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Upper Canada College (UCC), located in downtown Toronto, Canada, is a private elementary and secondary school for boys, where students between Senior Kindergarten and Grade Twelve study under the International Baccalaureate program.

Founded in 1829, UCC is the oldest independent school in the province of Ontario, the third oldest in the country, and is often described as the most prestigious preparatory school in Canada, having many of Canada's elite, powerful and wealthy as graduates. Modelled on the great British public schools, throughout its history the College both influenced and was influenced by government, and maintained a reputation as a tory bastion from its founding. However, UCC is today fully independent, and the student and faculty populations are more diverse in terms of cultural and economic backgrounds. A link to the Royal Family is maintained through Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who is the College's Official Visitor, and a member of the Board of Governors.

History

Upper Canada College's has a storied history that parallels the growth of the city of Toronto, and the province of Ontario. Founded in 1829 by then-Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Major-General Sir John Colborne (later Lord Seaton), in the hopes that it would serve as a "feeder school" to the newly established King's College (later the University of Toronto), UCC was modelled on the great public schools of Britain, most notably Eton. Despite ever increasing enrolment, and its popularity with leading families of the day, both from the local Family Compact and from abroad, UCC was faced with closure on a number of occasions, threatened either by opponents to elitism, withdrawal of funding by the provincial government that once administered it, or by having no building in which to operate.

Originally located at the corner of King and Simcoe Streets, the College moved to its present location in Deer Park, which was then a rural area, in 1891. UCC maintained a Cadet Corps from around 1837 until it was disbanded amidst changing social standards in 1976; it was the only student corps called to duty in Canadian military history when it assisted in staving off the Fenian Raids in 1866. Through the two World Wars, a number of UCC graduates gave their lives and provided leadership. Historian Jack Granatstein, in his book The Generals, demonstrated that UCC graduates also accounted for more than 30% of Canadian generals during the Second World War; in total, 26 Old Boys achieved brigadier rank or higher in World War II.

UCC faced a major crisis when, in 1958, it was discovered that the main building was in serious disrepair, due to poor construction, and was in danger of collapse. A massive funraising campaign was started and within the year, and construction of the present building began in 1959, and was opened by Governor General Vincent Massey in 1960.

Massey had further influence on the College, in teamwork with principal Rev. Sowby, bringing about somewhat of a renaissance for the school. A number of distinguished visitors made themselves present, and leading minds were brought on as masters. Still, despite this enlightenment, as well as the fact that the school had been accepting ethnic minorities since the first black student enrolled in 1831, UCC attracted accusations of anti-Semitism and sexism; the atmosphere was described as reflective of Toronto in general, "basically Tory, Anglican and fantastically patrician..." The school culture tranformed through the 1970s as UCC offered assistance to the less affluent, and made attempts to attract boys from visible minorities, becoming "a small United Nations" that echoed Toronto's ethnic variety (today, students from over 16 different countries attend UCC), though up to 1990 there was still talk of anti-semitism. These aspects of College life came to light in James T. Fitzgerald's book Old Boys, published in 1994. The school, however, took the ensuing criticisms seriously, creating a more transparent institution.

In the decade following 1998 Upper Canada College suffered a series of scandals wherein staff were accused of statutory rape or of possessing child pornography. The first was Clark Winton Noble, who admitted to an earlier attack on a UCC student in 1971 when he was under trial for an assault against a student at Appleby College in 1998. He was never tried for the previous admission as the charges were withdrawn. Five years later, eighteen students sued UCC in a very public case, claiming sexual abuse by Doug Brown, who taught at the Prep from 1975 to 1993. He was found guilty in 2004 of nine counts of indecent assault, and was sentenced to three years in jail. The same year, Ashley Chivers, a teachnig assistant at UCC from 1996 to 2003, was charged with possesion of child pornography, none of which featured UCC students. He was convicted of one count and was given an 18-month conditional sentence. Former teacher Herbert Sommerfeld surrendered to Toronto police in 2004, after previous student Douglas Mackenzie accused him of sexual abuse at the Prep. Sommerfeld was acquitted due to what the judge called "vague and inconsistent" testimony by the plaintiff. The same accuser was also part of a case against Lorne Cook, a teacher at UCC between 1978 and 1994. Cook was found guilty of one count of indecent assault and one of sexual interference. In November, 2006, he was sentenced to house arrest.

Originally offering only secondary school education, UCC expanded to lower years with the construction of a separate primary school building, the Prep, in 1902, allowing for boys to be enrolled from grade three through to graduation. The College adopted the International Baccalaureate (IB) program in 1996, which augments the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Following this, grade two was added in 1998, and grade one the next year. Since 2003 UCC has offered places from senior Kindergarten to Grade Twelve.

Current events

Capital building project

UCC launched a decade-long $90 million capital building campaign. The plans call for the creation of two new arena complexes, an Olympic-standard 50-metre swimming pool, a new racquet centre (squash, badminton and tennis), a rowing centre, expansion of both the Prep and Upper School academic buildings, a new state-of-the-art turf football field, and an expansion of the Archives.

In January, 2007, the school announced the arena campaign, dubbed "At Centre Ice." UCC plans to raise $17.5-million for a new arena complex, with over $12 million already raised. The facility will contain one NHL and one Olympic-size ice rink.

Lawsuit

Though media attention has subsided, the lawsuits that began for UCC after 2003 continue today in the form of a still unsettled $19 million case against the school by Douglas Mackenzie, who is himself facing trial in the United States, as well as extradition to the United Kingdom, over sexual abuse of a minor.

Campus and facilities

Upper Canada College occupies an open, rectangular campus in Deer Park, near the major intersection of Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue, in the residential neighbourhood of Forest Hill, with 15 buildings on the site. The main building (the Upper School), central on the campus, and with a dominant clock tower, houses the secondary school component of the College, in a quadrangle form. Laidlaw Hall, the principle assembly hall attached to the west end of the main building, holds a pipe organ as well as a large proscenium stage; at the other end of the building is the Memorial Wing, the school's main infirmary; and forming the north end of the main quadrangle is the building containing the two boarding houses, built in 1932. Satellite to this complex are townhouse-style residences for masters and their families, and Grant House, the residence of the College's principal. There are also two structures north of the boarding houses: one a garage converted from stables, and the other, a small, two-storey cricket pavilion. The Preparatory School is at the south-west corner of the campus, near which is a home for the Prep Headmaster, and a small gatehouse. Currently, the oldest building on the site is the Parkin Building, completed in 1923.

The athletic facilities include an indoor pool, three gymnasiums, as well as, around the campus, an indoor arena (the Patrick Johnson Arena), a sports activity bubble, tennis courts, a sports court, a running track, and nine regulation sized sports fields. The two major fields of the Upper School are called "Commons" and "Lords", after the British House of Commons and House of Lords. In the summer of 2006, the UCC Oval (the main sports field) and running track were renovated thanks to an anonymous multi-million dollar donation to the school. The field was replaced by a partially synthetic astroturf/grass hybrid, while the track was made entirely of rubber turf. Several meters below the field, geothermal pipes were laid which provide alternative energy heating for both the Upper School and a future sports complex.

UCC also maintains its own archives with records, including those that outline the history of Upper Canada, the Province of Ontario, and the city of Toronto, dating back to the mid-19th century.

Aside from UCC's main campus, the College owns the Norval Outdoor School near Georgetown, Ontario.

Tuition, scholarships and assets

Upper Canada College is Canada's wealthiest independent school having an endowment of more than $40 million (CAD).

As of 2007, tuition fees range from $22,700 to $24,700 CAD for all day-boy students, and $40,500 to $42,000 for boarding. The institution is well-known for its challenging admissions standards, accepting approximately 25% of all applicants. To those, UCC offers over $1.4 million in financial aid to students in Grade Seven and above, providing needs-based assistance. The school plans to increase financial assistance over the next decade, and to help a more diverse range of students attend UCC. Scholarships include the McLeese Family Scholarship - founded in 1992 to assist international students in attending UCC and taking advantage of debating opportunities. Received a $1.8 million donation from Willis McLeese in 2003.

The College has a notable collection of artwork and war medals. This collection includes Canada's first Victoria Cross, awarded in 1854 to Old Boy Alexander Roberts Dunn, and a Victoria Cross awarded to Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn. These medals were given to the Canadian War Museum on permanent loan on May 17, 2006. UCC also holds a collection of original paintings from the Group of Seven, though several were auctioned by the College in an effort to pay for the lawsuits it faced in 2004. The school also holds an original Stephen Leacock essay, titled Why Boys Leave Home - A Talk on Camping, donated in 2005, and published for the first time in the Globe and Mail.

Student body

UCC is a non-denominational school with 1,000 day students and 110 boarders, who all study the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma programme during Grades Eleven and Twelve. From Senior Kindergarten to Grade Seven (known as Remove) students attend the Preparatory School (the Prep). Following this, a boy may move on to the Upper School, which consists of Grades Eight to Twelve. The Upper School years are known as follows:

• Grade Eight: Year One
• Grade Nine: Year Two
• Grade Ten: Foundation Year
• Grade Eleven: IB1
• Grade Twelve: IB2

400 boys are enrolled at the Prep, while the remainder are at the Upper School; boarding is only available to students in Grade Eight and above. The current student-to-teacher ratio is 18:1 in the lower grades and 19:1 in the upper grades.

Like several other Commonwealth schools, UCC divides its students into ten houses, though only in the Upper School (Prep students are divided into Forms). The house system was first adopted in 1923. There were only four houses until the late 1930s; there are now ten houses in all. Two of these, Seaton's and Wedd's, are boarding houses while the remaining eight (Bremner's, Howard's, Jackson's, Martland's, McHugh's, Mowbray's, Orr's, and Scadding's) are for day students. The houses compete in an annual intramural competition for the Prefects' Cup. Each House is also paired up with a "sister house" from Bishop Strachan School .

The school's student government, known as the Board of Stewards is comprised of 16 elected members of the Leaving Class. The Board represents the students at many events such as Association Day and Hockey Night, and relays their wishes during times of change or concern to the upper administration.

Government, faculty and staff

Upper Canada College is administered by a Board of Governors as a public trust, with the current Chair of the Board being Michael MacMillan, Executive Chairman of Alliance Atlantis.

The school's Principal is Dr. James Power, with the Preparatory School and Upper School headed by Donald Kawasoe and Steven Griffin respectively. The Upper School is in turn divided into the Middle Years Division, directed by Derek Poon, and a Senior Years Division, directed by Scott Cowie. There are 72 faculty members in total, 64 of which teach at the Upper School. Within the Upper School faculty there are 52 men and 12 women, 26 of which have advanced university degrees. 10 faculty members reside on the campus.

Curriculum

Upper Canada College educates boys from Senior Kindergarten through to Grade Twelve, in two separate buildings on the main campus. High School students complete the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.

International Baccalaureate

In 1996, UCC adopted the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in Cardiff, Wales. Today the entire curriculum is guided by the IB program, beginning with the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) from Senior Kindergarten to Form Six, which attempts to foster attributes characteristic of a "globally minded" student who inquires, thinks, communicates, and is knowledgeable and principled; an emphasis is placed on the development of positive attitudes towards people, the environment and learning. French, language, mathematics, science, outdoor education, physical education, the arts, and more are covered. Form Six and Remove are bridging years between the PYP and the Upper School, though the same courses are taught.

Once boys move to the Upper School in Year One (Grade Eight), they begin university preparation through a liberal arts program. The courseload includes mathematics, geography, science, English, dramatic, visual and musical arts, as well as computer science. All students must study at least one language in addition to English before graduation.

Students earn the IB diploma on top of the Ontario Secondary School Diploma; the additional diploma aids students in Canadian University acceptances. UCC boys average a point total of 36 in the final examinations, and 2 bonus points. The majority of boys take Mathematical Methods, as well, UCC pioneered and wrote the syllabus of the IB's newest, and still developing course, World Cultures. As an IB World School, UCC is in charge of internally administering both CAS, Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay.

Ethnic & gender issues

UCC began admitting ethnic minority students early in its history. The first black student enrolled in 1831 the first Jewish student in 1836 and the first aboriginal student in 1840; some graduates from the Ojibway peoples of Upper Canada having gone on to study at Dartmouth College and Harvard University.

Even though there have been ethnic minority students admitted to UCC, the school continued to maintain a reputation as a "bastion of WASP privilege" through the first 150 years of its history. In relation to this, diplomat James George, a student between 1926 and 1936, said upon reflection about his time with other UCC graduates in the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs: "If UCC really was a womb matrix for a bunch of WASP patriots, why did it produce so many internationalists?"

Other former students took a different view, some citing experiences of anti-Semitism. Graham Fraser, The Globe and Mail's Washington Bureau Chief, who attended UCC between 1960 and 1964, recalled: "Anti-Semitism was generally an unspoken undercurrent at UCC, but a couple of times I witnessed overt anti-Semitism.... Before 1960, Toronto was a pretty narrow, close-minded, little Victorian town and Upper Canada College reflected that reality."

Michael Ignatieff, who was a student at the College from 1959 to 1965 stated: "The UCC culture in my time was basically Tory, Anglican and fantastically patrician... The Canadian elite must be an open, permeable elite which is colour blind, religion blind and gender blind. There has to be an elite based not even on intelligence but character. They will mostly come from schools that bear no resemblance to Upper Canada College."

In the decades after the 1970s, some saw the ethnic composition of the school's enrolment as changing. In 1979, former Prep School Headmaster Richard Howard said in his book Upper Canada College, 1929-1979: Colborne's Legacy: "The growth of the enrolment has increased the number of boys from a wide variety of backgrounds and decreased the ratio of those from old Toronto families. The address list now reflects Toronto's ethnic variety and resembles a small United Nations." William Kilbourn also said that the College had been accepting, for many years before the 1980s, a number of foreign students, notably from Latin America and Asia, and that UCC had made a concentrated effort to recruit Quebec francophones into the student body. By the 1980s the school was offering financial assistance to the less affluent, and was making serious attempts to encourage boys from visible minorities to enroll. But, few applied, save for many Chinese, East Indian, and Japanese Canadians who were accepted into the Prep; in 1983 the numbers were 42 out of a total student population of 361. However, even into the 1990s some, while acknowledging the shift to a more multi-cultural student body, claimed anti-Semitism continued in some form. In 1990, The College Times featured an editorial stating that while UCC was no longer "a white-bread, right-wing fortress: it has become much more multi-cultural and (dare I say it?) liberal.... In my years at UCC I have faced anti-Semitism, ugliness, stupidity and bureaucracy."

By the late 1990s, the college was increasingly diverse, and in 1997 the daily recitation of the Lord's Prayer was replaced by the recitation of a prayer from different global faiths each day. In 2002, student Adam Sheikh created the Diversity Council to celebrate the cultural diversity of the school's student population. This council, a body of students independent from the school administration, organizes celebrations of Chinese, Jewish, and Ukrainian cultural events and traditions, as well as Canadian cultural events.

UCC's website states that currently "the College's boarding program welcomes Upper School students from all faiths and cultural backgrounds. Each year, more than 100 students from Year 1 to IB2 come together in this cross-cultural hub, where students benefit from each other's unique experiences."

Today, students from over 16 different countries attend UCC. The international students typically come from among the wealthiest families in the countries of their origin.

The 1990 College Times also addressed alleged sexism at the school in the article The School On The Hill by Greg Tessaro, winner of the College Times' Ponton Prize for Journalism. The article stated:

"The school fosters sexist attitudes that impair the students.... There is undeniably sexism at the school. The '88 Times had a running joke in the Leaving Class section, "Why beer is better than women", with examples like "Fact #19: Beer doesn't demand equality" ...A careful look through past yearbooks reveals a sexist viewpoint that would not be tolerated at a co-ed school. The school itself is the direct cause of this sexism. ...The school teaches sexism by example. ...In addition, on a staff of over sixty full-time teachers, there are three women. However, in my time at the College, the French conversation teacher has always been a woman. The librarians are all women. The secretaries are all women."

UCC did, however, appoint the first woman to its Board of Governors in 1971; Pauline Mills McGibbon. The College also states:

"We value diversity and are actively engaged in building a school that reflects the various backgrounds of our community members. We recognize that embracing a mix of cultures, talents, backgrounds, experiences and socioeconomic diversity will make the College a more rewarding place in which to learn and work."

Scandals

Upper Canada College has had a number of incidents in the decade following 1998 where staff were accused of statutory rape or of possessing child pornography. Only three ended in convictions.

Clark Winton Noble

In 1998, Clark Winton Noble ("Knobby") was convicted of sexual assault stemming from an event that occurred in 1988 against a student at Appleby College where he was teaching. At that time he also admitted to an earlier attack on a UCC student in 1971, when he was a teacher at the school, though he was never convicted of that crime as the charges were withdrawn. The incident occurred off-campus, and the student never notified the school of what went on until Noble had resigned from the College. After learning of what went on, UCC informed Noble's subsequent employer and the Toronto Police.

Doug Brown

In 2003, UCC was embroiled in a very public class action lawsuit brought by eighteen students who sued the school over sexual abuse by Doug Brown, a member of the faculty who taught history, geography and English at the prep school from 1975 until 1993. In October 2004, Doug Brown was found guilty of nine counts of indecent assault, while a housemaster and teacher at UCC. In January 2005, he was sentenced to three years in jail. An appeal is currently in the works. A resolution process was agreed upon to resolve the lawsuit. In a media release, UCC has announced that they "continue to offer support to those who were victims of abuse at the College, and are committed to a fair process for determining the school's responsibility to compensate those who were victimized by Doug Brown."

Ashley Chivers

In 2003, UCC graduate, and later teaching assistant, Ashley Chivers, then 28, who had been working at the school since 1996, was arrested on child pornography charges after police (acting on a tip from California law enforcement) found evidence of criminal images on his home computers. Chivers' duties at UCC included taking pictures at school events, though after a search of the 6,000 illegal images in his possession, Toronto police confirmed no UCC students, past or present, were evident. Chivers was convicted of one count of possessing child pornography, but not creating it, and was given an 18-month conditional sentence in October, 2004.

Herbert Sommerfeld

Former teacher Herbert Sommerfeld surrendered to Toronto police in 2004, after a former student, who himself was then facing charges of sexual abuse of children, alleged that Sommerfeld had sexually abused him when he was a student at the Prep School. After Mr. Justice Charles Vaillancourt of the Ontario Court rejected "vague and inconsistent" testimony by the plaintiff, the teacher was acquitted. However, Sommerfeld's accuser still has a civil suit pending against UCC in which Sommerfeld is named.

Lorne Cook

The same person who accused Sommerfeld of abuse was also one of the original complainants against former UCC teacher Lorne Cook, a teacher at UCC from 1978 to 1994, who was found guilty on October 12 2006, of two counts of sexual assault on UCC students in 1991 and 1993. He was acquitted of one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual interference. The judge told the court that Cook touched his pupils inappropriately as a way to control and abuse the students without their consent, saying Cook has abused his "significant power in a way that violated the sexual integrity" of his pupils, and not for reasons of sexual gratification. In the November 2006 sentencing, he was spared jail time and instead sentenced to house arrest.

Extracurricular activities

The arts

UCC runs a variety of extra-curricular theatre programs, ranging in scope and scale, with at least one large scale and one small scale production each year. Productions have included The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, The Alchemist, several variations of Hamlet, as well as musicals such as The Boy Friend and West Side Story. Smaller, student written and run plays are also produced, some of which feature provocative material, including references to drugs and sex, the on-stage smoking of cigarettes by minors, and UCC's first ever publicly performed homosexual kiss. The school awards the Robertson Davies Award for outstanding achievement on-stage.

UCC also supports a music programme, with education taking place both within classrooms as well as through numerous bands and music groups which practice extra-curricularly; including a wind ensemble, concert band, stage band, string ensemble, jazz ensemble, and singers. These groups, as well as individual students, have won various prizes, including gold at MusicFest Canada, and numerous levels of award from the Kiwanis Music Festival. UCC hosts the fundraising Youth 4 Youth concert, which also features bands and performers from underprivileged areas of Toronto.

College ensembles have toured various parts of the world, including Hungary, Hong Kong, and parts of Ghuanzao, China.

Athletics

UCC maintains teams for the following sports:

UCC teams compete in the CISAA and OFSAA.

School events

Every year the school plans and runs several on or off-site events, some of which are open only to students in certain years, while others to the entire student population, alumni, and their respective friends and family. These events serve a variety of purposes, designed to promote school spirit, for enjoyment, fund raising or for philanthropic causes. Many of these events are organized by the Upper Canada College Association, with the help of parent and student volunteers.

• Association Day is analogous to UCC's homecoming. Held since 1979, "A-Day," as it is informally known, constitutes the school's largest annual event, taking place over the last weekend of September, and culminating on the Saturday with a large festival, including competitive matches for all fall sports teams. Association Day is also used as a fundraiser for charities. Following the daytime events is the Association Dinner, attended by Old Boys, and honouring those celebrating their five year incremental (i.e. 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, etc.) class reunions.

• The Founder's Dinner commemorates the school's founding, and has been held for more than a century, typically taking place on the third weekend in January, to coincide closely with Lieutenant Governor Colborne's birthday. The formal dinner is held on the Thursday night before a four day weekend, given to the students to commemorate the occasion. The dinner itself consists of addresses, a keynote speech given by UCC alumnae, and presentation of awards.

• Ice Blue is an annual black tie fundraiser, held every January in UCC's Lett Gym for both family and friends of current or former students, and is the school's pre-eminent source of donations. It is held in conjunction with a silent auction of donated goods and services.

• The Battalion Ball is a yearly dance held off-campus, at venues like the Royal York Hotel or Arcadian Court. The event's origins lie in 1887, when it was called the "At Home," and was a UCC community-wide event, similar to a modern homecoming. The revival of the UCC Rifle Corps in 1891 resulted in students attending the At Home, in their cadet uniforms, and by 1897 a dance was held that evening, known as the Rifle Corps Dance. The event was titled the Battalion Ball in 1931, just before the UCC Cadet Battalion. By 1971, the colloquial nickname "The Batt" was devised, and in 1975 the dance was held off the UCC campus for the first time in its history, at the King Edward Hotel. After 1976, when the Cadet Corps was disbanded, school uniforms replaced the military attire, rock bands played, and the Batt became more of an end-of-the-school-year prom. Today attire is traditionally tuxedo for boys, and evening gown or cocktail dress for girls, and music is provided by DJs.

• The Stewards' Dance is UCC's fall semi-formal, and is typically fashioned around costume party themes such as "Great Couples in History." The dance takes place in late October, and is administrated by the Board of Stewards for all students in grades 10 and above.

• Hockey Night has been held by College since 1933 as an evening where the First Hockey team would play a feature game against one of UCC's rival schools in competition for the Foster Hewitt Victory Trophy. The game was held at Maple Leaf Gardens, thanks to the generosity of the arena's builder, Conn Smythe, and it's (as well as the then Toronto Maple Leafs) owner, Harold Ballard, both themselves Old Boys. After the closing of the Gardens in 2000, the event was moved to the Air Canada Centre and then the Ricoh Coliseum. Over the decades other games were added to the roster, including a game involving the school's Junior Varsity team, the final game of the house hockey tournament, and a game between Havergal College and Bishop Strachan School. By the early 1990s, pleasure skating, and Prep School games had been added to the evening's schedule.

• The Terry Fox Run is one of Upper Canada College's most successful events. The school is an official site for the run, acting as the starting, ending point, and event part of the course, which ventures throughout Toronto's Belt-Line. UCC's Terry Fox Run is also the largest site, and has also raised the most money in the world since 2000.

School programs

• The World Affairs Conference is Canada's oldest student run conference, and one of North America's most successful. It is held annually, attended by over 750 international students from 20 schools; providing a forum for students to hear opinions of leaders in the global community and discuss current and pressing world issues amongst themselves. Past speakers have included Ralph Nader, Stephen Lewis, Michael Ignatieff, Susan Faludi, Gwynne Dyer, and Thomas Homer-Dixon, all of whom have spoken on a variety of topics including Human Rights, Gender Issues, Justice, Globalization, and Health Ethics.

• Horizons is a UCC run program with which local underprivileged children are tutored twice a week by current UCC students, and has recently been expanded so as to include athletic games and training. The program also runs through the summer. UCC graduates studying at McGill University launched a spin-off program in Quebec, between the College Jean-Eudes and inner-city Montreal schools. In 2003 the program was honoured by the Toronto District School Board, and the program in Quebec won first prize at the Gala Forces Avenir. In 2006 the programme was awarded the Urban Leadership Award by the Canadian Urban Institute, which itself is dedicated to the enhancement of urban life.

• The Wernham West Centre for Learning is the most comprehensive and endowed secondary school learning facility in Canada. Created in 2002 with a $6.9 million donation by the Wernham family to fund the establishment of a department pertaining to the refinement of academic skills and assisting the students with learning disabilities, its primary focus is to facilitate improved learning skills and abilities, as well as accommodate for students with particular learning disabilities. During the late 1990s, the school incurred many requests for such a centre.

• UCC is a founding member of the provincial government's Ontario Model Parliament (OMP) program. Upper Canada College and St. Clements School students make up a majority of the Executive Committee that organizes and runs the Model Parliament. The three-day Simulation takes place in the Chamber at Queen's Park. The first OMP event took place in 1986.

• The UCC Green School is an environmental organization composed of student, teachers and faculty from all over the school. The Green School has won many awards for their work, especially in the domain of water.

School publications

The College maintains and administers its own publishing company, the UCC Press. The Press, which produces all school publishings, also once printed professional texts, novels and histories, such as those by Robert Lowell. Today, the UCC Press still prints the majority of school related publishings (newspaper, alumni magazines, financial reports etc), save the College Times. UCC still provides a very extensive quantity of publications, most of which are written, directed and printed by students.

• College Times, UCC's yearbook, is the oldest school publication in existence, having been printed without fail since September, 1857. Past editors include Robertson Davies, and Stephen Leacock.

• Old Times is the school's alumni magazine, which reports on the lives of Old Boys, and highlights recent and upcoming events.

• The Blazer is the college humour newspaper, though published under the strict censorship of the UCC administration.

• Convergence, founded in 2000, is the school's weekly student newspaper, which reports solely on school issues. Since its inception, Convergence has emerged as one of the leading student-run publications in Canada, receiving awards from the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail - most notably the award for "Best Student-Run High School Newspaper", which it has won several times. It has also received numerous donations from the National Post.

• The Green Report is a student-run monthly publication that focuses on the environmental issues of the world and the school, taking its roots in the UCC Green School. Founded in 2005 by UCC student John Henderson, the Green Report has featured many topics of discussion, including the Carbon Neutral Tournament, UCC and Bullfrog Power, and Car Corner. The Green Report is printed on 100% recycled post-consumer paper, and represents the start of a new environmental mindset at UCC.

Community service

UCC runs its own united program with Habitat for Humanity: twice a year, the school administers a fund raiser with which one full housing unit can be built in the downtown Toronto area. As well, over 50 students annually commit over 60 hours to the building of this unit.

Each year UCC also organises trips for 15 to 20 its Upper School students to various third world countries where they take part in community building services such as constructing schools, wells and homes, or aiding in conservation work. These trips usually take place during the March break. Students have ventured to places like Venezuela, El Salvador, Kenya, and China.

Norval

Upper Canada College owns and maintains an outdoor educational facility, Canada's oldest "outdoor school," located in Norval, Ontario. Though the College only uses a select few, the Norval property is over 450 acres (181 hectares) in area, through which much of the area's Credit River flows.

By the early 20th century, the city of Toronto was already growing quickly around the College's Deer Park campus, causing the trustees to begin an exploration into the possibility of once again moving the school. The present Norval property, north of the city, was purchased in 1913, and plans for a new college building were even drawn up by a Toronto architectural firm. However, due to the First World War and the depression, plans to move the school were abandoned in the 1930s.

Still, the property remained in the hands of the school, and it was developed into an outdoor education centre for UCC students. The first bunk-house was built in the 1930s, and in 1964, an arboretum was planted, while a modern bunk-house, designed by Blake Millar (Class of 1954), and which won him a Massey Medal for excellence in architecture in 1967, was constructed. Stephen House not only contains residential spaces for students and staff, but also a classroom/laboratory. There is also an older structure that was the original bunk-house, and a bungalow-style residence for the property caretaker. In 2003, several log cabins were built for writing retreats.

Norval's main focus of management is toward improved diversity of forest cover and the related protection of wildlife and the Credit River watershed, aiding the school's primary function of providing outdoor learning programs to students; other Ontario schools use the property and its facilities during the weeks when UCC students are not in residence. Throughout the school year, entire classes, houses, or portions of certain grades will have a several day stay at Norval, where they will learn about a range of topics including environmental systems, sustainability, archeology, plant types, bee keeping, river study, and survival, in addition to participating in trust building exercises, meditation, and athletic games.

In recent years, the school has come under criticism for keeping the entirety of the increasingly taxed Norval property, while so little of it is actually used; this argument is gaining increased credence in light of the consistent yearly tuition hikes, and mounting legal costs. The school has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of selling the property, citing not only rapidly increasing land value, but also an intention to hold it in order to prevent indsutrial development of the property, which contains a variety of wildlife, including spotted deer and hares.

Norval hosts an "Open House" each season with the spring "Maple Madness" focusing on the site's traditional maple syrup manufacturing.

Affiliations

It is a common misconception that the Bishop Strachan School (BSS), located three blocks from UCC, is UCC's sister school. In fact, BSS's historical brother school is Trinity College School in Port Hope, owing to their shared Anglican High Church origins. UCC students work on joint projects with students of other nearby girls' schools, including St. Clement's School (SCS), Havergal College, The Bishop Strachan School, and Branksome Hall.

Lower Canada College, a co-educational private school in Montreal, Quebec, is not affiliated with UCC.

The College is a member of the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario (CIS), the Canadian Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), the Secondary School Admission Test (SAT) Board, The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) and an associate member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and the Principal is a member of the Headmasters Conference (HMC) in the UK. Furthermore, UCC plays a leading role in International Boys' School Coalition (IBSC) and the Toronto Boys' School Coalition (TBSC).

Upper Canada College also remains one of the "Little Big Four."

Alumni

The College states that 100% of all graduates go on to post-secondary schooling. Though the career paths of the College's alumni are varied, UCC has a reputation for educating many of Canada's powerful, elite and wealthy. As is common in single-sex male schools, UCC's alumni are known as "Old Boys".

UCC Association

The Upper Canada College Old Boys' Association was established in 1891, on the day of the closure of the College's Russell Square campus. The name was changed to the Upper Canada College Association in 1969, when the association expanded its mandate to include parents, faculty, staff and friends of the College.

The Association's purpose is to "preserve and perpetuate the associations and traditions of the College." Managed by an eight person Board of Directors, elected annually by members at the Annual Meeting, the Board meets six times annually to discuss matters facing the College and plan Association events. Four of the 17 members of the College's Board of Governors come from the Association board, including the President of the Association, and serve on the larger body for a three-year period. The Association has an office at the College, and is run by Old Boy Paul Winnell.

The UCC Association Speakers Series and the Common Ties Mentorship Program, established to link successful young Old Boys with students preparing to take on a career in a similar field, are also run by the UCC Association. The group also organizes Old Boy reunions all over the world, through the branches that it operates in fifteen locations outside Toronto, n Canada, the United States, UK, China and Hungary. The local branch president organizes events for all members of the Association, which are held either annually or bi-annually in the relevant location. Branch Presidents also act as the Association's representative in each location, helping members re-locating in the area make contact with other Association members and helping find "lost" Association members. In the summer of 2006, UCC created a social network hosted on the school's homepage.

Noted alumni

The school has produced one Governor General, five Lieutenant Governors and three Premiers. At least nineteen graduates have been appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, twenty-four have been named Rhodes Scholars, nine are Olympic medallists, and at least five have received the Order of the British Empire. No less than thirty seven have received the Order of Canada since the award's inception in 1967.

Examples include:

• Henry Duncan Graham (Harry) Crerar - Chief general of the Canadian army during World War II
• Robertson Davies - Notable author (also a faculty member). Fictionalized UCC as "Colborne College" in his novels, and recipient of the Governor General's Award for The Manticore
• Eaton Family - Founders Eaton's, formerly Canada's largest retailer, and eponym of the Eaton Centre
• Michael Ignatieff - noted academic, Harvard University professor, Member of Parliament, and runner-up in the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
• Stephen Lewis - Noted politician, broadcaster and the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
• Ernest McCulloch - accredited with the discovery of the Stem Cell
• Ted Rogers - Canada's ninth wealthiest man, Chairman of Rogers Communications, full owner of the Toronto Blue Jays, and eponym of the Rogers Centre
• Lord David Thomson - Canada's wealthiest man, sixth wealthiest in the world, and Chairman of Thomson Corporation
• The late Lord Kenneth Thomson - Formerly Canada's wealthiest man and father of David Thomson
• Galen Weston Canada's second wealthiest man, and Chairman of the George Weston Foods Limited

Noted faculty

Many leading intellectuals and notable personalities have taught at UCC. They include:

• Robertson Davies - CC, FRSC, FRSL, noted author
• David Gilmour - Author, broadcast journalist
• Rev. Charles Gordon - Noted author
• Stephen Leacock - PhD, FRSC
• J.P.M.B. "Jock" de Marbois - CBE, Légion d'honneur, commodore of Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy
• Sir George Parkin - CMG, KCMG, leader of the Imperial Federation League and First Secertary of the Rhodes Scholarship
• Sir Edward Peacock - Receiver General to the Duchy of Cornwall and the Director of the Bank of England
• Henry Scadding - Canadian intellectual
• Arnold Walter - OC, Austrian musician, founder of the Canadian Opera Company, Director of Music at UofT

Ontario Heritage

The Ontario Heritage Trust, a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Culture, recently erected three plaques outlining UCC's presence and history in Toronto. One exists on the north-east corner of 20 Duncan Street (the only existing building from the College's original campus), the second at the south-east corner of 212 King Street West, and one at the main entrance of the present UCC campus at 200 Lonsdale Road.

External links

• Upper Canada College
• Ontario Plaques - Upper Canada College
• Location of the school with links to photos and web pages related to the area

Footnotes

1. Registered Charity Information Return - Total assets for Fiscal Period End 2006-06-30
2. The Upper Canada College Foundation at Canada Revenue Agency
3. Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail:UCC's watershed moment; September 11, 2004
   Conrad Black of Crossharbour
   Valpy, Michael; Globe and Mail: Being Michael Ignatieff; August 28, 2006
   CBC News: Verdict expected Friday in UCC case; October 8, 2004
   Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: Judge gives green light to UCC sexual abuse suit; December 31, 2003
   CBC News: Former UCC teacher denies sexual abuse; October 5, 2004
   Toronto Star: Ex-UCC Teacher Sorry (Moved as of February 12, 2007
   PlayFloorball: Upper Canada College starts Floorball program
   Michael Ignatieff website: Maclean's Profiles Michael; November 16, 2006
   Bonokoski, Mark; Toronto Sun: Another former teacher from prestigious Upper Canada College goes on trial on school-related sex assault charges tomorrow; September 10, 2006
4. ^ Upper Canada College: History
5. ^ Howard, Richard; Upper Canada College, 1829-1979: Colborne's Legacy; Macmillan Company of Canada, 1979
6. Killbourn, Pg. 168
7. Killbourn, William; Toronto Remembered; Soddart Publishing, Toronto; 1984
8. Borrows, John; "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" The Diversification of Canadian Law Schools
9. ^ James T. Fitzgerald website: Fitzgerald, James; Old Boys: The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College; exerpts
10. Howard, pg. 264
11. Upper Canada College: History
12. Sherman, Motek; College Times: Editorial; 1990
13. James T. Fitzgerald website: Ted Schmidt - Full Review
14. James T. Fitzgerald website: Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: What would you say if I seduced you?; August 25, 2001
15. Appleby, Timothy and Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: Sexual predator at private schools pardoned; October 19, 2006
16. ^ CBC News: Ontario private school teacher found guilty of abusing boys; October 8, 2004
17. Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: Child porn charges laid against teaching assistant; June 11, 2003
18. Bradley, Kim; Toronto Sun: UCC aide sentenced; October 15, 2004
19. ^ Appleby, Timothy; Globe and Mail: Retired UCC teacher guilty in sex case; October 13, 2006
20. CBC News: Retired UCC instructor acquitted of sexual abuse charges; December 6, 2005
21. Moore, Oliver; Globe and Mail: Teacher acquitted in UCC sex case; December 6, 2005
22. Pazzano, Sam; Toronto Sun: No jail for teacher in sex assault; November 23, 2006
23. ^ Upper Canada College: Then & Now
24. Old Ties: At Centre Ice': UCC launches new arena campaign; January, 2007
25. Bonokoski, Mark; Toronto Sun: Another former teacher from prestigious Upper Canada College goes on trial on school-related sex assault charges tomorrow; September 10, 2006
26. Bonokoski, Mark; Toronto Sun: The worst case; December 2, 2005
27. Upper Canada College: Archives
28. Centre for Social Justice: Consider the Cost: Privatizing Education Public Money for Private Schools
29. Current Times: The Endowment; December, 2005; Pg. 7
30. Upper Canada College: Admissions
31. Upper Canada College: Admission FAQs
32. ^ Upper Canada College: UCC at a glance
33. Upper Canada College: Financial Aid
34. Aster, Andrea; Old Times, Heroes' Welcome; Summer/Fall 2006; pg. 7
35. CTV News: UCC selling assets to fund assault settlement; March 10, 2005
36. Leacock, Stephen; Globe and Mail: Stephen Leacock's hidden treasure; July 1, 2005
37. Upper Canada College: International Baccalaureate
38. Upper Canada College: Preparatory School
39. UCC press release; November 29, 2006
40. Thomson Peterson's School Overview: Upper Canada College
41. ^ Upper Canada College: Preparatory School Curriculum
42. ^ Upper Canada College: Upper School Course Descriptions
43. Upper Canada College: Upper School International Baccalaureate
44. Borrows, John; "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" The Diversification of Canadian Law Schools
45. Kirshner, Sheldon; Canadian Jewish News: Peter Newman looks back on a productive life
46. Howard, Richard; Upper Canada College, 1829-1979: Colborne's Legacy; Macmillan Company of Canada; 1979; pg. 264
47. Killbourn, William; Toronto Remembered; Soddart Publishing, Toronto; 1984; Pg. 190
48. Sherman, Motek; College Times: Editorial; 1990
49. Harmony Scholarship
50. Upper Canada College: History
51. Tessaro, Greg; College Times: The School On The Hill; 1990; Pg. 154-155
52. Upper Canada College: Career Opportunities
53. James T. Fitzgerald website: Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: What would you say if I seduced you?; August 25, 2001
54. Appleby, Timothy and Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: Sexual predator at private schools pardoned; October 19, 2006
55. Power, Jim; Open letter to UCC community, re. National Parole Board's ruling; October 20, 2006
56. Cheney, Peter; Globe and Mail: Child porn charges laid against teaching assistant; June 11, 2003
57. Bradley, Kim; Toronto Sun: UCC aide sentenced; October 15, 2004
58. CBC News: Retired UCC instructor acquitted of sexual abuse charges; December 6, 2005
59. Moore, Oliver; Globe and Mail: Teacher acquitted in UCC sex case; December 6, 2005
60. Pazzano, Sam; Toronto Sun: No jail for teacher in sex assault; November 23, 2006
61. Current Times: Jazz Ensemble captures double gold
62. ^ Upper Canada College: Old Boys Alumni FAQs
63. Jerjian, Edward; Old Times, Remember When...; Summer/Fall 2006; pg. 9
64. Aster, Andrea; Current Times: UCC goes the distance for Terry; December, 2005
65. ^ UCC News: Students think globally at World Affairs Conference; February 13, 2007
66. Current Times: In Brief; June, 2006
67. UCC News: Students go on ‘famine’ and visit China, Kenya'; February 5, 2007
68. UCC News: Students build homes in earthquake zone; March, 2006
69. Upper Canada College: Norval Outdoor School
70. Upper Canada College: Norval Open Houses
71. Upper Canada College: Common Ties Mentorship Program
72. The Canadian Encyclopedia: Upper Canada College
73. Killbourn, Pg. 169
74. Killbourn, Pg. 173
75. Sir George Parkin's Biography
76. Queen's University: Queen's Economics Department: Sir Edward Peacock

• Boarding schools
• Private schools in Toronto
• High schools in Toronto
• Elementary schools in Toronto
• Preparatory schools in Canada
• Educational institutions established in 1829
• International Baccalaureate schools
• Members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference