Boarding Experience

Why Boarding?

WHY BOARDING?

Making the decision to send your child to boarding school can be a time of mixed emotions. While the geographical distance may be difficult, you recognize that this unique learning opportunity for your child sets them up to flourish now and into the future.
 
Ridley’s boarding experience allows your child to acquire a deeper sense of their character strengths, develop interests, gain independence and provides extra leverage when applying to university or college.
 
Enriched by a community of peers and adults, your child will be well-versed in a global environment that extends beyond the classroom. With over 60 nationalities represented on campus, your child will have ample opportunities to discover new cultures, while gaining a global perspective.
 
The well-being of your child is of the utmost importance to us. Our boarding programme ensures that each student has an established and strong relationship with their Head of House and residential life team. Our current students and alumni often say that their House is their second family. At Ridley, we strive to be a meaningful home away from home.
 
But what makes the boarding experience at Ridley so extraordinary? Read more about our Ex-Factor of Boarding below.

THE EX FACTOR

Boarding school will exceed your expectations! The unique benefits — what we like to call the ‘ex-factors’ of boarding — collectively create an extraordinary experience. These differentiators will propel you to reach your fullest potential, while forming lasting memories and friendships in the process. Discover the nine ex-factors of boarding life below.

List of 9 items.

  • EXpress

    EXpress
    Cultivate your creativity

    Release your inner muse in superior arts programmes that will allow you to show at centre stage in front of hundreds, screen your original short film or hang your canvas in a vibrant gallery of works.
     

  • EXceed

    EXceed
    So much more than status quo
     
    Customize your educational experience and realize your full potential through advanced curriculum–it’s not only what you learn but how you learn it. Boarding schools embody a student-centred ethos that help prepare them to become the leaders of tomorrow.

  • EXemplary

    EXemplary
    Enrich the lives of others
     
    Cultivate your altruism and develop a true care for others. At boarding school, you’ll mature your sense of social responsibility and understand the importance of giving back to your local and global communities.

  • EXpansive

    EXpansive
    Learning environments beyond the classroom
     
    With sprawling campuses–encompassing modernized classrooms, elite training facilities, dining halls, outfitted labs, theatres, studios and green space–boarding schools provide you with a safe place where you can spread your wings.

  • EXtras

    EXtras
    All-inclusive learning and living
     
    Boarding schools offer an immersive environment and an ‘all-in-one’ experience for families. Apart from a world-class education, students will have the opportunity to gain independence, play competitive sport, receive additional tutorial, grab a bite to eat with friends, go on a weekend excursion and forge life-long connections–it’s the complete package.

  • EXperts

    EXperts
    Devoted, world-class educators
     
    Passionate teachers who have an unwavering commitment to their students is what sets boarding schools apart. Our subject experts are dedicated to ensuring students get the most out of their educational experience by acting as mentors, tutors, coaches and advisors outside of the classroom.

  • EXcel

    EXcel
    From purposeful play to high performance
     
    Boarding schools understand the research behind how physical activity correlates to academic achievement and social-emotional well-being; meaning that students are engaged in physical activity daily. Whether developing fundamental movement skills or training to compete, this commitment creates an “active for life” mentality, sense of healthy competition and drive for excellence in students.

  • EXplore

    EXplore
    University and world prep
     
    Bespoke guidance programmes with dedicated counsellors provide the resources you need to gain acceptance to your university or college of choice. Boarding schools enable you to realize your post-secondary potential, while helping you to become and independent thinker.

  • EXhilarating

    EXhilarating
    An energized adolescence
     
    Boarder have more fun because they push themselves outside of their comfort zones. They’re invigorated by their peers, surroundings and unique opportunities available to them. They hold more meaningful relationships with friends and are excited by local and international learning experiences.
 
“I am most grateful for finding a second home at Ridley. From the day I first stepped into Dean’s House, I was welcomed in by my 50 brothers into my new family, and that’s something I am forever grateful for.” – Malcolm Kyne, from Tortoa, British Virgin Islands
P.O. Box 3013, 2 Ridley Road St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 7C3 Canada 905 684 1889
With more than 700 students from 60 countries, the largest boarding programme in Ontario and the third largest in Canada, Ridley College is a truly international, co-educational, day and boarding school of the world that prepares students for the world. It has provided enriching learning and life-shaping experiences focused on the arts, academics, and athletics since 1889. Ridley’s Lower School offers JK-Grade 8, its Upper School consists of Grade 9-PG, and Ridley graduates attend some of the top universities and colleges around the world. Ridley is the only   co-ed independent boarding school in Canada and one of only three in North America authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum programme.