William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute

The school, originally called Southview Heights Secondary School, was built in 1959. The purpose of the school was twofold: to accommodate the skyrocketing number of new students in the area, and to ease overcrowding at Northview Heights Secondary School. The school opened in September 1960. It was originally slated to be a junior high school. A contest for the school's name was held and William Lyon Mackenzie, the first mayor of Toronto and leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, was selected. The school, in its inception, had 90% of the Jewish student population that lived in the Bathurst Manor neighborhood. It achieved very high scholastic results and in 1967 was ranked 2nd among Toronto's top high schools. ==Students==

The school is known for the high academic standards of its students. The Fraser Institute ranks it as the best TDSB secondary school. Over 95% of its graduating students are accepted into a post-secondary institution. ==Specialty programs==

MaCS Program The MaCS Program began in 1985; it offers enriched English, Mathematics, Science, and Technology courses for advanced students. Advanced Placement (AP) Program The Advanced Placement Program has been active at the school since 2002 with the AP Computer Science course (ICS 4U0). Since then, AP Calculus and Chemistry have also been added to the school's Advanced Placement Program. As of 2018 the only available AP classes were Calculus, Economics, and Computer Science FIT Program The school offers a national certification program known as the FIT Program that will enable students to earn industry standard certifications in programming and engineering, and in Media & Communications Arts. The program is made possible through the Information and Communications Technology Council of Canada as part of the Education/Sector Council Partnership Project. Usually, it is the students in the MaCS program that attain the FIT certification. Students who completed all the required courses are eligible for the FIT Plus Certificate if they do a Cooperative component or summer internship in a field related to Engineering, Programming or Media Communication & Arts. The following courses must be completed to receive the FIT Certificate: Computer Science (ICS 3U + ICS 4U), Cisco IT Essentials (TEJ 3M + TEJ 4M), Media Arts (TGJ 3M + TGJ 4M), and (for the FIT Plus certificate only) a co-operative education component. ==Sports==

The school's sports teams include: badminton, wrestling, rugby, boys' and girls' field hockey, boys' and girls' volleyball, boys' and girls' soccer, and boys' varsity baseball. ==See also==