TFS - Canada's International School

PAST TFS CHAIRS TFS 25 THE 1990s It's a long way from volunteering in the library to signing a multi-million dollar loan, but that's exactly the journey Kathleen Mackenzie took at TFS. Like with the Mandells, she and her husband, Dr. Terence "Terry" Mackenzie, first heard about Toronto French School through friends and colleagues. In this case, Dr. Mackenzie's partners at St. Michael's Hospital. "We were attracted by the bilingualism, the standard of excellence and also by the fact that it was coed," Mrs. Mackenzie says. Once part of the community, the school became an ongoing family commitment. Mrs. Mackenzie became Vice-Chair of the board just as TFS was embarking on its first large-scale strategic planning exercise. "It was massive. And it captured the diversity of the school, with representation from all constituencies, including alumni, staff and students," she says. However, by the time it was completed in 1996, the Mackenzie's were set to depart from the school. Mrs. Mackenzie began wondering if the lack of board continuity would result in all that hard work being put on a shelf, with nothing to come of it. That's how she found herself as Chair of the board from 1997 through 2001, after her children had graduated. By overwhelming consensus, it was agreed that in order to continue to provide an enhanced education, the school needed better facilities. So came about the first large capital campaign in the school's history, Building on Excellence. Mrs. Mackenzie spent many hours with the architects on the design of the "new school," as they called it, and before the first shovel hit the ground, she signed that loan to make it all happen. Today, Mrs. Mackenzie likes to keep in touch with the school and is happy to see the staff's continuing commitment. "They are lovely people, and some of those I knew are still there," she says. THE 2000s All parents have specific and personal criteria when choosing a school for their children. In the case of Lena Sarkissian and her husband Greg, their questions were: Is the school coed? Is there academic rigour? That TFS added bilingualism, capturing Canadian and international aspects, sealed the deal. Says Mrs. Sarkissian, "It was perfect for us. The program stemming from France plus the Canadian curriculum made it a bicultural and bilingual program, and we knew it would help them develop into more flexible people capable of navigating different and complex systems." As their three children gradually became enrolled at the school, Mrs. Sarkissian realized she had better get involved. After all, they were going to be part of this community for a long time – 20 years, in fact. Another essential TFS characteristic was its continual pursuit of cutting-edge education. This fundamental part of the school's identity was important to Mrs. Sarkissian: "TFS had an international curriculum that promoted internationalism, and they did that from day one. Now everybody does it." Her volunteerism at the school progressed until she became Chair, working with "extremely committed, serious individuals." They pushed forward an approach where TFS would constantly evolve to be ahead of the curve, advancing to the next level of what an education could and should be. "We wanted TFS to always be a step ahead," she says. Now that all three of the Sarkissian's children have graduated and moved on in their adult lives, each of them has said to their parents, "Thank you for sending us to TFS." "They are individuals. They're not cookie- cutter kids. Because of TFS they were able to look internally and discover who they are," says Mrs. Sarkissian. W. Harry Giles 1962–1966 W. Lawrence Heisey 1966–1969 James M. Tory 1969–1973 David Y. Timbrell 1973–1975 J.M.R. Campbell 1975–1977 Peter H. Mandell 1977–1979 Robert D. Brown 1979–1981 Boris E. Zerafa 1981–1984 Bruce M. Westwood 1984–1987 Hendrik G.A. Hoo 1987–1990 Robert A. Couzin 1990–1991 Elaine Brown 1991–1993 Barbara J. Hacke 1993–1995 Raymond Brazeau 1995–1997 Kathleen Mackenzie 1997–2001 Ian Cook 2001–2003 James Doak 2003–2006 Lena Sarkissian 2006–2010 Colin Chapin 2010–2012 Nathalie Mercure 2012–2014 Mitch Frazer 2014–2019 Judy G. Goldring 2019–2021 Roger Poirier 2021–present Kathleen Mackenzie Lena Sarkissian

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