| Jarvis Collegiate Institute | |
| Address: | 495 Jarvis Street |
| Country: | Canada |
| Coordinates: | 43.666°N -79.3774°W |
| Motto: | Nil Decet Invita Minerva ("Nothing is seemly, unless with Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom") |
| Superintendent: | Mary Linton |
| Trustee: | Chris Moise |
| Principal: | Stephen Bain |
| Grades: | 9-12 |
| Enrolment: | 623 |
| Enrolment As Of: | 2019-20 |
| Colours: | Red, White and Blue |
| Mascot: | Bulldog |
| Team Name: | Jarvis Bulldogs Jarvis Centurions (rugby) |
| Lastupdate: | September 24, 2020 |
Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Jarvis Street where it is located. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of Education (TBE).[1]
Founded in 1807, it is the oldest active high school in Ontario. Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, founded c. 1792), was the oldest but closed in 2020.
Jarvis Collegiate was founded as a private school in 1797. In 1807 the government of Ontario, then known as the British colony of Upper Canada, took over the school and incorporated it in a network of eight new, public grammar schools (secondary schools), one for each of the eight districts of Upper Canada. Of the eight were four key schools:
These were the early days of Toronto, when the first parliament buildings were established and the first church and jail were constructed. In fact, it was only fourteen years earlier that Governor John Graves Simcoe arrived at the location on Lake Ontario, home to Mississauga communities[2] and site of important Indigenous trade routes,[3] to lay out the design of the new town he named York.
After the early period 1807-1811, enrolment started at five, rose to twenty, then fell to four - the school gained momentum in 1812 when the redoubtable John Strachan took over as headmaster. In 1839, Strachan became the first Anglican bishop of Toronto, living grandly in a home known as the "Palace" and signing his name (following the "first name / diocese" format customary for Anglican bishops) "John Toronto". He also founded Trinity College.
The original 1807 school building was a shed attached to the headmaster's house. Strachan raised funds for a new two-storey building, completed in 1816 on College Square, a 6acres lot north of St. James' Cathedral, bounded by Richmond, Adelaide, Church and Jarvis Streets. In 1825 the school was renamed the Royal Grammar School. Later the name was changed to Toronto High School. In 1829 it moved to the corner of Jarvis and Lombard Streets. When Upper Canada College was founded in 1829 it shared a building with the Grammar School and for several years the two organizations were essentially unified. UCC eventually moved to its own facilities.
By 1864, the three rooms of the schoolhouse were inadequate for the 150 students, so a new building was constructed on Dalhousie Street, just north of Gould Street, near present-day Toronto Metropolitan University. This was also the year of the founding of the Toronto Grammar School Mental Improvement Society, the predecessor to all school clubs. Later known in schools as "the Lit," the club was a literary and debating society. Originally exclusively for boys, the club began admitting girls in 1893. It was also around this time that the first debates between schools were held in Toronto, the competing schools being Parkdale Collegiate Institute and Harbord Collegiate Institute. In the following decade, once again growing enrolment necessitated a new building. As the school underwent construction between 1870 and 1871, classes were held in a vacant insane asylum at Queen's Park, where the east wing of the legislative buildings are located today.
In 1871 the new building opened at 361 Jarvis Street, just south of College Street, directly in front of Allan Gardens. In 1889, the annexation of Parkdale brought a second high school (Parkdale Collegiate Institute) to the board, precipitating yet another name change from Toronto High School to Jarvis Street High School. The school was given its current name, Jarvis Collegiate Institute, in 1890. In 1924 it moved to its current Collegiate Gothic building[4] designed by architect Charles Edmund Cyril Dyson.[5]
Jarvis Collegiate celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2007.
| Principal | Years | Born | Education | Other positions held | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1807–1812 | Fort Hunter near Amsterdam, New York emigrated to Canada 1781 | Archdeacon of York, Ontario Archdeacon of Kingston, Ontario | |||
| 1812–1822 | Aberdeen, Scotland emigrated to Canada 1799 | Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada First Anglican Bishop of Toronto | |||
| 1822–1825 | Scotland | Founding Headmaster Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School | |||
| Rev Dr Thomas Phillips | 1825–1830 | ||||
| Amalgamation | 1830–1834 | ||||
| Rev Duncan MacAulay | 1834–1836 | Scotland | |||
| Charles Cosens | 1836–1838 | Resigned to teach at Upper Canada College | |||
| Marcellus Crombie | 1839–1853 | ||||
| 1853–1863 | Ireland emigrated to Canada 1851 | Founding Headmaster Galt Grammar School Headmaster Newington College | |||
| Rev Arthur Wickson | 1863–1872 | Worked with the Christian Instruction Society | |||
| Dr Archibald MacMurchy | 1873–1899 | ||||
| Major Fred Manley | 1900–1906 | Jarvis Collegiate Institute | Put down the Riel Rebellion Fought at Battle of Batoche | ||
| Dr Luther Embree | 1906–1914 | Transferred from Parkdale Collegiate Institute | |||
| John Jeffries | 1914–1934 | ||||
| Fred Clarke | 1934–1939 | ||||
| Arthur Allin | 1939–1950 | Taught at Jarvis from 1913 | |||
| James T. Jenkins | 1950–1952 | Whitchurch Twp. | University of Toronto | Math teacher at Jarvis for 28 years | |
| Milton Jewell | 1952–1969 | Principal Malvern Collegiate Institute 1946-1952 | |||
| Eric McCann | 1969–1974 | Vice-Principal Danforth Collegiate and Technical Institute | |||
| Ann Shilton | 1974–1983 | Jarvis Collegiate Institute | Vice-Principal Heydon Park Collegiate Principal Greenwood Secondary School | ||
| Janet Ray | 1983–1989 | ||||
| David Wells | 1989–1994[6] | Principal Malvern Collegiate Institute | |||
| David MacDonald | 1995 | ||||
| Pauline McKenzie | 1995–2009 | ||||
| Andrew Gold | 2009 | ||||
| Elizabeth Addo | 2009–2013 | ||||
| Michael Harvey | 2013–2023 | ||||
| Stephen Bain | 2023– |