St. Michael's College School

St. Michael's College School is a private Roman Catholic day school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently administrated by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Canada, with an enrollment of approximately 1200 students from grades 7 to 12.

History

St. Michael's College was founded by 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. 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. 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.

Campus

The school's campus is located at Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue in central Toronto. The main school building was designed by esteemed Canadian architect Ernest Cormier and completed in 1950. Notable is its distinctive tower and yellow brickwork, recalling Cormier's earlier work at the Université de Montreal. A large ice hockey arena and stadium also feature prominently on the school grounds.

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. Notably, 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 and overlooked by classrooms is popular for large school events.

St. Michael's College School Arena, known within the school as the "Shiverdome", is the current home to the Toronto St. Michael's Majors ice hockey team. 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.

Academics

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%. Over 98% of graduating students attend university and 75% go to the university of their choice.

Athletics

St. Michael's is well known for its athletic programme, and its extensive sports programme proves consistently popular among students from year to year. The school has been particularly successful in hockey, cross country, and football. Other programmes offered by the school include volleyball, golf, cross country, track and field, baseball, soccer, basketball, swimming, skiing, tennis, mountain biking, lacrosse and archery.

The school is perhaps best known as a producer of hockey players. Over 150 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 school's flagship hockey team, the St. Michael's Majors, has won the Memorial Cup four times. The school also operates a team in the second level of junior hockey, Junior A.

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, are considered among the best in Ontario. They have each won more than three Toronto Metro Bowls. NFL players, Glen Young, O.J. Santiago and Michael Labinjo, who have all played in the Super Bowl, attended and played football for St. Michael’s.

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

Co-Ed?

Over the past few weeks, rumors began to circulate that the school is investigating the possibility of moving to a co-educational model. On February 3rd, 2006, Fr. Joseph Redican, current President of the College School, released a memo to all parents stating that at the January 30th meeting, the school's board of directors had voted unanimously to "explore the establishment of an independent Catholic girls’ school" that would operate "co-institutionally with St. Michael’s". As a result, a parents association meeting was called for the 7th of February. At this meeting, Fr. Redican stated that he would hear reaction to and take questions pertaining to this change in policy for the school.

In response to this move, some alumni have established a blog to express their discontent with the change. This site, though not officially affiliated with the alumni association, seems to reflect the attitudes of many recent alumni.

External LInks