The Bradford Model School pictured was constructed in 1878 to replace a previous building destroyed by fire.
Mr. Frank Wood was the first principal in 1878.
It was established by Simcoe County Council for the training of teachers, and by 1907, 496 teachers were trained there.
Upon the discontinuance of Model training in Ontario, the building continued to be Bradford Public School until the new Bradford Public School was erected in 1951. The Model School was located east of the present school.
It consisted of three rooms downstairs, and two large ones upstairs. It was made of brick, and was heated by two coal furnaces.

Retiring After 31 Years Brings Her Mixed Emotions
By John Slykhuis

After 31 years of teaching about 1,000 pupils at Bradford Public School, Barbara Stewart is retiring at the end of this school year. It's a thought that brings a mixture of emotions for her. One one hand is the anticipation of doing the things she has been dreaming of for years: travelling extensively in winter and relaxing at her cottage in Minden in summer. On the other hand: "I'm going to miss the children," she admits, "And the staff too. I have many good friends here." Her last class, she says, is particularly special. "I'm really enjoying this last class. This is one of the nicest classes I've ever taught." This Grade 3 class, like the one she started with in 1941, is small and close, almost like a family. She had 13 children to teach in a small one room schoolhouse in Markham Township that first year, and they represented all eight grades. Five years later, she started at the old Bradford Public School, and she has been here ever since. There are so many memories here for Miss Stewart that it is difficult for her to pick out any one, but one does stand out in her mind. Several years ago, the Lions Club of Bradford brought over a crippled girl from India, Vanita Khubchandi, to have an operation at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. While here, she attended Miss Stewart's Grade 7 class. "She came every morning in an ambulance on a stretcher. She had to lie flat on her back all the time...The children really took to her." Then the day arrived for her operation. "The biggest thrill was the day she walked back into the classroom. Oh, the children were so excited. They had a party for her." Miss Stewart still hears from her occasionally and reports that she is walking well and has just finished high school. There are other memories too: walking through snow bank in the early years only to find out when she arrives that the school was closed; teaching her favorite subject, music; and taking the girls' choir to Newmarket where it won first prize. She taught a huge 45-pupil Grade 4-5 class a few years ago ("that was the most challenging and the most rewarding"), and watched the growth of children just arrived from other countries ("It was most rewarding to see them learn the language and go on to do well"). And what about the modern school system? "Well, I approve of the new standard of reporting the progress of a child. But I would far sooner talk to the parents. It's better than any report card. You find out so much more about the child." She adds however, "I believe in marking. I don't see how you can teach without it." Home for Miss Stewart is Markham, where she spends every weekend with her family, and until recently she was the organist at the Markham Presbyterian Church. "I retired as the organist last June. I guess you could say I'm tearing up all my roots...no, routines. I'm tearing up all my old routines." Although she is leaving Bradford for good at the end of this school year, Miss Stewart has reassured her friends that she will be coming back often to visit.

Thomas Wells Opens School

The new Bradford District High School was officially opened by Education Minister Thomas Wells last Tuesday in a ceremony involving dignitaries from the province, the county, and the town of Bradford.

About 400 people braved the cold and blowing snow to attend the event, highlighted by a policy statement from the education minister, a tribute to Bradford resident Tom Gardner, and a key presentation from architects Adamson Associates and contractor C.A. Smith to principal Alex Taylor.

A moment of silence was also observed for Simcoe County Board of Education superintendent of planning Syd Owens who died the previous Sunday of a heart attack.

Trustee Sam Neilly said of Mr. Owens, "He was one of the most important men in the planning and design of this school. His sudden passing leaves us saddened."

Addresses followed by MPP George McCague (Dufferin-Simcoe), West Gwillimbury Reeve John Fennell, Bradford Mayor Roy Gordon, and York-Simcoe MPP Arthur Evans who introduced Mr. Wells.

Principal Alex Taylor gave a brief history of education in the Bradford area, which began in 1852 with the opening of a grammar school in Bond Head.

After the railway was opened to Bradford in 1859, Mr. Taylor said, the growth of Bradford warranted the establishment of a school there, and the grammar school was loaded onto wagons and moved to Bradford.

He joked that it was the first portable in the county.

Another school was built in 1890 which burned two years later, and a new brick school was built in 1893, but it too was destroyed by fire in 1923.

In 1923 Bradford District High School was constructed (now the Fred C. Cook Senior Public School) which served as the high school until last year.

Bradford's 1976 citizen of the year Tom Gardner, a long-time member of the school board before his retirement, was honored by the chairman of the Simcoe County Board of Education, C.W. Brown.

Mr. Brown called Tom Gardner "Mr. Education," and described his life-long efforts on behalf of education in the country.

He then presented Mr. Gardner with a plaque naming the resource centre in the school "The T.H. Gardner Resource Centre."

Mr. Gardner received a standing ovation from the assembly, and called the tribute "the highlight of my life."

Director of Education Jack Ramsay pointed out to Mr. Wells that the pressure would soon be on for the go-ahead to an extension for the new school next year.

He laughed, "We are optimistic that there will be no delay for that since Mr. Wells is present here."

Trustee Sam Neilly told the audience that today was Mr. Ramsay's birthday, and everyone promptly broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday.

The program concluded with a guided tour of the new high school.

Bradford Public School, Teacher: Mr. Atkinson
Front Row: Elenor Colling, Jean Robinson, Harold, Lewis Walton, Belfry, Gordon Ogilive, Jim Church, James Elwood, Cavallo, Keith Kilkenny
Middle Row: Donald Wilson, Fred Nesbitt, Irwin McLean, Margaret, Hilda Corrigan, Wilbert Curry, Beatrice Younger*, Lorne West, Ken Sein, Charles Nesbitt
Back Row: Marion Edney, Mildred Root, Cathy Williamson, Mary Webb, Helen Metcalf, Georgina Depew, Gwendoline Ward, Constance Ward, May Park, Marion Church, Margorie Sein

A class photo for rooms 4 and 5 of Bradford District High School, from 1925.

Joe Wood was the the principal of Bradford District High School during 1953.

Bradford Model School with pupils in the foreground

Grade 10, Bradford High School.
Front Row - Theresa Watt, Dorothy Hamstra, Eldora Elliott, Mary Jane Collings, Barbara Saint, Eva Yaszczyszyn, Barbara Lee, Marilyn Hollingshead, Martha Roesner, Jean Horlings, Doris Griffiths.
2nd Row - Judy Whitty, Eleanor Jackson, Elizabeth Carr, Gwen Geddes, Mary Fischer, Ruth Andrews, Vivien Turner, June Nesbitt, Patricia Belfry, Mitsi Tezuka, Carolyn Schmidt, Mary Dales.
3rd Row - George Verkaik, James Verkaik, Robert Eadie, James Janse, Lee Winterkorn, Richard Jarzylo, Harold Newns, Henry Kleiss, Michael Kavchak, Paul Margetiak, Lloyd Coutts.
Back Row - Robert Kneeshaw, Donald Griffiths, Larry Belfry, Ivan Hounsome, Robert Duvall, Eric Fines, James Webb, Raymond Rand, Adolf Zielke, David Hambly.

Back Row (l-r): Dyce Sturgeon, George Fuller, R. Osadchuk, Stewart Calhoun, Ross Stewart, Keith Bowles, Jack Gardner, Mirasla Osadchuk, ? Holancin, Don Gardner, Bob Bell, Joe Motto, Joe Kulka, Ken Brown, Mike Simurda, Paul Kolarik, Chris Brouwer, Don Coates, Norm McKay Gordon James, Doug Harvey.
Third Row (l-r): Evelyn Doane, Helen Wood, Grace Kell, Ruth Baynes, Ellen Norman, Doreen James, Ann Sklencar, Edith Dow, Marie Bell, Audrey Cameron, Jean Lee, Doreen Simpkins, Betty Spence, Mary McKay, Joyce Gibney, Irene Moriarty, Mary Sturgeon, Mary Fennell, Marguerite Ramsay, Anne Kachmar, Doreen Everett, Catherine Watson, Helen Bell, Gwen Coborne, Ruth Cordingly.
Second Row (l-r): Doris Archer, Joyce Brown, Isobel Kneeshaw, Dorothy Turner, Doris Bell, Eleanor Grant, Marjorie Evans, Mary Lennox, Eva Moyer, Mary Carter, Kathleen Hosegood, Margaret Walker, Mr. Ray Dorland, Miss Cunningham, Mr. Joe Wood, Miss Lyons, Miss Connie Nolan, Charlotte Lee, Sadie Yoshamira, Betty Coutts, Pauline Iceton, Joan Saint, June Duncan.
Front Row (l-r): Mike Brinkos, Nick Grencer, Merv Jessop, Austin Wiggins, John Vdovjak, Bob Wood, John Lee, Tom Brown, (Unknown), Jack Doane, Carl Bowles, Bruce Collings, Ross Wilson, Keith Blackwell, Gord Riley, Pete Vander Kleyn, Charlie Wilcox, John Bell, Stewart Langford, Lorne Metcalfe, Dennis Nolan, Jim Morlock, Stanley Brown.

Bradford High School 1939-40. Principal Mr. G. K. Brunt.
Back Row (l-r): James Shaw, Bill Martin, John Worfolk, Vincent O'Donnell, Donald Rutherford, Bob Faris, Calvin Lapp, Bill Rowe, Howard McKay, Gordon Cillingham, Bill Moriarty, Selby Kneeshaw, Campbell Prince, Gordon Bateman, Andrew Bell, Milton McMillan, Eveleen McDonnell, Muriel Gibney, Betty Camplin, Mary Scott, Lylia Bell.
Third Row (l-r): Marie Valenteyn, Helen Porritt, Doreen Simpkin, Marion Worfolk, Margaret Hill, Joyce Steers, Vera Huck, Lorna Dixon, Irene Mestdagh, Beatrice Zlotkin, Catherine Lukes, Betty Seim, Marie Moriarty, Helen Snor, Audrey Mapes, Dorothy Seim, Ruth Stewart, Jean Wilson, Jean Bell, Ruth Noble, Helen Cave, Freda Doane, Helen Brown, Isabel Blackwell, Gladys Bell, Doris Fennell, Marjorie Creighton.
Second Row (l-r): Helen Noble, Mary Meher, Etta Noble, Ruth O'Neil, Jean Campbell, Reta O'Neil, Phyllis Edney, Elsie McKnight, Isobel Kneeshaw, Marie O'Donnell, Marie Caesar, Evelyn Doane, Eileen Iceton, Velma Valedon, Ruth Stewart, Margaret Graham, Constance Nolan, G. K. Brunt, W. K. Gray, Helen Saint, Phylis Robson, Marjorie Horsley, Lorraine Lapp, Isobel Lennox, Marjorie Botham, Betty Spence, Joyce Gibney, Shirley Armstrong, Helen McDonald, Margaret Coates, Jean Bannerman, Josephine Orr.
Front Row (l-r): Ivan Wilson, Irwin Collings, Murray Quinn, Ross Melbourne, Frank Carter, Alan Atkinson, Joe Wood, Alex Geddes, Maurice Roberts, Donald Gardner, Bert McArthur, Earl Jessop, Jack Glover, Wallace Fuller, James Lennox, Willard Budd, George Allan, Keith Bowles, Keith Langford, Arthur Turner, Murray Wilson, Arnold Fraser, Jack Gardner, Charles Doane, John Fennell.