Pretty River Academy is celebrating 25 years in 2023, with educators, students and alumni looking back on the education the independent school has provided over those years.
“It started with vision and a dream of one exemplary educator who wanted more for kids than public school could give them,” said the academy's head of school Valerie Turner. “I think everybody should be inspired by that vision.”
“It has ebbed, flowed and morphed into all kinds of things as the school tried to attract kids,” noting the school has weaved through wanting to be known for sports, arts, or leadership at different junctures.
“Different chairs of the board, over time, have had different visions for what this school could be,” she said. “Now, we’re hoping it becomes a preeminent preparatory day school for kids to be able to figure out what their passions are so they’re inspired to continue to develop themselves.”
Pretty River Academy was founded in 1998 by Roberta Murray Hirst. The school kicked off using space in the Easter Seals Camp in Craigleith, later moving into the Thomson Tennis Academy.
The school moved into their own building in 2006 on Hwy. 26, where the school continues to run today.
Running as a non-for-profit organization and independent school, classes follow the Ontario curriculum. It is governed by a board of directors, who are responsible to hire, oversee and evaluate the head of school and have a mission to uphold the school’s mission and values. The school boasts a more personalized experience for students with smaller class sizes than in a public-school setting.
Charlie Duffy is in Grade 8 at Pretty River Academy, and has attended the school since he was in Grade 5.
“The education here is fantastic,” Duffy told CollingwoodToday. “The teachers are flexible. They support you.”
“It’s like a family here. We feel a part of something big,” he added.
Easton King is also in Grade 8, having attended the school since he was in Grade 6. When asked whether he feels prepared to make the move to public school when he starts high school next year, he says he does.
“This school has taught me a lot of stuff. I’m excited to bring it forward to high school,” said King.
Turner just started in her position this past July, however has a personal connection to the school.
“I was on the CEIS (Canadian Educational Independent School) accreditation team that visited the school to have Pretty River become an accredited independent school in Canada. They had just moved in. I was so impressed by it,” said Turner.
Over the years, Turner has worked in education in Toronto, Chicago and York Region.
“My husband and I bought a house in Collingwood three years ago. My husband retired, but I’m not ready to retire. When this job became available...the timing was perfect,” she said.
While the school had run both elementary and high school programming over the years it has been in operation, earlier this year, the school’s board of directors announced they would no longer be running high school programming in the 2023/24 school year.
“In any school, the secondary part is the most expensive part,” said Turner when discussing the change. “When you do the math, you realize the parents in the younger grades are really supporting the high school to happen.”
“We want the school to survive and be not-for-profit, and also not for loss,” she said.
This year, the school has 88 students enrolled from kindergarten to Grade 8. Turner says 15 teachers support those students, and the school could take on 65 more students before having to hire more teachers.
Turner notes the school will start strategic planning for the next 10 years in 2024, adding that re-introducing the secondary panel at a future time is still a possibility.
“If the kids come and we are able to build a bigger middle school, we could plan for that,” she said.
Kindergarten teacher Judi Scarrow was one of the first teachers at the school, recruited by Hirst and starting at the school in 2000. She still teaches junior and senior kindergarten, as well as science up to Grade 3 at the school.
“I was working in the public system then and I was very disillusioned because the rules were being made for the staff, not the students,” said Scarrow. “Working at an independent school had never crossed my mind.”
Scarrow recalls that Hirst wanted to start the school after also finding the public school system lacking, which aligned with Scarrow’s personal values.
“We met at a picnic table. I loved what she was saying. I took a leave of absence from the board and in month one, I knew I was never going back,” said Scarrow. “I’ve been in this building since it was built.”
Over the past 25 years, Scarrow says she’s seen the school evolve.
“Our (original) space, we rented, so we used to have to pack up every June, which was a big job,” she said. “Every organization has some rocky bits, and we’ve certainly had our rocky bits, but the focus has always been on the child.”
“We always seem to weather those storms,” said Scarrow.
Scarrow notes that over the past 25 years, the community’s view of Pretty River Academy has also changed.
“It was like a unicorn had just landed in town. No one knew what to make of it,” said Scarrow. “The demographics of people have changed, and we have people now who have experienced independent schools and different options.”
“Options are a good thing,” she said.
For more information on Pretty River Academy, click here.