Jan Howlett was a force in the world of education, and her desire to establish a school was due to frustrations with the public system. She pulled her two sons out of it when they were in grades 4 and 6, choosing to educate them at home. Seeing her dedication and skill, parents were soon calling to ask if she would accept their children as well. She did, and Howlett Academy was born. The school isn’t for the faint of heart. Howlett used terms like “mastery” long after they had gone out of fashion in the public system. The strengths of the Howlett program are a clear, well-organized curriculum, attentive supervision, and a clear set of academic goals and expectations. Students are encouraged to reach for excellence, and the school maintains an impressive track record of achievement.
Howlett Academy
We chose Howlett for 4 reasons. (1) My daughter (then 7) loved the feel of the classroom: students were generally very well-behaved, self-driven and hard-working, but the environment was also warm and supportive, not competitive. (2) We were blown away by the quality of work we saw coming from the upper year students (grades 6-8), particularly their writing; (3) relative affordability compared to other private schools; (4) central location close to a subway. There is no question that the workloa... View full review
