De La Salle College "Oaklands" (also known as De La Salle College, Toronto, or simply Del by the school community) is an independent, co-educational, Catholic college preparatory institution run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Toronto, Ontario. Founded by the Christian Brothers in 1851, it offers a rigorous liberal arts education from grades 5 through 12, consistent with its Lasallian traditions and values.
De La Salle "Oaklands" has an extensive history as a college-preparatory institution in the Roman Catholic tradition as founded in 1679 in Reims, France, by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (also the patron saint of the college). From 1967 to 1994, the school was operated as part of the Metropolitan Separate School Board, renamed to the Toronto Catholic District School Board in 1998, as part of its family of a public separate secondary schools, at first for ninth and tenth grades from 1967, then fully in 1987. Following its privatization in 1994, the school in the area was directly replaced by Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, which opened in 1998.
History Early history De La Salle College "Oaklands" was founded by, and continues to be administered by, the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. It is part of a global community of Lasallian educational institutions that are assisted by more than 73,000 lay colleagues and teach over 900,000 students in over 80 countries, varying from teaching in impoverished nations like Nigeria to post-secondary institutions like La Salle University (Philadelphia), Bethlehem University and De La Salle University-Manila.
The central administration of the Brothers operates out of the Generalate in Rome and is made up of the Superior General and his councillors. From 1851 to the present day, the Brothers based in English Canada have provided assistance in creating 58 schools, ("Lasallian Educational Apostolates") primarily in Ontario, along with a few schools in Edmonton, Montreal, Saskatchewan and Cleveland, Ohio.
The Brothers of the Christian Schools arrived in Montreal in 1837 and founded the first permanent community of LaSallian Brothers in North America. At the request of Bishop Charbonnel, five Brothers came to Toronto in 1851 and established a grammar school at the corner of Lombard and Jarvis Streets. In September of that year, the Brothers extended their ministry to St. Paul's School, which is still in existence today. Among their early graduates was Denis T. O'Connor, who became the first Canadian-born Archbishop of Toronto in 1899.
The Brothers opened their own secondary school in 1863 on Jarvis Street, originally called the Christian Brothers Commercial Academy. In 1871, the school constructed a new building on Duke Street (258 Adelaide St. East today), and the name was changed to De La Salle Institute. The institute purchased the former post office next door (First Toronto Post Office) in 1874.
Twenty years later, the school was extended to include secondary education and took over the former Bank of Upper Canada building next door. The name De La Salle Institute was changed to De La Salle College in 1880, when university entrance courses were added to the commercial curriculum. The three-building site still stands at the corner of Adelaide and George Streets as 252–264 Adelaide Street East.
The next major step occurred in 1913, when De La Salle College took over part of the 67 Bond Street building adjacent to St. Michael's Cathedral. In 1916, the College vacated the buildings on Adelaide Street. In 1925, the senior section was relocated to De La Salle Moore Park, in what is now Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. In 1932 and 1933, these classes were moved to nearby De La Salle College "Oaklands", which had opened in 1931.
Later history: "Oaklands"
Located in Deer Park, an estate named "Oaklands" was once part of the Crown land that was deeded in 1798 to the Honourable John Elmsley. In 1858, John Macdonald — a dry goods merchant who would become the only Liberal appointee to the Senate by Canada's founding Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald — acquired of it from the Anglican Church and built what is at present the residence of the Brothers. This land ran up the east side of College Avenue (now Avenue Road) from what is today Cottingham Street to St. Clair Avenue. He named the property "Oaklands" due to the splendid abundance of oak trees in the area.Br. G. Morgan, F.S.C., Lasallian Education - 150 Years in Toronto, 2001
Construction of Macdonald's mansion on the property at the crest of the hill, begun in 1860, was completed with a tower observatory that would provide him with a clear view of Lake Ontario some 5 kilometres to the south. Currently, the Oaklands mansion has been designated as a historical building by the City of Toronto, as an example of local Gothic Revival architecture. The property was purchased in 1905 by the family of Cyrus McCormick, whose farm implement business evolved to become International Harvester. The home was used by Mary Virginia McCormick, who was the eldest daughter of Cyrus McCormick.The Mystery of Miss Mary McCormick
The Brothers of the Christian Schools bought of the property in 1931 and turned it into a boys' school. Three benefactors (T. P. Phelan, Abe Orpen and Frank O'Connor) paid the interest on the property's mortgage for three years to help establish the school. Brother Alfred was the guiding genius in acquiring the property and became the school's first Director/Principal. In its first year, the school was home to 270 students and had matriculation classes ranging from Grade 5 through to Grade 10. Ten years later, grades 1 through 4 were added. In 1970, the first 5 grades were phased out, leaving only Grades 6, 7 and 8 in addition to the full high school curriculum.
The school's primary focus is its emphasis on academia above all other matters. Traditionally, all graduates advance to universities in Canada and the United States; it is a very rare occurrence for a student to matriculate and not proceed to university.
Oaklands had also fostered a reputation for its musicals and drama efforts which, for the most part, commenced in 1951 and carry on to the present day. As well, its student-run newspaper, Oakleaves, which has provided commentary about the school's goings-on since 1931.
In 1950, after a great deal of effort and sacrifice on the part of the Brothers and the alumni of the school, the present main building structure was officially opened. De La Salle "Oaklands" had always been a completely private school, but in 1967, a very significant change took place when grades nine and ten were placed under the auspices of the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now known as the Toronto Catholic District School Board), while grades 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 remained under the Brothers' jurisdiction as an independent private school.Chronological List of School Openings and Closings 1828–2006 – "Some Schools listed are now run privately or, in the case of French-language schools, run by the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. They are included due to their historical association with the TCDSB."
Prior to the 1970s, De La Salle "Oaklands" demonstrated an ordered and disciplined environment where direction and goals were clear and commitment by students, teachers and parents to that culture was strong. In the 1970s and 1980s, society underwent change and the school mirrored the milieu in which it existed. Spontaneity, flexibility and creativity replaced the status quo. The traditional students' blazer was abandoned, returning in 1974.
By 1987, the maintenance, curriculum, funding and control of the entire high school was under the MSSB. However, full funding of Roman Catholic public separate high schools in Toronto in 1987 was intended to preserve the individual identity brought to each school by its founding religious order. In a joint letter, the Catholic Private Secondary School Principals of Toronto urged the continuation of each school's heritage.Br. G. Morgan, F.S.C., Lasallian Education - 150 Years in Toronto, 2001, page 89, parag. 4
In 1989, a flood caused by student vandalism caused over $4,000,000 of damage to the main building.Br. G. Morgan, F.S.C., Lasallian Education - 150 Years in Toronto, 2001, page 94, parag. 1 More than 850 students were moved temporarily to the former site of Kingsmill Secondary School, which closed a year prior and later became Bishop Allen Academy.Students move to new school as vandalized building fixed." Toronto Star. February 7, 1989. News p. A7. Retrieved on September 23, 2013. "Students and staff at De La Salle College in Toronto are being temporarily relocated to an Etobicoke school after the building was vandalized last month.", "Classes have been cancelled this week and the approximately 850 students will be moved Monday into the former Kingsmill Secondary School.", and "The $200,000 trashing of the secondary school on Farnham Ave., in the Avenue Rd.-St. Clair Ave., area has left remnants of ceiling asbestos exposed, a potential hazard Metro separate school board officials want cleaned up before students return to the classrooms, board spokesman John Fauteux said yesterday." The school was eventually completely repaired and renovated.
In September 1993, the Ontario provincial government proposed a "de-streaming" of classes, meaning that students would no longer be divided into advanced, general and basic levels (note: despite the participation of the MSSB at Oaklands since 1967, the school had only offered 'advanced' level classes). In response, the school requested of the MSSB that De La Salle carry on as an 'advanced-classes-only' academy. This request was rejected by the school board.
Since 1994 In 1993, the school began considering whether it should leave the MSSB.Wright, Lisa. "A Toronto high school may break from the Metro Separate ... " Toronto Star. June 26, 1993. News p. A6. Retrieved on September 23, 2013. That same year in a letter on June 28, the school notified the MSSB that as of June 30, 1994, Oaklands would re-privatize. After much ongoing thought and discussion, the Brothers of the Christian Schools determined that returning the school to its former independent status would best meet the spiritual and educational needs of the Catholic community they are called to serve. In September 1994, De La Salle College Oaklands again reopened its doors as a private, independent, now co-educational, university preparatory school.Br. G. Morgan, F.S.C., Lasallian Education - 150 Years in Toronto, 2001, page 96, parag. 2 The school had planned to do a "phase-out" to allow existing students to continue going to a public separate school, but by 1994, Brother Francis McCrea delivered a letter to the MSSB on February 21, 1994 that stated the school would not participate in a phase-out.Daly, Rita. "Brothers abandon De La Salle phase-out Separate board's 'deal' falls apart." Toronto Star. February 22, 1994. News p. A6. Retrieved on September 23, 2013. De La Salle had decided not to do a phase-out, and each student was willing to pay $6,300 per year in tuition, prompting protests from some parents.Daly, Rita. "A crowd of parents and students lashed out at Metro ..." Toronto Star. October 15, 1993. News p. A26. Retrieved on September 23, 2013. By December 1993, there was a proposed plan to allow the MSSB to pay for the continuing education of existing De La Salle pupils.Ainsworth, Lynne. "Talks stall over plan to make De La Salle a private school." Toronto Star. December 20, 1993. News p. A7. Retrieved on September 23, 2013.