West Hill Collegiate Institute

With population growth increasing, the newly-formed Scarborough Board of Education (a board forerunner to the TDSB) opened several new schools beginning in the mid-late 1950s. Before the construction of the new local high school, students lived in the West Hill area attended Scarborough Collegiate Institute (renamed to R.H. King in 1954).

The school, now known as West Hill Collegiate Institute began its construction 1954 and the staff was in place in May 1954. On May 31, 1954, SBE acquired additional seven acres for the new school. As its fourth high school in the borough, West Hill Collegiate Institute opened its doors on September 6. 1955, with 25 staff and 376 students along with its first principal, Harvey A.C. Farrow and vice-principal Francis S. Jennings. The original building was designed by the Toronto-based architectural firm Carter, Coleman and Rankin Associates.[2] West Hill was officially opened on December 14, 1955.

From the beginning, the original building consisted of 27 classrooms, a library, main office, gymnatorium, and cafeteria. Expansion of the school had resulted additional construction of 12 classrooms in 1959, followed by the auditorium in 1963, and the second gymnasium and swimming pool in 1971. By 1977, West Hill held with 2131 students with 100 teachers. Today, West Hill capacity can be up to 1407 students.

In 2002, West Hill was noted for beating rival R. H. King Academy 150 to 58 in a basketball game in which West Hill star Denham Brown scored 13 three pointers.[3]

From the 2009-10 school year, West Hill kept the Warriors moniker, but the Native American head, which was used since its inception, was replaced with a stylized Trojan mascot in 2010.[4]

West Hill Collegiate Institute was one of several Toronto high schools with low enrolment rates that were placed under Pupil Accommodation Review in 2015 by the Toronto school board.[5][6]

West Hill is located near the intersection of Kingston Rd and Morningside Avenue. Houses are to the west and Highland Creek to the north and east. It is next to Morningside Park, and close to the University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial College as well as nearby separate school, St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School.

West Hill shares the same design as Winston Churchill Collegiate Institute and has since altered overtime. It began with 27 rooms but the school underwent a renovation during the 1970s to create an additional 50 classrooms, four gymnasiums, a library (named after West Hill's first principal, H.A.C. Farrow), two studios for the Drama Department, workshop rooms, and a quad to enable creative learning opportunities for studies in science. The area's revival took over a decade, and won several environmental awards. In addition, it serves as working grounds for visual arts students. The school holds a swimming pool in its southwest wing, which is open to staff, students, and the community.

The Fraser Institute gave West Hill C.I. an overall rating of 4.1/10 for the 2016–2017 school year, when the school was ranked 663 out of 747 Ontario high schools.[7]

Notable alumni of West Hill Collegiate Institute include:

• Joan Barfoot – Novelist.[8]
• Rowan Barrett – Former St. John's University basketball player, top scorer in the 2002 Israel Basketball Premier League, and member of Canada men's national basketball team.[9]
• Denham Brown – Former UConn basketball player, drafted to the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the Seattle SuperSonics.[10]
• Delroy Clarke – Football player for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[11]
• Judith Cowan – Academic and writer.[12]
• Denise Donlon – Former Sony Music Canada president.[13]
• Norm Foster – Playwright.[14]
• John Hiller – Major League Baseball pitcher - Detroit Tigers
• Kyle Johnson – Former LIU Brooklyn and Great Britain national basketball team player.[15]
• Usman Limbada – Canadian professional cricketer in the Canada national cricket team.[16]
• Liam McMorrow – Professional basketball player.[17]
• Craig Russell – performer and female impersonator [18]
• Al Secord – Former National Hockey League (NHL) hockey player.[19]
• Jevohn Shepherd – Former Michigan basketball player who plays professionally in Europe.[20]
• Chris Stewart – Ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the NHL.[21]
• The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) – Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer.[22]
• Paul Tracy – Professional automobile racer.[19]

• List of high schools in Ontario

• West Hill Collegiate Institute
• TDSB Profile