School named after kindergarten pioneer
Trustees chose teacher over electrical pioneer as name for public school
KITCHENER — Public school trustees had a choice, to name a new school after a kindergarten pioneer or an electrical pioneer.
Janet Metcalfe was Canada’s first public school kindergarten teacher, in 1882 at what’s now Suddaby Public School in Kitchener. Later, she became the principal of Margaret Avenue Public School.
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and engineer who first gained prominence in the 1880s by helping to design the modern AC (alternating current) electrical supply system.
His achievements, given new prominence, have made him known around the world.
Metcalfe is from this community, she’s a teacher, and her work helps us understand public education as it developed in the 19th century.
She also taught in Galt (now Cambridge) and Stratford.
Tesla is not local but this community helped pioneer public electricity under the leadership of Sir Adam Beck, who was born in Baden and has a school in Baden named after him. More than 3,500 people, including 1,500 local residents, petitioned the Waterloo Region District School Board online to name a school after Tesla.
Trustees chose Metcalfe this week, citing her prominence in public education and in the community. When she died in 1935 at 81 it was front-page news.
“I think it can be inspiring to a lot of young kids that she is a role model and someone to aspire to,” board chair Scott McMillan said. It warms him to name a school after a woman.
Tesla intrigues McMillan but trustees didn’t see enough local connection. “He’s a pretty interesting character,” McMillan said. “The 21st century is starting to give him some of the credit that the 20th century wrongly gave to some other people.”
Trustee Mike Ramsay praises Metcalfe but voted for Tesla, impressed by the outpouring of support for him. “I think his contribution was right up there with Sir Adam Beck,” he said.
The new suburban school that will carry Metcalfe’s name opens in September on Seabrook Avenue in southwest Kitchener.
It will have space for 660 students at a cost of $16 million.
The public school board received more than 190 suggested names for its new school, among them: Gord Downie, Justin Trudeau, Malcolm Gladwell and Nellie McClung. Other names given consideration include Levi Carroll, one of the first black settlers in this region, and Huron Trail.