North Toronto Collegiate Institute (NTC-SS)
Location: 17 Broadway Avenue Toronto, Ontario M4P 1R2 (east of Yonge Street; north of Eglinton Avenue). Former address (1971 to 2010) was 70 Roehampton Avenue.
WW2 Memorial at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. © Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch
Opened: 1910
Alternate or former names: North Toronto High School
Pre-1998 municipality: City of Toronto
Ward during WWI: Ward 2
Ward during WWII: Ward 9
Type of school: Secondary
History:
1910 Autumn: Secondary schooling began in North Toronto when George H. Reed (for 20 years the principal of Markham High School) gathered five students on the second floor of the old Town Hall (northwest corner of Yonge Street and Montgomery Avenue).
1911 Apr: Thirty pupils enrolled; second teacher hired.
1911 Autumn: School occupied the entire top floor of the old Town Hall and had four teachers.
1912 May: School board bought three acres of farmland (not far from the Town Hall and fronting on Broadway Avenue) owned by Messrs. Maguire, Rennie and McKinley. The two-storey, five-room high school was built “as far to the south on these properties as possible.” This made room for a large playing field. Architectural style was “Collegiate Gothic.”
1912 Dec 2: Mr. Reed to be principal. Official opening delayed two days by bad weather. Students couldn’t cross muddy Yonge Street from the old Town Hall until several months later.
1912 Dec. 15: The school became part of the Toronto school system with the annexation of the town of North Toronto to Toronto.
1914-1915: Four more classrooms were added to the original building.
1919: Twelve teachers; more than 200 students.
1921: Became North Toronto Collegiate Institute. Building was doubled in size with a two-storey addition south of the original buildings; 10 more classrooms and related facilities, a boys’ and a girls’ entrances from Roehampton Avenue; alterations to the earlier buildings. Further additions in the 1920s included a third floor.
1971: The formal address was changed from 17 Broadway Avenue to 70 Roehampton Avenue, probably because of easy access to the major pedestrian routes at Yonge and Eglinton.
2007 November: Ground is broken for a new school
2010 September: The school year starts in the new building and the address changes back to 17 Broadway.
Published history:
Centennial story: the Board of Education for the city of Toronto, 1850–1950, ed. H. M. Cochrane (Toronto, 1950), p.154.
Filey, Mike. “The Brief Story of George H. Reed, the Founder of NTCI” in North Toronto C.I. FoundatioNews, Spring 2000, p.3. (available at: http://ntci.on.ca/alumni/FN-sp2000a.pdf)
Web sites:
http://ntci.on.ca/
http://nt100th.ntci.on.ca/
http://www.ntcifoundation.ca/x/
Memorials transcribed:
NTC-SS-a: (WWI) Decorated bronze plaque with NTCI insignia: 1914 The Great War 1919 / In honour of the pupils / of North Toronto Collegiate / Institute who served in the / the Great War that freedom and / the Empire might endure. These made the supreme sacrifice: Two columns. First names followed by surnames. These gave their willing service. Three columns. First names followed by surnames.
At the bottom: Erected in grateful remembrance by the teachers and / students of the North Toronto Collegiate Institute.
NTC-SS-b: (WWII) A-K (part) Framed, under glass “Roll of Honour, 1939-1945” with NTCI insignia in the centre. Nine columns. Surnames followed by first names. Columns iv, v, and vi have headings “Killed in Action.” First names followed by surnames. At the top of column v is the heading “Missing.” First names followed by surnames.
NTC-SS-c: (WWII) K (part)-W Framed, under glass “Roll of Honour, 1939-1945” with NTCI insignia in the centre. Nine columns. Surnames followed by first names. At the top of column v is the heading “Teachers on Active Service.” Initials followed by surnames. Column v also has heading “Killed in Action.” First name followed by surname (one name only). NOTE: Author Farley Mowat appears on this list.
Riverdale Collegiate Institute (RCI-SS)
Riverdale Collegiate Institute, Toronto, May 2010. © Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch
Location:
1094 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4M 2A1 (north side of Gerrard, between Jones Avenue and Leslie Street)
Opened: 1907
Alternate or former names: Riverdale High School
Pre-1998 municipality: City of Toronto
Ward during WWI: Ward 2
Ward during WWII: Ward 1
Type of school: Secondary
History:
1907: Riverdale Business Men’s Association encouraged the Toronto Board of Education to build a school on Gerrard Street. Riverdale High School opened with four teachers. Original building had principal’s office, library, four classrooms and two science rooms. By second and third years, classes had to be held in the cloakrooms.
1910: first addition completed.
1914: name changed to Riverdale Collegiate Institute.
Further additions were added in 1914, 1922, and 1924, following the architect’s original plan for the expansion of the school.
Published history: Centennial story: the Board of Education for the City of Toronto, 1850–1950, ed. H. M. Cochrane (Toronto, 1950), p.152.
Web sites:
http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/riverdale/
http://www.riverdalealumni.ca/index.html
War memorials and old school façade preserved in the atrium of Riverdale Collegiate Institute. © Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch
Memorials transcribed:
RCI-SS-a: (WWI) Bronze decorative plaque: To the memory of / the boys of this / school who gave / their lives in the / Great War 1914–1918. Two columns. Column i – first names followed by surnames. Column ii – place of death.
RCI-SS-b: (WWII) Bronze plaque: 1939 (school insignia) 1945 / There’s none of these so lonely and poor of old / but, dying, has made us rarer gifts then gold. Three columns. First names followed by surnames (A-L).
RCI-SS-c: (WWII) Bronze plaque: 1939 (school insignia) 1945 / There’s none of these so lonely and poor of old / but, dying, has made us rarer gifts then gold. Three columns. First names followed by surnames (M-Y).
RCI-SS-d: (WWII) Framed under glass. Individual black and white photos arranged in seven columns. List of names (A-L) under each column.
RCI-SS-e: (WWII) Framed under glass. Individual black and white photos arranged in seven columns. List of names (M-Y) under each column.
NOTE: Riverdale Collegiate Institute’s five memorials list only those who died. They are displayed in the new atrium, which was added in the 1990s and incorporates the original school’s façade.