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'Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School' is one of sixteen secondary schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board.
Galt offers a complete academic and extra-curricular experience to a population of more than 1,300 students in a wide-range of academic and vocational programs.
GCI has been designated as an historic landmark in the Cambridge, Ontario area and is the oldest continuously-operating educational institution in Ontario. 2002 was its 150th anniversary year.
The school was founded in 1852, with Michael Howe as Headmaster, after it was decided to move the grammar school in Palermo to Galt. William Tassie became headmaster in 1853. Under his leadership, the school, informally known as "Tassie's School", gained a reputation as one of the top schools in Ontario. It graduated many men who later rose to prominence, such as Joseph E. Seagram. It was one of the first collegiate institutes in the province.
However, by 1881 Tassie's methods of teaching were felt to be outdated, and the entire staff resigned. John E. Bryant became principal and new staff were brought in, including Thomas Carscadden, who became principal in 1884. The school, which had formerly been a boarding school for boys, became a day school for boys and girls. There were 70 students in 1881.
In 1905 a major addition was made to the two-story building. The three-storey addition, made of stone quarried from the adjacent Grand River, opened in 1906.
Carscadden stepped down as principal in 1914. Between 1914 and his death in 1925, A. P. Gundry was principal. During World War I, Galt saw a larger proportion of its residents enlist in relation to its population than anywhere else in Canada. Three hundred fifty present and former students enlisted, 48 of whom died while serving. After the war, a plaque was erected in the school commemorating these 48 former students.
Also after World War I, the concept of vocational education gained popularity in Ontario. The name of the school was changed from "Galt Collegiate Institute" to the present name, and another large addition was made to the school to accommodate vocational classes.
GCI alumni include Cabral Richards, Graeme Ferguson (inventor of IMAX film format).

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External Links

References

★ Carscadden, Dr. Thos. (1925). "History of the Galt Collegiate Institute 1881–1914". ''Thirteenth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, Waterloo, Ontario'' '13': 134–148.

★ Jaffray, Miss K. F. (1926). "The Galt Collegiate Institute, 1914–1926". ''Fourteenth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, Waterloo, Ontario'' '14': 179–184.

External Links

★ Cambridge City Hall of Fame

★ GCI homepage

★ Galt Collegiate Earth Club website