Alderwood Collegiate Institute first opened on September 6, 1955.
The Etobicoke Board of Education had intended to build a middle school on the property but due to swelling student numbers at Royal York Collegiate Institute, they decided to use the northern portion of the property to build Douglas Park Junior School. Douglas Park opened in 1956.
Gordon S. Adamson and Associates were commissioned as architects for Alderwood Collegiate. Construction began in July 30, 1954, but construction was halted due to flooding from Hurrican Hazel. Alderwood Collegiate
The school was opened with an enrollment of 340 students. With increasing population, four classrooms, a science lab, a commercial room, a new auditorium and enlarged cafeteria were added in 1960.
Alderwood closed in June of 1983.
The school reopened in September of 1986 under the name of Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School.
Due to deteriorating building conditions, the school was finally closed in 2006.
Steven Spielberg used the building in 2010 for his television series Falling skies.
