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

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. #13

The first S.S. #6 School was moved to the Church farm where it functioned as a barn until it was obtained by the Chambers family and moved to Bond Head where it was restored and today is used as a carpentry shop operated by the family.

S.S. #6
Back Row (l-r): Ronald Harvey, Lorne Campbell, Keith Langford, Tom Williams, Teacher Mrs. Ethyle Breedon, Jean Campbell.
Front Row (l-r): Stewart Langford, Doris Ritchie, Florence Campbell, Margaret Campbell, Earl Campbell, Lorne Metcalfe,
Absent: Earle Metcalfe.

S.S. # 6 Middleton School. This school was built in 1908 on the same site as the old school (first built in 1850, moved to become a barn in Bond Head) by T.D. Stoddart.

See the related articles for information on its construction and George Washington Stoddart's accident during construction. These small articles from the Bradford Witness & South Simcoe News in 1908 and 1909 on the construction of Middleton School S.S. #6 were found through the research of the Bradford Heritage Committee.

S.S. #6 School. Stewart Langford, Lorne and Mort (Earl) Campbell, Jean and Florence Campbell (in front).

S.S. #5, Bond Head School. This one-room schoolhouse was built in 1874

This was the first frame school in the Scotch Settlement, S.S. #4. The teacher's name was Ed Shear. This photograph was taken in the late 1880's or early 1890's. The school is still standing on the corner of Middletown and the fifth concession.

S.S. #3 - West Gwillimbury School
Back Row: Helen West, Marjorie Sutherland, Margaret Bateman, Doris Armstrong, Helen Kingsley, Ruth Westlake, Faris Kneeshaw, Roy Jeffery, Jack Armstrong.
Third Row: Helen Gold, ?, Evelyn West, ?, Elsie Jeffery
Second Row: Leonard Jeffery, Grenville Hudson, Donald Wilson, Clarence Jessop, Emery Kingsley, Tom Bateman, Harold West.
Front Row: ?, Norman (Rusty) Hudson, Herbert West.