John Rennie High School is marking its 70th anniversary this weekend with a special alumni reunion bringing former students, staff and members of the school community back to Pointe-Claire.
The event allowed the seven generations of alumni in attendance to tour the building, re-discover its history and visit decade-themed classrooms that many say brought back cherished memories
“It’s still the same feeling as you walk in and you have the great hall,” said Tania Kinsella, former teacher and alumna of John Rennie High School. “To me walking in here is always like, it’s still the same hallway and that is to me a big thing.”
Kinsella said all the members of her family have a deep connection with the school. She met her husband, John, who worked as a guidance counselor at the school. Their two children studied there, with her son Chris Kinsella returned in 2017 as a full-time member of the staff, teaching and coaching the school’s wrestling team.
“It’s so interesting to run into former teachers, former classmates,” said Sara Birks, another alumna who teaches at the school. “I was just talking with a family where they had someone who had graduated in 1980 and then someone who had graduated in 1990, and they were comparing just between a decade all the changes between when they went and now.”
The reunion included alumni soccer and volleyball games, a festive dinner at Le Manoir in Pointe-Claire and a 1960s-style high-school dance in the Terry Fox Gym. Guests explored displays featuring old uniforms, memorabilia, yearbooks and historical architectural plans, followed by guided tours of the school led by current students.
Its alumni include Montreal Canadiens alternate captain Mike Matheson, Canadian Olympian and diver Nathan Zsombor-Murray, journalist Felicia Parrillo and NHL columnist and historian Dave Stubbs.
“For 70 years, John Rennie has been a school of excellence, built on long-standing traditions that embrace new ideas, innovation, and opportunities,” said JRHS alumna and Leadership teacher Raquel Lobaton, who has taught at the school for 25 years.
Lobaton said she felt a lot of nostalgia, having studied there in the 1990s.
“I loved being here,” she said. “I was very involved in student council and then when I became a teacher I wanted to come back in which I did and I took over that program and made a massive leadership program with other colleagues and It’s just about giving back and we all love the school so much and that’s what that’s what I keep hearing.”
Many said John Rennie was more than a building to them. It’s a community built on decades of deep ties and strong connections.
“I think John Rennie really embodies that as a school about just giving back and not just a school as a school but it’s the building, it’s the people, it’s that family culture that we try and build,” said Chris Kinsella.
“John Rennie is really very much a community school and so we all want to just always give back to the community,” Lobaton said. “It’s more than just a place to learn.”
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