The Isbister School District was organized formally in March 1887 and named for A. K. Isbister. A school building was erected on the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of 12-11-5 east of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. It was moved to a more central location in 1898. Around 1938, it was replaced by the present structure at a new site, one-half mile east and one-quarter mile north of the earlier one. After the school closed in 1964, remaining students went to Dugald Consolidated School No. 2427. The building was sold and renovated into a private residence.
Teachers who taught at Isbister School included Zena Paterson (1887), Nellie Braden (1887-?), John F. Wright (?-1891), Mr. Swan (1892), Mr. Armstrong (1893-1894), Rosene Conklin (1894), K. S. Hogg (1895), John F. Rose (1896), W. Goodridge (1897), W. Shipley (1898-1899), Miss McCullock (1900), Miss M. Craig (1901, 1903), Miss Olive Steel (1902), Miss McIntyre (1904), Elizabeth Scambler (1905-1906), Annie S. Craig (1907), Kathleen Newell (1907), Olive Archibald (1908), Mabel White (1909), Jane Anderson (1909-1910), Cora Thompson (1910), Myrtle Jackson (1911-1912), Henry Herbert McKeen (1912), Miss Cruikshank (1913), Miss Ivey Morrison (1914), Miss Margaret Craig (1915), J. Zimmerman (1916), Miss K. Sutton (1916), Miss K. Sutton (1917), Miss McIvor (1918), Miss Blair (1919-1920), Miss M. Craig (1920-1921), C. B. Stevens (1921-1922), Miss Eileen McKenzie (1922-1923), Miss Gladys Heather (1923-1925), Miss L. Rust (1925-1928), Miss V. Gillespie (1928-1933), H. G. McCallum (1933-1937), Louise McDermot (1938-1939), Miss Minnie Rowley (1939-1940), Miss D. Aileen Lamont (1940-1942), Miss Olga Ewushkiw (1942-1943), Miss Kathleen St. George (1943-1944), Mrs. M. H. Bryce (1944-1945, 1946-1947), Miss Catherine Dowie (1947-1948), Miss Genest (1948-1949), Miss Angela Claeys (1949-1950), Mrs. Charlotte Ross (1950-1951), Mrs. Nora Hadaller (1950-1951), Anne Ostrowski (1950-1951), Miss Doris Backman (1951-1952), Miss Doris Weisner (1952-1953), Erhard J. Penner (1953-1954), Mrs. Pauline Kruchak (1954-1957), Mrs. Violet Reynolds (1957-1959, 1960-1964), and Mrs. Susan Letandie (1959-1960).
The original Isbister School building at left, with outbuildings (no date) by R. Goulet
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 74.
The former Isbister School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1288.
The former Isbister School building (March 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88787, W96.77447
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Isbister School (310 Vaughan Street, Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: Alexander Kennedy Isbister (1822-1883)
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.
Springfield: 1st Rural Municipality in Manitoba, 1873-1973 by Dugald Women’s Institute, 1974.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Isbister School District No. 500 Daily Registers, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 13 February 2021
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