TFS - Canada's International School

TFS 31 Matthew Maloney began his journey at TFS in 1964, the same year he remembers The Beatles' first album coming out. He took his first classes above a grocery store and then in the basement of a synagogue on Bathurst Street, in a changing room. "It wasn't exactly the hallowed halls," Mr. Maloney recalls. Mr. Maloney appreciated Toronto French School's ability to let students recognize their potential careers and interests by providing them with a wide-ranging list of subject matter that taught nearly every discipline – something he considers vital in igniting curiosity in students. A pinnacle moment for him occurred in 1975, when an IBM360 was introduced at the University of Toronto. It was at this moment his "polymath" teacher, Jean-Pierre Betton, took a PL1 programming course, one of the first of its kind at the time, and began instructing on programming. Mr. Betton then took his students to the University of Toronto with a deck of punch cards on which to write computer programs, something Mr. Maloney's teacher had only learned two months earlier. "It was this gift of dedication that changed my life." He remembers this as the fundamental turning point that guided him in his career. In his second job at an aerospace company, his role was to program computer simulations, though he hadn't taken any computer classes at university. However, the programming language used was the same that his teacher had taught him at TFS, allowing Mr. Maloney to program a Hughes aircraft. "It was almost in one moment – this teacher made my path change." THE GIFT OF DEDICATION Arlene Hofstader attended TFS at a time when the students were the pioneers of the school. The classes were small, creating tightly knit friend groups, intertwining between families. "Our years were among the first graduating classes," said Ms. Hofstader. "Being a smaller school back then, we all knew each other really well. Most had siblings in the upper years." As a result, the connections and familiarization between grades was seamless. One of the most memorable moments for Ms. Hofstader was when the TFS board was deciding to implement uniforms: "Mildenhall had just been built, we had all 'moved in' and it was TFS' first permanent home." Ms. Hofstader's class was not eager to adopt uniform requirements. "TFS was a different group of people; we weren't a traditional school and we prided ourselves on that. We didn't want to be unable to express ourselves!" They decided to take their rulers and tape on signs saying, "No Uniforms, Down with Uniforms!" and picket the neighbourhood during lunch. "I thought to myself, wow, it's amazing we were able to do this little act of rebellion." Although TFS did eventually adopt uniforms, the marching students were successful in their attempts to leave their year untouched by First Dress. Ms. Hofstader is proud to this day, knowing it was the unique environment that made the experience so wondrous: "I remember always feeling very proud that we were different, we did stand for many different things, being coed, not having uniforms, being able to speak our minds and have a say in it." A CLOSE FRIEND GROUP ARLENE HOFSTADER '77 Anna Giles Medal Anna Giles Medal MATTHEW MALONEY '76 Governor General Governor Generalʼs Award s Award

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