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Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

Q: Will my child be able to go on to University?

A: It depends entirely on your child. It is possible to go from Windsor House to University and there are several routes. One is to attend the Youth Learning Center for Grades 11 and 12 which gives afternoons free to be part of Windsor House. Going this route enables one to get scholarships and graduate with a Dogwood Certificate (regular high school graduation). Another route is to wait until you are 19 and then go to a College (Cap, Langara) for a year or two. If you do well at college, and take courses that the Universities accept, then you can transfer for 3rd and 4th years. This route presupposes that the student has designed their education at Windsor House so that they do well in college. Another route is to take Correspondence for Grades 11 and 12, but that requires a lot of stick-to-it-ness. Lastly, students may challenge grades 11 and 12 by writing the exams. We haven't had anyone try this yet.

Q: If I work full-time, how will I be able to do my participation hours?

A: There are many, many ways to do your parent-participation. Even if you cannot come during the day, our Co-ordinator will find things for you that can be done on weekends or in the evenings. Some people do a chunk of in-school participation just to get to know the students and staff, and become knowledgeable about the school. Then they have done their hours for some time to come.

Q: Will my little one be safe at the school?

A: If little ones are at a stage where they adhere to the safety rules (especially the ones about being supervised outside), then they will be safe at school. If they are not at that stage, then a parent or guardian should stay with them for the first while until they are satisfied that all will be well.

Q: Are there any fees?

A: No, this is a public school, and is fully funded. SANE, the parent body, suggests a donation (on a sliding scale of $10 to $60 per month and you set where you wish to be on that scale) to pay for supplies so your student does not need to bring any supplies to school. The donation also pays for items that the School Council votes to buy for school equipment or activities.

Q: Is there a religious component to the school?

A: No

Q: Does the school exert any political influence?

A: No

Q: What is the socioeconomic background of the children?

A: We have a range from comfortable middle class to single parent low
income. We have families that need monetary help from time to time, but
there are no issues of neglect or abuse.

Q: Do you have drugs at your school?

A: No, we tackled that problem several years ago. It was a serious problem to us, so we closed the senior half of the school and met as a community to problem-solve until we came to resolution. It took us two weeks, because we kept working until we reached consensus. We haven't had any difficulty since then. We solved the smoking problem at the same time. Younger children were finding the smoking group very attractive, so we agreed that anyone who wanted to smoke had to be out of sight of the school, alone and walking. This rule has held well with very little policing.

Q: Are you affiliated to any other schools of this type?

A: We do not have any clone schools, but we are connected to other
non-coercive schools through a list serve called AERO. We also belong to a group that arranges for an annual International Democratic Education
Conference (IDEC). Several Windsor House staff, parents and students
attended IDEC in the summer of 2003 in New York.

Q: Does Windsor House have a waiting list?

A: We don't at the moment, because every time we get more students we hire
more staff. We are getting close to our optimum number, however, so this
may change soon. Ten years ago we had less than 100 students and now we
have nearly 200. The optimum for a school like ours seems to be 250 students.