CDS, we help students realize their brightest future, and equip them with the knowledge, abilities and perspectives they need to navigate their journey with empathy, fortitude and confidence.
We do this by offering an education with balance that includes outstanding academics & arts programs, excellent extra-curricular clubs and leadership opportunities (including a world-recognized Debating program), and expansive athletic offerings, all supported by our highly dedicated teachers."

To your knowledge, why do families choose your school over others?

"Prospective parents either hear about CDS’s warm and friendly teachers via word of mouth or get a sense of its caring community firsthand hand while touring and find themselves imagining their students here.
As well, they consistently comment on how impressed they are by our confident and kind student ambassadors when visiting our school and want their children to be part of it. We actively work at creating an environment where kids can feel comfortable and happy in their learning and it shows."

What aspect of your school is underappreciated?

"While we consistently offer balance in a nurturing and supportive academic setting, we are also a university preparatory school with rigorous academic offerings that can challenge students on that playing field as well. There is an academic strength here that can challenge the mightiest of learners with a broad range of curriculum offerings and teachers who will help them soar."

What might families find surprising about your school?

"There are probably lots of answers to this question, but the main one is how deeply rooted the sense of community is at CDS, starting with how well the teachers get to know each student. The expression Support, Know and Inspire is taken very seriously by every faculty member. Likewise, the more effort our students (and parents) make to become involved, the more rewarding their CDS journey will be. Amazing lunches in our Dining Hall, incredible facilities and a 100-acre campus also top the list!"


School Facilities

Photo-tour of facilities


Athletics facilities


Arts facilities


Campus


Classrooms


Science facilities


Instructional resources


Shared spaces


School Videos

Insider Perspectives

How people from the school’s community see The Country Day School


Video reviews of The Country Day School

Alum, Stacey Speranza (2023)

Gr. 9 to Gr. 12 — Watch our alum interview with Stacey Speranza to learn about the unique experience of attending The Country Day School.

Parent, Priya Suppal (2023)

Watch our parent interview with Priya Suppal to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to have a child attend The Country Day School.

Alum, Ali Iwai (2022)

Watch our alum interview with Ali Iwai to learn about the unique experience of attending The Country Day School.
See all video reviews (9 total)

Written reviews of The Country Day School

(4.9)

Alumnus, Vivien Zhang (2022)

Gr. 9 to Gr. 12 — Thanks to The Country Day School I was well-equipped heading into university. The courses I took in ...

(4.9)

Parent, Sarah Hepburn (2022)

I have been a parent at The Country Day School since 2014 when my boys started in grade 5. Throughou...

(5)

Parent, susie bousada (2021)

My three children started the same year at the Country Day School when they were in Grades 7, 5, and...
See all written reviews (6 total)

School leadership

Top-down influence on the school’s direction and tone


Interview with school leader

Watch our The Country Day School leadership interview with David Huckvale to learn about the academics, culture, and values of the school.
Watch the interview

Message from school leadership

John Liggett, Head of School
B.A., B.Ed., MBA

What do I love most about The Country Day School? That’s a good question. It is the overwhelming sense of community I discovered the first time I visited.

Community still remains at the core of all that we do here at CDS. In 1971 a group of committed parents first conceived of the idea to start a co-ed private school in King and worked tirelessly to open our doors to 47 students just a year later. CDS has since grown to 810 students with offerings in JK-12 and beautifully situated in the original 100-acre country setting.

This is a place where your children can come be themselves and feel encouraged and supported in everything they do. Our tagline – Education with Balance – speaks to our balanced offerings of a wide range of individualized academics, athletics, arts and extra-curriculars that will cultivate a passion in every student and help them achieve a healthy balance. I encourage you to experience some wonderful examples of this by watching our Portrait of a Graduate videos.

Are you just starting your search for an independent school? Or are you well on your way to making a decision?

Whatever stage you are at in this important process, I invite you to explore our website and social media presence, and then attend an Open House or request a personal visit. Once you step onto our campus for a face-to-face visit, you will witness firsthand the feeling of community I talked about earlier.

Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to meeting you soon.


John Liggett,
Head of School

 


THE OUR KIDS REPORT: The Country Day School

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