St. Michael's College School

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St. Michael's College School
Doce Me Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientiam
Teach Me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge
Address
1515 Bathurst Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5P 3H4, Canada
Public transit access Subway: St. Clair West
Information
Religious affiliation Roman Catholic
Principal Mr. Joseph Brisbois
President Fr. Joseph Redican, C.S.B.
Faculty 79
School type Private
Campus Urban
Colours Light blue, navy blue (referred to as "double blue")
Established 1852
Enrollment 1200
Affiliations Conference of Independent
Schools of Ontario
Homepage http://www.stmichaelscollegeschool.com/
Crest image © St. Michael's College School

St. Michael's College School is an all-boys Roman Catholic day school in Toronto, Canada. Currently administered by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Canada, with an enrolment of approximately 1200 students from grades 7 to 12.

Contents

[edit] History

St. Michael's College was founded by the Roman Catholic Bishop Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel in 1852.

A Basilian priest, Charbonnel arrived in Toronto from France to succeed Bishop Michael Power in 1850. In response to a growing demand for Catholic education in the city, the bishop sought to establish a minor seminary in Toronto. A group of four Basilian priests left France in July of 1852 and arrived in Toronto in late August to provide assistance. In due course, St. Michael's College was established and housed in the bishop's house on Church Street.

The College soon outgrew its facilities and in 1856 it moved to a new campus outside the city at Clover Hill, a property donated to the Basilian Fathers by the Honourable John Elmsley, a Toronto politician. In 1902, a new wing was added to the original building and housed the growing high school programme until 1950. At this point, the high school and university programmes were separated, thus establishing the University of St. Michael's College and St. Michael's College School.

[edit] Campus

The school's campus is at Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue at the edge of Toronto's Forest Hill neighbourhood. The main school building was designed by well regarded Canadian architect Ernest Cormier and completed in 1950. Its most recognizable features are the distinctive chapel tower and yellow brickwork, similar to Cormier's earlier work at the Université de Montreal. The school's residence wing, originally built to accommodate boarding students, now functions as a Basilian house.

In the late 1990s, a major expansion programme was undertaken, with a two major academic wings and a gymnasium extension added to the original building. The additions contain classrooms tailored to the science, art and music programmes, a substantial lecture hall, several computer laboratories, and a large library. An outdoor courtyard adjacent to the cafeteria overlooked by classrooms is popular for major school events.

There are a number of sports facilities located on campus. St. Michael's College School Arena is the current home of the Toronto St. Michael's Majors ice hockey team. The school's basketball court is named after former vice-principal, teacher, and coach, Paul Dignan. In 2005, a major overhaul of the stadium was undertaken. Renamed in honour of its benefactor, alumnus Eugene Melnyk, it features an artificial turf field, a rubberized running track, and lighting for evening events. During winter, an inflatable dome covers part of the track and field to allow for use in adverse weather conditions. When the stadium reopened, it attracted substantial attention from the Toronto media.

[edit] Academics

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As a university preparatory school, St. Michael's maintains strict academic standards. According to the school administration, between 40% to 50% of the students are members of the school's Honour Roll Society, and more than 80% of the students have an academic average of at least 75%. Roughly 99% of graduating students attend one of the top three universities of their choice.

[edit] Athletics

St. Michael's is well known for its athletic programme, and its extensive sports offerings prove consistently popular among students from year to year. The school has been particularly successful in squash, track and field, cross country, and football. Other programmes offered by the school include volleyball, golf, baseball, soccer, basketball, swimming, skiing, tennis, mountain biking, lacrosse and archery. The school competes with other independent schools as well as Catholic and public schools in the Toronto area.

The school is perhaps best known as a producer of hockey players. Over 175 St. Michael's alumni have played in the National Hockey League, including Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Bobby Bauer, Gerry Cheevers, Red Kelly, Tim Horton, Dave Keon, Ted Lindsay, Frank Mahovlich, Reg Noble, and Joe Primeau. The standard of hockey exedes others to a level that their Junior hockey team competes on the Senior Tier two stage. The school's flagship hockey team, the St. Michael's Majors, have won the Memorial Cup four times. The school also operates a team in a second level of junior hockey, Tier II Junior "A" known as the St. Michael's Buzzers.

Toronto St. Michael's Majors logo
Toronto St. Michael's Majors logo

The Blue Harrier cross country running team is arguably the most successful in North America, having won 25 consecutive Toronto District Colleges Athletic Association (TDCAA) team titles, and having fielded over 19 teams which have won the Ontario Championship. Coach Paul Barry was recently inducted into a local sports hall of fame for his work in maintaining this streak to date.

The junior and senior football teams, known as the Kerry Blues(2006 CISAA champions), are considered among the best in Ontario. The Sr. Kerry Blues have recently (Dec 7, 2006) won their 5th Metro Bowl, making the St. Michael's Kerry Blues the most bowl winning team in Ontario. They have each won more than three Toronto Metro Bowls. National Football League players Glen Young, O.J. Santiago and Michael Labinjo, each of whom have competed in the Super Bowl, played football while attending St. Michael’s.

In addition, Leo Rautins, former All American, television basketball analyst and coach of Canada’s national basketball team, attended St. Michael’s. Rautins was the first Canadian to be selected in the first round of the National Basketball Association draft.

The school was featured on CBC's annual Hockey Day in Canada on January 13, 2007 since the school was celebrating 100 years of hockey at the school.

St. Michael's College School is currently know to have the most elite athletic programme in Canada and the most elite hockey programme in the world.

[edit] Notable alumni

Dr. Robert Birgeneau - Physicist, Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, former President of the University of Toronto
Hon. Michael Colle - Former teacher, Member of the Ontario Legislature, Ontario Minister of Citizenship & Immigration
Tim Horton - NHL Hall of Famer, founder of the fast food chain Tim Hortons
Leonard "Red" Kelly - Former Liberal MP, NHL Hall of Famer
Eric Lindros - NHL hockey player, current member of the Dallas Stars
Ted Lindsay - NHL Hall of Famer
Hon. Frank Mahovlich - Canadian Senator, NHL Hall of Famer
Eugene Melnyk - CEO of Biovail Corporation, owner of the Ottawa Senators
Dennis Mills - Former Canadian Member of Parliament, former Liberal opponent in Toronto-Danforth against NDP Leader Jack Layton
Leo Rautins - Sports commentator and former NBA basketball player
O.J. Santiago - NFL football player
Jaggi Singh - Noted social activist
Jason Spezza- Ottawa Senators star
Hon. Greg Sorbara - Member of the Ontario Legislature, Minister of Finance

[edit] Notable faculty

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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