Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute

Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute
Address
3663 Danforth Avenue
Birch Cliff, Scarborough, Ontario, M1N 2G2, Canada
Coordinates 43°41′52″N 79°15′35″W / 43.69778°N 79.25972°WCoordinates: 43°41′52″N 79°15′35″W / 43.69778°N 79.25972°W
Information
School number 4118 / 895016
School board Toronto District School Board
(Scarborough Board of Education)
School district South-east
Religious affiliation none
Superintendent Stacey Michener
Area trustee Parthi Kandvel
Principal Ellen Austrom
Vice Principals Mark Varvas
Ruth Burden
Administrator Ronda Sinclair
Chief custodian W. Heibert (chief)
School type Public high school
Grades 9-12
Language English
Campus Suburban
Motto Vertias Omnia Vincit
Truth Conquers All
Mascot Panther
Team name Birchmount Park Panthers
Colours Blue, Gold, Black and White                 
Founded 1964
Enrollment 982 (2014-15)
Homepage Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute

Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute (Birchmount Park CI, BPCI, or Birchmount Park) is a high school located in Scarborough, a part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It operates under the Scarborough Board of Education with the latter board merged into the present Toronto District School Board. The school sits atop the Scarborough Bluffs overlooking Lake Ontario and Birchmount Park itself.

History

To provide additional crowds in the southern Scarborough community, Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute was constructed in May 1963 and accepted by the Scarborough Board of Education in July 1964. The school, as the tenth collegiate, opened its doors on September 8, 1964 with its first principal, John H. Edwards. The structure of the 1900-pupil school were designed by architects Sidney Bregman and George Hamann. Prior to the opening, the students in the area previously attended nearby collegiates such as R.H. King, Midland, and W. A. Porter as well as Malvern in the eastern end of Toronto.

Birchmount Park's Adult Re-Entry program for the Scarborough Board of Education was established in November 1977 with one teacher and fifteen students that evolved into Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies in September 1986 opened at Tabor Park Vocational School on Midland Avenue.

The school became a movie feature of the 1986 film Youngblood and 2003 film How to Deal as well as the 2004 film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Overview

Facilities

Birchmount Park Collegiate is located in a 9.057 acre site. The structure is combined with load-bearing walls and steel-frame construction as well as window area reduced to save costs (although the design bear resemblance to Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts).

The 181,114 square foot campus has 22 classrooms, lecture room, music room, drama room, six science labs, art room, home economics room, a library, three gymnasia (that can be partitioned into smaller gyms), a weight room, 1045-seated auditorium built in a style of a theatre, cafeteria with kitchen, administrative and guidance offices, and technical shops for automotive, carpentry and metal. Attached to Birchmount Park is Birchmount Stadium with the 400m race track and sports field with artificial turf.

Athletics

The school is renowned in Scarborough for BEAP (Birchmount Exceptional Athlete Program) which began in September 1989 and continues to draw superior athletes to the school.

In the mid eighties the school was a leader in athletics. However, in the 1990s teams and individuals dropped off and performed adequately as the BEAP program began to "find itself". By 2002 the school was once again atop the leader boards in athletics. With the BEAP, Variety Village, Birchmount Stadium, and Phoenix Athletic Association at its disposal, they have once again returned to a powerhouse in Track & Field since 2005.

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links