Runnymede Collegiate Institute (colloquially known as Runnymede CI, RCI, or Runnymede) is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The school first opened in 1927 and is operated 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 franco ...

. Runnymede has a population of 500 students and has a variety of course offerings ranging from computer technology to co-operative education, from modern languages to music. The motto of this school is ''Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum'' ("No Steps Back").

History

Runnymede Collegiate Institute was completed and officially opened on November 11, 1927, although classes had begun on September 6 for 250 students and a staff of 10 teachers led by Principal Bruce W. Clark. The original

Collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...

building was designed by Charles Wellington Smith and consisted of eight classrooms, three science labs, an auditorium, a library, a gymnasium, a cafeteria and a locker area on three floors. Significant additions to the building were completed in 1928, 1958 and 1966. The building now includes over 30 classrooms, a swimming pool, two gyms, computers labs and a large cafeteria. The school was built on land, which had belonged to

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

. His estate was called "Runnymede" after the field of

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, bordering Berkshire and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with ...

, where King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

signed

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

. The school's colours, red and white, derive partly from Scarlett's name, and also from the fact that the school opened in the year of Canada's Diamond Jubilee. Owing to their red school jackets, Runnymede students came to be known as Redmen in the 1930s. Over time an Indian head logo was adopted to go with the name. The Redmen name and logo were retired in 1994. Prior to 1998, the school was part of the Board of Education for the City of York.

Clubs

Runnymede Collegiate Institute offers a number of different clubs and extracurricular activities. Some of the activities that have run in recent years are listed below: * Badminton Club * Baseball (boys and girls) * Basketball (varsity, junior and senior) * Black Students Association club * Cheerleading * Cross Country * Dance Club *

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...

(Robotics) Team 1310 * Hockey (co-ed) * Celebration Club * Leadership * Math Club * Mental Health and Wellness Club * GSA Club *

Right to Play Right To Play is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to use play to empower vulnerable children to overcome the effects of war, poverty, and disease. Right To Play's work is connected to the UN's Sustainable Development Goa ...

* Soccer (junior and senior) * Swim Team * Tech Crew * Track and Field * Volleyball (Junior and senior girls, co-ed) * Yearbook Club * Muslim student association * Anime Club The Robotics Team is the biggest club in Runnymede with over 60 students every year.

Mountview Alternative School

Mountview Alternative School is a

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

to Grade 8 school that shares space with Runnymede Collegiate Institute and Humbercrest Nursery School. The school was founded in 1983 in the Keele Street Public School building and has approximately 100 students. Mountview was relocated to its present location at Runnymede Collegiate in 2018.

Notable alumni

Frederick George Topham Frederick George Topham, VC (10 August 1917 – 31 May 1974) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in Commonwealth forces. He was from Toronto, and was a medical orderly with the 1st Canadian Parach ...

- recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

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Dwight Drummond Dwight Drummond (born September 22, 1968) is a Canadian television journalist who currently hosts CBC News Toronto. He previously hosted ''Canada Tonight'' on CBC News Network and was also the anchor of ''CBC Toronto News with Dwight Drummond'' at ...

- news anchor on CBC Toronto *

P. K. Subban Pernell-Karl Sylvester Subban ( ; born May 13, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. Between 2009 and 2022, he played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and ...

- Defenceman,

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Jim Peplinski James Desmond Peplinski (born October 24, 1960) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played ten seasons in the NHL (all with the Calgary Flames) and won the Stanley Cup in 1989. He represented Canada at the 1988 Winter Ol ...

- Captain of the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The ...

during their 1988-89 Stanley Cup Victory *

Lori-Ann Muenzer Lori-Ann Muenzer (born May 21, 1966) is a Canadian track cyclist and gold medal winning athlete at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the Match Sprint. Muenzer was the first track cycling Olympic gold medallist in Canadian history. Born in Toronto, On ...

2004 Olympic The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Gold Medalist in the Women's Sprint cycling * James Milton Ham, scientist and 10th President of the University of Toronto *

Claude Bissell Claude Thomas Bissell (February 10, 1916 – June 21, 2000) was a Canadian author and educator. Biography He was the eighth president of the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1971. He played a major part in the expansion of the University ...

, Canada's youngest university president *

Charlotte Sullivan Charlotte Sullivan (born October 21, 1983) is a Canadian actress. Her credits include ''Harriet the Spy (film), Harriet the Spy'' (1996), ''Goosebumps (1995 TV series), Goosebumps'' (1996), ''Ghostwriter (1992 TV series)#The New Ghostwriter Myst ...

, actress * Dick Aldridge, Linebacker, Toronto Argonauts & Hamilton Tigercats *

Ted Woloshyn Ted Woloshyn (born December 1953) is a Canadian broadcaster, based in Toronto. He hosted ''The Ted Woloshyn Show'', mornings from 5:30 to 8:30 on CFRB-AM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 3 November 1996 until 15 December 2006. He hosted ''Saturd ...

, CFRB Radio Host *

Howard Moscoe Howard Moscoe (born November 28, 1939)https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/Action?SystemName=City+of+Toronto+Archives&UserName=wa+public&Password=&CMD_%28DetailRequest%29 &ProcessID=6000_1980%280%29&KeyValues=KEY_315373 is a former ...

, city councillor Dec 01, 2016 Bloor West Villager, https://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/6997819-runnymede-c-i-kicks-off-90th-anniversary-celebration-with-famous-alumni/ * Gayle Christie, former York mayor *

Katie Telford Katie Telford (born 1978) is a Canadian government official and political strategist who served as the 15th Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister from 2015 to 2025, under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She served as Trudeau's chief campaign advi ...

, Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau *

Annamie Paul Annamie Paul (born November 3, 1972) is a Canadian activist, lawyer, and former politician who served as the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2020 to 2021. She was the first Black Canadians, Black Canadian and first Jewish Canadian, Jew ...

, Leader, Green Party of Canada

References

External links