Don Mills Collegiate Institute is a high school in the community of Don Mills in Toronto. It serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2017, 67% of students speak a first language other than English. The school opened in 1959.
Location
Initially, the board planned to build two separate schools on the site with a shared heating plant, but in October 1957, trustee Dorothy Bishop prepared a report which raised the possibility of saving money by placing the two schools under one roof, as had previously been done in Vancouver and Calgary. DMCI shares its building with Don Mills Middle School ; however, the two schools have different street addresses and the buildings are designed in a way that keeps the two schools separated except for a common library and connecting hallways. The auditorium located within the collegiate building is also occasionally used by Don Mills Middle School. Additionally, a number of rooms in the middle school are used to teach high school students, possibly due to the lack of available space in the collegiate half of the building.
The school also houses CyberARTS, a multi-disciplinary arts and technology program. It also offers computer technology and communications technology courses, as well as a comprehensive technological design program. English language classes are available to assist newcomers from all over the world.
Competitions and extracurriculars
Don Mills has been consistently represented in the International Math Olympiad, International Physics Olympiad, and the DECA International Career Development Conference. In addition, the school has also performed well in chemistry competitions, including the University of Waterloo's Avogadro and Chem 13 competitions, as well as the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad. Recently, Don Mills has also performed to a respectable degree in biology competitions, including the Canadian Biology Olympiad and the University of Toronto National Biology Competition, with students moving to national finals for the past two years.
DMCI's Reach for the Top team placed seventh at the Ontario Provincials in the 2010-2011 season, their best achievement in the competition.
YPS
In 1998, DMCI was asked by the Toronto District School Board to represent Canada at the inaugural Young People's Summit, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of G8 countries in Birmingham, England.
Northern Lights
Don Mills is also home of the award-winning Northern Lights Show Choir. Northern Lights is Ontario's longest-running high school show choir. They are under the musical direction of Cathy Whiteside, with choreography by Michelle Brewer and pit band direction by Jamie Bird. This group performs throughout the community and attends performances and competitions in both the US and Canada.
DECA
DECA is a leadership building international business competition with over 200,000 members internationally.
Notable facts and controversies
DMCI had the first brick-dust track in Canada.
In October 1969, school administrators suspended 19 football players for drinking beer on a bus ride back from a game. The school pulled the team from the league for the remainder of the season.
A 25-year-old English teacher at DMCI was suspended in 1971 after police seized 16 marijuana plants from the garden at his home.
The 1980 slasher horror film Prom Night was filmed at DMCI.
In March 1981, the school allowed the Canadian executive director of the Ku Klux Klan to speak to a Grade 12 history class. The principal later said it would never happen again.
In October 2008, DMCI was placed under lockdown for about four hours after police received a call about a possible stabbing. Police arrived to find a grade 9 student going into shock from stab wounds to the abdomen. A 17-year-old boy was arrested and taken into custody about half an hour later. The victim was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital and survived.
