Leadership interview with Rick Parsons, The Sterling Hall School
- Name
Rick Parsons - Title
Principal
Rick Parsons, Principal of The Sterling Hall School, discussed the school's distinctive approach to boys' education, emphasizing character development, strong teacher-student relationships, and a deep sense of belonging. He highlighted Sterling Hall's focus on meeting boys where they are developmentally, partnering closely with families, and preparing each student for a high school that best matches their evolving interests, strengths, and goals.
Video Contents
- 0:59 - Please describe your professional journey leading up to your current role at The Sterling Hall
- 3:03 - What have been some of the major influences on you and how you approach your work?
- 5:41 - What strategies does the school rely on to equip students to thrive both academically and personally?
- Show Full Video Contents
Highlights from the interview
In my time at Sterling Hall, I've embraced a few other roles. In 2017, I began co-facilitating the orientation for all new heads of K–12 schools. I've been doing that ever since. In 2018, I joined the International Boys' Schools Coalition as a trustee, one of two Canadians on that board. I did that for seven years and retired from that role in 2025.
I've had innumerable mentors as a young person growing up. I continue to have mentors now in the form of coaches, teachers, administrators who work with young people, and, of course, so many students that we learn from. They inspire me and engage me every day.
I think that relational connection is seminal to reaching young people. We know that emotions are the light switch to learning, and building those connections with them, I think is essential.
- We say this at Sterling Hall: we either succeed or we learn.
We say this at Sterling Hall: we either succeed or we learn.
Academics are a significant part of learning and growing up, but they're within the fabric of something even more important, which is developing beautiful humans. Humans who are resilient and have the capacity to overcome challenges, grow from them, and learn from them.
At the end of the day, it's the whole child that we're concerned about, and it's the whole child that we're developing.
We're teaching the boys; we're not teaching the subject. If the boys need to stop and have a circle, and these happen quite regularly at our school, we're going to address it… We're going to get out on the table what's happened, resolve it, co-create a solution with the boys, give them agency, and let them be heard when something is upsetting them. Then we're going to move forward.
We're going to expand our campus, but we're not really expanding our enrollment. We're maintaining the small school that we have because we think there's a small-school advantage to the relational connections, the sense of belonging that we foster, and the confidence and opportunities the boys can gain from that environment.
I think the new development we have on the horizon is going to be a game-changer for us as a school. It's a beautiful two-storey building, parking on campus, and a new northwestern green space that the boys are going to love and that we're going to connect to our programming in a wonderful way.
Partnership with families is perhaps one of the most important things in our school. I think we have a very active and engaged community, which is incredible and positive.
We are very unapologetically boy-centric, so the assemblies are amazing. They may not be the most polished thing you'll ever see, but they're giving boys an opportunity to lead.
When we promote a sense of belonging, we give boys the confidence and opportunity to take risks. It's that risk-taking that leads to growth. Those risks might be social when they first come to the school, but they could also be artistic, athletic, or creative; it doesn't matter.
When the same values and expectations about how we behave are reinforced both at school and at home, they resonate more with the boys and help them understand how to correct their behaviour in a positive way.
I really believe in separating the boy from the behaviour. I think that separation is very important because it prevents shame, and shame is a negative emotion that doesn't help anybody.
I would say Sterling Hall's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness, which is that we go from JK to Grade 8. A lot of people get worried because they think it's so important to get into a particular school and graduate from a particular school.
I would argue that our niche in the city of Toronto is that we're not focused on high school or post-secondary education. All of our thinking, our professional development, our resources, everything, is focused on these elementary years.
The families who come to us recognize that their boys are going to change. Our role is to meet them where they are at every stage of their development and help them find the next best place for high school.
One of the great strengths of our school is that we have a common language around character. Character is reflected on the first page of every report card, where every student from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8 completes a self-reflection on their character strengths.
