Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Benito School District was established formally in March 1907 and a concrete-block school building was erected in Benito in what is now the Municipality of Swan Valley West. Originally consisting of a single classroom, a second room had been added by 1911.
In February 1913, it consolidated with other schools in the vicinity, specifically Robson School No. 1163, Bonny View School No. 1212, Corbett School No. 1423, and Parsonville School No. 1596, to form Benito Consolidated School No. 1408. The next year, the original building was replaced by a two-storey, four-classroom, brick veneer structure designed by Winnipeg architect E. D. Tuttle (an earlier plan by Dauphin architect J. H. Bossons having been found inadequate) and built by contractor John S. Free, on land donated by J. W. Robson.
In April 1967, the school became part of the Swan Valley School Division No. 35. It remained open until 1974. The building stood vacant for some years, finally being demolished around 2000 and replaced by a recreation centre. A school model, made of bricks salvaged from the building, was unveiled at the site in 2006.
Period
Principal
1911-1914
William Meldrum (1884-1959)
1914-1915
Albert Gilmore [Gilmour] Fulford (1877-1946)
1915-1916
A. J. Elliott
1916-1922
George Isaac Herman Garrett (1884-1977)
1922-1924
Albert Livingstone “Bert” Mills (1901-1984)
1924-1926
James William Beer (1896-1978)
1926-1928
William George Delgaty (1901-1988)
1928-1934
Harry L. Stein (1902-1974)
1934-1935
John Clayton Stewart (1906-1990)
1935-1938
John Ensworth Morison (1896-1983)
1938-1941
Richard Buck (1907-1994)
1941-1945
Alfred John Patrick Moran (1903-1967)
1945-1947
William Harrison Lucow (1916-1986)
1947-1949
John Nathan Robert Clark (1912-1990)
1949-1950
John M. Parsey
1950-1951
Robert Cameron Mulligan (1889-1976)
1951-1952
John D. Bell
1952-1953
Gudmundur Bjorgvin Arilius “Arli” Isfeld (1913-1994)
1953-1955
Donald Malcolm Plummer (1926-1989)
1955-1969
John Russell Khadekin (1930-1983)
1969-1970
R. Dauk
1970-1973
E. Gorchynski
Period
Vice-Principal
1947-1948
A. Isfeld
School Year
Teachers
1963-1964
Mrs. Frances E. Coe, Mrs. Pauline Locktin, Bill Ryczak, Melvin F. Skulmoski, Keith Tarasoff
Among the other teachers of Benito School were John F. Scribner, Jessie Corbett, Eva Smith, Elsie Payne (c1911), Florence Henry, E. Emmond, and Elizabeth Joan Twilley (1947-1950, daughter of Frederick Arthur Twilley).
Postcard view of Benito School (circa 1917)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2012-0097
Benito School (no date) by J. S. Peach
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 112.
Postcard view of Benito School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2021-0062
Benito School (May 1998)
Source: John Everitt Fonds JCE-1017, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University
Benito School commemorative monument (July 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.91343, W101.55064
denoted by symbol on the map above
“Benito, Man”, Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map by Charles E. Goad, Toronto & Montreal, May 1910, Library and Archives Canada.
“Tenders for building Benito School,” Manitoba Free Press, 26 March 1914, page 2.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The Development of Education in Swan River Valley by J. N. R. Clark, MEd thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, 1949.
“3800 pupils enrolled for 1963-1964 term,” Swan Valley Star and Times, 29 August 1963, page 1.
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
Lasting Impressions: Historical Sketches of Swan River Valley by Swan Valley Historical Society, 1984, page 165.
We thank Nathan Kramer, Pat Miles, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 June 2024
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