DON MILLS COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE

'Don Mills Collegiate Institute (DMCI)' is the high school in the community of Don Mills in Toronto. It serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2005, 66% of students speak a first language other than English ¹. The school opened in 1959.

Contents

Special programs

Competitions and extracurriculars

Location

Notable facts and controversies

Notable alumni

References

External links

Special programs

Don Mills Collegiate is among a handful of schools in Toronto that is home to the gifted program. 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 the newcomers from all over the world.

Competitions and extracurriculars

The school is known for its achievements in math and science competitions. For several years, Don Mills has been represented in both the International Math Olympiads and International Physics Olympiads. In addition, the school has also performed well in chemistry competitions.
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''.
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 Canadian high school show choir. This talented group performs throughout the community and attends performances and competitions in the US.

Location

Land for a high school and junior high school to serve residents of Don Mills was acquired in 1957 by the North York Board of Education in a land swap with E. P. Taylor's Don Mills Development Company. The school board had owned a similarly-sized plot of land on Don Mills Road, which it exchanged for the property at Lawrence Avenue and The Donway East.
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 both schools.

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.^[1]

★ 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.^[2]

★ 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.^[3][4][5]

★ 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.^[6]

Notable alumni

★ Paul Chato, comedian, member of The Frantics

★ John Craig & Paul Craig, twin brothers who became champion runners and members of Canadian Summer Olympic teams in 1976 and 1980

★ 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

★ Denzil Minnan-Wong, Toronto city councillor

★ Steve Podborski, World Cup and Olympic downhill skier

★ Brit Selby, NHL and WHA hockey player

★ Anna Wallner, co-host of W Network's ''The Shopping Bags''

★ Ken Woods, President, Black Oak Brewery

References

1. "In Don Mills: Birth control clinic finds students wary," Marg Mironowicz, ''Toronto Star'', November 14 1972
2. "Right to free speech? Not for race hatred," Michele Landsberg, ''Toronto Star'', March 13 1981
3. "Teacher suspended after marijuana conviction," ''Toronto Star'', October 16 1971
4. "'I wonder what you're doing in a school' judge told teacher who had marijuana," ''Toronto Star'', October 29 1971
5. "A graduate of Don Mills Collegiate defends the school," ''Toronto Star'', January 20 1972
6. "Don Mills suspends 19 players: Beer on bus, school pulls out football team," ''Toronto Star'', October 21 1969

External links

★ DMCI official site

★ DMCI alumni site

★ TDSB's DMCI page

★ Former official site