HISTORY AND TRADITION
For years after World War II, Scarborough became from a settlement to a modern suburb area that was built during the 1930s and 1940s. Midland Avenue Collegiate Institute sits on a unique 12 acre land that was once a farmers field.
Originally named Midland Avenue Secondary School, the high school opened its doors in September 1962 by the Scarborough Board of Education and was renamed in 1965 to its present name. The facility was built with the modernized features in the baby boom generation such as the wide corridors, circular cafeteria with the additions of the swimming pool as well as the library in 1966 or 1974 and the auto / technical wing. The school in its early years consisted of students coming from W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute and RH King Academy.
Midland was known for events for it's 37-year-life such as 1050 CHUM's Christmas Assembly from the auditorium, TTC's christmas parties, and others. On a controversial note in the late 1970s and 1980s, students staged a one day walkout, protesting the safety of asbestos removal from the schools interior.
Numbers dropped in attendance due to low birth rate of the overall population as with most schools in the Toronto area. The student body had also undergone a demographic shift from an influx of new immigration to the nearby area since the 1990s. However, a few schools in Scarborough suffered that similar trend due to several catholic immigrants who arrived transferred their children to the separate school system when full funding came in force. There were changes in the funding that 138 schools to be closed ever since Toronto District School Board was formed, since the building was large and population was small, it was placed higher. The closing can be summed up due to a trustee who was against the teachers and residents' wishes, a lack of civic participation, and a lack of knowledge and participation of new immigrants. In the end, Midland closed its doors permanently on June 29, 2000 and students were redirected to schools that served Midland such as David and Mary Thomson, Cedarbrae, Bendale, RH King, Jean Vanier (formerly Tabor Park), Winston Churchill, [email protected]. Porter, Birchmount Park, and Cardinal Newman.
In the aftermath, Midland Avenue CI operated in the 2000s as a private school named Bond Academy for a 10-year lease. The pool went private since 2001 by Olympia Swimming and the art wing by a day care called Not Your Average Day Care. Since the 2010s, Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies (SCAS), a specialized adult high school program opened in 1986 took over the site and has since shared with the Music Library (opened 2007 in the north tech room), SEYRAC Alternative School, and Safe and Caring Expulsion Program.
To this day on, a high school that is "lost" will live on forever. It will be someday reopened as a full-scale high school (or another school board will take over the site) in years to come.
Originally named Midland Avenue Secondary School, the high school opened its doors in September 1962 by the Scarborough Board of Education and was renamed in 1965 to its present name. The facility was built with the modernized features in the baby boom generation such as the wide corridors, circular cafeteria with the additions of the swimming pool as well as the library in 1966 or 1974 and the auto / technical wing. The school in its early years consisted of students coming from W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute and RH King Academy.
Midland was known for events for it's 37-year-life such as 1050 CHUM's Christmas Assembly from the auditorium, TTC's christmas parties, and others. On a controversial note in the late 1970s and 1980s, students staged a one day walkout, protesting the safety of asbestos removal from the schools interior.
Numbers dropped in attendance due to low birth rate of the overall population as with most schools in the Toronto area. The student body had also undergone a demographic shift from an influx of new immigration to the nearby area since the 1990s. However, a few schools in Scarborough suffered that similar trend due to several catholic immigrants who arrived transferred their children to the separate school system when full funding came in force. There were changes in the funding that 138 schools to be closed ever since Toronto District School Board was formed, since the building was large and population was small, it was placed higher. The closing can be summed up due to a trustee who was against the teachers and residents' wishes, a lack of civic participation, and a lack of knowledge and participation of new immigrants. In the end, Midland closed its doors permanently on June 29, 2000 and students were redirected to schools that served Midland such as David and Mary Thomson, Cedarbrae, Bendale, RH King, Jean Vanier (formerly Tabor Park), Winston Churchill, [email protected]. Porter, Birchmount Park, and Cardinal Newman.
In the aftermath, Midland Avenue CI operated in the 2000s as a private school named Bond Academy for a 10-year lease. The pool went private since 2001 by Olympia Swimming and the art wing by a day care called Not Your Average Day Care. Since the 2010s, Scarborough Centre for Alternative Studies (SCAS), a specialized adult high school program opened in 1986 took over the site and has since shared with the Music Library (opened 2007 in the north tech room), SEYRAC Alternative School, and Safe and Caring Expulsion Program.
To this day on, a high school that is "lost" will live on forever. It will be someday reopened as a full-scale high school (or another school board will take over the site) in years to come.