A monument is situated near the site of the former Kenneth School, founded by Etienne Bale Sr., W. Hubert Griffith, and Angus D. McIntyre. The wooden structure was built in 1921, at the southwest corner of NW7-7-7W in the Rural Municipality of Dufferin, on land donated by William K. McKenzie. The school became the social centre of the community, serving as a locale for church services, picnics, and dances. Due to declining enrolment and the formation of larger school districts, Kenneth School was closed in 1964. By the early 1990s, the wood building still remained on the site but it is gone now. The monument was dedicated in September 1999 to the students, parents, teachers, trustees, and pioneers of the Kenneth School.
Among the teachers of Kenneth School was Olga Wiebe (1948-1949).
Kenneth School (no date) by A. J. Manning
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 91.
The former Kenneth School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 317.
Kenneth School commemorative monument (August 2010)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.55510, W98.41433
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.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Obituary [Olga Penner], Winnipeg Free Press, 2 June 2015.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 March 2022
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