About RLC 

“ … a reliance on one’s skill and judgement seems to sharpen the appreciation for all the little but important things of life—food tastes better, clothes are more comfortable, nature takes on a new meaning and living becomes exhilarating.”
—R. H. Perry, founding headmaster, Rosseau Lake College  

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Rosseau Lake College (RLC) is an independent coed day and boarding school offering Grade 7 through Grade 12. It was established in 1967 as an all-boys’ school—it became coed in 1983—on a rural property in northern Ontario, on one of the province’s most famous lakes, about a 2½-hour drive north of Toronto. Dotted with pristine lakes and tracts of hardwood forest, the Muskoka region, known for its rugged beauty, it’s also one of the busier tourist destinations in the province, receiving in excess of two million visitors annually. Muskoka has long been a prized location for the development of summer homes. Properties range from modest cottages to mansion-like summer estates. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Mike Weir, Cindy Crawford, Martin Short, and many others, have summer homes on the lake.

Photos: A day in the life of Rosseau Lake College
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RLC offers inquiry-driven, experiential, student-centered education delivered via the Ontario provincial curriculum. Homeroom specialists use the campus as a living laboratory, integrating a values-based program, empowering students to ask questions, collaborate, and take intellectual risks. A hybrid timetable supports balanced learning, and the academic program blends traditional courses with hands-on learning, developing critical thinking and real-world skills. Students study core subjects and explore unique offerings, combining experiential learning with academics. “We need to be building innovators, creators, thinkers, problem solvers, communicators,” says Head of School Dave Krocker, adding that “we also need joyful, good people.” 
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The school sits at the northern tip of Lake Rosseau on a wooded lot that includes 3,300 feet of lakefront. It’s a small school in all the best ways: intimate, active, and personal. The student body is divided between international and domestic students. Those arriving from overseas represent in excess of 20 nationalities, this in a student body that is capped at 150. Our size is one of our strengths, reflecting Dunbar’s number for a stable, close-knit community. A majority of students board on-site in four boarding houses. Some students arrive locally each day via buses that serve the local catchment areas.

‍The school property was once home to an historic estate, the Eaton family’s summer residence. There are reminders of that time—the log cabin, a wishing well; the iconic swim dock is a recreation of the dock and pagoda that was here in the 1920s and 30s. The majority of the buildings on campus today were built to match the thrust of the academic program while maintaining a traditional, regional feel. There are outdoor classrooms, including a natural amphitheatre by the water’s edge, which instructors make consistent use of. Windows line the indoor spaces, ensuring the outdoors is a constant presence in the student experience. A new recreation centre, opened in January of this year, is the most recent build. A new STEAM facility is in development. 

‍The approach to all aspects of student life is challenge by choice, encouraging students to reach further in terms of their academic, physical, and social development. In addition to mastering the core curriculum, students are asked to consider how they can serve their communities, and they are given ample opportunities to do that. Those communities include the First Nations for which the area is home and who partner in many of the programs offered.

Outdoor education is a focus. There are canoes, climbing walls, kayaks, sailboats, and a snowboard terrain park. Trails throughout the campus are used for hiking in the warmer months and snowshoeing and skiing when there’s snow. In all seasons, in all weather, students spend a good portion of every day outdoors, sometimes in physical activity, other times just drinking it all in. The natural environment, even when students are indoors, plays a prominent role. The experience the students have outside the classroom, in activity or just moving between classes, feeds the experiences they have inside the classroom setting.