A monument, erected in the Rural Municipality of Rosedale, commemorates the site of Big Valley School No. 2109, formed in the northeast quarter of 8-17-15, west of the Principal Meridian, in October 1923. The school board paid $60 for the land and erected a frame building to accommodate students from both sides of Big Valley. Through the years, school enrollment was as high as 30 students, and 25 teachers taught there. The school closed in 1958 with an enrollment of six students, who were then bused to Eden Consolidated School. The school district was formally disbanded in January 1968. A large boulder was moved to the site in July 2007 and the attached plaque was dedicated to the pioneers, teachers, school trustees, and students of Big Valley School.
Among the teachers of Big Valley School were Miss Currie (1926-1928), Mrs. McKay (1928), Miss M. MacDonald (1929), Miss Ivy Clack (1929-1930), Miss Day (1931-1932), Miss Gladys Birnie (1932-1935), Miss Margaret Adam (1935-1938), Miss Doris Osborne (1938-1941), Miss Jean Munroe (1941), Iva May Eros (1942), Miss Margaret Pierson (1942-1944), Donald Lucko (1944-1945), Miss Cotton (1945-1946), Miss E. Joyce Sealy (1946-1947), Margaret Miller (1947-1948), Miss Audrey Buchanan (1948-1949), Mr. Gray (1949), Mr. Bessell (1950), Miss Finnie (1950-1951), Miss Marie Buchanan (1951-1952), Miss Josephine Pulak (1952-1954), Miss Verla Allan (1954-1955), Miss Yvonne Parrott (1955-1956), Mrs. Dorothy Cook (1956-1957), and Mr. Eddy Sawchuk (1957-1958).
Big Valley School (circa 1930)
Source: Education Department Report, 1930, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Big Valley School (no date) by W. C. Hartley
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 96.
Big Valley School commemorative monument (June 2018)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Big Valley School commemorative monument (March 2021)
Source: Kathryn Hyndman
Big Valley School commemorative plaque (May 2023)
Source: Glen ToewsSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.44694, W99.50459
denoted by symbol on the map above
Marriage and death registrations [Iva May Eros], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
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.
Rosedale Remembers, 1884-1984 by Rosedale Centennial Book Committee, 1984, pages 67-68.
East of the Mountains: Eden-Birnie Story, Wards 2 and 5, Rural Municipality of Rosedale, Manitoba: 1877-1984 by Eden Birnie History Book Committee, 1984. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.E35 Eas]
The Beautiful Plains Story: 1983-2008 by Neepawa and Area History Committee, 2008, page 161.
We thank Glen Gibbons, David Ford, Kathryn Hyndman, and Glen Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Allan Drysdale and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 23 May 2023
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