Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School 4.31

Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School 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Institute to hold the designation in the province of Ontario.However, by 1881 Tassie's methods of teaching were deemed outdated, and the entire staff resigned.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.