Don Mills Collegiate Institute

Don Mills Collegiate Institute (DMCI) is a high school in the community of Don Mills in Toronto. It serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2006, 66% of students speak a first language other than English.^[1] The school opened in 1959.

Location

Initially, the board planned to build two separate schools on the site with a shared heating plant, but in October 1957, trustee Dorothy Bishop prepared a report which raised the possibility of saving money by placing the two schools under one roof, as had previously been done in Vancouver and Calgary.

DMCI shares its building with Don Mills Middle School (formerly Don Mills Junior High). They have different street addresses and the interior is designed in a way that keeps the schools separated except for a common library. The auditorium in DMCI is also used by all schools.

Special programs

Don Mills Collegiate has a gifted program for students. The program was moved to DMCI in 1997 from Earl Haig Secondary School and has increased the number of students in the school.

The school also houses CyberARTS, a multi-disciplinary arts and technology program. It also offers computer technology and communications technology courses, as well as a comprehensive technological design (shop) program.

English language classes are available to assist newcomers from all over the world.

Competitions and extracurriculars

For several years, Don Mills has been consistently represented in the International Math Olympiads, International Physics Olympiads, and the DECA International Career Development Conference. In addition, the school has also performed well in chemistry competitions, including the University of Waterloo's Avogadro and Chem 13 competitions, as well as the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad. Recently, Don Mills has also performed to a respectable degree in biology competitions, including the Canadian Biology Olympiad and the University of Toronto National Biology Competition, with students moving to national finals for the past two years.

DMCI's student-run newspaper, The Bulldog, is one of the few weekly high school publications in Ontario, and has been honoured at the Toronto Star High School Newspaper Awards.

DMCI's Reach for the Top team placed seventh at the Ontario Provincials in the 2010-2011 season, their best achievement in the competition.

In 1998, DMCI was asked by the Toronto District School Board to represent Canada at the inaugural Young People's Summit (YPS), held in conjunction with the annual meeting of G8 countries in Birmingham, England.

Don Mills is also home of the award-winning Northern Lights Show Choir. "Northern Lights", co-founded by Musical Director Cathy Whiteside and Choreographer Heather Moffat, is the only Ontario high school show choir. This group performs throughout the community and attends performances and competitions in the US. The music department was also a recipient of a $10,000 grant to purchase new band instruments from the CARAS Musicounts Band Aid Grants Program in October of 2010.

Notable facts and controversies

• Cult horror movie Prom Night (1980) was filmed at DMCI.
• DMCI had the first brick-dust track in Canada (1960).
• Sue Johanson, from the Sunday Night Sex Show, opened the area's first high school-based birth control clinic at DMCI in November 1972. Called the Don Mills Birth Control Clinic, it used the school's health room every Monday night (expanded to two nights a week in 1980). The school principal said DMCI was "completely uninvolved" with the clinic, except for providing space.^[2]
• In March 1981, the school allowed the Canadian executive director of the Ku Klux Klan to speak to a Grade 12 history class. The principal later said it would never happen again.^[3]
• A 25-year-old English teacher at DMCI was suspended in 1971 after police seized 16 marijuana plants from the garden at his home. He was convicted of possession. It was a huge news story in the Toronto area at the time, triggering discussions for months in the media about DMCI.^[4][5][6]
• In October 1969 DMCI suspended 19 football players for drinking beer on a bus ride back from a game. The school pulled the team from the league for the remainder of the season.^[7]
• In October 2008 DMCI was placed under lockdown for about four hours after police received a call about a possible stabbing. Police arrived to find a grade 9 student going into shock from stab wounds to the abdomen. A 17 year old boy was arrested and taken into custody about half an hour later. The victim was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital, and survived.^[8]

Notable alumni

• Paul Chato (comedian), and Rick Green (comedian, satirist, and writer), members of The Frantics
• John Craig & Paul Craig, twin brothers who became champion runners and members of Canadian Summer Olympic team in 1976.
• Cam Crosby, hockey player for Toronto Marlboros and University of Waterloo hall-of-famer in hockey, track, and football; selected by Toronto Maple Leafs in 1966 NHL Amateur Draft
• Steve Podborski, World Cup and Olympic downhill skier
• Brit Selby, NHL and WHA hockey player
• Neil Smith, President and General Manager, New York Rangers 1989-2000
• Robert Devenyi, Vitreoretinal Surgeon, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief, University Health Network, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Toronto, Team Ophthalmologist, The Toronto Maple Leafs
• Anna Wallner, co-host of W Network's The Shopping Bags
• Brian Glennie, hockey player for Toronto Marlboros and long-time NHL player with Toronto Maple Leafs
• David Widdicombe, playwright, director
• Shawn Gore, Wide Receiver for the B.C. Lions
• Joe Opatowski, Public Speaker, Free The Children Me To We Campaign Free The Children

Hirad Zafari, 2011/2012 Student Trustee for TDSB

References

External links

• DMCI Official Website
• DMCI alumni site
• TDSB's DMCI page