Garfield Early Childhood Center now home of the Little Buffaloes

Garden City, Kan (WesternKanasNews.Com) – Garfield Early Childhood Center has unveiled their new mascot. They are now the Little Buffaloes!

“The new mascot ties in with the school district better than the old mascot,” said Andrea Baker, Garfield Early Childhood Center Principal.  The old mascot was the Little Horns, which was a little cow with horns.

“Our students start out their educational journey at Garfield Early Childhood Center and will eventually finish their high school education at Garden City High School.  It really ties in the whole school district because once a Buffalo, always a Buffalo,” Baker noted.

Garfield Early Childhood Center houses the early childhood special education programs and the ELF (Early Learning for Four year olds) programs for the district. The school was created as a part of the same long-range facilities plan that gave the community the current high school, Horace Good Middle School and Abe Hubert Elementary School.

The history of the school itself is perhaps the most interesting of all the schools in the district, in that it has burned down twice.

It was originally Northside School, built in the 1880s. Little of note besides normal education happened there until 1900, when it burned down and was rebuilt. Again it was a fairly typical school for the next 75 years until it was burned down and rebuilt a second time.

The center is named for James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States. Garfield is remembered for proposing a universal education system funded from the federal level.