REVIEW OF Toronto District Christian High School BY Alum, Dayna Pitcher

(4) Overall Experience

My experience at TDCH was amazing. The community there is so welcoming and the environment made me safer than I had at any other school. The teachers are very understanding and want the best for the kids. The students are extremely kind and it’s very obvious they were raised in a Christian facility. They have some quirks though that are quite strange. Their lunch period is 25 minutes, they have no dances, they aren’t allowed to carry bags to class, and they have little variety when it comes to sports. Overall, though, TDCH has an amazing atmosphere and any kid raised with good morals would feel very at home there.

(5) School Leadership

The teachers at TDCH were the kindest I had ever encountered. No matter the subject, they would always take the time to help and instruct whenever they were needed. They really care about the students and actually focus on helping the kids learn individually. They take the time to understand each kid and make a bond with them that carries through all of high school. I loved all the teachers at TDCH and would have absolutely no complaints about their teaching or leading by all.

(4.5) Teaching

I learned a lot from my time at TDCH and can honestly say it has helped me in my university years. In grade 9 they teach the absolute basics of everything you are going to learn for the next 4 years. I personally didn’t struggle with very many subjects but they made it very clear to me that if I ever needed a boost, they were more than happy to give it to me. I really enjoyed learning while at TDCH and loved how they taught. They of course incorporated Christianity into the learning environment, which really helped me get closer to God in my four years at TDCH.

(5) Academics

The school's academic strengths consist of high levels of expectation, extracurricular help, and informative teaching. I believe because they expect so much of you, you tend to try harder to exceed the limit. When I was struggling to catch up after lost class time because of an injury, my teachers helped me before and after school which helped boost my mark, my confidence and my love of the teachers. In grade 9 they taught all the fundamental things I needed to know to help me through high school and it has even helped me get through university. For such a small environment, they have a lot of academic classes to pick that helped me reach where I am now. The students I was surrounded with were definitely raised with the right morals. They mostly had great study habits and were very competitive. Also they incorporated the LORD in all the studies I encountered.

(2.5) Extracurriculars

TDCH is based around the love of volleyball. If you do not enjoy volleyball or are not particularly good at it, you, like me will be hard pressed to find kids who were not raised to love volleyball. There are 4 other sports that TDCH offers including badminton, soccer, basketball, and ultimate frisbee. I didn’t like this aspect of the school because I was a big fan of other sports like rugby, lacrosse, or football but they were not offered so I couldn’t broaden range of sports.

(5) Students

The students at TDCH were raised in a Christian environment and that really shows in their characters. I have never met a more loving, supportive, and flatout kind people in my life. There were little to no cliques which made interactions between students very easy and safe. There are groups of friends but they all had different likes and abilities so the groups wouldn’t stay the same for very long. The students for the most part were very respectful of the teachers and each other. There are even friendships between students in different grades which is astounding. Our homerooms make that possible because they are 9-12. Overall the student life at TDCH is a happy peaceful heaven and I have no complaints.

(4) School Life

The school life at TDCH is not like other schools or how I imagined high school would be. We do have school spirt for such a small community but I believe we could be more involved. We had spirt days and homeroom competitions and that was the time where our school came alive. We also participated in relay for life which was a blast. All the students were really into the games and enjoyed the day. We didn’t have any exciting pep rally’s like other schools but they seemed open to the idea. Other than that TDCH is a great place to be yourself.

(5) Community

The community at TDCH is so welcoming and loving and I’ve never seen any school like it before. All the teachers care about the students and their learning and the faculty always help the kids and parents in any way they can. I love how open and easy to talk to the principals are. They really made my experience one of a kind and you don’t think you could find that anywhere else. The parents have to get involved because they need 25 volunteers hours every year at the school which really helps them get to know TDCH, the students, and the other parents. The school loves when graduates come back because the teachers had/have such a big bond with them. It’s really just a welcoming place whether you’ve been raised at feeder schools or you just joined in grade 9 like I did, but overall TDCH is a great place to be.

(3.5) School Location

The location is in Vaughan/Woodbridge which is outside of Toronto. From the outside it doesn’t really look like a school because it is tucked in. Right now though they are in the process of renovating the outside so in a couple years it will be more visible.

(5) Admissions

I personally had a scholarship so admission was a little different for me but it was pretty easy. They try their best to make it simple for everyone by just setting a meeting with the parents and kids. The administrations person is very easygoing and accommodating to all your needs. It was not stressful at all. The only stress I encountered was a result of going into high school just like every kid. I also applied very late in the summer, August to be exact, for TDCH which would have made the process very hard somewhere else but Matt Heinbuch really tried to make TDCH a perfect fit for me and my family. He is pretty easygoing and handled his job with professionalism.

(5) University placement and counselling

Each student is given a guidance councillor for all your secondary school planning. They really knew my strengths which made it very easy when being suggested Universities. In no other ways could I have been more supported because I personally had my eye set on Western since grade 9 but they helped me see that I was the perfect fit for the programs I wanted to take. We started looking into this around the end of grade 11 which gave me and my peers enough time to plan for the next phase of our lives. I got into Western and just completed my first year of post-secondary school and I loved it. I believe it was as easy as it was because of TDCH.