Bishop Allen Academy

Bishop Allen Academy; officially known as Bishop Allen Academy Catholic Secondary School (alternatively as Bishop Allen, Bishop Allen Academy CSS, BAA, BAACSS, BA, Allen), is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada managed by the Toronto Catholic District School Board, formerly the Metropolitan Separate School Board. It is one of the board's 31 secondary schools and houses about 1643 students as of the 2017-18. The school building opened in 1963 as Kingsmill Secondary School (1963-1988) by the Etobicoke Board of Education, which later became the Toronto District School Board, and has leased the campus to the MSSB/TCDSB since 1989. It is located in the Queensway – Humber Bay neighbourhood of Etobicoke.

Bishop Allen Academy
Address
721 Royal York Road Toronto , Ontario , M8Y 2T3 Canada
Coordinates	43°38′02″N 79°30′17″W
Information
Former name	Kingsmill Secondary School
School type	Bill 30 Catholic High school
Motto	Gaudete In Domino (Rejoice in the Lord)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Founded	1989
School board	Toronto Catholic District School Board (Metropolitan Separate School Board)
Superintendent	Adalgisio Bria Area 2
Area trustee	Teresa Lubinski Ward 4
School number	549 / 689360
Principal	Lisa Tomeczek
Vice Principals	Katherine Akelaitis
CSPC Chairs (2019-20)	Maria Borreca
Staff	120
Grades	9-12
Enrolment	1634 (2017-18)
Language	English, French (French only mandatory for grade 9)
Schedule type	Semestered
Team name	Bishop Allen Cardinals
Gym Uniform	Red Shirt, Black Shorts, And White
Regular Uniform	Summer: Dark Grey Pants, Navy Blue Shirt, Nike Air Force 1s or similar     Winter: Dark Grey Pants, White Dress Shirt, All Black Shoes
Parish	Our Lady of Sorrows
Specialist High Skills Major	Justice, Community Safety and Emergency Services
Program Focus	Advanced Placement French Immersion Gifted
Website	bishopallen.tcdsb.org

History

View of Bishop Allen's towers on the southern side.

The Bishop Allen Academy site is situated on 14 1⁄2 acres on a ravine that runs parallel to the Mimico Creek. It was part of the original piece of land surveyed in the township of Etobicoke in 1793 by local developer Frederick Davidson which was set aside for the use of the government mill or the King's Mill located at the first rapids upstream from Lake Ontario and was later used for his 'Brookwood' estate. The house was eventually demolished in 1961 and the Etobicoke Board of Education constructed Kingsmill Secondary School (named after the Old 'King's' Mill) in 1962 designed by the architectural firm of Gordon S. Adamson & Associates on the 721 Royal York Road building just south of Royal York Collegiate Institute (now used today as Etobicoke School of the Arts). The school was opened in October 1963.

During a period of reorganization of the Catholic school boards after the extension of full funding to Catholic secondary school, Kingsmill was one of three schools to be declared surplus by the Etobicoke Board of Education in June 1988 because of low enrolment and was transferred to the Metropolitan Separate School Board on July 1, 1988 which reopened the school a year later in September 1989 as Bishop Allen Academy. The original school was composed of 135 students under its founding principal Pat Gravelle. The area had previously been served by Etobicoke's first Catholic secondary schools in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish; Michael Power school for boys and St. Joseph's, Islington for girls which, having combined, moved from the area in the 1990s. Before it opened, it was used at one point as the temporary home of De La Salle College for its 850 students in early 1989 because of the flood caused by student vandalism.

Bishop Allen Academy underwent four additions and renovations in 1991, 2000, 2005, and 2018. The exterior courtyard was enclosed with a roof to expand the existing ground floor cafeteria and a new chapel was designed by the architect Scott Morris. The school's chimney was demolished because of falling bricks.

Many immigrant families arrived in Toronto during the post-war years including many Eastern Europeans, especially Byzantine Catholic Ukrainians, whose descendants form a large part of the student body at Bishop Allen. The school is one of few in Toronto that has continued to grow during a period of falling student numbers as many families have moved to Toronto's suburbs.

The school is named after Bishop Francis Allen, an auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Toronto and former pastor of local Etobicoke Parish Our Lady of Sorrows which serves Bishop Allen Academy. Allen was instrumental, together with fellow Auxiliary Bishop Francis Marocco and Archbishop Philip Pocock, in the Archdiocese of Toronto's 1960s campaign to establish and enlarge Catholic secondary cchools in the archdiocese.

With the former Kingsmill building built just for 717 students, the school has 30 portables on site to handle the growing student population. In 2008, health concerns about portables that contained mould forced Grade 10 students to relocate to the former St. Peter (now Monsignor Fraser College Annex) for one semester. The board installed three computer labs on that site.

Overview

Bishop Allen Academy educates just under 1700 students with over 100 teachers. The school has several advanced placement (AP) classes. It also supports a French Immersion and Extended French program, as well as a gifted program called SAGE (Service, Awareness, Giftedness, Experience).

Originally using a blue and grey colouring scheme to match the outside of the building and as a contrast to the red and black of local high school Father John Redmond, the school now has a red and black colouring scheme. The formerly Canadian-style student council led by a 'Premier' with 'Ministers' was changed to an American-style council with a 'President', and later changed to the Bishop Allen Student Government (STUGO).

On the Report Card of Ontario's Secondary Schools, Bishop Allen Academy ranked 58/725 in 2013, and its average yearly ranking was 70/691. These rankings are based on Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test and EQAO results. Bishop Allen Academy received an overall rating of 8.1 out of 10 in 2012.

Building

Bishop Allen Academy has a two-storey 77,705 sq. ft. campus leasing the space formerly held by Kingsmill S.S. in an 11.5 acre land. It has 28 classrooms, four science labs, an expanded cafetorium formerly used by a quadrangle, a double gym that can be partitioned, three art rooms, a library, a guidance/administrative area, and a chapel. The school originally had a full-sized 400m race track and soccer/football field, but it was partially covered with portables; it has since been replaced with a 300m race track/soccer pitch.

Feeder schools

• Josyf Cardinal Slipyj Elementary School (Byzantine Rite)
• St. Mark's Catholic Elementary School
• St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School
• Our Lady of Sorrows Elementary School
• All Saints Catholic Elementary School
• St. Demetrius Elementary School (Byzantine Rite)
• Holy Angels Catholic Elementary School
• St. Vincent De Paul (French Program)
• St. Louis Catholic Elementary School
• Our Lady of Peace Catholic School

Notable alumni

• Jason Agnew, television personality and former host of Global TV's Brain Battle
• Nikki Benz, adult film actress and director
• Anna Cyzon, television personality
• Denys Drozdyuk, winner of So You Think You Can Dance CanCada
• Justin Rutledge, singer

See also

• Education in Ontario
• List of secondary schools in Ontario

External links

• Bishop Allen Academy