Admissions
We welcome your interest in our school. For more information about the school and our admissions process, we invite you speak with someone from our recruitment committee. You can contact them by email at hpasinfo@gmail.com or by phoning the High Park Alternative School office at 416-393-9050. For enrollment related issues please contact Heather Wheeler, Principal at 416-393-9040 or email her at heather.wheeler@tdsb.on.ca
Admissions Process
HPAS is a small school. We have an overall enrollment of approximately 160 students from junior kindergarten to grade eight. As an alternative school in the Toronto District School Board HPAS does not have a specific catchment like a regular public school has, but rather can accept students living anywhere in Toronto through the TDSB’s Optional Attendance process. (Note: the boundaries that apply are the boundaries for the megacity of Toronto. To the West the boundary is between Etobicoke and Mississauga – Etobicoke is in the Toronto Board and Mississauga is in the Peel Board).
Through the TDSB’s Optional Attendance process all prospective new students are welcome to submit an application to HPAS. The following criteria, in order of priority, are used by the Principal in offering available spaces:
Admission Criteria
The following criteria for admission to High Park Alternative School (HPAS) are listed in order of priority.
1. Siblings of children currently enrolled in HPAS.
2. Sibling status for children of HPAS families on sabbatical.
3. In the case of Grades 7/8, successful completion of Grade 7/8 Application Package and;
i) Current residents of Toronto, determined by lottery and wait list, subject to available space.
ii) Consideration to maintaining balance of students based on gender.
4. In the case of Grades JK-6, successful completion of Application Form and Parent Commitment Form and;
i) Current residents of Toronto, determined by lottery and wait list, subject to available space.
ii) Consideration to maintaining balance of students based on gender.
Applications & Timelines for September 2012
Click here to download the JK – 6 application form.
Click here to download the 7-8 application form.
Click here to download the parent commitment document.
1. Application forms for the following September become available in January, and in particular at our Information Night to be held Thursday January 26, 2012 from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Enter off Jennings Ave.
2. Completed application forms for the following September that are received at the High Park Alternative School office by the application deadline of Friday, March 2, 2012 at 4:00 pm will be included in our application review and/or lottery conducted in the first week of March.
3. The review and lottery produces ordered lists of applicants by grade and gender that the Principal uses in offering available spaces and forming waiting lists.
4. Notification of the lottery results will be mailed by Friday March 9, 2012. This letter will inform the applicant family whether they have been offered a space or placed on the waiting list.
5. Completed application forms received after the lottery deadline will be added to the end of the appropriate waiting lists in the order they are received.
6. An applicant who is offered a space must confirm acceptance of the space by March 30 by submitting, if applicable, a signed Optional Attendance Form from your current school and registering at the High Park Alternative School office.
7. If an applicant does not accept an offered space by this date the next applicant on the appropriate waiting list will be offered the space and given two weeks to confirm acceptance of the space.
8. Any applicant who has been offered a space may request a personal tour of the school in order to make their decision.