Parents sending their child off to preschool understandably want the best for their young children as they embark into formal education. For parents concerned about this big step in life, Our Kids offers a comprehensive guide on how to find the best preschool. That page and the advice you find there should really be your starting point.
Throughout our ranking pages, Our Kids cautions parents against any reliance on others' ideas of "best schools." Nowhere is that caution more appropriate, perhaps, than when applied to preschool aged children. Any preschool rankings – ours and anyone else's – should be taken as a minimally helpful tool in a much larger tool set. Our Kids provides much richer advice for parents focused on helping you find the right fit, based on a thorough understanding of the needs of your child.
Rankings can be used a discovery tool, to help you note schools that may not have been on your radar previously. Our Kids has the ability to offer unique, authoritative data, cultivated from working with private preschools across the country for more than two decades. Below, we rank preschools on specific data that matches up with parents' most popular concerns. Please review these rankings with appropriate skepticism, and use them as one bit in a much larger thought process focused on finding the school that's best for your child(ren).
Many people believe there is some truth in the old adage, "you get what you pay for." Below is a list of the most expensive private schools offering a preschool program. The most expensive schools may indeed offer some advantages, including high quality facilities, highly regarded teachers and other advantages.
Here are more important things to bear in mind:
| School | Location | Grades | Tuition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albert College | Belleville, ON | PS to 12 | $21,400 to $85,500 |
| 2 | Queen Margaret's School | Duncan, BC | PS to 12 | $17,500 to $79,230 |
| 3 | Balmoral Hall School | Winnipeg, MB | PS to 12 | $15,450 to $49,440 |
| 4 | TFS - Canada's International School | Toronto, ON | NS to 12 | $23,070 to $39,020 |
| 5 | Trillium School | Markham, ON | NS to 12 | $11,500 to $37,500 |
| 6 | College Bourget | Rigaud, QC | PS to 12 | $5,075 to $34,860 |
| 7 | TMS | Richmond Hill, ON | PS to 12 | $19,100 to $32,700 |
| 8 | Hillfield Strathallan College | Hamilton, ON | NS to 12 | $19,349 to $32,052 |
| 9 | Junior Academy | Toronto, ON | NS to 8 | $10,000 to $32,000 |
| 10 | Westmont Montessori School | Victoria, BC | PS to 12 | $9,565 to $32,000 |
Preschools that are newer may seem to be more current, although that is not necessarily the case. Some parents see value in schools where the facilities are newer and there is less focus on tradition. For interest's sake, find below a list of schools (with preschool) that are most recently founded.
| School | Location | Grades | Founded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashwood Glen | Burlington, ON | PS to 8 | 2019 |
| 2 | Fredericton Montessori Academy | Fredericton, NB | PS to 10 | 2017 |
| 3 | Guidepost Montessori | Toronto, ON | NS to 12 | 2016 |
| 4 | Walden International School | Oakville, ON | PS to 8 | 2014 |
| 5 | Alive Montessori & Private School | Toronto, ON | PS to 6 | 2014 |
| 6 | École Montessori | Pickering, ON | NS to 6 | 2014 |
| 7 | Free Spirit Montessori Downtown | Toronto, ON | PS to K | 2013 |
| 8 | Enquiring Minds Montessori | Scarborough, ON | NS to 6 | 2012 |
| 9 | La Villa Montessori School | Oakville, ON | NS to 6 | 2012 |
| 10 | Rutherford Private School | Toronto, ON | PS to 12 | 2011 |
Parents paying private school tuition are often focused on the issue of teacher-student ratio. Of course, when it comes to Montessori and some other preschools, larger class sizes are actually the norm and allow for more learning interactions and mentoring opportunities.
For parents who want their preschool aged child to benefit from more highly personalized teacher-child interactions, you'll find below a list of preschools with smallest class sizes.
| School | Location | Grades | Avg. class size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Clement's Early Learning School | Toronto, ON | PS to 2 | 1 to 8 |
| 2 | Guidepost Montessori | Toronto, ON | NS to 12 | 1 to 10 |
| 3 | Wise Owl Private School | North York, ON | PS to 12 | 5 to 12 |
| 4 | Yip’s Music & Montessori School | Unionville, ON | NS to SK | 5 to 13 |
| 5 | École Montessori | Pickering, ON | NS to 6 | 5 to 18 |
| 6 | Sunflower Early Learning Society | North Vancouver, BC | PS to PS | 5 to 15 |
| 7 | CGS (Children's Garden School) | Toronto, ON | PS to 3 | 8 to 24 |
| 8 | Free Spirit Montessori Downtown | Toronto, ON | PS to K | 8 to 16 |
| 9 | Hawthorn School ✝ | Toronto, ON | NS to 12 | 8 to 15 |
| 10 | Trafalgar Ridge Montessori School | Oakville, ON | PS to 3 | 8 to 18 |
Are private Preschools good?
We interviewed both parents and students. You can read reviews about private Preschools on this page.
What is the most expensive private Preschool?
Albert College has the highest tuition fees from $21,400 to $85,500 per year with an average tuition of $53,450 per year.
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