William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute is a semestered

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., ...

located in

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 ...

, Canada.Mackenzie TDSB School Profile 2008Toronto District School Board
Retrieved July 14, 2009. The school was opened in 1960 by the North York Board of Education. It is located near Sheppard Avenue West and Allen Road, close to Sheppard West subway station.

History

The school, originally called Southview Heights Secondary School, was built in 1959. The purpose of the school was twofold: to accommodate the skyrocketing number of new students in the area, and to ease overcrowding at Northview Heights Secondary School. The school opened in September 1960. It was originally slated to be a

junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

. A contest for the school's name was held and

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

, the first mayor of Toronto and leader of the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...

in 1837, was selected. The school, in its inception, had 90% of the Jewish student population that lived in the Bathurst Manor neighborhood.

Students

The school is known for the high academic standards of its students. The

Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a Canadian Conservatism in Canada, conservative public policy think tank registered as a Charitable organization, charity. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It has ...

ranks it as the best TDSB secondary school. Over 95% of its graduating students are accepted into a post-secondary institution. Additionally, 50% of graduating students earn an 80% average in all of their subjects (down from 66% in 2006, when the average was based on the top three subjects), qualifying them to become Ontario Scholars. In 2013, the students with the highest averages in the entire TDSB were Mackenzie students. The school is also known for its student-run organization, SWITCH (Solar and Wind Initiatives Towards CHange). Founded in 2006, SWITCH's goal is to make Canada more environmentally friendly through various environmental initiatives — the most prominent of which is the installation of solar panels and wind turbines on school grounds. Through this organization, Mackenzie has gained national media attention due to events featuring David Suzuki, Steven Page of the

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies (BNL) is a Canadian Rock music, rock band which was formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their Barenaked Ladies (EP), self-titled 1991 cassette becoming th ...

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

and members of

Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...

Specialty programs

MaCS Program

The MaCS Program began in 1985; it offers enriched English, Mathematics, Science and Technology courses for advanced students. Students applying for the MaCS Program must undertake an entrance exam and complete a comprehensive application package. The MaCS Program begins at grade nine and runs until grade twelve. Students may apply in grade 8 for a spot in the grade 9 class. Students may also apply in grade 9 for a spot in the grade 10 class, although for a reduced number of spots. A significant number of the school's students are part of the MaCS Program - there are 90 positions for students joining the MaCS program in grade nine. The acceptance rate for the MaCS program was 12.8% for the 2018–2019 school year. Students in the MaCS program can take Advanced Placement exams and start computer science courses in grade nine, which is a field that is normally not available until grade ten. The MaCS program was one of the first enriched math, science and technology programs created for secondary school students. Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute's

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...

program is similar, as well as the TOPS program at Bloor Collegiate Institute.

Gifted Program

The Gifted Program is an enriched program available to gifted students. The program begins at Grade Nine and runs until Grade Twelve. Five to ten percent of William Lyon Mackenzie's student population is part of the Gifted Program.

Advanced Placement (AP) Program

The

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

Program has been active at the school since 2002 with the AP Computer Science course (ICS 4U0). Since then, AP Calculus and Chemistry have also been added to the school's Advanced Placement Program. As of 2018 the only available AP classes were Calculus, Economics, and Computer Science

FIT Program

The school offers a national certification program known as the FIT Program that will enable students to earn industry standard certifications in programming and engineering, and in Media & Communications Arts. The program is made possible through the Information and Communications Technology Council of Canada as part of the Education/Sector Council Partnership Project. Usually, it is the students in the MaCS program that attain the FIT certification.. Retrieved November 24, 2011. Students who completed all the required courses are eligible for the FIT Plus Certificate if they do a Cooperative component or summer internship in a field related to Engineering, Programming or Media Communication & Arts. The following courses must be completed to receive the FIT Certificate: Computer Science (ICS 3U + ICS 4U), Cisco IT Essentials (TEJ 3M + TEJ 4M), Media Arts (TGJ 3M + TGJ 4M), and (for the FIT Plus certificate only) a co-operative education component.

Sports

The school's sports teams include:

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, rugby, boys' and girls' field hockey, boys' and girls'

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, boys' and girls' soccer, and boys' varsity

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Clubs and Councils

* Animanga Club * Athletic Council * Baycrest-Mackenzie Partnership * Biology Club * Black Student Alliance Council * Book Club * Business Council (FBLA and Target Alpha) * Central Arts Council * Chemistry Club * Choir * Composing Club * Debate Club * DECA * DND Club * Gardening Club * History Club * HOSA * Jewish Culture Club * Linguistics Club * Mackenzie Chess Club * Mackenzie Computer Programming Team * Mackenzie Creative Writing Club * Mackenzie Engineering Club * Mackenzie Science Club * Mac Radio Announcers * Math Club * MEDLIFE *

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

* Physics Club * Project Metropolis (school website) * Rainbow Club * Smash Club * Student Council * TED Club * The Flounder (school satirical newspaper) * The Lyon (school newspaper) * Tree Huggers (ecology and Eco-activism) * Yearbook Team * Wellness @ MAC * Women in Stem

Notable alumni

* Honey Sherman - billionaire, wife of Apotex founder Barry Sherman * Mark S. Fox -

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

computer science professor * Howie Mandel - comedian, actor, and host of Deal or No Deal. (Expelled, did not graduate) *

Mark Adler Mark Adler (born 1959) is an American software engineer. He is best known for his work in the field of data compression as the author of the Adler-32 checksum function, and a co-author, together with Jean-loup Gailly, of the zlib compression lib ...

- Member of Parliament (2011–2015) for the Toronto riding of York Centre *

Roman Baber Roman Baber (born August 9, 1980) is a Canadian politician who has represented the riding of York Centre in the House of Commons of Canada since 2025 as a member of the Conservative Party. Baber was the member of Provincial Parliament (M ...

- Member of Provincial Parliament (2018–Present) for the Toronto riding of York Centre * Chin Injeti - musician,

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, member of

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

-winning 1990s R&B group Bass Is Base * Avery Saltzman - actor, co-artistic director of the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company * Lorne Rubenstein - golf writer / expert * Jack Newman - pædiatrician and breastfeeding advocate * Karen Mock - human rights activist *

Lorne Lofsky Lorne Lofsky (born May 10, 1954) is a Canadian jazz guitarist. Considered a virtuoso guitarist, Lofsky is known for his collaborations with Oscar Peterson, Ed Bickert, and Kirk MacDonald. Early life and education Lofsky was born in Toronto i ...

- jazz musician and professor * DerHova - music producer, founder of the group Temperance * Jerry Levitan - Emmy-winning producer * Matti Friedman - journalist and author * Mel Cappe -

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian national order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the ...

(2002–2006) * David Bloom - former CEO,

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (colloquially Shoppers; named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in ten provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist ...

* Yank Azman - actor * Jeanne Beker - Canadian television personality and magazine editor * Herbert L. Becker - actor, author, magician, TV producer * Tinsel Korey - actress in the ''Twilight'' series * Ben Mink - musician and composer * Alice Panikian - Miss Universe Canada 2006 * Alex Shnaider -

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

* Rayne Fisher-Quann - sex education activist

References

External links

Official website

MaCS Program

Official announcements website

SWITCH Initiative

William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute on TOBuilt
{{Toronto High Schools Schools in the TDSB High schools in Toronto Educational institutions established in 1960 1960 establishments in Ontario