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The Minitonas School District was organized formally in April 1901. A school building, erected later that year at SE13-36-26W, was later turned into a barn (for horses rode by students attending the school) in 1909, when a new two-storey, four-classroom wood building was built, using a design by Dauphin architect J. H. Bossons, in the town of Minitonas. The school opened in the fall of 1909 with W. J. Henderson as Principal. Only the classrooms on the lower floor were used, as enrollment did not warrant use of the upper two rooms. The building was demolished in 1953 and replaced with the present structure at a different site.
Period
Principal
1907-1909
David Scott Woods (1885-1966)
1909-1912
William James Henderson (1876-1945)
1912-1914
Archibald Macdonald Headlam (1872-1943)
1914
Clarence Record
1914
Douglas R. McColl
1915-1916
Clarence Record
1916
L. C. Anderson (?-?)
1917-1918
A. H. Plummer
1918-1921
John Robert Williams
1921-1923
George Robert Farrar Prowse (1860-1946)
1923-1924
Margaret Thompson
1924-1925
Margaret Gertrude Dudley (1888-1980)
1925-1926
Dorothea C. Peter
1926-1927
Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (1865-1944)
1927-1929
Norman Robson (1900-1978)
1929-1930
John Blain Stewart (1882-?)
1930-1932
Stanley James Weatherley (1902-1975)
1932-1940
Sanford Stephen Harvey (1911-1980)
1940-1944
John Lorne Wright (1913-1996)
1944-1945
Teresa Moloney (1899-1983)
1945-1947
John Nathan Robert Clark (1912-1990)
1947-1949
Clifford P. Hansen
1949-1950
Anne Sims Crichton (1910-1994)
1950-1953
Harold Arthur Bathgate (1904-1983)
1953-1956
William Hugo Rentz (1926-2017)
1956-1970
Clifford Peter Hansen (1905-1986)
1970-1972
L. Harapiak
1972-1973
H. Jersak
The early teachers of Minitonas School included Robert Gardner Taylor (Spring-Fall 1905) and David Scott Woods (Spring-Fall 1906).
Some of the later teachers who worked at Minitonas School included A. E. Anderson (1921), R. Pearlman (1922), Margaret G. Dudley (1923-1924), E. Turner (1923-1924), M. Thompson (1923-1924), H. Hassett (1923-1924), Ursula Koons (1929), Ada Till (1930), Ruth Voight (1932), Millicent Johnstone (1932), Jean Marr (1940), Dorothy Marie Slaughter (1943-1944), Norma Fulford (1944), Adena Tulman (1945), Jean Fulford (1949), John Wright (?-1944), John Park (1945-1946), Ruth Emisch (1975-?), John W. Carroll, and Stella Howelko.
School Year
Teachers
1907
Della Robinson (junior grades, Fall), David Scott Woods (all grades, Spring; senior grades, Fall)
1908
Sadie Osborne (junior grades, pt Spring), Cassie M. Wilson (junior grades, pt Spring - Fall), David Scott Woods (senior grades)
1909
William James Henderson (senior grades, Fall), Cassie M. Wilson (junior grades), David Scott Woods (senior grades, Spring)
1910
William James Henderson (senior grades), Mabel Jeffrey (junior grades, Fall), Cassie M. Wilson (junior grades, Spring)
1911
William James Henderson (senior grades), Mabel Jeffrey (junior grades, Spring), Pearl McFarlane (junior grades, Fall)
1912
(January-June only): William James Henderson (senior grades), Pearl McFarlane (junior grades)
1912-1913
Archibald Macdonald Headlam (senior grades), Pearl McFarlane (junior grades)
1913-1914
Mary Harper (junior grades, Fall), Archibald Macdonald Headlam (senior grades), Clarence Record (junior grades, Spring)
1914-1915
Janetta A. Crerar (grades 1-7), Douglas R. McColl (grades 8-11, pt Fall), Clarence Record (grades 8-11, pt Fall, January-June)
1915-1916
Clarence Record (grades 8-11), Florence E. Woodrow (grades 1-7)
1916-1917
L. C. Anderson (grades 8-11, August-December), Ida R. Johnson (grades 4-6), Gladys M. MacDougall (grades 1-3), A. H. Plummer (grades 8-11, January-June)
1917-1918
Lavina Little (grades 1-3, January-June), Vera M. Livingstone (grades 4-6), A. H. Plummer (grades 7-11), Irene Steeper (grades 1-3, August-December)
1918-1919
Grace Evelyn Lambert (grades 4-6), Agnes Katharine Lilloch Lee (grades 1-3), John Robert Williams (grades 7-11)
1919-1920
Inez V. Babb (grades 1-3, August-December; grades 1-2, January-June), Gladys I. Smith (grades 3-6), John Robert Williams (grades 7-10)
1920-1921
Mary M. Koons (grades 1-2), Elizabeth A. Snelgrove (grades 3-6, August-December), M. Tibble? (grades 3-6, January-March), Rachel Van den Hauten? (grades 3-6, April-June), John Robert Williams (grades 7-11)
1921-1922
?
1922-1923
?
1923-1924
?
1924-1925
?
1925-1926
?
1926-1927
?
1927-1928
?
1928-1929
?
1929-1930
?
1930-1931
?
1931-1932
?
1932-1933
?
1933-1934
?
1934-1935
?
1935-1936
?
1936-1937
?
1937-1938
?
1938-1939
?
1939-1940
?
1940-1941
?
1941-1942
?
1942-1943
?
1943-1944
?
1944-1945
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1945-1946
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1946-1947
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1947-1948
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1948-1949
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1949-1950
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1950-1951
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1951-1952
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1952-1953
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1953-1954
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1954-1955
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1955-1956
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1956-1957
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1957-1958
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1958-1959
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1959-1960
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1960-1961
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1961-1962
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1962-1963
?
1963-1964
John R. Fawcett, Garry D. Finlay, Mrs. Marilyn A. Hooper, John F. Orchard, Stewart Tuningley
Minitonas School (circa 1909)
Source: Education Department Report, 1909, Manitoba Legislative Library.
The first Minitonas School building (no date) by J. S. Peach
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 58.
The present Minitonas School building, erected in 1953 at N52.08738, W101.04267 (July 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N52.08500, W101.03699
denoted by symbol on the map above
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Minitonas, Man”, Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, 9 September 1916, Archives of Manitoba.
The Development of Education in Swan River Valley by J. N. R. Clark, MEd thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, 1949.
“3800 pupils enrolled for 1963-1964 term,” Swan Valley Star and Times, 29 August 1963, page 1.
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.
Over the Rainbow: Memories of a Country School Teacher by Ruth Emisch, 1993.
Boots, Buggies & Buses: Swan Valley Schools in Quest of Education, Swan Valley School Division No. 35, circa 1998.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Keven Van Camp for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 5 October 2024
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