Richmond Hill High School is one of the oldest secondary schools in the Greater Toronto Area, founded on December 2, 1851. It has expanded and changed locations on several occasions including in 1853, 1872, 1897, 1924, 1950, and 2000, having had been located on Yonge St. and Wright St. in 'downtown' Richmond Hill before moving to its present location at 201 Yorkland Street in September 2000. In 1948-9, the Richmond Hill High School Literary Society erected a metal plaque as a list of honour memorial dedicated to the former students of the school who died in service during the First and Second World Wars. The plaque is now mounted on the east wall between the outer and inner doors of the main entrance of the school. In 2005, former president of South Africa and 1993 Nobel Peace Prize Winner F.W De Klerk visited the school, spoke to students and staff about his part in the end of the apartheid system, and answered students' questions during an hour-long session.
Building & Site
The current school building on Yorkland Street is a two-story structure measuring, which was completed and opened in 2000. It houses two gymnasiums, a fitness and weight training room, a including a stage, a library, a communications technology room including a green and blue screen, vocal and instrumental/band music rooms, two visual art studio classroom/workspaces and six 'pods' with a central computer lab surrounded by four conventional classrooms, a science lab classroom and two teaching staff workrooms/offices. The original Yorkland Street building was built to accommodate a student population of 1400 students, but due to continued residential building in the school's catchment area and the strength of the school's academic reputation, the school has consistently enrolled 1600+ students since shortly after its opening. This has necessitated the use of portables as classrooms, with the number of portables growing to nine as of September 2016. The two older buildings still survive, with the old 1851 building now a coffee shop on Yonge Street, and the 1950 building continuing to operate as the French secondary school "École secondaire Norval-Morrisseau."
'Books' by E.B. Cox
Situated in front of the main entrance of the present Yorkland Street building, in the grass median between the incoming and outbound driveways, is a sculpture entitled "Books" created by renowned and deceased Canadian sculptor E.B. Cox. In 1967 the staff and students of the school raised $4,000 to commission the piece as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. It was originally installed at the Wright Street location upon its completion in 1968, and was moved to Yorkland Street when the school switched locations. The sculpture is meant to represent a column of books towering up to the sky, representing the importance of books as a tool of learning.
