Runnymede Collegiate Institute was completed and officially opened on November 11, 1927, although classes had begun on September 6 for 250 students and a staff of 10 teachers led by Principal Bruce W. Clark. The original Collegiate Gothic building was designed by Charles Wellington Smith and consisted of eight classrooms, three science labs, an auditorium, a library, a gymnasium, a cafeteria and a locker area on three floors. Significant additions to the building were completed in 1928, 1958 and 1966. The building now includes over 30 classrooms, a swimming pool, two gyms, computers labs and a large cafeteria. The school was built on land, which had belonged to John Scarlett. His is estate was called “Runnymede” after the field of Runnymede, where King John of England signed the Magna Carta. The school's colours, red and white, derive partly from Scarlett's name, and also from the fact that the school opened in the year of Canada's Diamond Jubilee. Owing to their red school jackets, Runnymede students came to be known as Redmen in the 1930s. Over time an Indian head logo was adopted to go with the name. The Redmen name and logo were retired in 1994. Runnymede Collegiate Institute celebrated its 90th anniversary on Saturday, May 6, 2017. Hundreds of alumni, former teachers, and current students attended the reunion. There were "decade rooms" where former students from each decade would meet up with their classmates and teachers.
Clubs
Runnymede Collegiate Institute offers a number of different clubs and extracurricular activities. To join a club, students must pay an initial "activity fee" of $30 and $15 thereafter for each additional clubs they join. Some of the activities are listed below:
The Robotics Team is the biggest club in Runnymede with over 60 students every year.
Mountview Alternative School
Mountview Alternative School is a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school that shares space with Runnymede Collegiate Institute and Humbercrest Nursery School. The school was founded in 1983 in the Keele Street Public School building and has approximately 100 students. Mountview was relocated to its present location at Runnymede Collegiate in 2018.
