University of Toronto Schools

University of Toronto Schools was founded in 1910 as a "practice school", also known as a laboratory school, for the University of Toronto's Faculty of Education. As originally conceived and reflected in its present name, UTS was intended to be a collection of at least two schools, one of which would enroll female students. The original plan was to recruit 200 teachers and 1200 students, but financial constraints limited the number of students to 375 boys. The Memorial Cup was established as the junior hockey championship of Canada in 1919. The school defeated Montreal Melville by an 8–2 score in a single game playoff to qualify as the Eastern Canada representative at the 1919 Memorial Cup. They defeated the Regina Patricias in two games, by scores of 14-3 and 15–5. Memorial Cup alumnus Dunc Munro later played as a defenceman in the National Hockey League. UTS's first headmaster was H. J. "Bull" Crawford, who also taught classics at the school. Unlike most protests, the placards that the protesters held were blank; when headmaster MacMurray asked for their demands, a student famously showed him a blank sheet of paper and stated, "This is a list of our demands." The protest was front-page news in Toronto newspapers and was widely reported in the U.S. media, including the New York Times. At the turn of the decade, UTS developed a "New Program", which focused on completing subjects ("units") for graduation instead of matriculations. Change was also evident in the school's teaching staff: in the 1960s alone, 35 new teachers were hired, compared to only 15 hirings during the 1950s. In 2023, Isabella Liu, another teacher at University of Toronto Schools, received the Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence in STEM. Relocation and redevelopment The University of Toronto informed UTS in 2011 that it was rejecting its proposal for a $48 million refurbishment of its facilities and that the university intended to reclaim the property at 371 Bloor Street West for its own use. UTS had been given until 2021 to find and move to new space. However, in 2014, it was announced by the chair of the UTS board of directors that the University of Toronto and UTS were negotiating to maintain an affiliation between the two institutions and keep the school at its present location but redevelop the site so that it could meet the needs of both the university and the school. In December 2015, the University of Toronto and UTS announced a 50-year agreement that would renew the school's official affiliation with the university, allow UTS to remain on its Bloor Street campus, redevelop 60,000 square feet of its space as well as build a 60,000 square foot addition. The redevelopment proposal included the construction of a 700-seat auditorium that functions as a university classroom, as well as a double gym, a light-filled atrium and a black box theatre. The university retained ownership of the building and land but UTS paid for construction and operating costs. The agreement was subject to approval by the university's governing council. In 2017, UTS began fundraising for a redevelopment of the Bloor Street campus, under a campaign title of "Building the Future". The fundraising goal was $60 million. The redevelopment includes the creation of four new science labs, a media lab, an innovation lab and stunning visual arts rooms. In preparation for the redevelopment, UTS was relocated to a temporary campus at 30 Humbert St. The school remained at the Humbert Street location until the week of April 4, 2022, when it returned to its original Bloor Street campus location. In April 2024, a student was seriously injured from a 40-foot fall at the school. No further information was disclosed to the cause. ==Admissions==

Most students enter in Grade 7 through a two-stage competitive process. Prior to the admission of the class of 2014, the first stage consisted of a multiple-choice exam; those who passed this test in the top percentiles (usually 200 students) were invited back for a second written exam and an interview. However, starting with the class of 2014, the admission process consists of the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT), and for the top 170 - 190 applicants, a second exam (focused on Math and English) and an interview with multiple staff members and UTS alumni (using an MMI format). Ultimately, 96 candidates (48 boys and 48 girls) are chosen from around 350 applicants in the first-stage process each year; the typical cutoff for SSAT scores for Grade 7 entrance is in the mid to high 1900s for boys, and low 1900s for girls, depending on the applicant pool for that year. Some students are picked from Grade 9, with about 20 people getting in. This entrance exam is extraordinarily similar to the Grade 7 entrance exam, other than the fact that this time, it uses Grade 1-8 Ontario Curriculum. Some Grade 10s and 11s also have a very small chance to make it into UTS. ==Academics==

UTS is attended by students from grades 7 through 12, with 78 students per grade in classes graduating before 2001, 104 students per grade in classes graduating before 2009, and 110 in classes graduating thereafter. UTS has enriched courses and a specialized curriculum, which are designed to challenge and educate at a higher level than at most public and many independent schools. Because potential UTS candidates are required to pass a rigorous entrance examination to attend the school, its curriculum is accelerated on the assumption that its students assimilate information faster. For this reason several higher-grade subjects are taught at lower grade levels. For example, Grade 10 students can take an enriched version of Ontario's Grade 11 courses in introductory physics, biology, and/or chemistry and Grade 7 students take both the Ontario grade 7 curriculum and grade 8 curriculum. As well, effort is made to enrich classes with extra material and more in-depth discussions. Similarly, in some courses, Grade 8 students will take the Ontario grade 9 curriculum. UTS offers Advanced Placement courses, but does not have an International Baccalaureate program. In addition to the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, graduates earn a UTS Diploma, which signifies the completion of certain specialized courses and attesting to an attainment level beyond the provincial standards. UTS's rate of student achievement is commensurate with its selective admissions policy, both in academics and in extracurricular activities. Virtually all UTS students go on to university following graduation. The school's alumni include 22 Rhodes Scholars and two Nobel Prize winners: chemist John Polanyi and economist Michael Spence. ==Notable alumni==

• Brig-Gen. Donald Agnew, CBE, CD, Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada • Chris Alexander, former Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and former ambassador to Afghanistan • Jay Bahadur, journalist and author • Charles Baillie, OC, chancellor of Queen's University, former CEO of TD Bank • Henry J. M. Barnett, CC, neurologist • Rod Beattie, actor • John Brewin, Member of Parliament • Ian Brodie, Chief of staff for prime minister Stephen Harper • Timothy Brook, historian • Catherine Bush, novelist • J. M. S. Careless, OC, OOnt, FRSC, historian and biographer, two-time winner of the Governor General's Award • Michael Cassidy (Canadian politician), leader of the New Democratic Party of Ontario • Noah Cowan, artistic director • Jim Chamberlin, Chief designer of the Avro Arrow • Sujit Choudhry, law professor and former dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law • Irene Cybulsky, lawyer, former cardiac surgeon and head of cardiac surgery at McMaster University Medical School • Paul Davis, sailor and bronze medallist (racing for Norway) at 2000 Summer Olympic Games • John Duffy, political strategist • John Evans, CC, Rhodes Scholar, medical leader and former University of Toronto president • Robert Elgie, CM, MPP and Ontario cabinet minister • Mark Evans, rower and gold medallist in pairs sculling at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics • Cassandra Extavour, geneticist, classical singer, and Harvard University professor • Bob Ezrin, OC, music producer • James Fleck, CC, businessman and philanthropist • David Frum, journalist and author • David Galloway, CEO of Torstar and chairman of the Bank of Montreal • George R. Gardiner, OC, businessman and co-founder of the Gardiner Museum • Doug Hamilton, rower and bronze medallist at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics • John Ellis Hare, author and scholar of French-Canadian literature and history • Lawrence Hill, author and essayist • Greg Hollingshead, CM, novelist and winner of the Governor General's Award for Fiction • Thomas Hurka, philosopher • Hal Jackman, OC, OOnt, businessman and former lieutenant governor of Ontario • Dennis Lee, OC, poet • Pericles Lewis, literature professor and dean of Yale College • Simu Liu, actor • John Macfarlane, magazine editor • Thomas MacMillan, chairman of Gluskin Sheff and President and CEO of CIBC Mellon • C. B. Macpherson, OC, political theorist • Jack McClelland, CC, publisher • Claire Messud, novelist • Lydia Millet, author • Mavor Moore, CC, OBC, writer, producer, and public servant • Dunc Munro, hockey player, Stanley Cup winner, and Olympic gold medallist • Fraser Mustard, CC, OOnt, FRSC, medical pioneer and founder of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research • William Thornton Mustard, OC, MBE, cardiac surgeon • Kevin Pho, internist and founder of KevinMD.com • John C. Polanyi, PC, CC, Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry, 1986 • Dana Porter, Attorney General of Ontario and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for Ontario • Donald Redelmeier, internist, Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto, noted expert in medical decision making • John Riddell, Marxist writer and former leader of the League for Socialist Action • John Josiah Robinette, CC, OOnt, litigator and constitutional lawyer, Chancellor of Trent University • Edward S. Rogers Sr., inventor and radio pioneer • Robert Gordon Rogers, OC, OBC, 24th lieutenant governor of British Columbia and Chancellor of the University of Victoria • Ilana Rubel, minority leader of the Idaho House of Representatives • Peter H. Russell, CC, political scientist • Arthur Scace, CM, QC, lawyer and jurist • Donald Schmitt, architect • J. Blair Seaborn, CM, diplomat • Robert Seaborn, MC, Anglican Bishop of Newfoundland and Metropolitan of Canada • Jeffrey Simpson, OC, journalist • Charles Snelling, national figure skating champion and surgeon • A. Michael Spence, Nobel Prize winner for Economics, 2001 • Wishart Spence, CC, OBE, puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada • C. P. Stacey, OC, OBE, FRSC, historian • Harry Stinson, real estate developer • William W. Stinson, chairman of Canadian Pacific Railway and Sun Life Financial • Joseph Albert Sullivan, Olympic gold medallist, physician, and Senator • Geza Tatrallyay, Olympic fencer and author • John Tory, OOnt, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and 65th Mayor of Toronto • John A. Tory, former financial advisor to Ken Thomson • Paul Tough, editor at the New York Times Magazine • Garth Turner, Conservative, then independent, then Liberal MP • Jessica Ware, entomologist • Brig. William Denis Whitaker, CM, DSO and Bar, ED, CD, athlete, soldier, businessman, and author • Graham Yost, screenwriter of Speed, Broken Arrow, Hard Rain, and two-time Emmy winner == See also ==