Society formed 1888; school opened 1889; rebuilt 1964–1965 · event
Mennonite Collegiate Institute at Gretna
Gretna’s Mennonite school grew from teacher preparation into a residential Christian secondary institution.
Also searchable as: Mennonite Collegiate Institute · MCI Gretna · Mennonitische Bildungsanstalt · Mennonitische Lehranstalt
Mennonite Collegiate Institute traces its beginnings to the Mennonitische Bildungsanstalt, organized by a school society in 1888 and opened in Gretna, Manitoba, in 1889. Its first teacher, Wilhelm Rempel, prepared elementary-school teachers, while families also sought a broader Christian education for their children. Heinrich H. Ewert became principal in 1891, and incorporation followed in 1893. These institutional and archival dates differ from the supplied chart’s 1887 label.
Disagreement over relocation eventually produced separate institutions in Altona and Gretna. The Gretna school took the name Mennonitische Lehranstalt, or Mennonite Collegiate Institute, and dedicated new premises in 1908. A destructive fire in 1963 was followed by rebuilding in 1964–1965. Academic teaching and residential community life became enduring parts of the school’s Anabaptist educational work, continuing the founders’ concern for both learning and the formation of young people within the church community.
Sources for this history: [1] [2]
