Katherine Fontaine

Education is the key to the future success of every child. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to receive high quality education. The school system in Ontario has experienced a number of changes since its formation, particularly with the spatial dispersion of the school-age population. The school system was originally designed for a compact community where the students were clustered in the downtown areas of the city. Now with the phenomena of suburbanization, the school-age population has moved from the downtown areas to the dispersed periphery of the city .This spatial dispersion of the school-age population, along with the decrease in governmental funding, has affected the school system throughout Ontario. Due to these above factors, and the significant impact they have on education, the need for further study on the changing school system is required in order to continue to provide high quality education to all students. The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between the supply and demand of school-age children and educational facilities over time and space within the Waterloo Region.