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Entire school population of 11 students of S.S. #24 on Highway 11 in the 1930's.
Front Row l-r: John Beke, Mary Beke, Helen Smith, Connie Cook, Rose Speziali
Back Row l-r: Art West, Tom Speziali, John Speziali, Sam Catania, Louis Beke, Irene Beke.

S.S. #8, Bowles School, in the winter months.

"The Trustees of School Section No. 6, West Gwillimbury are asking for tenders for re-modelling of the old school, also for building a new school. For plans and specifications apply to T.D. Stoddart. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Tenders closed the 11th March."

"Yesterday afternoon Mr. Geo. Stoddart met with a serious accident. He was working on the new school building at Middleton, and the scaffold on which he was standing at the time gave way precipitating him, and Mr. Fred McKay, to the ground a distance of about 25 feet. Mr. McKay escaped unhurt, while Mr. Stoddart sustained a broken leg at the ankle. The nature of the break is considered to be quite serious, and may mean amputation of the right foot."

Newton Robinson School, 1934. Teacher was Alma West.
Back Row: Earl Lennox, Marie Myers, Grace Scott, Olive McCarroll, ? Gilroy, Alma West (Mrs. Coborn), Elmer Webber, Earl Bell, June Manser, Leo Harrison, Gordon McCarroll.
Middle Row: Doris Edney, Ruth Noble, Hazel McCarroll, Josephine Harrison, unknown, Ivan Bell, Bill Rowe, Pearla Edney, ? Gilroy, Isobel Lennox, ? Gilroy, Mary Scott.
Front Row: ? Gilroy, Lennox Rowe, Jean Edney, Olive Morrison, Gladys Houghton, Jean Meyers, Lawrence Copeland, Ralph Houghton, Neil Mayor, Jim Lennox, Keith Noble.

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

S.S. #3
Back Row: Iva Jeffrey, Robert Sutherland, Joe Wood, Earl Jessop.
Front Row: Bob Wood, Mervyn Jessop, Helen Wood, Unknown, Joan Sutherland, Gordon Jeffrey.

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.

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.

S.S. #10, Newton Robinson, c. 1884.