The Bjarmi School District was established in May 1908 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at the northeast corner of NW2-23-2E in the Rural Municipality of Bifrost, although classroom operations did not commence until the spring of 1911. In January 1966, the school closed. The district was dissolved and its catchment area became part of the Arborg Consolidated School District and later the Evergreen School Division. The former school building stood vacant at the site until 1987 when it was moved to the Michael Reznik homestead.
Among the teachers of Bjarmi School were Anna Johnson (March-June 1911), Gudbjorg Helgason (September-December 1911), Jon Runolfson (January-April 1912), Hildur “Hilda” Arnason (Fall 1912 - Spring 1913), Stefania Johnson (Fall 1913 - Spring 1914), Elice A. Einarson (Fall 1914), Mary Einarson (pt Spring 1915), F. J. Boresky (pt Spring 1915), St. Yarema (Fall 1915), P. Mitanko (Spring 1916), A. Mykytiuk (Fall 1917), William Jerowsky (Fall 1921 - Spring 1922, 1928), Mary Wilson (Fall 1925 - Spring 1926), Russel Henry Hayter (?-?), Mary Shewchuk Ewacha (Fall 1940 - Fall 1941), Florence Dora Lisowik (Spring 1942, Spring 1955), William Cipuzak (Fall 1945 - Spring 1946), Mike Semenchuk (1946-1947), Sister M. Clara (Fall 1947 - Fall 1949, Fall 1952 - Fall 1954), Sister Caroline (Fall 1949 - Spring 1950), Sister M. Hiltrude (Fall 1950 - Fall 1951), Sister Mary Berda [Sophie K. Pura] (Spring 1952), Sister M. Alfred (Fall 1954), Ellen Borgfjord (Fall 1955), Daisy Gudrun Vigfusson (Spring 1956), Bohden Balla (Fall 1956 - Spring 1960), Evelyn Carol Bardarson (Fall 1960 - Spring 1962), Peter Paul Majko (Fall 1962 - Spring 1965), Selia Johnson, Mr. Cypusah, Bernard P. Giesbrecht, Florence Lisowick, Andrew Palamarchuk, Mrs. King, Mrs. Buchanan, Mrs. Trust, Stephen Duncan, Mr. Baker, Edward Borgfjord, Tony Maksymyk, Peter Mandzuik, Mary Suister, and Peter Mayden.
Bjarmi School (no date) by H. D. Cumming
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 121.
Former Bjarmi School site (October 2015)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.96390, W97.21546<
denoted by symbol on the map above
Arborg topographic map, 62I/14, Edition 1, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].
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.
A Century Unfolds: History of Arborg and District, 1889-1987, researched and compiled by the Arborg Historical Society, 1987. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, F5649.A73 Cen]
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Bjarmi School District No. 1461 - Daily Registers, GR6124, Archives of Manitoba.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 10 December 2023
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