professeur en soutien scolaire

cuisinier

conseiller

resident counselor

high school teacher

J. Addison School

J Addison is a school that is a hit and miss. To truly understand this, you need to have a good background knowledge of what the private school business in Ontario is like. There are two types of privately funded schools. The first type are the schools like J Addison, which are privately owned and operated without belonging to any larger organization. The second are the schools that belong to independent boards. Private schools are either praised for going above and beyond curriculum standards, or are vilified for being 'credit mills' that sell marks. J Addison is neither of these. Although it does not belong to any larger organization, it is also not a credit mill. 

The school tries to avoid the pitfalls of other schools that are targeted at mostly international students. Credits are not sold here, and students who cause trouble are asked not to come back. It's not purely business minded. They do try to run it like a real school. The key word here is TRY.

However, teachers are overworked and underpaid, and expected to teach all day without a prep, plus do extracurriculars. This is the main flaw in the school. A school is only as strong as its teachers, and teachers are only as good as they are appreciated. Teachers are not appreciated here and are almost always blamed for student misbehaviour/lack of effort. 

Little is done to make sure there is consistency among teachers. Some teachers are not OCT qualified and therefore do not assess and evaluate as per ministry regulations, thereby causing grade inflation. Teachers who do follow such requirements are deemed as too tough. Students who've only been in Canada for a few months should not be getting 80% or above in university level English, so the fact that they do is a bit concerning, especially when they fail the OSSLT. This is the major issue in this school. 

Furthermore, students are rarely punished for doing wrong, which leads to enmity between them and teaching staff. If you send a student to the office for not wearing their uniform, rarely is any action taken. The student then feels smug, thinking they're more powerful than their teachers. Why have rules if they aren't enforced?

Another issue is favouritism among teachers. Those that are not OCT qualified but have years of teaching experience (from overseas, mostly) are treated like royalty, and given the courses they want to teach. Administration knows these people will never leave the school (there is an extremely high turnover rate). Younger graduates who are ACTUALLY qualified to teach in Ontario are often forced to teach subjects they know nothing about. Clearly, student needs are not the priority at all.

The benefit of this school is that nobody is spying on you when you are teaching. Although teaching evaluations are supposed to take place within your first year of working, they hardly ever do. This is a good place to figure out which pedagogical strategies work for you. You also never have to deal with parents, so this really is an environment that has much less stress and pressure compared to the public school system. 

During the time I was at J Addison, I did see strides towards improving conditions, but there is still a long way to go. There is a reason why nobody stays here for more than a school year.

I have been in this place for 8 years, and unfortunately it is time to go. I suppose anyone worked in this placed now or before in the last few years will automatically know who I am, since I am the only teacher that have been there for that long.

PRO: overall, it is a good school. The school has top level facilities among new private high schools. The dorm is without doubt nearly the best you can find. The cafe, despite some students don't like it, offers one of the best meals you can find. Administrative team is very friendly. You will not get those "give that kid a few more mark" kind of BS here. The school is in general quite supportive of your role as a teacher; classroom expenses can be claimed despite the procedures may be somewhat annoying. Most of the staff on board are friendly and do care for the kids. You rarely find yourself talking to one of those very odd colleagues. Regarding the student population, you probably can't find a more friendly group. 80% to 99% of the students are Asian and/or international students. Despite their English level are not the best, the school carry a very nice bunch.

CON: the software of the school is lacking. The curriculum lacks consistency and content primarily due to there is no curriculum content unique to the school. This is primarily the result of an extremely high turn-over rate among staffs. I will suppose if you visit the school any time within the next 10 years, 75% of the teachers will not have been in this place for more than 3 years. Salary is perhaps one of the biggest complains teachers have in this place. On paper, you earn approximately $25 - $28 per hour, in real terms, depending on your method of calculation, such as whether you would like to count lunch as a paid time, etc, the result will turn to as low as $14 to $16 per hour. This is the result of added job obligations such as open house events, supervising ILETS tests, school promotional events, school related field trips, etc. In addition, salary grow at a very low rate. Granted the growth rate will in most years beat inflation, my starting salary (8 yrs ago) to the my salary last year grow at a rate of approximately 1.4% in real terms (yes, I am the math teacher). Last but not least, the school provides relatively bad stability. If you are not hired back, you might find out that three days before September.

Summary: This is honestly not a bad place for new teachers to be. You get to experience what a classroom setting environment feels like in a quite protected and friendly environment; you may also use this time to develop your teaching style, skills, content, etc. However, this place should be seen as your stepping stone, your testing ground, but not your destination as you will probably notice your reward in the long run is somewhat diminishing like marginal utility.

The organization operates on a fixed business mindset, not education, hence does not align with their slogan. Whether you accept the offer as an employee or as a parent/student, you will soon realize the organization is full of empty promises, but you're expected to meet expectations and deliver demands on a tight timeline. They are incompetent in understanding the real issues and the kind of resources that teachers and students need to succeed. Feedback and suggestions are for the books but no plan of action is truely taken to make improvements. Lack of respect for employees; poor sound judgment in resolving misconducts and misbehavior; lack of communication regarding incoming or outgoing students. 

Staff is hard working group. But there is an aura of "I can't speak my mind for fear of reprisal". Students seem to be blessed with the untouchable approach. They pay (and they do) so therefore, we really do not want to get them upset. Students frequently get away with a lot. The administration is weak at best. Their version of punishment is to write a one page essay. An essay for students who are ESL. Brilliant!
I read in a previous comment that this school functions like any other high school. Who wrote that comment? (An insider)
There is room for major improvement if they are willing to become like a regular high school. Start off with the pay and not have people pull the strings who are not teachers.

Send you kids here, if you want. But there's more than meets the EYE.

I initially thought this would be a wonderful institution - so many cultures coming together and an educational setting. Boy was I wrong. First, compensation is low, barely worth considering. Second, transparency does not exist at this institution. If you have an issue, you better swallow it because no one will listen to you. Third, living arrangements were clinical, and privacy was non-existent. People come and go in your BEDROOM as they please - and they won't even tell you. Fourth, it's entirely remote with not much near by. Fifth, many employees are underpaid and overqualified.

Really bad place to work at, specially for elementary teachers. The admin is thankless and does not respect the teachers at all. The higher ups make false promises at time of hiring and do not follow through. No support for teachers, lack of resources, very little prep time and poor salary. No prior assessment of students is done before enrollment, not enough ESL support. Runs like a business not an educational institution. No wonder the turn over rate is so high. The business manager is unprofessional.

+ Free reigns on lesson plan, lots of autonomy with how you run your classes
+ Cafe food
+ Teachers are friendly

- Complete lack of resources and support for teachers 
- Lack of respect from school administrators
- Limited support for students with IEPS and need resource support
- Disorganization from administrators 
- Teachers have little to no time for prep
- Lack of integrity from administrators
- Inconsistent schedules for teachers of younger years (as well as students) as many duties such as before and after care are projected onto the homeroom teacher 
- Lack of transparency with parents and students 


It has been a pleasure working at J. Addison School for many years and I am confident to say that the school is one of the best school I have ever worked. Team-work and Communication are always important at this school. Staff are very friendly, the management team are supportive and value their employees. 
Overall, the school is a professional working environment. The teachers are qualified and use the Ontario Ministry of Education Curriculum Guidelines as the source to providing their lessons.
J. Addison School is the place for professionals, who are diligent and committed to their jobs.

At Addison School, I had the opportunity to meet students from all over the world, guided them in the process of admissions and saw them succeed in their school life. I was also blessed to work with a wonderful team (staff, teachers, etc.). Management has an open door, so you can approach anytime. The most enjoyable part of my job was to help parents, students, agents to get to know J. Addison and its advantages. 

Highly organized, very safe environment for the students. Teachers are well-chosen, they are all dedicated. Very gracious principal. Passionate and understanding management. The things I take against the school is the fact that there is disproportion between salaries and the amount of work; however, who cares! Working with good people is worth paying for! And, there is no March break!!! Nevertheless, after two years, I strongly believe that they deserve my gratitude!

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Professeur en soutien scolaire 8 salaries reported	$26.25 per hour
Cuisinier 10 salaries reported	$19.60 per hour
Conseiller 8 salaries reported	$40,500 per year
Resident counselor 1 salary reported	$40,000 per year
High school teacher 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour

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