Grade Schools

Even though Lethbridge was populated at first by mostly single men, the community did not stay that way for very long. Soon women, and then children began to appear more often in the Lethbridge population. The arrival of children created the need for schools in the town and over the years many have come and gone. Lethbridge in the early years, had two main types of schools; public and separate (usually Catholic). But, throughout time schools in Lethbridge have catered to many different ethnic and religious groups. For a very short time a school for the city's Chinese-Canadian population was in operation. The school, however, could never get enough children to join and soon shut down. Some religious groups have also operated schools for their children. One example of this is the Immanuel Christian School in North Lethbridge which serves children of the reformed religion. Special schools have also been a part of its development. The Dorothy Gooder School for the Retarded, and the Sifton School for troubled youngsters are just two examples of these. These schools are interesting examples of Lethbridge's diversity, but they should not take attention away from the fact that almost all students in Lethbridge were educated through either the public or separate school systems. A few of these schools stand out in Lethbridge's history and deserve to be mentioned.

P19640821000-GA, A turn of the century school bell

Lethbridge's first school had its beginnings on a March evening in 1886. John Craig, cabinet maker, William Stafford, mine superintendent, and H.F. Greenwood, Hudsons Bay Company Accountant, met to discuss the opening of a school in Lethbridge. Already during the winter of 1885 J.D. Higinbotham had asked for and gotten approval for the creation of Lethbridge Protestant School District No. 51.. The board was given a cottage by the N.W.C.&N.Co. to hold classes in and a teacher, Mr. B.L. Latimer to teach them. Central School, the city's first building designed to be used as a school was completed in 1891 and had six classrooms for elementary and high school teaching. The school operated through the hard times of the 1890's and was almost closed, but it survived and during the first decade of the twentieth century more and more children entered the school. So many children came to the school that by 1913 the school was too full. At this time it was decided to build the Bowman school. Completed in 1913 the Bowman took over high school classes from Central and was called the most modern building of its kind in western Canada.

P19693824000 School desk which would have been used around 1910.

About the time that the Protestant school was being created, the Lethbridge priest, Father Leonard Van Tighem was trying to form a Catholic education system in the city. A catholic school of one sort or another had been in operation in Lethbridge since 1888, but it was not until the arrival of four sisters of the Order of Faithful Companions of Jesus were sent to the city in 1889 that things really began to move. The sisters completed construction of the convent school in 1891. As with the Protestant school, by 1914 the old Catholic school facilities were overcrowded. It was in 1914 that the Catholic board completed construction of the new St. Basil's school, that took away the pressure for a while.

One Lethbridge school that should be mentioned is the Lethbridge Collegiate Institute. Still in operation today the LCI was built in 1927 in order to meet the growing demand for a high school. The school was opened in 1928, but burned down later that year, and was rebuilt in 1929. Although it opened under the name Lethbridge High School, it changed its name to LCI in 1950 when several additions to the building were constructed. LCI remains today as Lethbridge's largest school serving over 3000 students.

Schools, unlike other city services, have to be located where the children are. This was the case during the twenty years between 1945 and1965. In these years twenty-one schools were built, which was more than one a year. Downtown schools, such as St. Patrick's, Central, and Bowman were closed in 1958, 1971, and 1963, while schools were built to the west of downtown. St. Joseph's, Alan Watson, and LCI were all opened in 1950, as well as Gilbert Paterson, General Stewart, George McKillop, and Assumption in 1956. The pattern can be seen today, for example, the George McKillop school closed in 1982 at almost the same time the Nicholas Sheran school opened on Lethbridge's west side. So, as the city grows schools have to be built in the new areas while they are closed in older areas.