Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute (Marc Garneau CI, MGCI or Garneau), formerly known as Overlea Secondary School, is a high school in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, Canada, and part of 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 ...

. It is the host school of the Talented Offerings for Programs in the Sciences (TOPS) program, a selective math, science and English enrichment program.

History

Overlea Secondary School, the third high school in the former suburb of

East York East York is a former administrative district and municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a semi-autonomous borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toron ...

, opened its doors in 1972 with 250 students as one of the first

open concept Open plan is the generic term used in architectural and interior design for any floor plan that makes use of large, open spaces and minimizes the use of small, enclosed rooms such as private offices. The term can also refer to landscaping of ...

schools in Canada. On September 4, 1973 it had 400 pupils and 42 staff. On October 16, 1987, Overlea S.S. was renamed 'Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute' after Canada's first

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Marc Garneau Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau (born February 23, 1949) is a Canadian politician, retired Royal Canadian Navy officer and former astronaut who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau was the minis ...

, who regularly visits the school and its students. It hosts the TOPS program and has offered pilot courses in Earth and Space Science, Science Journalism, and Cisco Networking. The school was built in the jurisdiction within

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a p ...

as opposed to East York. Before 1998, this school was part of the East York Board of Education. It is the only high school in Canada dedicated to helping students with careers in the space sciences.

Valley Park Middle School Flemingdon Park is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the city's North York district. It is part of the Don Valley East federal and provincial electoral districts, and Ward 26: Don Valley East (South) municipally. In 2011, ...

is the main school that feeds students into MGCI but there are other schools as well such as

Cosburn Middle School Old East York is a district of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the southern, urban, portion of the former borough of East York. Old East York is continuous and functionally integrated with the old City of Toronto, bounded b ...

. In 1993, MGCI was honoured with the

Roberta Bondar Roberta Lynn Bondar (; born December 4, 1945) is a Canadian astronaut, neurologist and consultant. She is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. After more than a decade as head of an international space medicine r ...

Science and Technology Award in recognition of the school's achievements in numerous student programs, particularly its

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) is a non-profit international student organization whose purpose is to drive space advocacy of space exploration and development through educational and engineering projects. Hist ...

chapter, which no longer exists. Renovations to the school in 1998 removed many of the open concept elements of the school's original design. Despite declining enrolment across the

, MGCI is one of the most densely populated secondary school institutions in the province of Ontario as of 2015, operating at around 131% capacity with a building that can hold 1323 students. High enrollment has resulted in around 12 portables occupying a large portion of the school's back field. .

Overview

Student life

There are numerous extra curricular activities at Marc Garneau. Some of the clubs include chapters of

DECA The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), headquartered at Fort Lee (Virginia), is an agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) that operates nearly 240 commissaries worldwide. American military commissaries sell groceries and household ...

, MGCI EcoTeam, MGCI Muslim Student Association, MGCI osu Club,

Student Council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

, ''The Reckoner of MGCI'', and the

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...

. The school has had several first and second-place finishes in the International DECA Competition. Garneau provides students with a wide variety of sports teams including: Football, Rugby, Basketball, Soccer, Volley Ball, Baseball, Field Hockey, Ultimate Frisbee, Cricket, Tennis, and an annual ball hockey tournament. The official mascot for the school is the

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

. Offered extracurricular activities include the Concert Band, Choir, Guitar Club, Music Council, Mock Trials, Reach for the Top, and Stage Band. Although there is no official strings program offered by the school, students play in the completely student-run String Orchestra. Drama students at Marc Garneau perform musicals and plays, and participate in many activities, such as the Canadian Improv Games and the Sears Festival. ''The Reckoner of MGCI'' is the school's newspaper. The Reckoner's website is updated several times a week and a print edition is distributed monthly. With a staff of over eighty students, the site's authors consist of volunteers from all grades who undergo an application process in early September. ''The Reckoner'' was named "Best Volunteer Newspaper" at the "

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

High School Newspaper Awards" in 2014 and "Best Electronic Newspaper" in 2011 and 2014. In 2015, The Reckoner was named "Best Electronic Newspaper" once again by the Toronto Star.

Recognition and awards

In 2004, ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' magazine ranked the TOPS program at MGCI as among the best schools in Canada, suggesting it was the top-ranked program for students pursuing science or mathematics in their later studies. 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'', ''Eati ...

'' also stated that MGCI was the best high school in Toronto for mathematics and science, largely crediting the TOPS program.

Notable alumni

Charles Khabouth Bechara "Charles" Khabouth is a Lebanese Canadian nightclub owner, restaurateur, music promoter, and hotelier. Controlling several Toronto-based hospitality properties and venues, he's been dubbed the "King of Clubs" due to his influence on the ...

- nightclub owner

References

External links

Marc Garneau Collegiate InstituteTDSB ProfileCanadian Space Resource CentreTOPS ProgramSchool Library WebsiteThe Reckoner of MGCI
{{Toronto High Schools Schools in the TDSB High schools in Toronto Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in Ontario