Historic Sites of Manitoba: Chortitz School No. 1997 / Valley Mennonite Academy (Chortitz, RM of Stanley)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

Known as the Mersey School District when it was organized in February 1920, the district was renamed Chortitz at an unknown time by at least 1940. It operated a school in the village of Chortitz in the Rural Municipality of Stanley. The building dates from around 1925 and, at the time of a visit in 2012, is still being used as a school.

Principals

Period

Principal

1940-1941

?

1941-1944

Margaret Reimer

1944-1946

Kate Bertha Janzen

1946-1947

William F. Derksen

1947-1949

Anna Reimer

1949-1951

Isaac Dyck

1951-1952

Gerhard “Jerry” Hildebrand (1929-2016)

1952-1953

Mary Froese

1953-1955

Helen Goertzen

1955-1959

John Enns

1959-1961

Larry Neufeld

1961-1962

Menno Isaac

1962-1964

Albert F. Schulz

1964-1965

Gerhard A. Hildebrand

1965-1966

David W. “Dave” Bueckert

1966-1968

Bruno Mekelbung

Teachers

Period

Teachers

1940-1941

Helena Derksen (grades 3-4), Elizabeth Dyck (grades 1-2, & 5), ? (grades 6-9)

1941-1942

Mildred Ens (grades 1-3), Justine Reimer (grades 3-5), Margaret Reimer (grades 5-9)

1942-1943

Mildred Ens (grades 1-3), Margaret Reimer (grades 4-9)

1943-1944

Justine Reimer (grades 1-3), Margaret Reimer (grades 4-9)

1944-1945

Irene Janzen (grades 1-3), Kate Bertha Janzen (grades 4-8)

1945-1946

Irene Janzen (grades 1-3), Kate Bertha Janzen (grades 4-8)

1946-1947

William F. Derksen (grades 4-9), Mary Klassen (grades 1-3)

1947-1948

June Marion Helen Hamm (grades 1-3), Anna Reimer (grades 4-9)

1948-1949

Catherine Dyck (grades 1-3), Anna Reimer (grades 4-9)

1949-1950

Isaac Dyck (grades 4-10), George P. Krahn (grades 1-3)

1950-1951

Isaac Dyck (grades 4-9), H. Grace Siemens (grades 1-3)

1951-1952

Gerhard “Jerry” Hildebrand (grades 4-8), H. Grace Siemens (grades 1-3)

1952-1953

Margaret Friesen (grades 1-3), Mary Froese (grades 4-8)

1953-1954

Helen Ens (grades 3-5), Margaret Friesen (grades 1-2), Helen Goertzen (grades 6-8)

1954-1955

Helen Ens (grades 3-5), Margaret Friesen (grades 1-3), Helen Goertzen (grades 6-9)

1955-1956

John Enns (grades 6-10), Rita Klassen (grades 1-3), Helen Reimer (grades 3-5)

1956-1957

John Enns (grades 6-10), Rita Klassen (grades 1-3), Helen Reimer (grades 4-5)

1957-1958

John Enns (grades 6-9), Eleanor Neufeld (grades 1-3), Larry Neufeld (grades 3-5)

1958-1959

John Enns (grades 7-10), Eleanor Neufeld (grades 1-3), Larry Neufeld (grades 4-6)

1959-1960

Matilda Janice Dueck (grades 1-3), Anne Klassen (grades 3-6), Larry Neufeld (grades 7-9)

1960-1961

Matilda Janice Dueck (grades 1-3), Anne Klassen (grades 4-6), Larry Neufeld (grades 7-9)

1961-1962

Matilda Janice Dueck (grades 1-3), Evelyn Agnes Isaac (grades 4-6), Menno Isaac (grades 7-9)

1962-1963

Matilda Janice Dueck (grades 1-3), Anton Penner (grades 4-6), Albert F. Schulz (grades 7-10)

1963-1964

Martha Brandt (grades 4-6), Matilda Janice Dueck (grades 1-3), Albert F. Schulz (grades 7-9)

1964-1965

Martha Brandt (grades 1-2), Gerhard A. Hildebrand (grades 6-8), Marianne Kliever (grades 3-5)

1965-1966

Martha Brandt (grades 1-2), David W. “Dave” Bueckert (grades 6-8), Marianne Kliever (grades 3-5)

1966-1967

Marianne Kliever (grades 3-5), Helen Loewen (grades 1-2), Bruno Mekelbung (grades 6-8)

1967-1968

Helen Loewen (grades 1-2), Bruno Mekelbung (grades 6-8), ? (grades 3-5)

Photos & Coordinates

Chortitz School

Chortitz School (no date)
Source: Chortitz Memories, 1875-2002, Winkler: Chortitz Cemetery Cairn Committee, 2002.

The former Chortitz School

The former Chortitz School (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1088.

Chortitz School

Chortitz School (November 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.12762, W97.97648
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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 Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Chortitz School No. 1997 Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Marjorie Hildebrand for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 14 February 2021

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