Ridley College KEY INSIGHTS

Throughout the campus, Ridley College presents like a classic English boarding school, perhaps more than any other in Canada, with its stately brick buildings, formal uniforms, house system, and other long-standing traditions. The overall atmosphere evokes a strong sense of heritage and offers students an experience rooted in the values and aesthetics of a British academic tradition, thoughtfully adapted to its Canadian setting.

The school effectively instills in its students the values of effort and achievement, while also acknowledging the need for balance in the lives of both students and faculty.

BASICS

Although Ridley was once a boys’ boarding school, today it offers a coed, non-denominational liberal arts education to both day and boarding students that is learner-centred and inquiry-based, enhanced by the International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy. The Lower School comprises JK through Grade 6, Middle School comprises Grades 7 and 8, and the Upper School comprises Grade 9 through a post-graduate year (after Grade 12).

BACKGROUND

On the morning of September 16, 1889, Tommy Nesbitt hitched up the horses and set off to meet the boat carrying the first class of boys to attend their first day at Ridley College. But there was only one boy to meet him that day: Norman M. Trenholme, who became de facto Ridleian #1 (the students are still numbered today and entered into the official logbook held in the archives). The staff gathered again later that day to welcome Ridleian #2, Walter G. Wood. And that was that.

Ridley had been founded a year earlier by Reverend J.O. Miller. The founding mission was drafted by Miller in 1888: The only true education is that which develops the threefold nature of the child in a symmetrical manner. First, the moral nature must be so trained and nurtured that it may develop according to the perfect design of the Creator, and that the child may at length become a Christian gentleman. Secondly, the intellectual nature must be trained and strengthened by continuous and judicious exercise so that the child may gradually grow into the condition of a mental athlete. Thirdly, the physical nature must be so cared for and developed, according to its strength and nervous energy, that the bodily temple may fit the spiritual organism that dwells therein.

The language may be dated, but the core of Ridley’s mission remains: academics, values, and physical health. The school’s long-standing intention is to prepare students both for university success and to flourish in their professional and personal lives.

LEADERSHIP

Ridley has had just 10 headmasters in the over 130 years since it was founded, with their terms averaging in excess of a decade. The current headmaster, J. Edward Kidd, stepped into the role in 2012.

He completed both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education degree at Queen’s, then a Master of Science at the State University of New York at Buffalo. After teaching high school English literature in Canada, he taught in South Korea, eventually moving into the role of principal at the Shanghai American School in Shanghai, China. From there, he was recruited to Ridley. Upon his arrival, the IB program was adopted.

ACADEMICS

Ridley offers both the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and the International Baccalaureate (IB). The OSSD is recognized as a robust curriculum with a clearly defined set of standards and a strong educational philosophy, which makes it a natural complement to the IB rather than something to be replaced by it.

All students graduate with an OSSD diploma, while those enrolled in the full IB program receive an additional diploma granted by the IB. Even so, the IB sets the tone for the broader academic environment.

“IB is meant to teach students how to think,” says Kidd. “Rather than being a curriculum, IB is an approach to learning, a pedagogical philosophy that incorporates the best of 21st-century education.” The broader shift in teaching philosophy emphasizes the teacher as a lead learner within the classroom—someone who learns alongside students, encouraging collaboration and inquiry.

A LEARNER-CENTRED APPROACH

A guiding belief at Ridley is that education is the key to a flourishing life. Their curriculum is, therefore, designed to nurture curiosity, a lasting love of learning, and independence, to help students grow into thoughtful, engaged global citizens.

Informed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) philosophy, teachers at Ridley continually draw attention to how to learn and why we learn. The approach encourages students to ask challenging questions, think critically, and explore ideas across disciplines. Learning is connected to real-world issues and is designed to be active, inquiry-driven, and collaborative. It’s not about memorization but about understanding and applying that understanding in meaningful ways, inside and outside the classroom.

The structure of the academic environment supports this learner-centred model. With an average class size of 18 and a student-to-teacher ratio of 8:1, faculty are able to personalize instruction and build strong relationships with students.

STUDENT POPULATION

The social organization of the school is based on the house system. Both boarding and day students in their Lower and Middle School are assigned to one of four house teams, while in the Upper School, they are assigned to one of 9 houses that correspond to the campus residences.

“There is a strong familial culture,” one parent commented to us, “that embraces and unites everyone, across the many, many diverse cultures and countries that make up the student body.” The student population is predominantly boarding, something that provides the basis for the culture of the school. This is a boarding school with day options, rather than the other way around. Even the day students feel that the campus is a home away from home, many stay after school, into the evenings, and attend programs on the weekends.

ATHLETICS

Jay Tredway, assistant head of school, likes to say that Ridley is “the most active campus in Canada.”

The school maintains a Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) plan—evident in the Lower School playscape—which is aimed at administering physical literacy from the younger grades through the secondary years. All students participate in physical activity daily.

Ridley has been rowing competitively for more than 50 years, participating in the Henley Royal Regatta (UK) and the Head of the Charles Regatta (Boston). The Ontario Indoor Rowing Championships have been hosted by the school every year for decades.

As strong as the rowing program is, the hockey program has an even longer tradition within school life. There has been a hockey program since the school was founded, conducted outdoors on Twelve Mile Creek during the early years. Both boys' and girls' teams are coached by a dedicated staff and supported by therapy and conditioning programs. Given the strength of the coaching staff, Ridley attracts high-level athletes to its hockey program from across Canada and beyond.

PASTORAL CARE

Students meet with their advisors in groups every week. “We talk about goals, to academics, to courses. It’s basically just a nice place to sit down and talk things out,” says one student. There is a full health centre, which includes three certified social-emotional counsellors. More generally, the school has made wellbeing and positive education initiatives a primary focus as part of the strategic plan launched in 2014.

In 2017, Ridley partnered with Dr. Lea Waters of the University of Melbourne, Australia, to become the first Visible Well-being foundational school in North America. The guiding principle of Visible Wellbeing is that a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological wellbeing is foundational to everything they do, not just during their time in school, but throughout their lives. The program is designed to ensure academic learning is embedded within a broader, evidence-based framework of wellbeing.

ADMISSIONS

Admission is rolling, meaning that students are able to enter the program in any year. Families are encouraged to apply to Ridley for Lower or Middle School, especially if they are considering attending as day students. While spaces for Upper School day students are limited and primarily based on attrition, Ridley does admit Upper School students as boarders each year.

Applicants are encouraged to complete a Character Recommendation Form, which is quite a nice piece of the application package. The interview process is a primary means of assessing all of that, and the Character Recommendation Form further underscores a dedication to ensuring social as well as academic fit.

Equally important, if not more so, is that the school takes pride in ensuring every student who attends truly wants to be there. All applicants are interviewed with their parents in the room as well as in isolation from them. Sometimes the family and the student will be called in for a second interview, which should also be seen for what it is: due diligence undertaken with the best interests of all parties in mind.

Ridley directs in excess of $4 million into scholarships and tuition assistance every year, funds provided to the school through philanthropy. The intention of the tuition assistance program is to promote diversity within the student body and to ensure all students who should attend are able to. Thirty percent of the Ridley student body receives some form of tuition assistance, as distributed through bursaries and merit-based scholarships.

THE TAKEAWAY

Ridley College embodies many of the great traditions of independent schools, and it upholds them all with absolute honesty.

Ultimately, this is both a new school and an old one; one that is not satisfied with a rich history of past accomplishments, but is constantly looking ahead. For students, Ridley offers a consistent and tangible sense of community. And, often, it’s the support of that community that they attribute their success to—in secondary, postsecondary, and beyond.