Joining HIS

In order to maintain our high standards of excellence in education and a well-balanced learning environment, Halifax Independent School reserves the right to accept children for admission who will benefit from and contribute to our unique programme.

Procedures and Deadlines

Our admission procedure is as follows:

  1. Parent/guardian of applicants attends one Open House.
  2. Parent/guardian completes an application form and submits it accompanied by a $100 application fee and a copy of the child’s birth certificate.
  3. If space is available, a teacher calls to arrange for the child to visit a class.
  4. The same teacher calls to inform you if your child has been accepted. These calls are made after dismissal time on the Friday following a child’s visit to the school.
  5. Parent/guardian accepts or declines the offer of a place. If accepting, a deposit is required by the close of the business day on the Monday immediately following. At this point, a place will be reserved for the child in the next school year.

Information Sessions

Open Houses are held monthly from September through May, or by arrangement at other times of the year. Attendance at an information session is a prerequisite for application.

Student Visits

Visits begin in January for September enrolments. Children applying for Littles come for a two hour visit. Children applying for grades Primary through Grade 5 come for a morning and children applying for Grades 6 through 9 come for a full day visit. Your child will be welcomed into a classroom and will participate in classroom activities. Close observations will be taken to assess his or her readiness and suitability for the school. On the Friday following the visit, the teacher will contact you by phone to discuss your child’s experience and, if appropriate, to extend the offer of a place in the school programme.

Deposit

Once your child has been offered a place in the school, the deposit is due on the next Monday. It is required to secure your child’s place until he/she is fully registered. The deposit has two components, as follows:

  1. $250 (a portion of the $500/$1000 bond)
  2. 1/12 of the annual tuition fee

The deposit is entirely non-refundable.

The deposit may be paid by cash, cheque, debit or Visa/Mastercard.

Waiting List Policy

When a class is full, we establish a waiting list to which we refer whenever a space becomes available. Priority is given to siblings of students already registered.

Midyear Transfers

The procedure for midyear transfer is the same as for a regular application, but proceeds by arrangement.

Fees/Bond

Download fees in PDF format

Tuition: The basic tuition rate is the same for students of all ages.

Littles Lunch fees: Littles students pay an additional annual fee for the mandatory lunch programme.

Middle School Enrichment: Middle School students pay an additional annual fee for Enrichment activities.

ESL: ESL students pay an additional 10% of the full annual tuition for ESL support.

Each family pays a $1000 bond. Only one bond per family is required. The bond is paid in part at the time of the deposit with the remainder being paid over the course of the first academic year of the family’s affiliation with the school. An exception is made for students in the Littles who pay only $500 in their first year and the remaining $500 on entering the elementary programme. When your child graduates/withdraws from the school, your bond is considered to be refundable if your child has attended the school for a minimum of three consecutive years. Refunds must be requested in writing at the time of the withdrawal and are made in two payments. The first payment is sent out in December of the academic year following your child’s graduation or withdrawal; the second payment is made in the following June. At some point during your child’s time with us, you will be asked to donate all or part of the bond to the school, which is a registered charity.