School type High school Grades 9-12 Language English Phone +1 519-623-3600 Founded 1852 | Principal Beverly Wood Enrollment ~1300 (2017) Area Downtown / North Galt Mascot Ghost Motto Semper Paratus | |
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Address 200 Water St N, Cambridge, ON N1R 6V2, Canada District Waterloo Region District School Board School board Waterloo Region District School Board Profiles | ||
Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School (GCI) is one of sixteen secondary schools in the Waterloo Region District School Board, located in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
Galt offers a complete academic and extra-curricular experience to a student body of around 1000 in a wide range of academic and vocational programs.
GCI has been designated as an historic landmark in Cambridge. The school was founded in 1852, with Michael Howe as headmaster, after it was decided to move the grammar school from 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, including Joseph E. Seagram. Galt is the first Collegiate Institute to hold the designation in the province of Ontario.
However, by 1881 Tassie's methods of teaching were deemed outdated, and the entire staff resigned. John E. Bryant became principal and new staff were hired, 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-story addition, made of stone quarried from the adjacent Grand River, opened in 1906.
Carscadden stepped down as principal in 1914, a role performed by A. P. Gundry until his death in 1925. 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 is also home to both the French Immersion, and ESL programs.