Scarborough school wins national award

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Continuing its tradition of being a leading edge high school, R.H. King Academy was recently recognized as an outstanding role model of effectiveness and leadership.

The National Quality Institute (NQI), a non-profit group committed to advancing organizational excellence across the nation, presented the Canada Awards for Excellence to R.H. King Academy - the first Canadian secondary school to receive such an award.

Principal Tommy Jutcovich said the staff and students were thrilled upon hearing the news and celebrated by holding a recognition breakfast last Wednesday with the Toronto District School Board education director Gerry Connelly in attendance.

"It's a very rigourous process," said Jutcovich, noting the NQI have high standards that organizations, from hospitals to corporations, must meet in such areas as leadership, planning, governance and organizational results.

With more than 1,300 students currently enrolled, the Scarborough high school has been at the forefront of several initiatives.

"We do a lot of community involvement," Jutcovich said. "We actually have 20 councils at school."

Each council, he explained, works to improve the quality of education for the benefit of every student at the school.

One example is the school's leadership pathway program, which trains students to be effective leaders at both their school and in the community.

R.H. King Academy has also led in its implementation of requiring all students to have 75 hours of community service complete before they graduate. The province followed suit making it mandatory for graduating students to complete 40 hours.

"These are the expectations of the parents and the expectations of the community," Jutcovich said.