Bloor Collegiate Institute

Bloor Collegiate Institute (Bloor CI, BCI , or Bloor, originally Davenport High School and Bloor High School[2]) is a public secondary school located at the intersection of Bloor Street and Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in the Dufferin Grove neighbourhood and part of the Toronto Board of Education that was merged into the Toronto District School Board. Attached to the school is Alpha II Alternative School.

Bloor Collegiate Institute
Address
1141 Bloor Street West

Brockton Village, Toronto
,
Ontario
,
M6H 1M9

Canada
Coordinates43.659292°N 79.436994°W / 43.659292; -79.436994
Information
School typePublic, high school
MottoQuod Incepimus Conficiemus
(What We Have Begun, We Shall Finish.[1])
Founded1925
School boardToronto District School Board
(Toronto Board of Education)
SuperintendentMike Gallagher[1]
Area trusteeStephanie Donaldson[1]
School number5505 / 895407
PrincipalSusana Arnott[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment850 (2018-19)
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)Maroon and Gold         
Team nameBloor Golden Bears
Public transit accessTTC:
North/South: 29 Dufferin
Rapid Transit: Dufferin
Websiteschools.tdsb.on.ca/bloorci/

In September 2021, the school will be relocated into the refurbished building in the former Brockton High School. The school building located in 7.6 acres is now transferred to the Toronto Lands Corporation, a TDSB-managed realtor arm.[3]

History

The school was founded in 1920 as Davenport High School located in five classrooms on the top floor of the Jesse Ketchum Public School to form the first student body that became Bloor High School.[2][4] It later became Bloor Collegiate Institute in October 1925, and the original building opened in 1927 had 15 standard classrooms, one lecture room, physics and science rooms.[2][5]

In the 1970s, the school fielded sports teams in football, soccer, hockey, basketball, cricket, volleyball, rugby, cross-country running, track and field, and archery. Today, sports like Ultimate Frisbee, badminton have also been added to the roster. Teams compete in the "junior" level (grades 9 and 10 students), and the "senior" level (grades 11 and 12 students). There are intramural (within the school) and extramural competitions (against other schools).

In 2011, the school won more gold medals at the Toronto Sci-Tech Fair than any other school, and went on to send two students onto the national science fair. Both of these students were from the TOPS Program.

The school was named as the TDSB secondary school showing the greatest rate of improvement in the 2011–2012 Fraser Institute Report. The school is now (as of the 2014–2015 ranking) ranked at 16th place out of the 627 secondary schools in the province.[6] Over the previous five years, the school had ranked at approximately 78th place.[7] The improvement is credited in part to substantial improvements on the EQAO Mathematics Assessment, which is written by grade 9 students. "That is a tremendous result for a school of modest-means families, where ESL is a strong component and special needs as well," states Peter Cowley from the Fraser Institute.[8]

In May 2020, just a couple of months after COVID-19 was declared to be a pandemic in Toronto, the field behind the school was renamed Bloordale Meadow. This made the space more welcoming. As a meadow, this public space became slightly more popular with the local community.

Relocation to Brockton
Future home of Bloor Collegiate at Brockton, effective September 2017.

In October 2009, the Toronto District School Board passed the redevelopment plan on Bloor/Dufferin.[3] As a result, two schools were closed after the ARC review: Kent Senior Public School (2012) and West Toronto Collegiate Institute (2010).[3]

The Toronto District School Board will receive capital funding from the provincial government for the school's renovations.[3][9] Meanwhile, the Toronto Lands Corporation, a realtor arm of the school board, declared 7.6 acres of the Bloor and Kent properties surplus and is placed up for sale.[3]

Offers have been made by the Toronto Catholic District School Board to acquire a portion of the property in concert with the City of Toronto.[10]

The province has committed to contributing $20 million toward the development of a new school and community hub on surplus TDSB land at the south-west corner of Bloor and Dufferin streets. The province has proposed a 30,000-square-foot community hub for the area, which will include licensed child care spaces. A replacement high school will also be built on the site of Brockton High School, which has been closed for a number of years before it was demolished in 2019. The proposed space will be the new home for the Bloor Collegiate Institute and Alpha II Senior Alternative School.[11] It will accommodate approximately 900 students. There is no date set yet for the start of construction. For the time being, the space is functioning as a beach. Bloordale Beach has actual sand and, as it was created during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it is a site much praised for offering a great deal of space for social distancing.

School culture

In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the student body was predominantly composed of immigrants and first-generation Canadians of immigrants of mostly European origin (especially English, Irish, Ukrainian, Italian, Indian, Greek and Portuguese although some students were of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Jamaican, and Tamil background). Currently, 70% of students speak a language other than English at home.[7] Bloor students come from the neighbouring community as well as from communities across the city for the TOPS on Bloor Program.

The school motto is "Quod Incepimus Conficiemus", meaning "What We Have Begun, We Shall Finish" in Latin. (It is shared with Colonel By Secondary School, Gloucester, Ontario).

Student achievements
  • Tony Silipo Memorial Award: 2012
  • Recipient of Loran Scholarship: 2013[12]
  • Participants at DECA International 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
  • TDSB Top Graduate: 2014[13] and 2015[14]
  • Queen's University Chancellor Scholarship Recipient: 2014
  • AP Scholars with Distinction
  • Schulich Leadership Scholarship: 2016[15]

Sports

The School includes many sport teams.[16]

Clubs

The school provides students with academic and special interest club opportunities.

(some of the available clubs)[16]

Advanced Placement at Bloor

Bloor CI offers many Advanced Placement courses.[17]

  • MCV4U0 – AP Calculus AB
  • SPH3UP – AP Physics 1
  • SPH4U0 – AP Physics C Mechanics
  • SCH4U0 – AP Chemistry
  • SBI4U0 – AP Biology
  • CHY4U0 – AP European History
  • TGG3M0 – AP Studio Art: 2D Design
  • ENG3U0 – AP English Language and Composition (proposed for 2017–2018)

A further description of this program can be found on the AP Canada website. (http://www.ap.ca/)

TOPS on Bloor Program

Bloor Collegiate Institute houses the TOPS on Bloor program ("Talented Offerings for Programs in the Sciences").[18] The program was established in September 2009 after the board decided to expand the program at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute.[18] However, the programs at both schools are fully independent from each other. In order to apply to this specialized program, grade 8 students must pass an entrance exam covering math, science and writing skills. A student profile and a final grade 7 report card are also part of the application package. There is also a fee, which pays for all core field trips and classroom materials beyond the Ontario curriculum, allowing for additional enrichment. TOPS students have gone on to National Science Fairs, International Business competitions, and others, thus familiarizing Bloor CI's name on the international stage.[19] A Bloor TOPS student placed third at the 2012 International DECA competition in Salt Lake City as part of the Ontario DECA Team.[20]

Subjects required for TOPS on Bloor
Subjects required for TOPS on Bloor[21]
GradeSubjectSource
9Science[19]
Math
English
Geography
Computer Studies & Communication Technology
10Science
2 Maths
Careers & Civics
English
History
11Pre-AP Biology
Pre-AP Chemistry and/or Pre-AP Physics
AP 2D Graphic Design or Computer Science
2 Maths - Pre-AP Functions & AP Calculus
English
12AP Biology
AP Chemistry and/or AP Physics
English
Math 157 @ University of Toronto (optional)

Notable alumni
gollark: This is actually completely true; if politicians are unable to do simple research we're doomed.
gollark: ?
gollark: What, https://dhmo.org?
gollark: Oh, and the last one doesn't apply to the Vatican because bla bla bla heaven or something.
gollark: Also the Vatican, probably.

See also

References
  1. "Bloor Collegiate Institute (GR. 09-12)". schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. Secondary Schools: A to F - For King and Country
  3. http://www.tdsb.on.ca/Portals/0/Leadership/Ward9/P20131114BloorALPHAPresentationReducedSizeForWeb.pdf
  4. "About". Toronto District School Board. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  5. Hardy, Edwin Austin (1950). Cochrane, Honora M. (ed.). Centennial Story: The Board of Education for the City of Toronto 1850-1950. Toronto, ON: Thomas Nelson & Sons (Canada) Limited. p. 154.
  6. http://ontario.compareschoolrankings.org/SchoolsByRankLocationName.aspx?schooltype=secondary
  7. Connor, Kevin. "Bloor Collegiate Institute Credits its Small Size for Big Results". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  8. Kent, Simon. "Success at Ontario High Schools". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  9. Alphonso, Caroline (4 April 2014). "Ontario funds won't cover capital needs, funding not enough, TDSB head says". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  10. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/catholic-school-board-may-have-inside-track-on-bloor-dufferin-site/article18316096/
  11. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bloor-dufferin-community-hub-1.3887041
  12. http://loranscholar.ca/loran-scholars/?search=Bloor+Collegiate+Institute%5B%5D
  13. Chiu, Natalie (22 July 2014). "Parkdale Collegiate student graduates with 99.5 per cent average". Inside Toronto. Parkdale Villager. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  14. Rushowy, Kristin (18 July 2015). "Toronto's top students give so-so grade to studying". Toronto Star. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  15. http://www.schulichleaders.com/abtin-ameri
  16. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 2015-01-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. Institute, Bloor Collegiate. "Bloor Collegiate Institute > Advanced Placement (AP) At Bloor". schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  18. MacDonald, Moira (7 December 2009). "TOPS is a Toronto school gem". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  19. "TOPS on Bloor Program". Toronto District School Board. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  20. "Congratulations DECA Ontario". DECA Ontario. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  21. http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/bloorci/TOPSonBloor.aspx
  22. Goldberger, Paul (2015). Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry, Knopf, pp. 38-38.
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