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The early school-age residents of this area initially attended classes at St. Paul School and Parks Creek School, both on the far side of the Red River, for which passage to and from was provided via the ferry and with crossing fees waived for said children. In 1888, a petition was circulated to gauge and gathered the interest of local residents in establishing a school district of their own to be located on this side of the river. Known as East St. Paul School District No. 541, it was formed in June 1888 and, two months later in August, the districts first trustees George Chudleigh, A. Miller, and L. Hartshorne, met for their first recorded meeting. The first schoolhouse of the new district was a building rented from John Lyster, with these initial quarters used through the spring of 1889. During this time, and until at least the late 1890s, some pupils in the furthest northerly outskirts of this new districts catchment area continued to attend school out-of-district, continuing the usage of ferry to attend Parks Creek School.
In 1889, land was purchased from Mr. Hoddinott, with a new schoolhouse designed by George Browne and built by Alexander “Alex” Garvin [Garven]. The structure, reportedly expanded in 1908 to accommodate a second teacher, remained under the leadership of a single educator until 1912, when rented quarters at the Burton House (later owned by school trustee Neil John McGregor, burned in 1943) were utilized for two school years to address the overflow of capacity until 1914 when the issue of classroom space was resolved with the construction of a new educational facility.
In 1914, a two-storey brick schoolhouse was constructed on Lot 95 on the Birds Hill Road in the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul. The foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1914 by Deputy Minister of Education Robert Fletcher before a large crowd of local citizens and school board officials. The new two-room facility was built by contractor Walter Owens and A. Sanders was erected with expansion in mind, with two additional classrooms quickly approved by local voters in two months of the schools opening. This expansion cost a further $3,000. The old (1889) schoolhouse was then sold to Neil John McGregor for $200.
In December 1927, the East St. Paul School No. 451 was renamed the Birds Hill School District No. 541 to help differentiate the district from the since-split off Central St. Paul School District No. 1545 (itself subdivided only a few years later to create the Donald McLeod School No. 2221) and better reflect the schools location, following a Department of Education trend to rename districts, where needed, to help reduce confusion as to their geography. The school was expanded in 1945 upon designs of Colonel John Nelson Semmens. This district fragmentation was resolved in January 1954 with the creation of the East St. Paul Municipal School District No. 2322, merging the since-amalgamated Consolidated School District of East St. Paul (itself formed in 1950 from the Central St. Paul School and Donald McLeod School) with the Birds Hill School. In 1959, all high school grades within the district became the jurisdiction of the River East School Division, into which the Municipal School District (and all remaining grades) was fully dissolved into in April 1967. Birds Hill School itself was closed from summer 1955 through summer 1963, with classes within the East St. Paul Municipal School District were centralized at East St. Paul School No. 1 / Dr. F. W. L. Hamilton School and East St. Paul School No. 2 / East St. Paul Collegiate / Robert Andrews School and students bused to said.
Reactivated the the district in 1963, the facility would see four portable classrooms added to the site as of 1984, two of which were used as a gymnasium and library, respectively. In 1986, its namesake successor was built a few blocks west. With classed having been migrated over to the new Birds Hill School in January 1987, the old school and grounds was put up for sale and demolished in March 1987. The site is now a shopping mall parking lot, with the surviving vestiges of the old (1914) school being its name stone and cornerstone, both of which are displayed out front at the new school on Raleigh Street.
Period
Principal
1912-1914
Anna Margaret Ruth Whitely Garven (1888-1960)
1914-1920
Ellen Agar “Nellie” Haight (1875-1947)
1920-1923
Vernon Wallis Mulvin (1891-1972)
1923-1924
George Henry Smithson (?-?)
1924-1933
Henry Gledhill Heasman (1870-1955)
1933-1936
Gordon Henry Clifford Maxwell (1900-1970)
1936-1941
Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (1913-2004)
1941-1947
John Lyzun (1913-1984)
1947-1949
Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor
1949-1954
Franz Julius Solmundson (1907-1989)
1954-1955
Douglas Gordon Pomeroy (1911-1968)
1955-1963
School closed
1963-1967
Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (1939-2024)
1967-1968
Jennie Marion Slawinski Hayka (1927-2016)
1968-1969
Janet Marie Butler
1969-1983
Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris Buguska (1918-2003)
1983-1986
Roberta Mae Vyse
After 1986
Among the early teachers who worked at Birds Hill School were Neil McMillan (October-December 1888), Edward Anthony Wharton Gill (1889), W. Van Blaricom (1890), A. J. Gordon (1891), R. H. Wilson (1891), Miss Davis (1892), Miss Bella Poole (1892-1896), John Silas Poole (1897), Belle C. McGregor (1897), Ernest Forster Haffner (1898), Miss K. E. Haffner (1899-1900), Miss E. M. Christie (1900), Walter Gorham (1900-1904), Miss J. M. Springstein (1905), Harry G. Francis (Spring 1906), Sydney E. Clark (Fall 1906 - Spring 1907), Lena M. Davey (Fall 1907 - Spring 1908), W. G. McIntyre (Fall 1908 - Spring 1909), Miss E. Ruby Armstrong (Fall 1909 - Spring 1910), Margaret J. MacWilliam (August-October 1910), Mrs. Lillian E. Scribner (November 1910 - June 1911), and Charles S. White (Fall 1911 - Spring 1912).
Period
Teachers
1912-1913
Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4, at Burton House), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8)
1913-1914
Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4, at Burton House), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8)
1914-1915
Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8, October-June), Miss I. E. Johnson (grades 1-4), Anna Ruth Margaret Whitely (grades 5-8, August-September)
1915-1916
Miss R. I.[J?] Cross (grades 1-4), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8)
1916-1917
Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 1-4, January-June), Miss R. I.[J?] Cross (grades 1-4, August-December), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8)
1917-1918
Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 1-3, August-December), Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-3, January-June), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-8)
1918-1919
Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-3, August-December & April-June), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-8), Annie M. Unger (grades 1-3, January-March)
1919-1920
Elsie H. Gibson (grades 1-4, August-December), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 5-8), Helen L.? Harper (grades 1-4, January-June)
1920-1921
Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-3), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1921-1922
Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-3), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1922-1923
Vernon Wallis Mulvin (grades 7-10), Ida Ermyntrude Norman (grades 1-2), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-6)
1923-1924
Miss H. MacDonald (grades 1-2, 1924), Mrs. J. McLeod (grades 1-2, 1923), George Henry Smithson (grades 7-10), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 4-6)
1924-1925
Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 5-9), Miss H. MacDonald (grades 1-2), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-5)
1925-1926
Delta Selina Gorham (grades 1-2), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Mary Catherine Unger (grades 3-5)
1926-1927
Lillian M. Edwards (grades 3-5), Walter Gorham (grades 3-5, 1927 substitute), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Margaret Peturson (grades 1-2)
1927-1928
Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-10), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1928-1929
Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1929-1930
Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9), Winona Howell (grades 1-2)
1930-1931
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-2), Ethel Maud Bennett (grades 3-5, 1930 substitute), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 3-5), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 6-9)
1931-1932
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-6), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 7-9)
1932-1933
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Nellie Helen Agar Haight (grades 4-6), Henry Gledhill Heasman (grades 7-9)
1933-1934
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Florence McLachlan (grades 4-6), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10)
1934-1935
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Florence McLachlan (grades 4-6), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10)
1935-1936
Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone (grades 1-3), Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3, 1936), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 7-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-6)
1936-1937
Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Gordon Henry Maxwell (grades 8-10, 1936), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1937-1938
Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1938-1939
Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-3), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 8-10), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 4-7)
1939-1940
Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-4), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 9-11), Emily Phyllis Smith (grades 5-8)
1940-1941
Ethel Mary Barager (grades 1-4), Francis Osborne “Frank” “Oz” Norman (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8)
1941-1942
John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-4)
1942-1943
John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 4-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-3)
1943-1944
John Lyzun (grades 9-11), Emily Ann Priest (grades 5-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-4)
1944-1945
John Lyzun (grades 9-11), I. Marguerite Miller (grades 4-8), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 1-3)
1945-1946
Mary Madeline Darling (grades 1-3), John Lyzun (grades 7-11), Stephanie Prucyk (grades 4-6)
1946-1947
Elizabeth Muriel Curta (grades 5-8), Evelyn Eve Dutchak (grades 1-4), John Lyzun (grades 9-11)
1947-1948
Mollie Dobchuk (grades 1-3, August-December), Ruth May Lewarne (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Mary Niven (grades 1-3, January-June)
1948-1949
Ruth May Lewarne (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Mary Niven (grades 1-3)
1949-1950
Mona Katherine Johnson (grades 4-6), Wilhelmine Isabelle McGregor (grades 7-9), Joanne Elizabeth Manson (grades 1-3), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1950-1951
Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Lucille A. Lambert (grades 3-5, January-June), Katiebelle McKnight (grades 3-5, August-December), Ethel May Matthews (grades 6-8, August-December), S. Allan Murray (grades 6-8, January-June), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1951-1952
Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Peter Kruszelnicki (grades 6-8), Jacqueline Naven (grades 3-5, August-December), Ida Penner (grades 3-5, January-June), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1952-1953
Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Ida Penner (grades 3-5), Eileen Joyce Reeves (grades 6-8), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1953-1954
Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Ida Penner (grades 3-5), Eileen Joyce Reeves (grades 6-8), Franz Julius Solmundson (grades 9-11)
1954-1955
Marguerite Dora Clark (grades 3-4), Mrs. M. Irene Kazina (grades 1-2), Neil McTavish (grades 5-6), Douglas Gordon Pomeroy (grades 7-9)
1955-1963
School closed (classes at East St. Paul School No. 1 / Dr. F. W. L. Hamilton School and East St. Paul School No. 2 / East St. Paul Collegiate / Robert Andrews School)
1963-1964
Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2), Louise Margaret Roy (grade 1)
1964-1965
Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (grade 1), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2)
1965-1966
Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (grade 1), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Kathryn Pronyk (grade 2), Sharon Jean Wieler (grade 4)
1966-1967
Ann Elizabeth Cushman (grade 4, August-December), Joan Elizabeth Gratton (grade 4, June), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3), Donna Diane Hewko (grade 2), Louise Margaret Roy O’Grady (grade 1), Anne Topping (grade 4, January-June)
1967-1968
Janet Marie Butler (grade 1), Donna Diane Hewko (grade 2), Jennie Marion Hayka (grade 3)
1968-1969
Dorothy Isabel Buskell (grade 3), Janet Marie Butler (grade 1), Elizabeth Mary Soderstrom (grade 2)
1969-1970
Dorothy Isabel Buskell (grade 3), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 1), Elizabeth Mary Soderstrom (grade 2)
1970-1971
Janet Marie Butler (Principal relief, 0.5 at Birds Hill School, 0.5 at Donald School), Sharleen Ann Lutynec (grade 3), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 1), Janice Pauline Snyder (Grade 2)
1971-1972
Janet Elizabeth Dykman (grade 2), Sharleen Ann Lutynec (grade 3), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 1)
1972-1973
Janet Marie Butler (Principal relief, 0.5 at Birds Hill School, 0.5 at New Rosewell School), Janet Elizabeth Dykman (grade 2), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 1), Judy K. Rempel (grade 3)
1973-1974
Ruth Evril Braun (grades 2-3), Janet Marie Butler (Principal relief, 0.5 at Birds Hill School, 0.5 at New Rosewell School), Sandra Diane Combs (grade 1), Colleen Patricia Johnstone (grade 3), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2)
1974-1975
Ruth Evril Braun (relief), Colleen Patricia Johnstone (grade 3), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Sandra Carolyn Trumble (no grade, 0.1)
1975-1976
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 3), Ruth Evril Braun (no grade, 0.1), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Joan Gale MacKenzie (relief), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Hilda Huldina Staska (no grade, 0.1)
1976-1977
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 3), Ruth Merle Boyes (resource, 0.? at Birds Hill School, 0.? at Dr. F. W. L. Hamilton School, 0.? at Robert Andrews School), Ruth Evril Braun (Principal relief and prep time, 0.?), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Hilda Huldina Staska (no grade, 0.1)
1977-1978
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 3), Ruth Merle Boyes (resource, 0.? at Birds Hill School, 0.? at Dr. F. W. L. Hamilton School, 0.? at Robert Andrews School), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Hilda Huldina Staska (no grade, 0.2)
1978-1979
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 4), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Marina Cecilia Lawrence (no grade, 0.2), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Geraldine Anne Prymak (grade 3), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Gloria Anita Scrivens (no grade, 0.3), Hilda Huldina Staska (relief, 0.3)
1979-1980
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 4), Janet Marie Butler (Principal relief, 0.33), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Marina Cecilia Lawrence (no grade, 0.2), Denise Mary McWilliams (grade 1 substitute), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Geraldine Anne Prymak (grade 3), Patricia Ann “Pat” Scott (grade 1), Hilda Huldina Staska (relief)
1980-1981
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 4), Janet Marie Butler (Principal relief, 0.33), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten), Lorraine Wanda Kovachik (music, October-June 0.25, 0.5 at Princess Margaret School), Marina Cecilia Lawrence (music, September-October 0.25, 0.5 at Princess Margaret School), Denise Mary McWilliams (grade 1), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Geraldine Anne Prymak (grade 3), Hilda Huldina Staska (relief)
1981-1982
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 4), Janet Marie Butler (relief, 0.33), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten, 0.5), Marina Cecilia Lawrence (music, 0.25), Margaret Marion McLachlan (teachers aide), Denise Mary McWilliams (grade 1), Janet Kathleen Mattis (teachers aide, 0.78), Peggy Beatrice Osman Morris (grade 2), Darlen Dale Schade (grade 3), Hilda Huldina Staska (no grade, 0.16), Sheila Joan Storjord (resource, 0.3)
1982-1983
Roslyn Melody Binda, Janet Marie Butler, Marlene Joan Demchuk, Marina Cecilia Lawrence, Denise M. McWilliams, Hilda Huldina Staska, Mrs. S. J. Storjord, Miss L. G. Sutherland
1983-1984
Roslyn Melody Binda, Marlene Joan Demchuk, Mrs. V. D. Fillingham, Denise M. McWilliams, Hilda Huldina Staska, Mrs. S. J. Storjord, Miss L. G. Sutherland
1984-1985
Roslyn Melody Binda, Janet Marie Butler, Marlene Joan Demchuk, Mr. S. J. Enns, Mrs. V. D. Fillingham, Mrs. B. B. Groberman, Denise M. McWilliams, Hilda Huldina Staska, Mrs. S. J. Storjord
1985-1986
Roslyn Melody Binda (grade 3), Janet Marie Butler (grade 2), Marlene Joan Demchuk (kindergarten, 0.5), Sydney James Enns (physical education, 0.3), Valerie Donna Mae Fillingham (no grade, 0.58), Beverly Beryl Faith Groberman (library, 0.25), Norman James Lee (resource, 0.3 at Birds Hill School, 0.7 at Robert Andrews School), Denise Mary McWilliams (grade 1), Janet Kathleen Mattis (teachers aide, 0.86), Hilda Huldina Staska (science, 0.16), Roberta Mae Vyse (grade 4)
1986-1987
(August-December): Roslyn Melody Binda, Janet Marie Butler, Marlene Joan Demchuk, Valerie Diane Kraemer, Norman James Lee, Denise Mary McWilliams, Marcelline Kerry Moody, Hilda Huldina Staska, James Henry Schellenberg
After 1986
East St. Paul School (no date)
Source: Heritage I, A Story of East St. Paul, page 79.
Burton House (temporary quarters for East St. Paul School in 1912-1914) (no date)
Source: Heritage I, A Story of East St. Paul, page 80.
Birds Hill Soldiers Uneeda Club in front of East St. Paul School during the First World War (no date)
Source: Heritage I, A Story of East St. Paul, page 81.
Birds Hill School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 87.
Construction of the expansion to Birds Hill School (1945)
Source: Heritage I, A Story of East St. Paul, page 83.
Birds Hill School (no date)
Source: Heritage I, A Story of East St. Paul, page 150.
Name stone for Birds Hills School, on display at the present school (October 2014)
Source: Nathan Kramer
Date stone for Birds Hills School, on display at the present school (October 2014)
Source: Nathan KramerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97492, W97.00716
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Birds Hill School (3950 Raleigh Street, RM of East St. Paul)
“The Indian famine fund,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 March 1897, page 4.
Winnipeg East topographic map, 62H/14 East, Edition 1, 1952, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].
1921 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
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.
Marriage registrations [Ida Ermyntrude Norman and Alexander Ragne Pearson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Dance and social given by members of Bird’s Hill School District,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 December 1934, page 6.
Heritage I: A Story of East St. Paul by Robert Andrews School [RM of East St. Paul], 1967, pages 79-107.
Heritage II, A History of East St. Paul by the RM of East St. Paul, 1991, pages 271-275 & 294-299.
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
Board of Education meeting minutes and office files (A 0052), GR1622, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Birds Hill School District No. 541 Daily Registers, GR8245, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Obituary [Dorothy Elizabeth Balderstone Langton], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 2006, page 32.
We thank Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 16 November 2024
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