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History of brebeuf college school
The school is named after St. Jean de Brébeuf, a French Jesuit priest who first came to Canada in 1625. Brebeuf journeyed to the area around what is now Midland, Ontario and preached Christianity to the Wendat (Huron) people of that area. In 1649 an Iroquois raid on a Huron village captured Brébeuf, aged 56, and others; they were tortured and killed. Brébeuf was canonised as a saint in 1930. In 1954 his grave was discovered by Father Denis Hegarty, S.J. at the present site of Ste.-Marie-among-the-Hurons, near Midland, with a plaque reading "P. Jean de Brébeuf /brusle par les Iroquois /le 17 de mars l'an/1649" (Father Jean de Brébeuf, burned by the Iroquois, 17 March 1649). Brebeuf is the patron of Brebeuf College School and a role model for students and staff. In 1962, the Jesuits of Upper Canada began construction of Brebeuf High School and the attached Jesuit Residence in Willowdale, a new Toronto suburb surrounded by farms. Built for 400 students, the private school opened with one hundred pupils in Grades 9 and 10 in September, 1963, with a staff of eight Jesuit priests, one Jesuit brother, and six laymen. The first Principal was Fr. Robert Meagher, assisted by Vice- Principal Neil Gazeley. Bishops Philip Pocock and Francis Marrocco presided at the official opening and solemn blessings on January 5, 1964, in front of a large crowd in the gymnasium. Brebeuf's first graduation class in 1967 consisted of thirty students, among them Michael Daoust, who became head of mathematics at Brebeuf. In 1967, the school entered an agreement with the Metropolitan Separate School Board (now the Toronto Catholic District School Board), whereby Grade 9 and 10 students would be under the publicly funded separate school system and Grades 11, 12, and 13 would continue as a private school. This arrangement happened at most Catholic high schools in Ontario at the request of the bishops of the province. At the same time, the school's name was officially changed to Brebeuf College School. In May 1983, Father William Ryan, the Provincial of the Jesuits, announced that the Jesuits were going to give up responsibilities for the operation of Brebeuf College School by June, 1984. This decision was made necessary by the steady decline of available manpower. Immediately, Cardinal Gerald Emmett Carter and the staff of the Archdiocese of Toronto began to explore the possibilities to ensure the continual operation
- f Brebeuf. In February 1984, Cardinal Carter's office announced that the Presentation Brothers of Mary
were willing to assume responsibility for Brebeuf College, and would officially take over on July 31, 1984. Brother Lawrence Maher FPM was the new Principal and would serve until 1996. Thus the school is now also associated with the Presentation Brothers. In June, 1984, the Ontario Government announced it would begin funding Catholic high schools beyond Grade 10 beginning in 1985. In 1987 Brebeuf ceased to be a semi- school, although it maintained a culture and many traditions of an independent institution. The school's population grew rapidly from approximately 600 students to over 1,200 by 1992 with many portables erected in the parking lot. In 2001, the Toronto Catholic District School Board announced funding of $23 million for a new building to replace Brebeuf's outdated facilities. The main architect was Rod Robbie, who also designed the
- SkyDome. Under Principal Michael Pautler '76, the Brebeuf community was temporarily housed in the
former Bathurst Heights Secondary School while the new building was being constructed. On January 5, 2004, exactly forty years after Bishop Pocock presided over Brebeuf College School's Solemn Blessing, staff and students began classes in the new facility at the old campus. It was blessed in April of that year. Today, Brebeuf continues to be an academic school inspired by its motto Studio Gradum Faciant to prepare its students for post-secondary education. The ethos remains to form Christian gentlemen who will be practising Catholics, leaders and “Men for Others”.
