St. John's-Kilmarnock School

St. John's Kilmarnock School
St. John's-Kilmarnock Aerial View
Address
2201 Shantz Station Road Cambridge , Ontario , N0B 1M0 Canada
Coordinates	43.5107°N 80.3831°W / 43.5107; -80.3831
Information
Type	Independent boarding
Motto	Latin: Accendere Flamma Donum Dei (To Stir Into Flame the Gift of God)
Religious affiliation(s)	Anglican Church
Established	1972 (1972)
Founder	Bishop of Niagara, J.C. Bothwell
President	David Bennet '83
Headmaster	Cheryl Boughton
Grades	JK–12
Enrollment	425
Student to teacher ratio	5:1
Area	36 acres
Houses	Brock, Brant, Simcoe, Tecumseh
Color(s)	Kilmarnock Gold & Blue
Nickname	Eagles
Newspaper	The Aquiline Friday File
Annual tuition	$80,840 (boarding) $31,000 (day)
Affiliation	IB World Canadian Accredited Independent Schools National Association of Independent Schools Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario
Website	www.sjkschool.org

St. John's Kilmarnock School (often called SJK or Kilmarnock ) is a private school in Waterloo Region, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The school has graduated many notable alumni. SJK has 425 students and is a highly selective school, accepting approximately 20% of applicants in 2021. The school attracts a significant minority of international boarding students and has a generous financial aid program, with more than $500,000 being awarded annually to Canadian citizens.

The school is divided into four houses named after historical Canadian figures: Brock, Brant, Simcoe, and Tecumseh. Aside from its main structure, the Breslau campus has a number of sports facilities, a ceremonial chapel, a pond and corresponding boathouse, and an extensive network of forested trails.

History

SJK was founded in 1972 by the St. John's Anglican church. Following the St. John's School Act, passed by the Ontarian legislative assembly with royal assent, St. John's School for boys in Elora, Ontario was established. In 1976, a jointly-administered St. Margaret's school for girls was opened in Elora, and, in 1989, following the amalgamation of St. John's and St. Margaret's Schools, the united campus was relocated to Waterloo region. Today, SJK is an interdenominational institution, preserving its Anglican affiliation solely for ceremonial purposes. The school is now more diverse, drawing on a medley of cultural and economic backgrounds from the Waterloo region.

Grading and curricular requirements

SJK uses a 7-point grading system as specified by the International Baccalaureate, in which a 7 is a 97-100% on the Ontarian grading scale, a 6 being a 95-97% and so forth. SJK has a student-to-teacher ratio of about 5:1. A majority of the faculty have advanced degrees in their fields. Students who attend SJK are required to partake in the curricular requirements of their respective component of the IB continuum. In the traditional four years of high school (split between 2 years of the IB Middle Years Program and 2 terminal years in the IB Diploma Program), students are required to take courses in epistemology, modern languages, the arts, English, history, mathematics, health & human development, and science. All students graduate with both an International Baccalaureate Diploma and an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (as per jointly satisfying both degree requirements).

Student body

About 25% of the Upper School population is international students, all of whom reside in dormitories located near the University of Waterloo campus. The school offers ESL and TOEFL classes. The remaining 75% of the students are day students from the surrounding Waterloo region communities.

Finances

Tuition fees for boarding students in 2023-2024 was $80,840, including other mandatory and optional fees. Upper School tuition fees for day students starts at $32,020.

St. John's Kilmarnock offers need-based financial aid for Canadian citizens. Though full-tuition coverage, common within other schools of similar endowments, is unavailable, Kilmarnock offers partial assistance. In 2022, Kilmarnock allocated $500,000 to be distributed via financial aid. Admissions, though not formally characterized as such, are currently need-blind - admitting students on merit and mission-serviceable fit rather than financial need.