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The Cossette School District was established in May 1907 and, the following year, a schoolhouse operated at NE34-17-1W in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong. In 1911, it was moved to a two-acre site in nearby Inwood. A new two-classroom structure with a full basement was built at the site in 1922, based upon architectural drawings by Gilbert C. Parfitt. In 1942, the district was dissolved and its catchment area became part of the Armstrong Municipal School District No. 1842. Further expansions were made in 1955 and 1957 (one classroom), and the building was used for all classes until high school grades were moved into temporary structures in 1959. Those grades were transferred in the Fall of 1962 to the new Inwood Collegiate across the street, at which point this building became known as Inwood Elementary School.
With the removal of high school grades from Inwood Collegiate grades to Teulon in September 1967, both buildings operated as Inwood Elementary School (later as Inwood School) under a single Principal. That arrangement lasted into the early 1970s, when the former collegiate building was expanded while the old Cossette School was closed and put up for sale or demolition. The building was purchased and moved to Lundar. The former elementary school site is now occupied by an automotive service station.
Period
Principal
1922-1923
Morley H. Lawrence
1923-1925
Frederick “Fred” Morgan (1870-1936)
1925-1926
Jean F. C. Hopkins
1926-1927
Beulah Beryl McNevin (1896-1963)
1927-1928
Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher
1929
Marjorie Blanche Patmore “Marj” Mikkelsen (1905-1998)
1929
Josephus K. “Joseph” Lamb (1891-1975)
1930
Annie Margaret Gillies
1930-1935
Gertrude Elizabeth McRae
1935-1936
Henry Joseph Grenon (1881-1981)
1936-1937
Thomas Bell (1913-1996)
1937-1938
John Archibald “Archie” Carmichael (1916-2001)
1938-1940
Percy Nimrod Hunt (1910-1990)
1940-1941
William Harrison Lucow (1916-1986)
1941-1944
Michael John Mazur (1913-2011)
1944-1946
Lena I. Braun
1946-1951
Percy Nimrod Hunt (1910-1990)
1951-1954
John R. Lord
1954-1955
Doris Horosko
1955-1957
Nicholas Krawchuk
1957
Ervin Chezick
1957-1959
Gustaf H. Finnson
1959-1967
William Alexander Knihinicki
1967-1973
Period
Principal
1959-1960
Calvin A. Bamsfield
1960-1962
Benjamin Franklin Olson (1898-1981)
1962-1967
Period
Teachers
1922-1923
Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-5), Morley H. Lawrence (grades 5-7)
1923-1924
Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-4), Frederick Morgan (grades 4-8)
1924-1925
Ella M. Hedden (grades 1-3, 1925), Annie A. Kallman (grades 1-3, 1924), Frederick Morgan (grades 4-9)
1925-1926
Jean F. C. Hopkins (grades 4-10), Rose Belle Rogers (grades 1-3)
1926-1927
Alice M. Belton (grades 1-4), Beulah Beryl McNevin (grades 5-10)
1927-1928
Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher (grades 5-8), Rose Belle Rogers (grades 1-4)
1928-1929
Winnifred Margaret Baldwin (grades 1-4, 1929), Dorothy Evangeline Jennison Belcher (grades 5-8, 1928), Marjorie Blanche Patmore (grades 5-8, 1929), Mary Estella Sheffield (grades 1-4, 1928)
1929-1930
Annie Margaret Gillies (grades 5-9, 1930), Josephus K. Lamb (grades 5-9, 1929), Vera Shirley Stokes (grades 1-4)
1930-1931
Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5, 1930; grades 1-4, 1931), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 5-9)
1931-1932
Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1932-1933
Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1933-1934
Lois Enid McLellan (grades 1-5), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 6-9)
1934-1935
Lois Enid McLellan (grades 6-9), Gertrude Elizabeth McRae (grades 1-5)
1935-1936
Alice L. Clark (grades 1-5), Henry Joseph Grenon (grades 6-11)
1936-1937
Thomas Bell (grades 6-10), Norma Kathlene Mooney (grades 1-5)
1937-1938
John Archibald “Archie” Carmichael (grades 6-10), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1938-1939
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 6-10), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1939-1940
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 6-11), Viola Uldine Lang (grades 1-5)
1940-1941
Kathleen Violet Heidel (grades 1-8), William Harrison Lucow (grades 9-12)
1941-1942
Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11), Mabel Belle Smithers (grades 1-8)
1942-1943
Christina Herd Hogue (grades 1-8), Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11)
1943-1944
Rita G. Jubinville (grades 1-8), Michael John Mazur (grades 9-11)
1944-1945
Lena I. Braun (grades 9-11), Marie P. McDonald (grades 1-8)
1945-1946
Lena I. Braun (grades 9-11), Olga Lillian Husack (grades 1-8)
1946-1947
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Lillian Marie Penty (grades 1-8)
1947-1948
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Irene Marie Therese Ponchon (grades 1-8)
1948-1949
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Anne Skrabek (grades 1-8 October-June), Rudy Woelke (grades 1-8, August-September)
1949-1950
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 9-11), Mary Klym (grades 1-8)
1950-1951
Percy Nimrod Hunt (grades 7-11), Jean Frances Sklepowich (grades 1-6)
1951-1952
John R. Lord (grades 7-11), Nina W. Haacke (grades 1-6)
1952-1953
Frank John Gustaw (grades 4-8), Lillian Muriel Klassen (grades 1-3), John R. Lord (grades 9-11)
1953-1954
Irene Theresa Johnson (grades 4-8), John R. Lord (grades 9-11), Joyce Sitko (grades 1-4)
1954-1955
Doris Horosko (grades 9-11), Helen T. Rucki (grades 4-8), Joyce Sitko (grades 1-4)
1955-1956
Pollyanna T. Babula (grades 1-4), Nicholas Krawchuk (grades 9-11), Denise Marguerite Moreau (grades 5-8)
1956-1957
Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-4), Nicholas Krawchuk (grades 9-11), Pauline Labchuk (grades 5-8)
1957-1958
Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), Elizabeth Mary Boyachek [Boyachuk?] (grades 3-6), Ervin Chezick (grades 9-11, September; grades 7-9, September-October), Gustaf H. Finnson (grades 10-11, September-June), Joseph Grodecki (grades 7-9, November-June)
1958-1959
Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), Elizabeth Mary Boyachek [Boyachuk?] (grades 3-6), Gustaf H. Finnson (grades 10-11), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 7-9)
1959-1960
Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3)
1960-1961
Margaret Irene Bergner (grades 1-3), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 4-5)
1961-1962
William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1962-1963
William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1963-1964
William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-3), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 4-5)
1964-1965
William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-5)
1965-1966
Aniceta Blancas (grades 5-6, October-June), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 7-8; & grades 5-6 September), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Anne Elva Nechwediuk (grades 3-4, 1966), Vera Shupenia (grades 5-6, August), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-4, 1965)
1966-1967
Freida Bernice Jorheim (kindergarten), William Alexander Knihinicki (grades 6-8), Evelyn Lavender (grades 1-2), Vera Shupenia (grades 5-6), Marion Shirley Strick (grades 3-5)
1967-1973
Period
Teachers
1959-1960
Calvin A. Bamsfield (grades 10-12, August-September; grades 11-12, October-June), Fredrick John Dolney (grade 10), Michael John McLot (grade 9, September-June), A. M. Sveistrup (grade 9, August)
1960-1961
Daniel Joseph MacNeil (grade 9), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 11-12), Carl Joseph Safinuk (grade 10)
1961-1962
D. A. Balfour (grade 9, November-June), Hope V. MacNeil (grade 9, September), Benjamin Franklin Olson (grades 11-12), Carl Joseph Safinuk (grade 10)
1962 onward
Among the teachers who worked at Cossette School through the early years were N. Bennet (1907), M. Lagimodier (1909), M. H. Connelly (1910), Miss Van Den Haven (1913), M. Compayre (1914), M. L. Trottiere (1915), Zoe M. Collins (1915), Maria Senez (1916-1917, wife of Edward Cossette), Marjorie Mann (1917-1918), B. Collins (1918), E. B. Wood (September 1918 - March 1919 & 1919-1920), Hazel Jackson (April-June 1919), C. B. Woods (1919-1920), E. Inkster (August 1920 substitute), L. J. Prette (September-December 1920), Bowen Collins (January-June 1921), and B. J. Siegelman (1921-1922), along with Mrs. Hall (c1960s, kindergarten).
Inwood Elementary, the former Cossette School (June 1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission - Volume 1, File 19a Armstrong.
Inwood Elementary, the former Cossette School (June 1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission - Volume 1, File 19a Armstrong.
Former site of Cossette School (June 2019)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.50667, W97.50229
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Inwood Collegiate / Inwood Elementary School / Inwood School (Inwood, RM of Armstrong)
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Arborg topographic map, 62I/14, Edition 1, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].
“For sale by public tender,” Stonewall Argus & Teulon Times, 5 September 1973, page 4.
Manitoba Local Government Boundaries Commission, Schools in the Interlake - Manitoba - Volume 1, Armstrong Elementary - File 19a, March 1968, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Cossette School District No. 1378 - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Cossette School District No. 1378 (Inwood Collegiate) - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Lakeshore School Division No. 23 (Inwood Elementary) - Daily Registers, GR11220 , Archives of Manitoba.
Plans and shop drawings (GS 0100), Inwood School District, GR3125, Archives of Manitoba.
School District Formation Files (E 0027), Armstrong Municipal School District No. 1842, GR1688, 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.
The Interlake Beckoned: A History of Inwood and Surrounding Districts by Inwood History Book Committee, 1980, page 261. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.I59 Int]
We thank Jennifer Bisch and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 April 2024
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