John Polanyi Collegiate Institute (JPCI), formerly Sir Sandford Fleming Secondary School is a public high school in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It is housed in the former Bathurst Heights Secondary School building. It is located in the North York district, near Lawrence Avenue West and Allen Road in the area of

Lawrence Heights Lawrence Heights is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located north-west of central Toronto, in the district of North York. The neighbourhood is roughly bounded by Lawrence Avenue to the south, Yorkdale Road to the north, Varna Dri ...

community. Prior to 1998, the school was part of the

North York Board of Education The North York Board of Education (NYBE, commonly known as School District 13), officially the Board of Education for the City of North York is the former public school board for the former city of North York in Ontario, Canada. In 1998, the pro ...

. It is a semestered school offering a "full range of university, college and apprenticeship programs." The school was originally named after the Scottish-Canadian inventor of

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

Sandford Fleming Sir Sandford Fleming (January 7, 1827 – July 22, 1915) was a Scottish Canadian engineer and inventor. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to colonial Canada at the age of 18. He promoted worldwide standard time zones, a prime meridian, ...

History

Sir Sandford Fleming Secondary School was constructed and opened in September 1964. The building shares the same design as

Newtonbrook Secondary School Newtonbrook Secondary School (Newtonbrook SS, NSS) is a high school for Grades 9 to 12 in the Newtonbrook neighborhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Opened in 1964 by the then North York Board of Education to provide a closer school for ...

. The teams name was known as the Chargers. On September 6, 2011, the school was renamed to ''John Polanyi Collegiate Institute'' with the Fleming staff and students moved into the former Bathurst Heights Secondary School on Lawrence and Allen.

Origins of Bathurst Heights

Bathurst Heights Secondary School opened on September 4, 1951, as North York's second high school (the first being

Earl Haig Secondary School Earl Haig Secondary School (EHSS), formerly Earl Haig Collegiate Institute is a public high school with 2,048 students in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to being a public secondary school, the school is also host to the Claude Watson Art ...

) and officially opened on May 29, 1952. Six additions were made throughout the years and adult education was introduced before its program being abolished in 2000. After years of enrollment declining, Bathurst Heights closed its doors as a regular operating school on June 23, 2001. In 2004 the school was used in the filming of the Zero Hour episode: Massacre at Columbine High. In the 2000s, the

Toronto Catholic District School Board The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 40 prior to 1999) is an English-language public-separate school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North York. I ...

used the Bathurst Heights building to house the students from

Brebeuf College School Brebeuf College School (Brebeuf College, BCS, or Brebeuf) is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic Di ...

during re-construction and later Dante Alighieri Academy Beatrice Campus. The former school's building is now leased out by the

Toronto District School Board The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franc ...

to several tenants: * Swim camp * Toronto ESL Learning Centre

Notable alumni (Bathurst Heights)

Rosalie Abella Rosalie Silberman Abella (born July 1, 1946) is a Canadian jurist. In 2004, Abella was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman and refugee to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench. She retired from the fede ...

, justice of the Supreme Court of Canada *

Denham Brown Denham Washington Brown (born January 6, 1983) is a Canadian former professional basketball player. High school Brown attended Bathurst Heights Secondary School in Toronto, and led the school's AAA basketball team to the Ontario provincial champ ...

, basketball player * Paul Godfrey, municipal politician and newspaper publisher *

Urjo Kareda Urjo Kareda (February 9, 1944 – December 26, 2001) was an Estonian-born Canadian theatre and music critic, dramaturge and stage director. Kareda was born in Tallinn, Estonia. His parents fled the Soviet occupation of Estonia in the autumn of ...

, late theatre and music critic * David Shiner, municipal politician *

Bob Nevin Robert Frank Nevin (March 18, 1938 – September 21, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1957–58 and 1975–76. Career Nevin scored 21 goals as a rookie w ...

, late hockey player

References

{{Toronto High Schools High schools in Toronto Schools in the TDSB Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in Ontario Toronto District School Board