Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute


Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute is a public high school in the Dorset Park neighbourhood of Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is owned and operated by the Toronto District School Board The school was named after Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and 1951 to 1955.
Although the language of instruction is English, 59 percent of the students do not use English as their primary language, and 26 percent have resided in Canada less than five years. In Spring 2007, there were 554 male students and 467 female students. Since then, the enrollment sits below 1000 with 644 students. The motto for Winston Churchill is Fides, Virtus, Doctrina which means "Faith, Excellence, Knowledge".

History

In the years after World War II, several areas formed new subdivisions and homes developed from farmlands. The Scarborough Collegiate Institute Board needed a high school in the central Scarborough area as two older secondary schools, Scarborough Collegiate Institute to the south and Agincourt Collegiate Institute to the north were filled to capacity.
As a result, on December 4, 1953, the datestone for Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute was set in place by the SCIB. The Collegiate Board later formed the Scarborough Board of Education in January 1954. While the school was named after the British Prime Minister during the Second World War, Sir Winston Churchill, the school's name does not have a Sir; it is simply Winston Churchill C.I.
The school building was designed by an architectural firm, Carter, Coleman and Rankin Associates and the building completed during the eight-month span. Churchill opened to its first 690 students on September 7, 1954 as the third high school in Scarborough under the founding principal, A. B. Alison. Initially, the facilities began with 20 classrooms, library, cafeteria, main office, and the gymnatorium. Today, Churchill now has a capacity to hold 1,353 pupils.

Crest

The crest for Winston Churchill Collegiate depicts an upper arrow shield with a maple leaf, open look and lamp of learning with two winged seahorses as supporters. On top of the crest, the inscription reads "Winston Churchill" with the letters "C" and "I" in between the shield with the motto "Fides, Virtus, Doctrina" inscribed on the bottom.

Overview

Churchill is host to many special events such as the Churchill Cheer, a December event where money is raised for charities, and the Cultural Connections Week. The school has a lot of extra curricular activities and participates with the TDSB night school program. The school also has hands-on and computer courses such as Auto Shop, Wood Shop, Electronics, Machine Shop, Computer Electronics, Computer Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, etc.
Winston Churchill Collegiate, as of 2013, is one of TDSB's flagship Adult ESL Assessment Centres in the east end, replacing nearby Highbrook.
Since the closure of Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute in 2000, the school's attendance boundary is now assigned to portions of south of Eglinton Avenue and east of the railway line.

Campus

Winston Churchill shares the same design as West Hill Collegiate Institute and has since altered over time. Located in the 15-acre campus in the three-storey, 202,216-square-foot building, it started with 23 classrooms and has undergone major constructions and renovations in 1955, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1973 and 1983 that currently composes of more than 75+ classrooms for science and academics, four gymnasiums, a cafeteria, a library, workshop rooms located in the eastern corner, a quad to enable creative learning opportunities for studies in science, the main office/guidance in the northeastern corner, the larger 904-seat auditorium, and the paved race track with the football/soccer field. There are 12 fire exits.
The auditorium, located at the southwestern corner of the school, was originally constructed in 1962 to accommodate the partially completed swimming pool but it was converted into an auditorium the last minute after the stage and seats were installed instead, although the plumbing systems remained attached.
The building is divided into three floors with the basement in the western corner, the main floor, and the upper floor in the north corner with each wing has block A, B, C, D, and E. Lockers are colored purple, grey, lime green, orange and teal. The main floor is easily accessible because Winston Churchill is one of the TDSB/SBE facilities not to have elevator access.

Leonard Braithwaite Program

The Leonard Braithwaite Program is an Africentric alternative program offered at Churchill targeting students regardless of race since the 2012-13 academic year. It is the first Africentric program in the TDSB Secondary level and the first high school in Canada to receive one. Oakwood Collegiate Institute was originally to offer the program but it did not materialized due to outcry of protests. The program was named after an Ontario MPP, Leonard Braithwaite.

Sports and Clubs

Winston Churchill C.I. has a wide variety of sports and clubs. Student Activities Council, Churchill Bull Dog Council are among the student clubs. There are also many sports teams at Churchill such as Basketball, Soccer, Flag Football, Ice Hockey, Baseball, Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby, Cricket, Volleyball, Badminton, and many others. After many years a football program has been reintroduced, with Churchill teaming up with Bendale BTI.

Colours and Mascot

The school colours were originally scarlet and silver, as an ode to the coat of arms of Winston Churchill, they have since been changed to black, white, grey and purple after a deal with the Western Ontario Mustangs team. The Churchill mascot is the Winston Churchill Bull Dog. The school has a big painting of a bull dog in the school's upper gym.

Notable alumni