Small-Class Learning

Ten students to a teacher who knows every one.

This is the way Vaughan College has always been organized, and the thing parents and students mention most when they talk about the school.

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Small-Class Learning, in Practice

A school small enough that no student is anonymous.

Ten-to-one is the simplest way we know to describe how Vaughan College is run. Most classes seat a teacher and ten students, sometimes fewer; in night and summer cohorts the tables hold eight. The ratio is what lets a teacher know each student by name, their reading speed, their gaps, the questions they’ve been asking and the ones they have not yet figured out how to ask.

Smaller numbers change what a teacher can do. They answer a question while it is still fresh. They rebuild a shaky foundation before it widens into a misconception. They give an ambitious student the attention to go further, rather than leaving them to coast at the back of a thirty-student classroom.

We keep the rooms small in every program, full-time, part-time, night, and summer alike. Parents who tour the campus often notice the quiet first. It is the quiet of students at work on something.

Inside a Ten-to-One Classroom

What changes when the room shrinks.

Our teachers know your child by name

With ten students at a table, our teachers get to know each one well. They follow your child’s pace, the gaps in their earlier schooling, and the subjects they find easy and hard. With us, a conversation about your child’s progress can happen in the hallway, not only at a scheduled conference.

The room can slow down or accelerate

A class of ten can pause to rebuild a shaky foundation and move ahead when the group is ready, without teaching to an average. We have students upgrading a Grade 12 mark and Reach-Ahead Grade 8s in the same school, and the small ratio is what lets us serve both well.

Free after-school tutoring for every full-time student

Every full-time student has access to after-school academic support at no additional cost. Sessions run with the same teachers in the same classrooms, an extra hour scheduled where it is needed. Most of our turnaround stories begin in those quiet rooms after the official day ends.

We accommodate IEPs and learning gaps

We go over your child’s Individual Education Plan and any earlier professional assessments during intake, before the first day. With ten students per teacher, the accommodations your child arrives with are ones we can actually keep up day to day.

We run the room this way for every student, in every program. We would be glad to show you what it would look like for your child.

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Three Vaughan College students in uniform work through a problem at a classroom table, one standing to explain

From a Current Student

What our students notice in a small class.

Students tend to notice the difference quickly. With ten at a table, they spend the day on the work itself instead of waiting for a turn with the teacher.

Vaughan College is a school all about academics. I go to classes each day, looking forward to learning.

Gurnoor Jaggi — Grade 10

Voices from the Rooms

What students and parents tell us.

Students and parents tend to describe small-class learning in similar terms. What they notice most is the attention.

They take the time to address any questions or concerns we have, and their dedication to helping us succeed is evident.

Adam Szocs — Alumnus

This school gives me everything I need to do well academically, and I will be one of only students that look forward to coming to school each day.

Gurnoor Jaggi — Grade 10

Thank you so much is just not good enough to describe the gratitude towards the professional way you taught and tutored my son for the last two years.

Susan Szocs — Parent

See It in Person

Come see a small class for yourself.

Visit the campus during a school day, sit in on a class, meet the teachers, and watch a ten-to-one classroom in motion. Tours are by appointment, year-round.

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