1. Indigenous Applicants
2. Siblings of Existing Enrolled Students at the School*
3. Self-Identified Under Represented Groups
4. General Pool of Applicants

*TDSB’s Sibling Policy only gives priority admissions. It does not guarantee placement. This means a sibling of an existing enrolled student will be given a spot only if one is available in their specific grade. If no spot is available, the sibling may not attend the school. The sibling will need to reapply the following school year.

Applicants may apply up to a maximum of two elementary alternative schools using the same universal online application form, located on the TDSB website. There is no ranking preference of school options provided on the form. TDSB head office will only offer placement to one of the two schools listed on the form based on space availability in that specific grade. Selection is random and done using a third-party Board approved software (i.e. a computer, NOT a person). It is recommended that If an applicant has a strong preference of school choice, like Equinox, that they should only apply to that one school. Otherwise, they risk getting offered a spot at the second choice school.

After March 28, 2023 enrolment at TDSB elementary alternative schools becomes frozen. This is now standard practice across the Board for all schools which are not designed local home schools, including special interest programs, academies, etc. This is done to reduce student movement as much as possible between TDSB schools after the Board has completed its staff allocations and class breakdowns for the upcoming school year for all of its 583 schools. Unfortunately, student movement not only impacts those students choosing to switch schools, but also those who do not move.

For example, if a student turns down a spot after March, that decision currently impacts only two schools – the elementary alternative school (like Equinox) and the local designated home school the student is choosing to attend instead. If an elementary alternative school accepted another student after March from another school it would add a third school into the mix. Thus, further increasing student movement across the Board and increasing the ripple effect on staffing allocations, class breakdowns, etc. for all the schools involved in those student switches. A shift of just one student may be enough to tip a school to gain/loose a teacher and/or decrease/increase class sizes when TDSB conducts its annual board-wide reorganization each fall. That process ensures TDSB’s finite resources (as specified and financed by the Ontario Ministry of Education) goes to where students actually show-up each September vs. where the Board predicted the previous Spring.

Please note, TDSB has not yet informed elementary alternative schools exactly how many new students they may accept for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year per each grade. The number of students accepted varies year to year and is determined by TDSB head office.

If language or other barriers make the application process challenging for your family or anyone you may know, please reach out to the Equinox school administration so they may try to help: equinox@tdsb.on.ca