The Forest School District was organized in 1884 when the area was part of the Rural Municipality of Belcourt (now the RM of Dufferin). A school building was constructed on the southwest quarter of 20-7-4 west of the Principal Meridian, on land donated by Isaac Fuller. The name also appears as Barnsley Forest School within some official records between 1888-1906. It was replaced in 1904 by a new structure at the southeast corner of SE17-7-4W, which was part of a farm owned by William G. Dunn. Over time, land was removed from the district to established the Carman School District, Tracy School District, and Hopeland School District. The school closed in 1963 and the district was dissolved in 1968 when it became part of the Carman Consolidated School District No. 176. The school building is no longer present at the site but a sign commemorates it.
Among the teachers of Forest School were Miss Vincent (Spring 1885), Matthew Fletcher (Spring 1886) (Sarah J. Sexsmith (Spring 1898), Alice Stewart (Spring-Fall 1889), Annie W. McFarlane (July-October 1900), E. M. Brunen (November-December 1900), Mary J. B. Fisher (Spring 1900 - Fall 1900), T? Linnie R. Kennedy (Spring 1902 - Fall 1904), Miss E. Eva Cuddy (Spring 1905 - Fall 1906), Miss Marion Phillips (Spring 1907 - Fall 1908), Miss Jessie A. Graham (Spring 1909 - Fall 1910), Miss S. H. Rodgers (January-November 1911), Miss Helen J. Neelin (November 1911 - December 1912), Miss Beth G. Pinkerton (January-December 1913), Miss Agnes G. Graham (Spring 1914), Miss Ethel L. Craig (Fall 1914 - Spring 1915), Miss Marjorie H. Forbes (Fall 1915), Miss Grace E. Richardson (Spring 1916 - Spring 1917), Miss H. Cunningham (Fall 1917 - Spring 1918), Miss Rutha H. Wilson (August 1918 - May 1919), Miss Georgina McKay (June 1919), Miss Jean C. Allison (Fall 1919 - Spring 1920), Miss Gladys G. Abercrombie (Fall 1920), Miss Jessie McIver (January-February 1921), Miss Gladys Alderson (March-June 1921), Miss Mae Sadler (Fall 1921 - Spring 1924), Miss Edna E. Sadler (Fall 1924 - Spring 1926), Miss Kathleen M. Moore (Fall 1926 - Spring 1927), Miss Ellen Hume (Fall 1927 - Spring 1929), Miss Margaret Thompson (Fall 1929 - Spring 1930), Miss Sylvia Mary Anderson (Fall 1930 - Fall 1933), Miss Hazel Blanche Hainstock (Spring 1934 - March 1937), Miss Myrtle Ingram Rutter (April-June 1937), Miss Lyra Leona McQuarrie (Fall 1937 - Spring 1940), Miss Margaret Mary Brown (Fall 1940 - Spring 1941), Gordon Clarence Kendall (Fall 1941 - Spring 1942), Miss Laura R. Collier (August-November 1942), Miss Esther Hooper (November-December 1942), Mrs. S. E. Sanderson (January 1943 - Spring 1944), Miss Frances Elizabeth Money Preston (Fall 1944 - Spring 1947), Miss Eva Louise Dauphinais (Fall 1947 - Spring 1948), Miss Vera Rose Tayler (Fall 1948 - Spring 1949), Maurice Decosse (Fall 1949 - Spring 1952), Miss Elizabeth Sschwarz (Fall 1952 - Spring 1953), Mrs Olga Dyck (Fall 1953 - Spring 1957), Miss Nellie Wiebe (Fall 1957 - Spring 1959), Mrs. Nancy Pfrimmer (Fall 1959 - Spring 1960), Miss Lynda Anne Jacques (Fall 1960 - Spring 1962), Miss Beryl Patricia “Patt” Hofford (Fall 1962 - Spring 1963)
Forest School (no date) by A. J. Manning
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 69.
Forest School commemorative sign (June 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.56180, W97.95960
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Forest School District No. 202 - Half Yearly Registers of Attendance, GR2085, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Forest School District No. 202 - Daily Registers, GR2085, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Forest School District No. 202 - Cash Books, GR2085, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Forest School District No. 202 - Minute Books, GR2085, Archives of Manitoba.
School Bells & Honey Pails: A GPS Tour of Local Country Schools, Dufferin Historical Museum, circa 2011, 74 pages.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 27 August 2021
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