Input from students, parents, and alumni indicates that Bishop Strachan School fosters a warm and closely connected community, where diverse individuals and families form strong bonds based on mutual respect, care, and shared goals.
When we walked through the door, there was just this warmth that exuded from the school, from the secretary that sat at the front of the school, welcoming you there, and the teachers that sometimes hang out and welcome folks in. So I think just that general energy that I felt—I can’t really put a specific word to what I felt—but when you walk through the doors on Lonsdale Road, you feel it. It’s just that warmth and energy and seeing the students and how happy they are and seeing the student-teacher interactions. It’s just that sense of community.
Community was such a big factor. We had these houses and you were able to meet every age group in there from 7 to 12. And for me, I started in Grade 7 and went all the way through Grade 12. And for me, starting in the house in grade seven and then going throughout, I was able to really connect with different people, and they fostered that community. And you always could find somebody that you connected with, if they were in an upper year or something like that.
When I think of what I appreciate most about Bishop Strachan School I think definitely it’s the people at the school—from the friends, the teachers. They definitely helped me become the person I am today in my most transformative years. I feel like the friends that you definitely make there are lifetime friends.
Even today, if my daughter hears even a small mention of BSS, she gets all excited and thrilled. She cannot stop talking about it. She goes to university now, but she still wants to wear her BSS hoodie, her BSS track pants, and carry her BSS bag. She says that's the best part of her life. She keeps on telling her elder sister, "I wish I had come here earlier." She loves being a part of the BSS community, whether as a student or an alumna. Recently, she was talking to a family friend in India who wanted their daughters to study here, and her enthusiasm for the school was clear.
What I appreciated most about BSS was the real sense of community that the school had. The student body was so supportive, but also the teachers were so supportive. I still have so many friends to this day from BSS, and we actually have my group of friends. We still do a book club, and we meet monthly to chat about that and just update each other on our lives. And everybody is scattered across Canada and even the US. It's such a close-knit community. And those bonds have carried through, even though I graduated quite a few years ago now.
Another great thing about BSS is definitely spirit. There are so many spirit events, and the girls at the school would just get so into them. It was really great to see we have a rivalry against another girls' school, Havergal. And so we would do Hockey Day every year, and everybody would get dressed up. We would go, we would sing our different school songs, and it was quite the event. And then we have different houses, like Harry Potter houses. And you would dress up in the colour of your house, and you would have this huge day in the backfield. Everybody would dress up, do games, and then the winner would get the prize or whatever. And it just really brought the school together.
When I first started at BSS, I was in Grade 7, and the school does such a great job with welcoming you and having those orientation events where you can become friends with the people in your grade. And I think when I first started, I was really focused on that niche group. It was just my grade. That's all I wanted to do. And then as I went through this school, I ended up becoming a house head and an ambassador and then head ambassador, which is a prefect position. And so when I moved throughout the school, my focus, I think, shifted to maybe more broadly, I wanted to connect maybe younger students with older students and have a buddy program or focus more on how I can facilitate that or help younger students.
I'd recommend BSS based on its community. There are so many instances that I can think of where I, either by coincidence, fell upon this group of friends that we ended up bonding downstairs while we were waiting for our next class, or it was a little bit more planned. BSS does these Duke of Ed trips, as many schools do. But we had those where you go with people who maybe you're not best friends with, and you have these experiences like dog sledding or canoeing, and you're able to make different connections and have a different community in those different atmospheres. That is something that I would stress to prospective families.
Another reason for my recommendation is that BSS facilitates this bonding experience, not only for your specific class, but for different age groups.
I think that my piece of advice for somebody coming into the school, whether it's in the entry years, like grade seven or grade nine, or maybe an off year, is to really take advantage of the people who are around you and what you can do at the school. I think that the experience is really what you make of it, which sounds corny, but it's true. You can really take advantage of so many different things and really putting yourself into a position where you can make those strong connections and where you can have those fun experiences is so wonderful… And it's such a supportive, relaxing environment that it feels like it makes it easy to really do those things.
I was a boarder, which means that during my time there, BSS was my entire life. I remember I would periodically have this realization that I was just so comfortable and content with every facet of my life at BSS — whether it be how confident and unafraid I felt to speak up in class and ask questions, or how strong the relationships I formed with my peers and teachers were, or most importantly, how ‘at home’ I felt in boarding. BSS provided me with the best ‘second family’ a girl could ask for.
Something that’s really valuable to me, that I will appreciate about BSS now that I’ve graduated, will be the friendships that I made there. When I first got to BSS, I thought it would be difficult, due to financial barriers and cultural barriers that I was, kind of, putting in my head and working myself up about. But when I got there, not only did I find a lot of students who were in similar situations as myself, and from similar backgrounds as myself, but I also got to connect with people who are just completely different from the areas that I grew up in. And I got to bond and form really great relationships with those peers, and that is something that I truly value.
At BSS, as students we are split up into Houses — kind of like Harry Potter — from junior kindergarten through to Grade 12. And during our high school years, within those Houses, we are grouped up with students in our grade, along with a BSS teacher, to form a TAG Teacher Advisory Group. Your TAG becomes your support buddies all throughout high school. You meet once a week, and you bring in snacks and you have great conversations. Sometimes there are themes and you can focus on important topics. Sometimes it’s really just a safe community for you to ask questions and to just bond with people in your grade and to grow together as well. Earlier this year when I graduated, one thing I loved was being able to celebrate with my TAG, because we grew up together.
As a family moving here from out west, we noticed that BSS has such a rich history, it’s a very well-known school, and it has an excellent reputation as a leading girls’ school in Toronto. From our tour and from all the interactions that we had in going through the process, we really felt that the school was a nurturing environment, an inclusive environment, and it just had a beautiful energy. We noticed that as soon as we walked through the doors. We were greeted, students had a smile on their face, there was action going on. There were people rushing off to get to their clubs, to different sporting activities, and you couldn’t help but feel like you wanted your daughter to be a part of it.
My daughter had actually never had the opportunity to really get involved in a community before we came to the school. And BSS offered such diverse opportunities for girls to get involved in community service, and really look outside of the classroom. That was a really nice feeling for us, to know that she would have those opportunities readily available to get involved in, as well as leadership opportunities.
Has it met our expectations? Absolutely. My daughter started in Grade 7: she didn’t know anybody, and very quickly she had friends and was getting involved, and thrust into school life. She really never missed a beat. She was all of a sudden getting involved in teams and sports. She was on the Field Hockey team, and she had never played before. We didn’t expect for her to transition so seamlessly.
Everybody knows everybody. Because of its special size—it’s not too small, with about 200 girls—everyone knows each other. The principal and vice-principal are out every day and know every single girl’s name. They even know most of the parents' names. The older girls also know the younger ones, feel protective of them, and play with them at recess, so everyone knows each other’s name.
Senior school girls help with after-care, come to read books to the younger girls, or teach them something. It’s been wonderful for the younger ones to see how the older girls progress throughout their time at the school, and to learn from them. Again, it creates that lovely sense of community.
I think the thing that I appreciated the most would be the sense of belonging and the feeling of being part of a family and something bigger. I really knew that every day I came through the doors of BSS that I could be myself. I was true to who I was.
BSS is just able to really bring that warmth, that nurturing, that care, despite it being such a large environment.
There’s no typical family at this school, but we come together to form a warm, closely connected community. Parents come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, countries, and faiths—but we all respect where everyone is coming from and have a shared goal of raising good global citizens.
The culture at BSS feels very much like a family. From the moment you walk in, everyone is welcoming, and there’s a strong sense of belonging. The community is diverse, so whatever your interests, you can find a place for yourself.
My top reasons to recommend BSS are the care and dedication of the staff, the sense of community, and the opportunities to explore, learn, and try new things.
At the heart of our community are strong relationships: student to student, student to teacher, faculty to leadership, and family to school. We ground all communication and conflict resolution in openness, fairness, and respect, always keeping the focus on what is best for students.
There is a community for everyone to fit into at BSS - students who are athletic, acandemic, into the arts, etc. It is a positive environment and the students are generally happy. I enjoyed being a part of the BSS community while I was a student but I appreciated it even more after graduating. There is a strong network of alumnae that volunteer to mentor current students or graduates and many alumnae events to allow students to stay involved. Most significantly as a graduate I appreciate the environment that I went to school in now more after being out in the world. It is a special place where the girls are encouraged to try things, grow, become more confident. It really is a great environment. I feel fortunate to have the experience I did.
BSS most definitely feels like home to me. At BSS, I enter an environment where I know I am supported and cared for. My friends and peers are excited to engage with me, and they are eager to check in. The faculty want to know how my classes are going, if there is any material I am still uncertain about, and if I have heard about the bake sale coming up the following week. BSS is a place where I, alongside the people around me, feel seen and appreciated for the friend, peer, and student that we are. Though it took time to fully fit in and recognize that I have a place in the student body, knowing that I can come to a place every day where I feel at home is one of the strongest roots of my passion for BSS.
—Ava Comisarow, student (beginning 2019) (see
full review)
BSS is a big school and a small school at the same time. Our daughter's cohort has obviously grown quite a lot since she started in Junior School, but it still has the same small school feel that we loved when we chose BSS for her so many years ago. Anytime I am in the school for a parent event or conference, I am always struck by how happy the students look in the hallways. The class size is big enough that there is a lot of choice for friends, but small enough that every student is known. It's a perfect balance. Our daughter has spirit days - both house spirit days and grade spirit days - and all of the students get dressed up in their colour.
—Jeffrey Brown, parent (beginning 2017) (see
full review)
The student body at any high school is an interesting challenge. My class at BSS was largely very inclusive, but like at any all-girls school, there was no shortage of drama and hurt feelings as we were all growing into adults. This happens at any high school and is not unique to BSS. That said, there was lots of camaraderie on display as well - through sports teams, and the nativity cast, through your TAG group and your house, it was largely a positive social experience for me, despite some challenging moments. The spirit of the school is exciting - this is helped by the house system and the grade-organized spirit week. These were such fun experiences and really bonded people together. The prefect leadership team always went above and beyond to try to inject school spirit into any opportunity they got and this was appreciated by the student body as a whole.
—Joanne A, alum (2004-2010), Historian (see
full review)
The student body at BSS was small, fostering a close-knit community. While there was some cliquiness, the overall atmosphere remained friendly and inclusive, with most students being kind and supportive. The typical BSS student was academically motivated, actively involved in extracurriculars, and eager to contribute to the school community. Traits like kindness, involvement, and academic drive were highly respected by peers. When I started at BSS in JK, my grade was predominantly white, but over time, the school’s demographics evolved, becoming more diverse with students from various backgrounds. Despite the presence of some cliques, the small class sizes encouraged interaction and a sense of unity among peers. Overall, BSS promoted a culture of respect, collaboration, and inclusiveness, providing a supportive environment for all students.
—Allison D., alum (2006-2019), Fashion Designer (see
full review)
With BSS’s population of just over 1,000 students, it is safe to say that the community is fairly tight-knit. However, that doesn’t mean that there isn't a friend for everyone. There are people who like sports, there are people who like robotics, and there are people who like sports and robotics. BSS fosters a community of well-natured people who are eager to reach out and excited by the prospect of a new friend. Someone who will thrive socially at BSS is someone who has an open mind, is not scared of new connections, and is able to accept that the first person you meet might not become your best friend. Due to the outgoing dynamic of the BSS student body, it is easy to meet people and find those who will make your adjustment to the school a positive one.
—Ava Comisarow, student (beginning 2019) (see
full review)
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