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 (no date) Source: Chortitz Memories, 1875-2002, Winkler: Chortitz Cemetery Cairn Committee, 2002. The former Chortitz School (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1088. 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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