page_title: St. Michael's College School
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St. Michael's College School / History
caption_attribution_description: English: centre for arts
context_page_description: St. Michael's College School, is a private all-boys Roman Catholic day school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Basilian Fathers, it is the largest school of its kind in Canada, with an enrolment of approximately 1,000 students from grades seven to twelve. It is known for its high standard of athletics and academics, notably its ice hockey, football and basketball programs. The hockey program has graduated numerous future National Hockey League ice hockey players. The basketball and football programs have graduated multiple NBA, NFL, and CFL players. St. Michael's is the brother school of Holy Name of Mary College School, an independent, Catholic all-girls school in Mississauga. The school was part of the Metropolitan Separate School Board from 1967 to 1985, but has subsequently operated within the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Athletic Association.
context_section_description: The Congregation of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers) was established as a religious congregation in France in 1822. As a result of the closing of seminaries in France during the French Revolution, two diocesan priests opened a secret school in the mountains of central France.
  After several years of operation and a change in the French laws, ten priests serving there openly bound themselves into a religious community. They reasoned that the school, by then located in the nearby city of Annonay, would have a better chance of continuing if it were conducted by a religious congregation that could accept and train new members to continue its operation after the founding fathers’ retirement.
  The original members chose St. Basil the Great, a fourth-century teacher, bishop, and doctor of the Church, to be the namesake of the new community.
  In the middle of the nineteenth century, the French Basilians came to Canada on an invitation from Bishop de Charbonnel of Toronto. The Bishop saw the need for Catholic schools for the young people of his parishes, especially at the high school level. In his plans to bring Catholic education to more of his people, the Bishop immediately thought of his own education in France. He had been educated at the College of Annonay near Lyon, a school established by the Basilian Fathers.
  In September 1852, St. Michael’s College opened. It quickly outgrew its original facilities in the basement of the Bishop’s Palace on Church Street. In 1856, it was moved to Clover Hill, a property donated to the Basilian Fathers by the Honourable John Elmsley. Clover Hill was outside the city at that time, in an area now bounded by Bay, St. Joseph, and St. Mary’s streets. In 1881, St. Michael’s was affiliated with St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto for post secondary education. 
  The school specifically targeted Irish immigrants. The high school section expanded much more rapidly than the College section. In 1902, a new wing was added to the original building and the high school remained in this building until 1950.
  In the years after World War II, it became apparent that the Bay Street buildings were not equal to the challenge of serving a growing student body. At this point the high school section was separated from the College. In September 1950, St. Michael’s College School opened its doors in a new building at Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue, where it is situated today.
  In 1967, St. Michael’s College School entered into partnership with the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now today as the Toronto Catholic District School Board) and to educate the Board’s students in grades 9 and 10. This decision made St. Michael’s both a public and private school, which lasted for approximately 20 years. In September 1985, the Basilian Fathers decided to refuse provincial aid beyond grade 10 and return St. Michael’s to its roots as a fully independent, Roman Catholic high school.
  From 1985-89 the school went private in phases.
  In 1995, a major capital expansion program upgraded the school to include a new east wing complete with modern classrooms, a new library (Odette Library), music and visual arts facilities, a design and technology facility, a new 250-seat lecture hall, and an expanded gymnasium. In September 1998, St. Michael’s College School expanded its academic program to include a grade 7-8 program. The Preparatory school was previously active during the early 1900s.
  On September 15, 2002, St. Michael’s College School celebrated its 150th Anniversary.
  The school’s athletic stadium was retrofitted in September 2004 to include a new, state-of-the-art athletic field (artificial grass), an electronic scoreboard, stadium lighting, and an air supported structure that covers a third of the field for use during the winter months. The Performing Arts Centre was the fourth and final phase of this revitalization project, completed in the spring of 2010. The St. Michael's College School Centre for the Arts opened in 2010, and hosts school stage productions of musicals and dramas.
  In November 2018, police began an
caption: St Michael's Centre for the Arts opened in 2010
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