Testimonials

All four of our children have greatly benefited from the Montessori CASA programme developed at Colin McDonald Community School. This programme provided our children with a rich, hands-on educational environment and fostered in them a love and enthusiasm for learning. The teachers are fabulous and very caring. We strongly recommend this program to parents who are seeking to give their children the best possible start to their education.
Rosa and Joel Begin

The Colin Macdonald Community School gave me a great deal in the seven years I attended it. The close personal contact not only with fellow students but most importantly with teachers instilled great social awareness in me. The Montessori approach to learning meant that I was given the great opportunity to find out what interested me academically early on in my educational career. This has proved to be invaluable in making choices on how best to continue my education after finishing Secondary School.

There is a lot to be said for a school that encourages learning at a pace best suited to each student. More than anything, during my time at Colin Macdonald Community School I felt more like an individual than I have at any other time during my academic career.

Peter Hess

1st year at Queens University (2009)

The growth of our son’s self-esteem and the confidence that goes with it has been very rewarding . With this confidence everything else, learning, play, interaction with others, all starts to fall into places.

Mary Jo Hind and Fred Vermeulen

We are so grateful to you for providing this wonderful, inspiring, and non-judgmental environment for our child and his peers. We can’t think of a better place to start a student’s “carreer”.

Charlotte and Adrian O'Brien

At his old school my son was pushed really hard,almost bullied into learning. He lost all his confidence and became very anxious about school. At CMCS we found a supportive environment where teachers recognize his learning style and work with it instead of criticized. He has become a confident learner, and he enjoys going to school. What a relief! 

Sondra Richter

It is hard to count the way in which the Colin Macdonald School benefitted me. However, two words immediately come to mind: freedom and confidence. In my time at CMCS (my entire elementary school career) I was allowed and encouraged to direct my own learning, focus on aspects of the curriculum that interested me, and move at my own pace. The freedom I was given in my education, starting from a young age, continues to benefit me today in my university career. In my studies at Queen’s I have found that restating what you have learned is inadequate and that the ability to direct oneself and explore a topic with critical thought is essential. I feel that this ability stemmed from my early independence and freedom granted at CMCS.

The second term that I strongly identify with CMCS is confidence. Calling my teachers by their first names seemed irrelevant to my life when I graduated in grade eight. However, I feel the effects of this policy now. The ability to address a teacher by their first name and carry out a conversation from person to person, as opposed to from teacher to student, gave me an unknown confidence. My greatest skill since I have left CMCS has been the ease at which I can talk to people, both my peers as well as authority figures. I have the confidence to see teachers and professors, interviewers and supervisors, acquaintances and friends as my equals and people who can be easily addressed. The years I spent at CMCS continue to benefit my life today.

Jessica Stansfield

3rd year at Queens University (2009)

I can still remember my first winter at Colin Macdonald. I was 5 years old and for my first day of class my mom and aunt took me to the church building where the school was located. I was in a new school, in a new country, surrounded by new people who spoke a different language so I was nothing short of terrified. The next day, however, I could hardly wait to go back. And, I kept going back… every vacation from 1995 to 2000 I would attend Colin MacDonald for 2 months.

Back home, everyone wondered why a 5-year-old would want to go to school during vacations. Well, the reason why a 5-year-old would want to do anything is because it is fun and I was not the exception. In Colin Macdonald, I felt free, inspired and encouraged by my wonderful teacher, Anne Parker, to explore life and what interested me. I was not forced to learn, I wanted to learn. So, after class I would borrow dozens of books from the library and read for hours or follow their instructions for conducting little science experiments, cooking recipes and making plush toys.

Although I am only on my third year at McGill and have a lot of things I want to do before starting a family; I would like my children to attend a school that would offer them what Colin Macdonald offered me.

Elizabeth Grunauer

Currently in Montreal attending McGill but from Ecuador

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A SCHOOL?

CURRENTLY ACCEPTING REGISTRATION FOR

THE 2021/2022 SCHOOL YEAR

ARRANGE YOUR VISIT TO OUR SCHOOL