Historic Sites of Manitoba: Jefferson Junior High School / Garden City Collegiate (711 Jefferson Avenue, Winnipeg)

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

The Jefferson Junior High School (JJHS) was built in 1959-1960 at the northwest corner of Sinclair Street and Jefferson Avenue in West Kildonan. Completed in June 1960 by the firm of John Miller and Sons Limited at a cost of $426,665, the school opened to students which previously had attended staggered classes at Victory School. Between 1961 and 1962, the Garden City Collegiate Institute (GCCI) was erected west of the JJHS at the northeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and Airlies Street. The GCCI opened to students who had previously attended staggered classed at JJHS on 5 February 1962, with an official opening and public tours on 4 April 1962. Capacity at the GCCI was increased in 1964 with a 17-room expansion based designs of the Winnipeg architectural firm of Ward and Macdonald. The buildings, now part of the Seven Oaks School Division, were later joined and unified as GCCI, although Institute was later dropped from the name.

The students have created a Circle Garden / outdoor classroom with benches made out of recycled materials, with renovations and additions to the school building being completed in 2019.

Principals (Garden City Collegiate)

Period	Principal
1961-1964	Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)
1965-1967	Glenn Harvey Nicholls
1967-1984	Jacob Michael “Jake” Yakmission (1925-1984)
1984-1991	Arnold George Minish (1930-2014)
1991-1994	Brian O'Leary
1994-?	Alfred Wiebe
?-2015	?
2015-?	Steve Medwick
?-2019	?
2019-?	Tony Kreml

Principals (Jefferson Junior High School)

Period	Principal
1959-1973	Raymond Ronald Bailey (1922-2015)
1973-1976	Allen Herbert “Al” Valentine
1976-1979	?
1979-1982	Leroy Clarke
1982-1993	?
1993-1995	Brenda St. Hilaire

Vice-Principals (Garden City Collegiate)

Period	Vice-Principal
1961-1972	?
1972-1974	Norris Pawlychka Jake Walter Dyck
1974-1976	Jake Walter Dyck
1976-2015	?
2015-2016	Ann-Marie Donner Missy Penner Tony Kreml
2016-2019	?
2019-?	Jean-Francois Godbout Missy Penner Gary Jackson

Vice-Principals (Jefferson Junior High School)

Period	Vice-Principal
1959-1972	?
1972-1973	Allen Herbert “Al” Valentine
1973-1976	Russell William D’Arcy Gourluck
1976-1979	?
1979-1982	Jim Will
1982-1991	?
1991-1993	Barbara Graham
1993-1996	Karen Guenther
1996-?	Rorie Paul

Teachers (Garden City Collegiate)

School Year	Teachers
1961-1962	Louis Oscar Bourbonnais (grade 10), James Austin Cliffe (grade 11), Edward Allen Holdaway (grade 11), Ruby Valera Joyce (grade 10), Edward Kowalchuk (grade 10), Gwendolyn Marion “Gwen” Krindle (grade 11), Loretta Constance “Laura” Masluck (grade 10), Elsie Solar (grade 11), Melvin Solar (grade 10)
1962-1963	James Austin Cliffe (grade 12), Stanley A. Didkowski (grade 10), Edward Allen Holdaway (grade 11), Claude Annesley Joyce (grade 11), Ruby Valera Joyce (grade 11), Henry Klassen (grade 11), Edward Kowalchuk (grade 11), Gwendolyn Marion “Gwen” Krindle (grade 12), Alda Jeanette McIntyre (grade 10), Daniel George Mitchler (ungraded), Alfred Robert Pelissier (grade 10), James Patrick Ryan (grade 10), Elsie Solar (grade 12), Melvin Solar (grade 11), Kathleen Shirley Taylor (grade 10), Pearl Yurkiw (grade ?)
1963-1964	?
1964-1965	?
1965-1966	?
1966-1967	?, Ronald C. Kirbyson, ?
1967-1968	?, Ronald C. Kirbyson, ?
1968-1969	?, Ronald C. Kirbyson, ?

Among the other teachers of Garden City Collegiate was Merrill Dalmer Groff (late 1950s).

Teachers (Jefferson Junior High School)

School Year	Teachers
1960-1961	Graham Abbott, Robert Addie, Miss Patricia Byle, Miss Lillian Campbell, Harold De Jersey, Mrs. Gwen Krindle, Eldon I. Isherwood, Victor Jaquet, Mrs. Lily Karlowsky, Mrs. Anne Keith, Henry Klassen, Miss Gloria Marie Kuleba, Morris Leschuk, Wendelin Mann, Florence Ellen McIvor, Jean Campbell Michael, Gilbert Lennox Munroe, Mrs. Brigitte Reimer, Miss Lynn Shirtliffe, Mrs. Alma Simm, Murray Steen, Mrs. Jean Stewart, Miss Judy Ward, Isaac Wiens, Jacob Cornelius Winters
1961-1962	Graham John Abbott (grade 8), Esther Arbor (grade 7), Joan Alice Butler (grade 8), Lillian Euphemia Campbell (grade 8), Jack Daniels (grade 7), Harold Rivers DeJersey (grade 8, 1962), Kenneth Humeny (grade 9), Henry Klassen (grade 9), Gloria Marie Kuleba (grade 8), Morris Leschuk (grade 9), Stewart Jean McIntosh (grade 7, 1962), Florence Ellen McIvor (grade 9), Wendelin Mann (grade 7), Jean Campbell Michael (grade 9), William Burton Morris (grade 7), Gilbert Lennox Munroe (grade 7), Harriet Madge Robinson (grade 7), Jacob Cornelius Winters (grade 9)
1962-1963	Esther Arbor (grade 7), Robert A. Baird (grade 9), Ole Bejzyk (grade 7), Linda Bogdonov (grade 8?), Joan Alice Butler (grade 9), Clifford Charlesworth (grade 7), Jack Daniels (grade 8), Harold Rivers DeJersey (grade 8), Jake Walter Dyck (grade 7), Fred William Headon (grade 8), Kenneth Humeny (grade 8), Gloria Marie Kuleba (grade 9), Morris Leschuk (grade 9), Leonard Matiation (grade 7), Jean Campbell Michael (grade 9), William Burton Morris (grade 7), Gilbert Lennox Munroe (grade 8), Harriet Madge Robinson (grade 8), Louise Myrtle Schoenherr (grade 7), John Senkiw (grade 9), Lorenzo Leo-Paul Tougas (grade 7)

Among the other teachers were Brenda Dineen (1972-1975), John Walter Atamanchuk, Edward Kowalchuk, and Oliver Victor Jewitt (1961-1965).

Photos & Coordinates

Garden City Collegiate (July 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.94215, W97.14440 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

“Staggered classes in many schools,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 August 1959, page 3.

“The Seven Oaks School Division No. 10 public notice,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 October 1960, page 61.

“Business briefs,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 May 1961, page 53. ”Teen tidings,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 February 1962, page 45.

“Garden City tea,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 March 1962, page 32.

“MTS post declined by former Minister,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 April 1962, page 3.

“Tenders addition to Garden City Collegiate,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 February 1964, page 10.

“Principal shifting Jan. 1,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 December 1964, page 9.

“Teen tidings,” Winnipeg Free Press Leisure, 2 January 1965, page 11.

“Claim says contractor put in leaking windows,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 May 1966, page 25.

“Community college planned,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 June 1967, page 32.

“Third sister edits in limine,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 October 1967, page 13.

[Photo caption], Winnipeg Free Press, 27 May 1969, page 3.

“Education basics major concern of candidates,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 October 1977, page 10.

“Principal called decisive in usage of curriculum,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 February 1978, page 14.

“Major shifts mark school overhaul,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 February 1994, page B6.

“Seven Oaks School Division,” Winnipeg Free Press, 17 May 1994, page 21.

“School division bows to parents,” Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 1995, page B2.

“School is more than books,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 July 1995, Community Review Northeast page 4.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

We thank Patricia Janzen-Chuba, Rose Kuzina, Brenda Dineen, Jillian Kirbyson, Carrie Ryland, Karen Winter, and Karen Guenther for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 2 August 2023

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