Even with the opening of a new high school on the west side of the city, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute is still the largest and best school operated by Lethbridge School District No. 51, housing approximately 880 students and 90 staff members. Since its opening in 1950, many expansions and new buildings have been added to the school. Principal Bill Bartlett and his three assistant principals, Randy Joevenazzo, Ian Lowe and Trish Syme, are proud to represent the school colours of green and gold, with grades 9 coming from feeder schools such as Gilbert Paterson every year.
To our dear LCI
We will be true
We’ll hold our colours high
Cause LCI we’re all for you.
We will fight all the way
To spread your fame
Our banners will not sway
Cause Green and Gold
Will put the rest to shame.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
This is the school song, written in the early days of LCI, but the legacy and passion of the song still lives throughout the hallways of the school.
On the topic of singing, one of LCI’s most superior extracurricular activities is choir, whether it be chamber choir, jazz choir, or LCI Singers, all of which are exceptional. There are great travel opportunities for those in choir – past trips have included: New York, Hawaii, Ottawa, Western Europe, and Wales, just to name a few.
Athletics are another perk for those who attend LCI. Football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, badminton, track and field, golf, wrestling, baseball, curling and softball are among the sports offered at LCI. With 12 provincial championships captured since 2000, LCI’s future in athletics is promising. The legacy will live on.
In February of 1928, LCI began to take shape on the corner of 4th avenue and 15th Street South. In October of 1928, LCI was finished, but in the spring of 1929 a fire destroyed the first combined junior and senior high school. Once the school became too small for the city and southern Alberta’s booming population, a new building was constructed on the same block just east of the old school. Lethbridge Collegiate Institute was then completed in 1950, although new sections continued to be added to the school because of an increase of students.
Advanced Placement (AP) at LCI is greatly promoted at the feeder schools. Grade 8 classes in middle school must achieve a final average of 80% to enter AP classes in their grade 9 year. Graduates of the program have said that the material is similar to first year university programs. However, little to no extra work is done, even with the class exploring topics more complex than what the curriculum states.