Scarlett Heights Entrepreneurial Academy (SHEA), formerly known as Scarlett Heights Collegiate Institute (SHCI) is a

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 franco ...

facility that was originally operated as a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, opened in 1963, and whose curriculum was broadened through a Student Leadership Development Program. This program extends the base curriculum. Although the TDSB closed the school in June 2018 due to low enrolment, the school facility is currently used to temporarily accommodate students from

York Memorial Collegiate Institute York Memorial Collegiate Institute (York Memorial CI, YMCI, York Memorial, or Memo) is a public secondary school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is administered by Toronto District School Board (TDSB), ''de jure'' located at 2690 Eglinton Aven ...

History and overview

Scarlett refers to

John Scarlett Sir John McLeod Scarlett (born 18 August 1948) is a British senior intelligence officer. He was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2004 to 2009. Prior to this appointment, he had chaired the Joint Intelligence Commit ...

, an early land owner and entrepreneur in the area. The school was originally constructed in 1962 under its working name, ''Hilltop Collegiate Institute'' at the cost of $1,311,800 ($ in dollars) when the

Etobicoke Board of Education The Etobicoke Board of Education (EBE commonly known as School District 12), officially known as the Board of Education for the City of Etobicoke is the former public-secular school board administering the schools of Etobicoke, Ontario, headquarte ...

approved the Hilltop application on December 19, 1961. The original design consisted of 9 standard classrooms, 1 art, 1 music, 3 science labs., a library, 1 home economics, 1 shop, 3 typing rooms, double gymnasium, cafeteria, secretarial, merchandising, accountancy, and business machines classrooms. Scarlett Heights Collegiate opened in September 1963. In the September 2006 issue of ''

Toronto Life ''Toronto Life'' is a monthly magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ''Toronto Life'' also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including ''Real Estate'', ''Stylebook'', ''Eatin ...

'', Scarlett Heights was named "Best For Business" in the rating of the "10 Best Schools In Toronto". Students at Scarlett Heights are required to wear a uniform consisting of a white and grey shirt typically with the school's name imprinted on it; with black pants. Entrance to this academy requires students to demonstrate their commitment to a high academic achievement. Students wishing to apply for entrance complete an admissions portfolio, sign a learning contract, adhere to the Academy's uniform dress policy, and commit to a social responsibility component in the curriculum. Optional attendance students must have a minimum grade 8 average of 70% to be eligible for admission to the school. Approximately 700 students attend Scarlett annually. Most students come from

Rexdale Rexdale is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 (Ontario), Highway 401 and east of Highway ...

Mimico Mimico is a neighbourhood (and a former municipality) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being located in the south-west area of Toronto on Lake Ontario. It is in the south-east corner of the former Township (and later, City) of Etobicoke, and was an in ...

, Islington, Scarlett Manor, Scarlett Wood Court, Dixon, Fontenay Court, Richview, La Rose as well as other parts of

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 ancho ...

. The school is served by many different TTC routes, including 73C Royal York, 52 Lawrence West, 58 Malton, 32 Eglinton West and 37 Islington. Like many other high schools, overcrowding on the buses does occur, especially the 73C northbound towards Rexdale. The school contains a large gymnasium, a weight/fitness room, a library, a cafeteria, an auditorium, four full computer labs, two partial computer labs, an outdoor soccer field, basketball court and a newly paved jogging track, they also share a field with Hilltop Middle School. The school is also known for holding many sporting events including tryouts for kids basketball teams like Etobicoke Thunder. SHEA, along with most schools in Toronto, is an ethnically diverse school. The largest ethnic groups represented in the school include

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

, Indians,

Afghans Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

, and many others. Feeder schools include Hilltop Middle School and

Dixon Grove Junior Middle School Kingsview Village is a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the north end of the former suburb of Etobicoke, and is bounded on the north by Highway 401, on the east by the Humber River and St. Phillips Road, o ...

Second life

Due to the fire at

on May 6, 2019, Scarlett Heights property is proposed to be used as a temporary home for York Memorial students beginning in the 2019–20 school year. Effective September 2022, York Memorial merged with George Harvey High School. Currently, the property remains vacant, although it was ostensily taken over by the TCDSB. All banners covering the original name and the school sign was removed.

Notable alumni

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

, 64th

Mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

(''December 1, 2010 – November 30, 2014''). *

Doug Ford, Jr. Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Cons ...

, 26th Premier of Ontario, Former Toronto City Councillor for Ward 2, Toronto

In film

Some scenes for the movie

Ginger Snaps A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavored with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavored with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes. The bri ...

(2000) and

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark ''Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'' is a series of three collections of short horror stories for children, written by Alvin Schwartz and originally illustrated by Stephen Gammell. In 2011, HarperCollins published editions featuring new art b ...

(2019) were filmed at the school.

References

External links

Official School TDSB ProfileOfficial School Leadership SiteOfficial School Brochure
{{Coord, 43.689530, N, 79.531381, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Education in Etobicoke High schools in Toronto Schools in the TDSB Toronto District School Board Relocated schools Educational institutions established in 1963 Educational institutions disestablished in 2018 1963 establishments in Ontario 2018 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct secondary schools Defunct schools in Canada