Interview with Sunnybrook School PARENT, Pam and Nigel Panesar

We were looking to enrol our son in a school that was small, a small community, because we felt he needed a little bit more of a hands-on approach. When we visited Sunnybrook, it had a small-community feeling. It was very welcoming, very warm. And looking at the type of person our son was, we realized this would be a great fit for him.

During our first tour, what we noticed was the students were very happy, positive, very upbeat, very respectful, and sociable. The kids were great ambassadors for the school, and they weren't pretending. They were just being themselves at school. We had someone give us a tour, and they were very knowledgeable, very confident, and spoke very well. And that gave us a great first impression of the school, because if the students are happy, then we know that they're doing something right.

We were looking specifically for the IB Programme, and they had that. We were also looking for coed. In Toronto, it's usually one or the other. This school offers both. We think our son really appreciates those, too.

As soon as our son started, he was just excited to be there. He took to it right away, really. The teachers are very welcoming; the staff were very welcoming. They made an effort even before he started school to reach out to him, to say, ‘We're excited to welcome you into the classroom’. They started building a connection with him.

The classrooms were a good size. The classrooms were bright and very open. It's a good environment. They were probably 17 to 20 kids, so he was able to get to know his classmates relatively quickly.

I think they did a good job of communicating and then giving us a feel for the school. There weren’t really too many surprises. We had a good sense of what to expect, and they lived up to that.

The teachers are very dedicated to work with students. They take an individual approach to learning, and they work with each of the students and see what their strengths are, and what they need to work on.

I think what our son appreciates the most is that he knows everybody, all the teachers, all the students, and all the grades. It’s funny, because we found that Grade 2 students all know Grade 6 students, and they all interact, and they know each other's names. There really is a community feeling, a feeling of belonging that your child gets, knowing everybody. I think he's enjoyed that over all his years there. He feels he's part of it, part of the place, and then he carries that on, as well, interacting with the younger generations.

He has probably read almost every book in that library. He's an avid reader. He loves the library. He's always reading.

He's also developed public speaking skills, whether it's in presentations or just speaking up at an assembly. He's gained a lot of confidence.

The teachers and the admin staff work very closely with the students, to nurture their agency. If they have an idea for a fundraiser, they will support the students in whatever endeavour they want to do.

We enjoy interacting with other parents at Sunnybrook and feel very comfortable. What we've seen is that there are a lot of like-minded families. We're all very hard-working. We're all invested in our children’s education. We're all interested in each other's children, as well. Everyone is kind and welcoming.

The teachers and the staff work with us. Anytime we have questions, or just want to discuss something, we find that it's more of a partnership. They are very approachable. We've had a very positive experience. If there's anything we want to work on with our child, they are always 100% available.

The leadership, which is one of their strengths, has been great, especially in these last few years, with the challenges of COVID-19. The communication has been very good. They're forward thinkers; they adapt quickly, especially during COVID-19. The school adapted very quickly to the virtual mode, and continued the program seamlessly, and kept the families abreast of everything that was going on.