Priya Suppal

Priya sent both her sons to CDS and is now on the Board of Directors. She shares her perspective on the educational experience at the CDS, emphasizing its strong academic curriculum, and the wide range of extracurricular activities. Priya highlights the school's support in the transition of new students, and extensive transportation options. She also praises the school for fostering personal growth and nurturing individual talents, preparing her children for university and beyond.

Choosing CDS for their children
We were looking for a high school close to home, a big school, but with a very small-school feel, and a large number of extracurricular activities, not limited just to sports. We wanted there to be something for everyone. I had heard about Country Day School for several years. I knew that, academically, they are very strong. I felt that CDS had a very broad academic base, as well, a novel curriculum that they were developing for high school, along with an incredible breadth of opportunities for extracurricular and travel.

Arriving at CDS
I think my kids transitioned well, and I think they felt welcomed. I think there's a percentage of children who have moved up within the school, and there were certainly lots of new kids, and they had orientation for them, which was great. For the most part, my kids were keen on trying different groups and extracurriculars, so that helped them also assimilate really well. My younger son came in at Grade 6, so he was at the tail end of Junior School, transitioning to Middle School. My oldest son started in Grade 9, so that was just a big entry year for a lot of kids.

Busing
Busing was certainly an option for us and the school made that happen, even though, at the time, we were out of their catchment area. That was also very important for us in terms of choosing the school. We live in North Brampton and there are kids that also come from Vaughan, Woodbridge, Kleinburg, Caledon, Toronto, Barrie, Stouffville, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Aurora and of course King City.

Student Body
You're seeing kids from all backgrounds, all races, all cultures. There's a real mix of students at the school that bring different perspectives.

Extracurriculars
It's almost a must that the kids do extracurriculars, and I think that really helped them to balance. The extracurriculars are incredibly intense. During one of the play productions, they were doing comedy improv, and they had folks from Second City come and do workshops with the kids. They're band camps that they get the kids to go to in early September in preparation for the year. You had instructors from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Education with Balance
I think my kids would say they appreciate juggling and maintaining the balance between school work and extracurriculars, and making sure that they're learning to prioritize and fit in the time for everything. I think that they would probably say that was certainly a great benefit to them. Both of my kids are in university now. My younger one just finished first year. My older son is just completing second year med school.

Class Size
I would say small class size is important, because it allows a lot of personalisation of teaching in regards to the kids needs. They may be involved in different extracurricular activities and may need a different schedule and the variety of coursework that is offered.

Parent-Teacher Interviews
I would go for parent-teacher interviews and loved seeing the teachers. They were always very specific. It wasn't a generalized report, and I really truly felt that they knew my kids.

University Placement
Probably for my younger one, debating and/or robotics were the most memorable activities. He's doing software engineering at Waterloo. I think that really helped to shape his career path.

My older son is in medical school, but singing is one of his passions. He was part of the choir, he was part of the jazz band, he was in drama, and any opportunity he had to sing, he would. I think CDS really fostered and allowed him to see that he could have a career in something other than just academics and that it could be a very fulfilling career.