Looking for recent reviews, feedback and insight on academics and residential life at Gilmour Academy. Everything I can find is relatively dated. A recent past teacher review on Glassdoor speaks of high teacher turnover, hidden sexual allegations between teachers and students and hazing. And having A’s passes out handily so graduates are not prepared for college. It’s just one review but I’m not coming across any other recent reviews regarding academics. My son would be going for hockey - but the academics and residential environment are very important to me.
1 Like
Also not current but friend’s son was an athlete at Gilmore about a decade ago and did not have a positive experience. I will pm you.
2 Likes
We had a more recent experience. We would not recommend the academics or the hockey program. Happy to give you more insight in a PM. It was not good.
I have two kids that attend Gilmour and a recent niece who graduated. I have been an educator for 28 years and have always monitored my kids education from an instructional and social experience. My wife, sister and I feel the same about Gilmour. The instruction, support, and experience have been exceptional. The community concept is valued and modeled each day. Remember, it is still a school and nothing is perfect. However, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate sending my kids there. Both are athletes and although not in hockey, have several friends who are. I’ve had the privilege of teaching And serving as an administrator in very high performing districts during my career. The instructional approaches used from most of the teachers is excellent and done with a Socratic out inquiry base approach. At the very least, all of my kids teachers have shown a strong willingness to provide academic support when needed. For what it’s worth, they are both involved in several AP courses and find those challenging as well as other regular classes they take. There are doing very well, but the rigor is definitely there.
The atmosphere around the hockey program has become toxic, particularly on the Prep and 16U teams. Most of these boys are boarders who are only at the school for a short time, and in our experience they receive very limited academic support relative to what we expected. Given the high cost of tuition, we have been disappointed by the overall rigor of the academics and the lack of meaningful oversight of these student‑athletes. Too often, the boys and their families feel expendable rather than valued members of the community. There are many examples that have led us to this conclusion. If you are considering the program, I would strongly encourage you to research “Mark v. Gilmour et al.” and related public documents, as they provide important context about how this program has been run.
WOW. Thank you so much for this post. I read through as much as I could access and am appalled. We had already made the decision not to look further into Gilmour based on it being more of a” hockey academy” than a prep school - and so glad we didn’t waste our time. Prayers for healing for this young man. I am also saddened to see the defendants still actively playing hockey and not being held accountable for their actions.
I agree. The details outlined in Mark v. Gilmour Academy et al. are deeply concerning. The events described in the complaint about the 2022 incident raise serious questions about accountability—particularly since the Director of Hockey and Head Coach appear to have faced no repercussions for major lapses in leadership, judgment, and oversight. These individuals continue to lead the program despite the incident.
The allegations indicate a troubling pattern of adults ignoring or concealing misconduct that should have been addressed swiftly and transparently. While young people sometimes make poor decisions, leadership’s apparent effort to conceal rather than confront wrongdoing reflects a serious failure of integrity and responsibility. Equally troubling, there has been no public acknowledgment of the incident, no clear statement of the school’s stance on hazing, and no visible corrective measures—leaving stakeholders uninformed and understandably concerned.
Based on experience within the program, the culture is deeply dysfunctional—driven by fear, intimidation, and control rather than trust and development. Coaches rely on punitive methods that stifle open communication, creating an environment where players and parents feel pressured to conform and remain silent for fear that speaking up could lead to retaliation or lost opportunities.